DECK THE HOLIDAY'S

   Finely grated lime peel, a tangy lime glaze, and crunchy pistachios brighten up this old-school favorite. Ingredients cake 1 cup cake flour 1 1/2 cups superfine sugar, divided 1/4 teaspoon salt 10 large egg whites, room temperature 2 teaspoons finely grated lime peel 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon cream of tartar lime syrup and lime glaze 1/2 cup sugar 4 tablespoons fresh lime juice, divided 1/2 cup unsalted raw pistachios (about 2 ounces), finely chopped in processor 1/2 cup powdered sugar special equipment 10-inch-diameter angel food cake pan with 4-inch-high sides and removable bottom (do not use nonstick pan) KITCHEN TIP Be sure not to use a nonstick pan or to grease or butter the cake pan for this cake. Because this cake is cooled upside down, you want it to stick to the sides a bit. If your angel food cake pan doesn't have feet, have a metal funnel or a bottle with a slim neck nearby. You'll invert the tube of the pan onto ...

    During Halloween season, when images of ghosts and goblins start to inhabit our consciousness, it is important to remember that people are not the only ones who have been known to return to our world of perception as spirits, apparitions, phantoms or poltergeists. Dogs, cats, sheep, horses, and cattle have been known to haunt human beings throughout the history of folklore.     Typically, parasychologists consider ghostly animals as those creatures whose deaths were unusually emotional in some way, and that their new identity of a ghost is a curse that never allows them to est. Sometimes they are harmless, although frightening. However if they appear colored dark black than usually they represent a premonition that something dire is about to happen. In Trucker lore, the image of a black dog is usually the ultimate sign of dread and bad luck.     In East Anglia generally, whenever someone was o their death bed, people would say ...

The History     5000 years ago, people don’t have surnames, they are only identified through their occupation. Labrador (meaning laborer) identifies those who perform hard work in the fields. San Isidro is one of them, a tenant of a certain land. Despite his tardiness he always finishes his tasks for that day. His landlord wondered how the laborer finished his work despite being late, so one time he went to the field to see for himself how San Isidro does his job. Upon arriving at the field he saw an angel plowing the field. In shock and awe the landlord knelt, a scene immortalized in various images of San Isidro Labrador. The Festival     Pulilan Carabao Festival was created in honor of the carabao, the farmer’s companion in the fields and his helping hand during plantation and harvest, but the main reason on why it was created is to honor their patron saint, San Isidro de Labrador.     Before the festival, the populac...

    Myths and legends are a part of virtually every culture. One of the most interesting legends of Russian culture is that of Baba Yaga. She is, however, not unique to Russia. There are similar stories about her, under other names, in Poland as well as in the Czech Republic.     The figure of Baba Yaga is most often pictured as that of an old hag on a broomstick, reminiscent of the kitchen witches we often see today. Some believe that she might have been the precursor for the ugly, old crones that most often represent witches at Halloween.     In truth, however, Baba Yaga is a complicated creature associated as much with fertility and fate as she is with death. Some believed that she also had the gift of prophecy and great wisdom. However, for reasons never understood, she seldom chose to use those skills without exacting a gruesome payment. Anyone wishing to partake of Baba Yaga's wisdom had to take on a challenge, which beg...

    Most ghostly experiences along roadways happen at night. The ghosts that are reportedly seen along these roadways vary from subtle wisps to full-fledged, seemingly corporeal bodies that get into the car and carry on conversations.     Many road-ghosts just walk down the road where they were killed, or appear alongside a driver hoping to catch a ride back to their home. Sometimes ghosts move alongside a car as it speeds down the highways and still others appear abruptly in front of the vehicle, nearly causing an accident.     Haunted highways are not only occupied by ghosts, but also phantom cars. Sometimes, these phantom cars appear in the rear view mirror as two headlights (that quickly disappear), other times, a vehicle will allow a car to pass only to discover there is no car behind them after all.     This type of paranormal activity as legend throughout the world, but to experience it is a rare occurrence...

    San Isidro is the patron saint of the peasants and laborers and is also the patron saint of Madrid. Tradition has it that on May 15th the people of Madrid are to make a pilgrimage to San Isidro's meadow to celebrate his day and to drink the holy water of his fountain in his hermitage's patio. Madrid's biggest "fiesta" is celebrated yearly starting on the Friday before the 15th and running until the following Sunday, 9 days of Saintly jubilee throughout the Comunity of Madrid.     You can visit the church of the same name on calle Toledo - built over the site where the miracle purportedly took place - about two blocks from the Plaza Mayor. The church holds a small museum with exhibits including the famous well along with a small collection of archaeological findings excavated in the region of Madrid.     Like most in Spain, this Madrid festival has largely lost its religious character. Instead, the city government us...

In his recent autobiography, Ernest Borgnine reveals that his friend George Lindsay, Goober on "The Andy Griffith Show", turned down the part of "Mr. Spock" on TV's "Star Trek" . Lindsay, by the way, started out as a science teacher. James Whale said his Frankenstein (1931 star, Boris Karloff. "His face fascinated me. I made drawings of his head, adding sharp bony ridges where I imagined the skull might have joined". The U.S. Air Force refused to help in the filming of Howard Hawks' The Thing (1951), because the theme of the movie was counter to the Air Force's claim that flying saucers don't exist. In fact, one crew member (Dewey Martin) reads a quote from Air Force regulations denying flying saucers to the others as they are flying near the UFO crash site. In George Pal's War of the Worlds (1953), the unique Flying Wing aircraft that drops the atom bomb on the advancing Martians was a prototyp...