Switchel, switzel, swizzle, switchy, ginger-water or haymaker's punch is a drink made of water mixed with vinegar, and often seasoned with ginger.  It is usually sweetened with molasses, though honey, sugar, brown sugar, or maple syrup are sometimes used instead.  In the U.S. state of Vermont, oatmeal and lemon juice were sometimes added to the beverage.  Switchel debatably originated in the Caribbean, but New England also holds credit as the source, and it became a popular summer drink in the American Colonies in the late 17th century.  By the 19th century, it had become a traditional drink to serve to thirsty farmers at hay harvest time, hence the nickname haymaker's punch.  Herman Melville wrote in I and My Chimney, "I will give a traveler a cup of switchel, if he want it; but am I bound to supply him with a sweet taste?"  In The Long Winter Laura Ingalls Wilder describes a switchel-like beverage that her mother had sent for Laura and her father to drink while haying:  "Ma had sent them ginger-water.  She had sweetened the cool well-water with sugar, flavored it with vinegar, and put in plenty of ginger to warm their stomachs so they could drink till they were not thirsty.  Ginger-water would not make them sick, as plain cold water would when they were so hot."  The Vermont physician D. C. Jarvis recommended a similar drink (a mixture of honey and cider vinegar), which he called "honegar".  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switchel#:~:text=Switchel%20debatably%20originated%20in%20the,in%20the%20late%2017th%20century.    

Switchel recipe

1 cup water (or sparkling water, or coconut water)

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon fresh lemon or lime juice

2 teaspoons molasses or honey to taste

1/4 teaspoon ground or fresh ginger

Find directions at https://www.farmersalmanac.com/what-the-heck-is-switchel 

PIGS:  Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain

BRICs:  Brazil, Russia, India, and China

NATO:  NATO was established on 4 April 1949 via the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty (Washington Treaty).  The 12 founding members of the Alliance were:  Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States.   Current membership as of 2024 consists of 32 countries.

SEATO:   In September of 1954, the United States, France, Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, Thailand and Pakistan formed the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, or SEATO.   

June 3, 2024  Almost one set of Uno was sold in the US every second last year, according to Mattel, its publisher.  That’s almost 60 Uno decks each minute—up from 17 sets each minute in 2021.  Its popularity is due to the game’s broad appeal, says Michelle Parnett-Dwyer, a curator at the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York.  “Kids can play against adults without being overmatched, and adults can play it together and still have fun,” she says.  “The gameplay is simple and easy to understand, and playing a round moves quickly.”  More than 600 editions of Uno are available, but the game’s core mechanics remain mostly the same with each new version.  Players draw a handful of cards and then take turns trying to discard them; the first player to get rid of all their cards wins.  https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/03/business/uno-card-game-popularity-cec/index.html   Thank you, Muse reader!   

Any doubts that Spain remains the fine dining center of the world may just have evaporated with the revealing of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants for 2024 list.  Five eateries from the European nation made the list–three of them in the top five.  The awards–considered the Oscars of global fine dining–were handed out at a ceremony at the Wynn in Las Vegas on June 5, 2024, with Barcelona’s Disfrutar walking away with the top prize.  Ranked number two last year, it’s owned and run by chefs Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch and Mateu Casanas.  The list is compiled based on the votes of the The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy, which is made up of  1,080 international restaurant industry experts including food writers and chefs, in 27 regions around the world.  Restaurants can only win the top prize once, after which they’re entered into a separate “Best of the Best” program.   https://www.cnn.com/travel/worlds-50-best-restaurants-for-2024/index.html   

The Philadelphia Spelling Book becomes the first book ever copyrighted in the United States (June 9, 1790)  *  The city of Troy is sacked and burned, inspiring a tale or two (June 11, 1184)  Literary Hub  June 9, 2024   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2824  June 10, 2024