Happiness is someone celebrating one's birthday humorously to the tune of Red River Valley

It's your day for some special attention!

An occasion to be wined and dined!

You should get everything that you wish for!

And the whole world should kiss your behind!

The Lily of the Valley has bloomed here in Michigan for Mother's Day

Its fragrance fills the air as I write this, and reminds me of my mother, who grew it prolifically on the west northwest side of our old house in Wisconsin.

"For her the lilies hang their heads, and die".

-- Alexander Pope (1688-1744)

Happiness is the sound words make

The Mary Rose, perhaps planned under Henry VII, sank in 1545

I confess I do not like to see

words written out of melody.

On the page alarms do ring

whene'er the author makes them sing

out of tune to aural sense,

mixing past and perfect tense.

As when The Rosemary instantly sunk,

an ugly phrase that goes kerplunk.

-- Johnny

Happiness is rice

Rice is of excellent use for illnesses of the stomach, that proceed from cold or moist humours; a great digester and restorer of appetite.

-- William Temple (1628-1699), a follower of Epicurus

The blushing poppy

Ypres, Belgium

Why does one climate and one soil endue

The blushing poppey with a crimson hue,

Yet leave the lily pale, and tinge the violet blue?

-- Matthew Prior (1664-1721)

Properly stored, some pills retain their potency indefinitely

From the story here:

Numerous studies on expired, properly stored drugs, mostly pills, have found them fully potent or close, some many years after that date. In one case, unopened bottles of painkillers, antihistamines and other drugs from the 1960s were still very potent when tested a half-century later. ... The exceptions are aspirin and the antibiotic tetracycline, which can deteriorate soon after expiration dates. ... But experts say don't use expired liquid medicines, insulin and other injected drugs that must be refrigerated. They can break down faster than pills, especially if they aren't kept cold. Ditto for drugs not properly stored. Medicines kept in areas with high humidity or fluctuating temperatures — like a bathroom cabinet — or left in direct light degrade faster and can lose potency. Instead, keep them in a cool, dark place, advises Michael Gaino of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

Happiness is Braddah Iz singin' "Somewhere Over The Rainbow"

Here.

Happiness is knowing where to plant what

 

 

 

 The north is a noier to grass of all suits,

The east a destroyer to herbs and all fruits.

-- Thomas Tusser

Happiness is the 1996 gem "Luigi's Welcome" sung by Jerry Hadley

Here.

The song is from the film, The Adventures of Pinocchio, and is adapted from the 1880 Neapolitan song "Funiculi, Funicula".

The sun . . . she's like-a the luscious yellow cherry, without the pit, without the pit

The day . . . so bright and extraordinary, so welcome it, so welcome it!

My wife . . . she sparkles like a ray of sunlight, she smiles at me, she smiles at me

A queen . . .  to grace the morning with her yawning, and I her king, and you her king!

Welcome! Welcome! Blessed morning sun . . .

The dawn . . . she's breaking all across the valley, here comes the sun, here comes the sun

The dawn . . . she sang Wake Up Everybody! the day's begun, the day's begun

The bells . . . they're ringing loudly in the steeple, they ring for me, they ring for me!

This town . . . has got a lot of friendly faces, to sing with me, to sing with me! . . .

 

 

Not happiness exactly: Paint It Black by The Rolling Stones

1966, here.

Happiness is low-sodium Cento San Marzano tomatoes in the BIG MOTHER 90 oz. can

This one big can yields 10 cups + of smooth sauce through my press.

And only 20 mg sodium per half cup!

It's fabulous!

Happiness is Cento extra virgin olive oil in the 3-liter can

Filippo Berio raised its prices enough recently for me to try Cento.

And you know what? Cento is better!

Happiness is filing income taxes with TurboTax . . . eleven years in a row

And to think I did it with paper and pencil before that. Perish the thought! 

Happiness is John Prine singing "Dear Abby"

Here.

Happiness was flying Economy Class . . . in the 1960s

Happiness is reading the Bible like General George S. Patton

Every . . . . . . . day.

Here.

Happiness is a Joey Bag O' Donuts

Here.

Goodbye WLUP.

Happiness is Tiangong-1 impact in the Pacific Ocean, not in my backyard

Happiness is salmon patties which don't fall to pieces in the frying pan

The reason?

Because I've stopped putting them in the frying pan, silly.

I bake them on parchment paper on a sheet pan instead.

They're healthier that way, too, baked, not fried in oil, and make a lot less mess.

I use a big can of wild sockeye salmon drained, a couple of eggs mashed in, and a cup of prepared rice folded in to make about four patties. Then bake on the pan on the parchment at 375 F for thirty to thirty-five minutes.

Serve topped with your choice of lemon pepper seasoning, apricot preserves, ketchup, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, etc.

You have choice! 

Happiness is learning that it's the protein in milk which makes it froth well, not the fat

Recently I purchased fat-free milk for the very first time, in my quest to reduce my intake of saturated fat for the sake of my heart.

I was skeptical, but lo and behold, it froths wonderfully well for the morning cappuccino. I should have known. When I had switched to 1% from 2% a while ago the 1% had frothed just fine. Obviously the reduced fat content had not been a factor.

This woman explains it well: "One of the many amazing things about milk is that it can be transformed into silky foam. This happens because of its protein content, without which milk would be like water, i.e., with zero chance of frothing up. ... Skim milk ... tends to produce more foam than fattier milk does."

Read it all at this link. 

Happiness is the must-watch 1974 Michael Parkinson interview with the hysterically funny Peter Sellers

Impersonations, anecdotes, giggling and some singing with his ukulele.

Here.

Happiness is Lucy and her bittle lottle of Vitameatavegamin

Here!

Happiness is sweet fruit in winter, and the heart to eat it

 

 

A stingy narrow-hearted fellow, that had a deal of choice fruit, had not the heart to touch it till it began to be rotten.

-- Roger L'Estrange

The first men on the moon were beaten there by a woman

The lesser happiness of the starry, starry night

 

 

You meaner beauties of the night,

That poorly satisfy our eyes,

More by your number than your light,

You common people of the skies;

What are you when the sun shall rise?

-- Henry Wotton (1568-1639)

Happiness is a morning fagel with your coffee

The fagela is something else entirely. Don't go there.

You take half a plain bagel and toast it. Meanwhile gently nuke a dried Turkish fig, about ten seconds. When the bagel is ready, cut the warm fig in quarters and spread out the gooey pieces on the bagel. Simple and delicious.

Dried figs are loaded with more dietary fiber than any other fruit, and also offer potassium, Vitamin K, calcium, magnesium and antioxidant phenols.

Happiness is mutton chops

 

 

 Old Cross condemns all persons to be fops,

That can't regale themselves with mutton chops.

-- William King, The Art of Cookery, in imitation of Horace's Art of Poetry (Humbly inscrib'd to the Honourable Beef Steak Club), 1708

When it's flooding like it's been, happiness is Johnny Cash singing "How high's the water, Momma?"

Rare footage including June Carter, Pete Seeger and Johnny, here. The song, "Five Feet High and Rising", was originally released by Cash in 1959.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happiness is a chart showing lower carbohydrate vegetable, fruit and nut choices

Happiness is a hobby, the occasional little biddle bottle, exercise and coffee

For when you want just one . . .

People with hobbies are 21% less likely to experience premature death, who drink a little 18%, who exercise 11%, who drink coffee 10%, who are slightly overweight 3%.

The story is here.

When choosing carbohydrate-rich foods, pick the ones with lower glycemic loads, which tend to have more dietary fiber

Happiness is a morning smoothie

Forty grams of banana

not imported from Havana,

Yogurt, flax and berries bluey

all went in my morning smoothie,

Here in Michigan, not Montana.

Happiness is remembering Phyllis Diller

Phyllis Diller in her 40s

Paint, patches, jewels laid aside,

At night astronomers agree,

The evening has the day bely'd,

And Phyllis is some forty-three.

-- Matthew Prior (1664-1721)

America has become inured to the idea of mercury pollution in tuna

Why would you eat ANY?

Happiness is any machine at work

In a watch's fine machine,

The added movements which declare,

How full the moon, how old the year,

Derive their secondary power

From that which simply points the hour.

-- Matthew Prior (1664-1721)

The healthiest apples by concentration of phenols and antioxidants in the skin . . .

. . . are, as reported here:

crabapple

ida red

red delicious
honeycrisp
granny smith

cortland

braeburn
gala
empire

golden delicious
mcintosh
fuji
golden nugget

Happiness is John Pinette saying "Nay, Nay!" to salad, sushi and skiing, among other things

Here.

Happiness is Much Ado About Nothing

 

 

 

 Sing no more ditties, sing no mo

Of dumps so dull and heavy;

The frauds of men were ever so,

Since summer first was leafy.

Then sigh not so, but let them go,

And be you blithe and bonny,

Converting all your sounds of woe

Into Hey nonny, nonny.

-- Balthasar, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act II Scene 3

Happiness is an extra fine tea infuser from Yoassi

Fits right in your tea cup, into which you add your preferred amount of loose tea. Pour in the water and cap, and three minutes later you lift it out and have your own nice customized cup of afternoon tea.

I just had one with Twinings Jasmine Green, with some fresh squeezed lemon juice. It is said the lemon juice improves antioxidant absorption by up to 80%.

Happiness is about four ounces of mushrooms a day

From the story here:

"[T]he difference between the countries with low rates of neurodegenerative diseases is about 3 milligrams per day [of ergothioneine], which is about five button mushrooms each day."

Happiness is a birthday card "blast from the past": OOGA OOGA OOGA SHAKA!

The ever popular opening lines from Blue Swede's version of "Hooked on a Feeling" from 1974 here, the year I graduated from high school. Am I really that old?

The card spells it "Shaka" instead of "Chaka", perhaps for copyright reasons, but the audio in the card has the latter from the original.

On the inside, it says the words translate from "witch doctor" to "Happy Birthday". And he does a little dance! So politically incorrect, so amusing.

Happiness is blanched and sautéed Broccoli Rabe with tonight's pasta and sausage

Otherwise called rapini, the whole business is eaten so there is no waste, just the ends of the stems which are cut off before washing and soaking in cold water to freshen and then blanching in salted boiling water. About 4-5 minutes does the trick, in about three batches.

Plunge the cooked rapini into an ice bath in the sink to stop the cooking, then drain on a rack and use immediately, or refrigerate overnight for the meal the next day. They are sauteed in olive oil with garlic and hot red pepper flakes, but with a hot Italian sausage and fresh garlic already in the pasta, I like the greens just in oil. They are loaded with good things. The nutrient balance score is 93 out of 100 and the protein quality score is 98 out of 100 at nutrition data.self.com .

I paid $2.69 for the bunch at Meijer.

Happiness is perceiving what opposites have in common

Come what come may,

Time and the hour run through the roughest day.

-- William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 3

Happiness is a low-sodium cinnamon roll at coffee break, without the roll

1/ toast one slice of Koepplinger's 100% whole wheat bread
2/ slather with Really Raw Honey from Baltimore, Maryland
3/ on a large plate sprinkle the toast liberally with ground cinnamon
4/ chop one ounce of pecan halves fine and top the toast

120 mg sodium, 2 g saturated fat, 7 g protein

Happiness is a butter cutter, to help one ration the consumption of this delicious saturated fat into teaspoon-sized patties

The butter sliced into teaspoon-sized patties can be laid out on a sheet of wax paper and folded and stored in the butter locker in the fridge.

One teaspoon of salted butter contains about 32 mg sodium and 2.33 g saturated fat.

Patients with cardiac disease typically limit daily saturated fat consumption to 15 g or less.

Happiness is Starbucks Christmas Blend varieties in festive holiday colors

Happiness is a low-sodium, low-fat supper with rainbow trout fillet from Canada

About 40 mg natural sodium, 1.1 g saturated fat.

Oil the fillet on both the skin side and the flesh side in extra virgin olive. Season the flesh with salt-free lemon pepper. Bake at 450 F in a heavy pan for about 10 minutes. Serve with sautéed brussel sprouts and some basmati rice.

The whole dinner turned out to be just 78 mg sodium and 3.35 g saturated fat, mostly from the added butter and the canola oil used to saute the sprouts.