Monday Musings

  There are  two types of blueberry bushes: Highbush and Lowbush . I’m happy with my tall Highbush variant, which is growing successfully in the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 7b (plant zone range 4–7). Elizabeth White and Frederick Coville, a USDA botanist, teamed up to cultivate wild blueberries, which are native to North America.  The initial trials began on the Fenwick (White’s forebearers) New Jersey family farm,  Whitesbog . In 1912, they successfully grew field plantings of blueberries. Their first commercial crop of Highbush blueberries was sold in 1916. The Blueberry Hill  cookbook, with the iconic Blueberry Buckle recipe, was published in 1959. I was unable to locate the original form, but I have included a version from the same era. In 1974, Congress passed a joint resolution officially recognizing July as “Blueberry Month.” By 1990, blueberry production reached 100 million pounds per year. The holiday was further formalized by the USDA as “National Bluebe...

  Today, we celebrate macaroni and cheese, the iconic comfort food. Forme of Cury , the Medieval English cookbook, includes the oldest known printed recipe for this dish. The food site Epicurious says that back in 160 BC, the Romans combined pasta with cheese. Thomas Jefferson brought this staple meal to the United States after visiting France. He returned from his visit with a pasta machine and noodle recipes. He even ordered his chefs to serve macaroni and cheese at a state dinner in 1802. Later in 1824,  The Virginia House-Wife , a US cookbook, published a recipe. Those of us in the Baby Boomer Generation grew up with Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, first sold in yellow boxes in 1937 (changed to blue in 1954). In the era of World War II food rationing, it was a bargain: two boxes for one food ration stamp. The product could serve four people for 19 cents. The non-perishable, long shelf life, and easy preparation were a boon for women working in factories. Over the years, Kraft r...

  Tomorrow morning, July 8, at 11:15 UTC (7:15 AM EDT), 99% of the world’s population will get some sunlight. Because of the Earth’s axis and position in orbit, most of the world’s populated areas will simultaneously be in daylight Note: ~3% of the world in this specified zone will not perceive it as daylight because it is technically faint astronomical twilight, the period in which the sun is between 12°-18° below the horizon in the morning and evening. In actuality, there are approximately 60 days around the June Solstice (June 20th), from May 18 to July 17, when  99% of humans experience daylight/twilight for a few minutes ; tomorrow is the peak. The remaining ~1% (about 80 million people) not receiving any sunlight at 11:15 UTC on July 8, live mainly in Australia, New Zealand, parts of Southeast Asia (e.g., Indonesia, Papua New Guinea), and Antarctica. The night side of Earth centers over the southwestern Pacific at the time. The reverse phenomenon occurs on December 21 at...