#23 january

[dateinthelife]

23 January 1964

Paul McCartney and John Lennon record a demo for a song they're writing for Billy J Kramer in the bathroom of their suite at the George V in Paris.

[stairnaheireann]

#OTD in Irish History | 23 January:

1774 – Dudley Cosby (Baron Sydney), former MP for Carrick, commits suicide. 1803 – Death of brewer and the founder of the Guinness brewery, Arthur Guinness, in Dublin. He was also an entrepreneur and philanthropist. 1837 – Death of pianist, composer, and teacher, John Field. He was born in Dublin into a musical family, and received his early education there, in particular with the immigrant…

[wiiildflowerrr]

Steven In(appropriate) Stereo, 23 Jan 2023

[rabbitcruiser]

National Rhubarb Pie Day 

Who knew that such a tasty dessert could be made out of something that is technically classified as a vegetable?!

Though it may look similar to celery, the two are actually not related. Instead, rhubarb is surprisingly a part of the buckwheat family.

National Rhubarb Pie Day was put into place to enjoy, appreciate and celebrate the marvelous and unique flavor that can come from something so simple as a few stalks of garden rhubarb mixed with a bit of sugar and placed in a crust.

History of National Rhubarb Pie Day

A vegetable that is a bit sour when eaten on its own but turns very tart and tasty when cooked with sugar, rhubarb is the star of the show when it comes to National Rhubarb Pie Day!

When rhubarb began being cultivated in England in the 1600s, it was discovered to be a rather prolific spring vegetable. However, it took a bit longer for rhubarb to make its way to the United States. The story goes that Benjamin Franklin sent seeds for rhubarb from Scotland to Pennsylvania in 1772 and a few years later it grew in popularity in New England.

Now, rhubarb can be found growing abundantly in many parts of the world where it is used in all sorts of recipes, from desserts and cakes to muffins and jams. But, obviously, one of the most famous and beloved ways that a cook can use rhubarb in the kitchen is by making it into a delicious rhubarb pie.

National Rhubarb Pie Day is here to celebrate this humble, simple, and delicious creation!

How to Celebrate National Rhubarb Pie Day

Pie is a category of dessert that has so many different options and rhubarb pie is a unique and special expression of this tasty treat. Get to celebrating National Rhubarb Pie Day by implementing some of these ideas, or coming up with some creative ones of your own:

Make a Rhubarb Pie

One clear and sensible way to celebrate National Rhubarb Pie Day is to, of course, engage in some culinary artistry in the kitchen and whip up a little homemade, hand-crafted rhubarb pie!

Start with preparing the rhubarb by washing it, cutting off the ends and chopping it up into bite-sized pieces. Then, either prepare a homemade pie crust or use a refrigerated crust for a quick fix.

The filling for a rhubarb pie is not difficult to make and it doesn’t even require cooking it in advance (unless the rhubarb has been previously frozen). Many recipes can be found through a quick online search, where some people like to blend their rhubarb with strawberries and others prefer to let the rhubarb be the star of the show!

Typically, the filling can be made by mixing the rhubarb with lemon juice, sugar, and cornstarch and then tossing it into the pie crust. Add a top (lattice or standard), brush with egg white and bake the pie for about 45 minutes.

For a distinctly British flair, serve the slices of rhubarb pie warm and with a generous helping of cream or homemade custard.

Plant Some Rhubarb in the Garden

In honor of National Rhubarb Pie Day, perhaps it’s time to do some planting in the garden or, if it’s a bit too early in the year, at least it can be fun to do some dreaming and planning about what the garden will yield.

Rhubarb is a vegetable that grows well in cooler climates, such as the northern parts of North America or Europe. The plant loves tons of sun, but can tolerate partial shade if that’s the only option. Rhubarb crowns can be planted in late fall or early spring, but the seeds can be started inside at other times.

Of course, it is important to make the general reminder early on that the leaves of the rhubarb plant are toxic and considered poisonous to humans and animals. So those who are considering growing their own rhubarb should be aware and careful that it is tucked away safely from children and pets.

Host a National Rhubarb Pie Day Bake Off

Have some friends who really love baking pies? Well, then National Rhubarb Pie Day will be right up their alley. Host a bake off to see who gets bragging rights to say that they can make the best rhubarb pie in the area – or at least among that particular group of friends.

Decide in advance who the participants will be, determining who would like to be the baking contestants and who would enjoy the important job of being a judge! Set the rules for the bake off, including whether alternative recipes such as strawberry-rhubarb pie is allowed, and then send the people home to gather supplies and do their baking.

Meet up on the day of the contest to host a taste test to see whose rhubarb pie wins!

Get a New Rhubarb Pie Cookbook

Celebrate National Rhubarb Pie Day by learning more and strengthening those culinary skills in the kitchen through the use of books. Or just reading about it in a fun manner! Whether checking them out from the library or purchasing them in support of a local bookstore, this is the day to get those creative juices flowing.

Consider picking up a copy of one these books that include stellar information about rhubarb pie, as well as tips on growing and other fun bits:

The Rhubarb Pie Baking Book: Cooking and Baking like the Dessert Professionals by Alex Deen (2020). This little paperback offers recipes with a traditional background as well as tips and tricks for the modern baker.

Rhubarb: more than just pies by Sandi Vitt (2000). Taking things to the pie and so far beyond, this book offers tons of insight and information on how best to use a plethora of rhubarb in your kitchen.

Rhubarb Rhubarb: A Correspondence Between a Hopeless Gardener and a Hopeful Cook by Mary Jane Paterson and Jo Thompson. Share in the delightful anecdotes and stories between two women trying to share their skills with one another.

Rhubarb: The Pie Plant by Roby Jose Ciju (2013). This little booklet gets the reader started on the growing end, before the pie is ready to be baked.

National Rhubarb Pie Day FAQs

What is in rhubarb pie?

Rhubarb pie is made from rhubarb, sugar, lemon juice, orange peel, flour and butter in a pastry crust.

How to prepare rhubarb for pie?

To prepare rhubarb for pie, cut away ends and bruises, wash, and peel if desired. Then cut into bite sized pieces.

Can rhubarb pie be frozen?

Sure! Just wrap the rhubarb pie carefully in plastic wrap or foil and place in the freezer where it’s best if eaten within 6-8 months.

Do you need to peel rhubarb for pie?

Unless the stalks are very thick or it’s off season, rhubarb can be cut and baked into pie without peeling.

Do you boil rhubarb for pie?

While it isn’t completely necessary to boil rhubarb first, some people like to cook it ahead with sugar and lemon juice.

Source

[oddnews]

Subsegment: Old News, (slightly) Odd Coincidences

One of the long-running geopolitical gordian knots of our time is the question of whether Iran is poised to cross the "nuclear threshold" and what (if anything) can be done by way of intervention to prevent it becoming a nuclear power.

In 2017 for example, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace held a panel event entitled "Beyond the Nuclear Threshold" which focused on the Iran Deal.

And in July 2020, the NY Times reported that a critical threshold had been passed because Iran's stockpile of nuclear fuel was sufficiently large to make a bomb.

There are many such examples.

My interest in this story has been piqued by three or four convergent factors besides than the obvious imperative that we should all be interested in the preservation of humankind and the avoidance of mutual destruction. First, the story was of professional interest because I was involved at one stage in trying to interpret both the Iranian sanctions regime as it applied to banking and finance and assess the impact of the JCPOA on emerging regulation; second it was of personal interest, because I'm certain that "nuclear" is one of those "code words" that people use to achieve a subtextual meaning that I've never fully understood; and, third, my curiosity was piqued because I once heard someone say "Jo knows all about Israeli intelligence on Iran's nuclear programme" which was both startling and utterly perplexing to me—just at it would be to you, mutatis mutandis—but also vaguely threatening and anxiety-producing.

As to the second of these, I've given up the game of trying to interpret subtexts from an alphabetical perspective, but I will mention—because it's relevant here—that my long and deep involvement in that exercise left me with a perennial interest in the letters "NU" as they appear in the word "nuclear".

So there we have it—a variety of "nuclear" threads which have to do largely with words, not weapons, which converge only for me and which don't mean anything to anyone else at all.

But here's the (mildly) odd coincidence. On 23 January, the Institute for National Security Studies in Israel presented a strategic assessment to President Isaac Herzog which warned that Iran would soon become a "nuclear threshold state", and the term "threshold" suddenly zipped to the top of the news cycle again.

Following the presentation of the assessment, the former commander of Israel’s navy, Eliezer Marom, was reported as having said that, in light of the fact that Iran is on the threshold of obtaining nuclear weapons, it would be better to attack “now than later.”

"In my understanding, I think Israel has to attack, because the situation right now is that Iran is a threshold country - 100 percent," he replied.

That had exactly the effect one would suppose—inflamed tensions and more than a frisson of geopolitical anxiety.

Meanwhile, a cryptocurrency token named "Threshold" also hit the crypto news on 23 January when Coinbase listed it as a new asset on its roadmap:

Threshold (T), which nearly doubled in price following the listing, is the umbrella token under which two other companies and their tokens are in the process of merging (following a proposal that was adopted at the end of 2021 and initiated in February last year). Those tokens are produced by Keep Network (KEEP), and NuCypher (NU). KEEP and NU will be delisted on 6th February. Transfers of assets to Threshold from KEEP and NU have been possible from 25th January.

And that, it seems to me—the convergence of news on 23 January about Iran's IRL status as a "nuclear threshold country" and about Threshold's virtual status as a repository of value following the merger of KEEP and NU—is a mildly odd coincidence.

[oediex]

There's something so meditative about wiping the floor that you just don't get with vacuuming. Don't get me wrong, it's entirely satisfying to see the surface appear completely cleaned from under the roller, but it doesn't have the same calming effect as the sweeping movement involved in the manual labour.

Perhaps it is simply the repetitious motion, but something tells me it also has something to do with the visual of all that dust and dirt that you've somehow managed to accumulate since your last cleaning. When I vacuum, the evidence of having lived is not so blatantly visible against the tiles of my kitchen floor. It does not involve making a neat pile of the last week or so of my life only to dump it ceremoniously into the bin. There is some kind of metaphorical act manifesting there. A way of coming to terms with the reality of my existence in a physical space on this globe that we call Earth.

[northgazaupdates]

23 January 2024

Journalist Mohammed Saber Arab reports from western Gaza City following the withdrawal of occupation troops from that area. The Arabic text reads “غرب غزة اليوم" which means “west Gaza today”.

Behind him is a multi-story building that has been bombed, the outer walls are completely stripped off so that the rooms and hallways of the building are exposed, and the floors are collapsing. He overviews the destruction he observed today in West Gaza and provides a panorama of the destruction in the around area, including a road which has been destroyed by IOF bulldozers and is strewn with the debris.

Source: Mohammed Saber Arab via Stories on Instagram

[dailykafka]

— January 23, 1922 / Franz Kafka diaries

[kruk-art]

January Day 23 - Gargoyles

[dogstomp]

Dogstomp #3271 - January 23rd

Patreon / Discord Server / Itaku / Bluesky

[dateinthelife]

23 January 1963

On this date, Mal Evans punches out a windshield while driving:

I do remember one incident: going up the motorway when the windscreen got knocked out by a pebble. Our great road manager Mal Evans was driving and he just put his hat backwards on his hand, punched the windscreen out completely, and drove on. This was winter in Britain and there was freezing fog and Mal was having to look out for the kerb all the way up to Liverpool.

Paul McCartney, Anthology

[stairnaheireann]

#OTD in Irish History | 23 January:

1774 – Dudley Cosby (Baron Sydney), former MP for Carrick, commits suicide. 1803 – Death of brewer and the founder of the Guinness brewery, Arthur Guinness, in Dublin. He was also an entrepreneur and philanthropist. 1837 – Death of pianist, composer, and teacher, John Field. He was born in Dublin into a musical family, and received his early education there, in particular with the immigrant…

[wiiildflowerrr]

@Ashton5SOS: Higher levels in 2017.

Guess who's back in the studio today @5sos 📷 @HOEG

23 January 2017

[rabbitcruiser]

International Sticky Toffee Pudding Day 

International Sticky Toffee Pudding Day is celebrated annually on January 23. Considered a British classic by various culinary experts, sticky toffee pudding is also widely enjoyed in Australia and New Zealand as sticky date pudding. Although the name indicates pudding, some say that this dessert is a cross between a pudding and a cake. But it doesn’t really matter. Today is about celebrating and enjoying a moist sponge cake made with finely chopped dates covered in toffee sauce often served with custard, cream, or ice cream. Sounds really sweet and yummy.

History of International Sticky Toffee Pudding Day

The origin of sticky toffee pudding is still a mystery and a continuing dispute within the culinary industry. So far, there are three claims for the invention of sticky toffee pudding. Yorkshire claims that it was invented by the landlady of the Gait Inn in Millington in 1907. Cumbria claims that it dates back to the Sharrow Bay Country House, where an “icky sticky toffee sponge” developed by Francis Coulson and Robert Lee appeared on the menu in 1960. Scottish claims that the sticky toffee pudding was first served in 1967 at the Udny Arms Hotel in Newburgh, Aberdeenshire.

In 1989, Howard and Jean Johns of Cartmel Village Shop in Cumbria developed their version of sticky toffee pudding for takeaway. They first came to Cartmel in 1971. They had been making their version of sticky toffee pudding since 1984, and their creation became popular. They made only 25 puddings per week at first. Now, they make a million per year and they are sold all over the world. They say that their pudding contains 100% natural ingredients with no preservatives. That’s probably one of the keys to their success.

There are so many recipes for sticky toffee pudding. Sticky toffee pudding itself contains two essential components. Number one is the moist sponge cake made with finely chopped dates. It is usually light and fluffy. Number two is the toffee sauce made from cream and sugar. Sticky toffee pudding is often served with vanilla custard or vanilla ice cream to complement its flavor. International Sticky Toffee Pudding Day is a day to experiment with it by making one from scratch.

International Sticky Toffee Pudding Day timeline

1907 The Gait Inn

The landlady of the Gait Inn in Millington makes sticky toffee pudding.

1960 The Sharrow Bay Country House

A sticky toffee sponge developed by Francis Coulson and Robert Lee appears on the menu of the hotel.

1967 The Udny Arms Hotel

A sticky toffee pudding is served in the Udny Arms Hotel.

1989 Cartmel Village Shop

Howard and Jean Johns of Cartmel Village Shop in Cumbria develop takeaway sticky toffee pudding.

International Sticky Toffee Pudding Day FAQs

Can you freeze sticky toffee pudding?

Yes, you can freeze sticky toffee pudding for up to three months.

Who invented the pudding dessert?

It is said that the pudding is a British invention developed from the sausages that the Romans brought into the country in the first century B.C.

What is the oldest British dessert?

Bread and butter pudding is one of the oldest recorded British desserts, dating back to the early 1700s.

International Sticky Toffee Pudding Day Activities

Tell your family and friends

Make your version

Try the takeaway pudding

Tell them about the special day and invite them over. You may want to share the joy of enjoying this delicious dessert with your loved ones. You can also exchange recipes if they have their own versions of sticky toffee pudding.

You may try your own recipe for sticky toffee pudding that you haven’t made yet. Today is the best time for you to realize it and see how it tastes. Hopefully, it will be as good as you expected.

Cartmel Sticky Toffee Pudding is so popular and contains 100% natural ingredients. You may want to buy one as a comparison for your version of sticky toffee pudding.

5 Facts About Dates You Need To Know

They are nutritious

They have numerous types

They’ve been around for a long time

Date palm tree is a national symbol

They provide necessary minerals

Dates are a good source of fiber, rich in calories, calcium, potassium, magnesium, and iron.

The United Arab Emirates has over 199 different types of dates, with around 44 million palm trees.

Dates have been around for thousands of years and are very popular in the Middle East.

The date palm tree is the national symbol of Saudi Arabia and is known as the “tree of life” in the Middle East.

Dates provide all the necessary minerals and vitamins the body needs.

Why We Love International Sticky Toffee Pudding Day

It’s delicious

A day to try it

To experiment with it

Sticky toffee pudding is a delicious dessert. Served with vanilla ice cream, it is perfect. It is one of the best dishes for people with a sweet tooth.

Maybe some of us never tried sticky toffee pudding. International Sticky Toffee Pudding Day is the best time to try this classic.

International Sticky Toffee Pudding Day allows us to experiment with this dessert. We can experiment with the toffee sauce especially.

Source

[mossbeds]

I've never felt so far away.