An embarrasment of riches is an overwhelming abundance of something; having more of a good thing than one needs, especially if this makes it difficult to choose.  It is widely claimed that this idiom owes its origin to John Ozell, who translated a French Play called L’Embarrass des richesses, into English and published this translation in 1735.  Although the title of the French play could indeed be directly translated into “an embarrasment of riches,” the problem with the claim that Ozell originated the idiom is that Ozell did not use this as his title.  Instead, he called the play Plague of Riches.  Although embarrassment of riches has been used in English since at least the 1720s, earlier than Ozell’s translation appeared, it does not appear to have entered common use until the 1800s.  Although the idiom clearly did not come from Ozell’s translation, it is possible that it came from the play.  https://www.idioms.online/embarrassment-of-riches-an/ 

In algebraic geometry, a lemniscate is any of several figure-eight or ∞-shaped curves.  The word comes from the Latin "lēmniscātus" meaning "decorated with ribbons", from the Greek λημνίσκος meaning "ribbons", or which alternatively may refer to the wool from which the ribbons were made.  Curves that have been called a lemniscate include three quartic plane curves:  the hippopede or lemniscate of Booth, the lemniscate of Bernoulli, and the lemniscate of Gerono.  The study of lemniscates (and in particular the hippopede) dates to ancient Greek mathematics, but the term "lemniscate" for curves of this type comes from the work of Jacob Bernoulli in the late 17th century.  See examples, including infinity symbol, at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemniscate 

Okra gets a bad rap for its slimy texture.  Virginia Willis wrote a book all about okra.  And here are five of her favorite slime-busting tips:  Choose small, fresh pods.  The smaller the pod, the less slime you'll get.  Cook okra at high heat.  Roasting at high temperatures, searing in a hot cast-iron pan, deep fat frying, or grilling are some of our favorite okra cooking methods.  Wash and dry okra very thoroughly.  If you cook wet okra it will start to steam, which will cause it to slime.  Cook okra in small batches.  If you overcrowd the pan, you're gonna bring the heat down and start steaming and sliming the okra.  Add an acid while you're cooking okra.  We add chopped up tomato, a splash of lemon juice, vinegar, or wine, to add flavor and cut down on slime. https://www.southernliving.com/food/how-to/okra-slime-busting-tips-video

 In “Food Flirts” TV show, sisters Marilyn and Sheila Brass discover two ethnically diverse dishes then head home to mash them together to create their own inspired recipes.  “It’s comforting to know that we never stop learning from one another,” Marilyn proclaims on the first episode.  “We are a melting pot.  We always have been and we always will be.”  Sheila said “Food Flirts” should really be called “Food Without Borders.”  Marilyn said she would change the name to “It’s Not What You Put on the Table, It’s What You Bring to the Table.”  Julie Levine  https://www.jweekly.com/2018/08/14/let-pbs-series-food-flirts-bring-your-family-together/

 Loie Fuller (born Marie Louise Fuller; 1862–1928), also known as Louie Fuller and Loïe Fuller, was an American actress and dancer who was a pioneer of both modern dance and theatrical lighting techniques.  Born Marie Louise Fuller in the Chicago suburb of Fullersburg, now Hinsdale, Illinois, Fuller began her theatrical career as a professional child actress and later choreographed and performed dances in burlesque (as a skirt dancer), vaudeville, and circus shows.  An early free dance practitioner, Fuller developed her own natural movement and improvisation techniques.  In multiple shows she experimented with a long skirt, choreographing its movements and playing with the ways it could reflect light.  By 1891, Fuller combined her choreography with silk costumes illuminated by multi-coloured lighting of her own design, and created the Serpentine Dance.  After much difficulty finding someone willing to produce her work when she was primarily known as an actress, she was finally hired to perform her piece between acts of a comedy entitled Uncle Celestine, and received rave reviews.  Almost immediately, she was replaced by imitators (originally Minnie "Renwood" Bemis).  In the hope of receiving serious artistic recognition that she was not getting in America, Fuller left for Europe in June 1892.  She became one of the first of many American modern dancers who traveled to Europe to seek recognition.  Her warm reception in Paris persuaded Fuller to remain in France, where she became one of the leading revolutionaries in the arts. A regular performer at the Folies Bergère with works such as Fire Dance, Fuller became the embodiment of the Art Nouveau movement and was often identified with Symbolism, as her work was seen as the perfect reciprocity between idea and symbol.  See pictures at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loie_Fuller 

To sleep like a log/top  To sleep very soundly.  The earliest simile of this kind, now obsolete, is to sleep like a swine (pig/hog), which dates from Chaucer’s time.  I shall sleep like a top,” wrote Sir William Davenant in Rivals (1668), no doubt referring to a spinning top that, when spinning fast, is so steady and quiet that it seems not to move at all.  This simile persists, particularly in Britain.  To sleep like a log is more often heard in America, although it has English forebears back as far as the sixteenth century.   An older cliché is to sleep the sleep of the just, meaning to sleep soundly, presumably because one has aclear conscience.  Its original source is a 1695 translation of a passage from the French dramatist Jean-Baptiste Racine’s Summary of the History of Port-Royal.  https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/sleep+like+a+top   See also https://wordhistories.net/2016/06/24/sleep-like-a-top/ 

With a culinary tradition that dates back to the Middle Ages and a language whose roots are much older, Ireland has a number of mysterious food terms by Diane Chang   Read about Irish food from Balnamoon Skink (soup made with trussed fowls and seasoned with herbs and onions) to Yellowman (golden confection with a texture similar to honeycomb) at https://www.bonappetit.com/entertaining-style/holidays/article/boxty-coddle-and-balnamoon-skink

If you go back a few hundred years to the 16th and 17th centuries, great authors such as Shakespeare and Chaucer wrote of characters who were green with envy.  Shakespeare uses green to describe both envy and jealousy at least three times in his works.  In Othello, Iago refers to the ‘green-eyed monster.’  In Anthony and Cleopatra, Shakespeare wrote of the ‘green sickness,’ meaning envy.  And in Merchant of Venice, he used the term ‘green-eyed jealousy.’  Link to books about color at https://www.sensationalcolor.com/green-with-envy/ 

The Ides of March is the 74th day in the Roman calendar, corresponding to 15 March.  It was marked by several religious observances and was notable for the Romans as a deadline for settling debts.  In 44 BC, it became notorious as the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar which made the Ides of March a turning point in Roman history.  The Romans did not number each day of a month from the first to the last day.  Instead, they counted back from three fixed points of the month:  the Nones (the 5th or 7th, nine days inclusive before the Ides), the Ides (the 13th for most months, but the 15th in March, May, July, and October), and the Kalends (1st of the following month).  Originally the Ides were supposed to be determined by the full moon, reflecting the lunar origin of the Roman calendar.  In the earliest calendar, the Ides of March would have been the first full moon of the new year.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ides_of_March 

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2338  March 15, 2021