DECK THE HOLIDAY'S

   Depending on the year.  Easter may or may not fall in April, if it doesn't, that doesn't mean there aren't other holidays to celebrate.  In fact, there is a food holiday for every day in April. National Sourdough Bread Day, April 1st - Sourdough bread makes a wonderful patty melt.  ON this national food holiday, try making a patty melt with sourdough, your favorite meat and a cheese that you love. National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day, April 2nd - Every kid, and kid at heart, will love this food holiday.  Grab your some peanut butter and your jelly or jam of choice and make yourself a couple. National Chocolate Mousse Day, April 3rd - This is one of the best national food holidays of the month.  Try making your own or purchase one of the many different brands available at your local store. National Cordon Bleu Day, April 4th - Celebrate this food holiday by heading to Arby's for a Cordon Bleu sandwich and some curly fries. Nationa...

  April Fool's Day is the one day of the year that serious minded people can go crazy without criticism.  Over the years there have been many great hoaxes that have occurred on or around this day of the year.  The  Museum of Hoaxes  put together a list of 100, this is a list of the top 15. In 1982, the  Daily Mail  reported that a local manufacturer had sold  10,000 "rogue bras"  that were causing a unique and unprecedented problem, not to the wearers but to the public at large.  Apparently the support wire in these bras had been made out of a kind of copper originally designed for use in fire alarms.  When this copper came into contact with nylon and body heat, it produced static electricity which, in turn, was interfering with local television and radio broadcasts.  The chief engineer of British Telecom, upon reading the article, immediately ordered that all his female laboratory employees disclose what type ...

This almond and cherry baked cheesecake is a heavenly marriage of two amazing desserts Recipe uploaded by Difficulty and servings Serves  10 Preparation and cooking times Prep 1 hr Cook 45 mins plus cooling and chilling Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Line the base and sides of a 23cm springform tin with baking parchment. Bash the biscuits and 75g of the flaked almonds to crumbs - try double-bagging in food bags and crushing with a rolling pin. Mix with the almond extract and melted butter, then press into the base of the prepared tin and bake for 10 mins. Set aside to cool while you make the filling. In your largest bowl, whisk the cheese with an electric whisk until creamy. Add the sugar and whisk to combine. Whisk in the flour, then the vanilla, the eggs, one at a time, and finally the soured cream. Dollop spoonfuls of mixture into the tin, dotting in tbsps of jam as you go. Smooth the top as gently as you can. Carefully place t...

    The  Calle Ocho Festival or "El Festival de la Calle Ocho",  is a one day  "rumba"- fiesta-that culminates the Miami Carnival. This festival takes place in March each year between 27th avenue and 4th avenue, along Southwest 8th street, that is 23 blocks along "Calle Ocho" in "Little Havana" with activities for everybody.      Even thought this festival is not counted amongst the official Hispanic holidays, more than 1 million people attend this block party to participate, and to see top Hispanic artists perform at every street intersection at the designated stages.     You can hear  salsa, reggeaton, merengue, bachata, balada, hip hop  and more. Personalities like  El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, Cellia Cruz, Oscar D'Leon, El Grupo Niche  and many more have performed at the festival     "El Festival de la Calle Ocho",  is one incredible party that i...

     The Carnival of Brazil , is an annual festival held 46 days before Easter. On certain days of Lent, Roman Catholics and some other Christians traditionally abstained from the consumption of meat and poultry, hence the term  "carnival ", from  carnelevre , "to remove meat". Carnival celebrations are believed to have roots in the pagan festival of  Saturnalia , which, adapted to Christianity, became a farewell to bad things in a season of religious discipline to practice repentance and prepare for Christ's death and resurrection.     Rhythm, participation, and costumes vary from one region of Brazil to another. In the southeastern cities of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, huge organized parades are led by samba schools. Those official parades are meant to be watched by the public, with mini parades  ("blocos")  allowing a public participation can be found in other cities. The northeastern cities of Sa...

      Here's another cool idea from www.theidearoom.net .  Give your soda bottle a little personality!      Father’s Day is just a couple of weeks away. I thought it would be fun to come up with another easy little gift item for Dad or for the Father’s in your life. This one is so simple. All you need is to grab a six pack of his favorite beverage and add some of these fun little “cover-ups” to personalize them. I chose to go with a six pack of Coca-Cola bottles in the 8 fl. oz size, mainly because they were cute and little. And cute is what it is all about right? I made some white shirts and ties to represent all the hardworking Dads… Or you can skip the white shirt and just go with a tie. And I included a “Hawaiian” shirt and sun visor for the Dad’s who like to play… Pretty simple and fun! And of course, I have pro...

    The legend of   St. Urho  originated in Northern Minnesota in the 1950's. However, there are differing opinions as to whether it began with the fables created by  Sulo Hvumaki of Bemidji , or the tales told by  Richard Mattson of Virginia . Either way, the legend has grown among North American of Finnish descent to the point where St. Urho is know celebrated across the United States and Canada, and even in Finland. St. Urho's Day  is celebrated on March 16th, the day prior to the better known feast of some minor saint from Ireland, who was alleged to have driven the snakes from that island.     The legend of St. Urho say he chased the grasshoppers out of ancient Finland, thus saving the grape crop and the jobs of Finnish vineyard workers. He did this by utter the phrase :  "Heinasirkka, heinasirkka, men   taaita hiteen"!  ( roughly translated: " Grasshopper, grasshopper, go to Hell"!). His feast is c...