Monday Musings

While the Aztecs and Incas may have ground peanuts into a paste, peanut butter as we know it arrived in the US in the 1800s. A Canadian chemist, Marcellus Edison, patented “peanut paste” made from roasted peanuts in 1884. Several years later, in 1985, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (the cereal company guy) patented a process to make a “nut meal” from raw peanuts. The initial peanut butter-making machine was patented in 1903 by Dr. Ambrose Straub in St Louis, Missouri. However, peanut butter was only sold to local markets because when the oil separated from the solids, it would rise to the top of the container and spoil. Joseph Rosefield patented a hydrogenation process that kept the components from separating. He sold the first license to  Peter Pan  in 1928 but later launched the  Skippy  brand himself. This process is what makes peanut butter an excellent shelf-stable, non-perishable food to keep on hand for emergencies. We all grew up with the fundamental peanut butter a...

The thesaurus, a book that serves as a cross-reference for synonyms, and serves as a guide to effective and precise use of language, is a necessary tool of every writer and even some readers. Dr. Mark Peter Roget (1779–1869) was a British natural theologian, physician, and lexicographer. He suffered from depression his entire life: beginning at the age of eight, his coping mechanism was obsessive list-making. He wrote the first draft of the eponymous English-language thesaurus in 1805, two years prior to Webster beginning the undertaking of his own dictionary. For 47 years he kept it a secret, and finally published it in 1852 at the age of 73, under the title  Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases Classified and Arranged so as to Facilitate the Expression of Ideas and to Assist in Literary Composition . This document is archived in the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum. Roget’s Thesaurus has been in continuous print. The original manuscript included 15,000 words; the Eighth Editi...

When the weather is grey, damp, and cold, both my body and soul crave warm tasty comfort food. Easy go-tos are crockpot dishes or casseroles. Today I’ve put the crockpot to service. The meal comes from my German roots: sauerkraut enlivened with diced tomatoes, brown sugar, a bottle of stout, and caraway seed. Add a chopped tart apple; I’ve chosen a Macintosh apple. Sauté onion and garlic, two chopped boneless pork chops, and coins of beef Polska kielbasa in olive oil. Add to the pot and stir. Cook on warm for at least four hours. Enjoy served over mashed potatoes or with crusty bread. What is your favorite comfort food? Follow the Author at her  Website  or on  Twitter .

The first snow of 2022 has arrived at our mountaintop home. The temperature is just above freezing this morning, so the beautiful blanket of white won’t last long. A well-stocked bird pantry graces our front porch: fresh water, seeds, and suet. Our favorite winter birds have returned: the titmouse, nuthatch, and juncos. A pair of cardinals, and another of mourning doves feed on the snow-covered ground below. The garden beds are buried in a half-foot of snow, dormant until St. Patrick plantings. A robin-egg blue sky peeks out from the waning storm clouds. We enjoy all of these lovely sights from the fireplace-warmed great room. Enjoy the winter, be safe and stay sound. You can follow the Author on her  Website  or on  Twitter .