Calling all history buffs! My American Dad was of Norman English ancestry, plus we Americans tend to be Anglophiles, which is reason enough to post some quick and dirty fun facts (as opposed to scholarly facts) about England that perhaps you didn't know. Be careful when reading them, you'll catch the travel bug! ✈
1. England is part of the United Kingdom, which was formed on May 1, 1707. When Mary Queen of Scot's son, James VI of Scotland ascended the English throne as James I of Great Britain.
2. The Royal Family still leads the nation, with King Charles III currently reigning.
3. England is home to the world's oldest artifacts.
4. The English are proud of their iconic cuisine, like full English breakfasts, fish and chips, and traditional Sunday roasts. I love these dishes too!
5. England’s landscapes are beautifully diverse, with locations like the White Cliffs of Dover and the Lake District National Park.
6. The country’s Industrial Revolution changed the world and spread to mainland Europe.
7. Many popular sports were invented in England, like football, tennis, cricket, rugby, badminton, golf, baseball and hockey.
8. The nation has been home to many famous and influential people and holds some of the best-known historical structures.
9. England is in the top 20 of the largest countries in Europe.
10. England is home to over 1,500 castles, ranging from ruins to fully livable castles.
11. Anglo Saxons were the first English settlers.
12. The English flag is called the Saint Georges Cross.
13. The World Wide Web was created in England.
14. Stonehenge is older than Machu Picchu and the Great Pyramids of Giza.
15. The largest library in the world is in England.
16. There is a garden of only poisonous plants in the north of England.
17. England is close neighbors with France, with only 21 miles of ocean between them. After the Norman Conquest in 1066, French was England's official language for a time. In 1362 English became England's official language. In 1399 Henry IV was the 1st English monarch to deliver a coronation speech in English.
18. Scafell Pike is the highest point in England, at 3208 feet (or 978miles).
Lately I've become quite the lazy cook. After years of preparing dinner, I just don't want to wash a sink full of pots and pans on a daily basis. Most of the people I know prewash greasy pans by hand before loading them into a dishwasher. I do the same when I have access to a dishwasher. In Manhattan I don't wish to lose a cupboard to install a dishwasher. Also I have a big sink so if I start a prewash, I might as well finish the job with an extra wash and multiple raises.
Lately Legumes have become my easy-peasy dinner staples. Into the CrockPot they go. I've started to toss in brown rice and mixed vegetables for a complete dinner. A stock pot on a stovetop works equally as well. You just can't forget about the latter!
Although rice combined with legumes (beans, split peas or lentils) form a complete protein, meat eaters can top the chunky-stew-like-soups with diced smoked ham or smoked turkey. A side of whole grain crackers or crusty bread can complete the meal. Texture is as important as spices in dishes to make food more satisfying. A few sides or condiments of choice are the way to go!
According to Healthline, here are 9 Healthy Legumes to Eat - Be sure to click on the link to read the full nutritional value of each legume. You'll learn that legumes are good sources, not only of protein, but fiber and minerals too. What's more, I'll link you to recipes in how I often eat each legume.
1) Chickpeas, aka garbanzo beans - 269 calories per cup with 14.5 grams of protein. I don't make this one homemade but buy it: hummus. When I can't make a dish better or cheaper than readymade, I buy it.
2) Lentils - 230 calories per cup and 17.9 grams of protein.
Lentil soup recipe here. An alternate recipe is: 16 oz dried lentils, 1o cups water, 4 large chicken bouillon cubes, 1 cup brown rice, 12 oz mixed vegetables, chopped celery, and chopped onion. Spice to taste - garlic, smoked paprika, bay leaf, soy sauce, etc.
3) Peas- 134 calories per cup with 8.58 grams of protein. Split pea soup. You can also make split peas using the hearty lentil soup recipe in #2. It's as delicious yet creamier.
4) Kidney beans - 225 calories per cup with 15.3 grams of protein. I like to use kidney beans in chili.
5) Black beans - 227 calories per cup with 15.2 grams of protein. Here is a no name salad I make. Feel free to name it.:)
6) Soybeans - 298 calories per cup with 31.3 grams of protein. For soybeans, I buy tofu to add to miso soup or another meatless dish. Tofu has no flavor of it's own which makes it versatile.
7) Pinto beans - 245 calories per cup with 15.4 grams of protein. I like pinto beans, but frankly use beans interchangeably: kidney, pink, pinto, roman, or navy. My Mother's bean soup was always navy bean soup, but I'm not faithful to one bean.:) Whatever's in my cupboard goes into the pot. Bean soup. Pasta e Fagioli.
8) Navy beans - 255 calories per cup with 15 grams of protein.
9) Peanuts- 414 calories per cup with 18.9 grams of protein. Sometimes we do eat peanuts as a snack, but more often in the form of peanut butter. Here's how I make peanut sesame noodles, a popular quick dinner in my home.
Additionally, I toss lima beans into beef stew, and I like butter beans. My mom didn't make butter beans for dinner. Country people did. Good with potatoes or cornbread! Cornbread and butter beans are a complete protein.
Take it from me -- a lazy cook need not turn into an unhealthy cook. Legumes are packed with nutrients and are relatively inexpensive. Add some to your diet with the guaranteed approval of both your doctor and your wallet.
If you, too, are sometimes a lazy cook, save the meat as a topper for your soup: The payoffs: 1) You won't have to wash a greasy pot; 2) you can serve vegetarians and carnivores from the same batch; 3) leftover meatless dishes have a longer refrigerator life. Of course you can also freeze your leftovers. 4) I like to buy smoked deli ham or turkey to top soups and you save the flavors which don't disperse into your batch of soup.
In the USA our recent tariffs -- extra taxes on all consumer goods -- are driving up the cost of food and everything else not made in the USA. Retailers must now pay an extra tax (or tariff) when goods enter the country then they pass the tax onto customers in the form of higher prices. What? You think merchants are going to absorb extra taxes? Often small businesses can't afford to and will close if customers won't pay more either. Small businesses don't have the capital (or time it takes) to build factories to make the cheaper goods we get from China or Southeast Asia. Moreover the USA doesn't have the climate to grow certain food like bananas or coffee, or cocoa beans (chocolate) -- the reason we import them. Trade is what makes the USA prosperous, and consumers are great at setting prices. It's the cost we are willing to pay at the supermarket or elsewhere.
So my dear peeps, hang in there, and bon appetite on the cheap!😉😋😂
My senior Mom and I ate this dessert from Simple Food for breakfast. As I anticipated, it was too chewy to satisfy a cake or brownie craving. I'll post Simple Food's video below so you can see how easy it is to make and why I was so tempted to try it.
Note: I don't let FB track my or your activities. Click here to watch if you don't wish to give FB such permission.
Ingredients:
For the Cake --
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup warm milk
2 eggs
a pinch of salt
2 smashed bananas
4 tablespoons of cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
I added 1 scoop of Premier protein chocolate powder to the recipe.
For the Topping --
Dark Chocolate and walnuts
We're not in my kitchen today so we didn't have a loaf pan. I used an 9" x 9" square baking pan and surprisingly got more pastry than expected. I used butter flavored cooking spray, and it lifted out cleanly.
After baking, I let dark chocolate chips melt on top of the pastry while we waited for it to cool enough to eat.
Here's my review: If you crave a piece of cake or a brownie, skip this recipe. If you're trying to eat a bowl of oatmeal and want to dress it up, then wait about 40 minutes for it to bake, go for it!
Although we had no problem eating it (we were hungry waiting!), and it was nutrious, I doubt I'll make it again. Either I'll eat a bowl of oatmeal or have a piece of cake. Sometimes you can't have it both ways.
The main reason I'm featuring the gloss is because it's not sticky. The strains of your hair won't stick to your lips every time you turn your head, which is so annoying. We've all been there. The Burt's Bee's lip gloss I bought a few year's ago was so sticky I never bought it again.
E.l.f.'s color (a choice of 5) is buildable with a high shine finish. Zinc oxide, vitamin E, and hyaluronic acid are the key ingredients. It has a coconut scent, which is fine. People like makeup with a pleasant smell, right? All of e.l.f.'s cosmetics are Fair Trade Certified. They are free from the usual harmful suspects and are vegan and cruelty free.
At $7, it lasts a good long while and is sold at drugstores, Target and Walmart, so you have a great chance of catching a 2 for 1 promotion, or another type of sale. If I like a product, I will buy one, plus a spare to have one on deck.
Newly elected Leo XIV on St. Peter's Basilica balcony (May 8, 2025) and as a university student
I'm a little late in getting this post up. Although I rushed to the tv when the sight of white smoke was announced, I'm still a little stunned that a fellow North American was elected Pope. Nobody not even hardcore Vatican Watches expected it. Just imagining being in St. Peter's Square when Pope Leo XIV stepped out onto the balcony to speak to the crowd gives me chills. Our new Pope is such a pleasing mixture of humility and confidence, I was very moved watching the 2,000 year old tradition unfold on television.
Brothers Robert, John, and Louis Prevost 1958
What an honor it is to have a U.S. born Pope elected by the most diverse College of Cardinals in history to provide much needed moral leadership and compassion to the world. Imagine the weight carried on the shoulders of one human in taking on such an exalted role.
To friends on Facebook I said, the former Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost (age 69), now Pope Leo XIV ''is having a promising first day, and seems like the right man for the job. Worldly, intelligent; knows the Vatican, South America and the USA. Close with Pope Francis, and I like that he is from Chicago," in other words, a fantastic combination to be a world spiritual leader of so many adherents and non-adherents alike!
I've read that our new Pope has French and Italian ancestry (so the Italians weren't completely left out) on his father's side and Spanish (Louisiana Creole and Haitian) on his mother's side. Her maiden name was Martinez, so I presume there were some amazingly delicious meals in the Prevost home. What did Mrs. Prevost ("Ms." wasn't used in the 1950s or 60s) cook for her 3 precious little boys? Ahhh!
The new Holy Father was a math major, graduating from Villanova University in 1977 and reportedly was accepted into Harvard Law School, but instead decided to administer to the poor by becoming an Augustinian missionary for many years starting in 1985 in Peru. The Peruvians consider him their Pope, calling him Papa Leon. Translates into Lion.He also earned a Master of Divinity from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago in 1982 and received a doctorate in canon law at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, where he also lived for 12 years.
It's admirable that Pope Leo XIV knew what he wanted to do from an early age, namely to be of service to people, to lift them up and improve their lives. He prepared himself to serve God through education and by doing!
Leo I (the Great) served from 440 - 461 AD during a crucial period of theological debates when the Church was defining its doctrines. At the time a heresy claimed that Christ had only a Devine nature. Leo I played a key role in defining the dual nature of Christ as fully Devine and fully human.
Leo XIII, whose name, the newest Pope is honoring, wrote an encyclical Rerum Novarum in 1891 which addresses the rights of workers and the responsibilities of employers to offer workers fair wages, safety and dignity. Certainly the College of Cardinals knew that in our present day, another pastoral Pope is exactly what is needed, but also a globally exposed one who knows doctrine.🎯
People who expect Leo XIV to be overly liberal will surely be disappointed. The Catholic Church is slow to change but change it does do, methodically and orderly in response to changing times. So with this Pope, conservatives should also be alarmed. I am progressive, and from all accounts, Christ was progressive too, but I understand how the Church must be measured. Wise diplomacy is usually cautious. When you guide over 1 billion Catholics and have global influence, speed or sudden changes may not be your friends. Without a doubt, what His Holiness says reaches far and wide. I do think changes on controversial issues will inch their way to the surface out of necessity.
I'm happy our new Pontiff has 2 living older brothers because I think being a Pope is a lonely job without family, close friends, and perhaps a dog as a loyal companion. No matter which way he turns, he'll encounter criticism once the Honeymoon is over.
Too darn cute. Photos from CBS This Morning.
I like what a longtime friend of Pope Leo XIV, Rev Robert Hagan, said on the PBS News Hour about the new Pope's character: "He's not someone who 'looks for a fight,' but also 'won't walk away' from one. This ... suggests a man who is not combative, but also firm and resolute when faced with injustice or challenges." I see a new Pope who will take difficult issues on but I also don't envy him!
Youngest Robert with brothers Louis and John and their mother, Mildred Prevost
I'll bring the blog back home to the USA with what commentators Brooks and Capehart had to say about Pope Leo XIV's potential impact on US culture and politics.
As the famous saying goes, if you enter the Conclave as a Pope you'll leave as a cardinal. So how did Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost become the first US Pope in history? IMHO like everything else hard, high profile or elusive in life, preparation meets opportunity. The stars just have to align in the right way at the right time. We follow our intellect and passions and go where they lead us. The boy wanted to be a priest. There is no way he could have known where exactly it would lead. But he was doing what he knew he should be doing. He was willing to study, work, leave the country and serve. He put in the time. He was recognized by his bosses and peers. He was open ... and when those stars aligned and he was ready, he became the Pope. How inspiring.
I'm a history buff with half German and half English ancestry. But, Ancestry.com informs me that my DNA is not exactly 50/50. With a bit of Scandinavian (Denmark), I'm slightly more English than German, which surprises me because my Mom who was born in Germany, says she is 100% German. Her family lived in Germany without moving for 500 years or longer. So why am I not 50% German? Let's go back in time, shall we?
During the Middle Ages, the monarchs of Europe answered the Popes' calls to fight in the Crusades, and King Richard I of England, from the Plantagenet line, answered the call. At the time England also ruled across the Channel in parts of present-day France.
The following is history along with pure speculation ...
After fighting in the Third Crusade while sailing home, Richard the Lionheart and 4 attendants were shipwrecked. They tried to cross (Central Europe) the Germanies incognito to return to England only to be recognized and captured by Duke Leopold V of Austria, handed over to Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI and held for ransom.
It took 15 months for Richard's mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, who ruled as his regent in England, to raise the money to pay for his freedom. My mother's Bavarian town was one of the places of Richard's captivity. Back in the day, when kings were held for ransom, they weren't locked up in a small jail cell but in a Castle befitting their station and allowed to roam within the perimeters of a given territory while being carefully watched by their captors. Under guard they could move around but couldn't leave the boundary. So those merry men might have fraternized with the local maidens of the town, because my mother's town has a mix of German and English ancestry. My mother's nieces and nephews with 2 German parents raised in the town also have some English DNA, as does other residents of her town. There is no record of significant English migration to Southern Germany during the centuries which would also explain the town's ancestry. Is my mother a descendent of either Richard the Lionheart or one of his 4 attendants? We shall never know.
My Mom and I back in the day.
Just for fun (as we can't take this too seriously), do you think Richard I and my Mom have the same nose? She had a cousin named Richard, a popular generational name in Southern Germany. Hmm, how did that name get into the family? A coincidence or not?:)
9. German is the most widely spoken native language in Europe and is known for its long compound words, such as Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz.
10. Germany has a rich history of innovation and is the birthplace of the printing press, invented by Johannes Gutenberg in the 15th century.
11. The country is one of the world's leading automobile manufacturers, home to brands like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and Volkswagen.
12. Germany is home to more than 20,000 castles, reflecting its medieval history.
13. The Black Forest in southwestern Germany inspired the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm.
14. Germans are known for their recycling efforts, boasting one of the highest recycling rates in the world.
15. The country is a federal republic, consisting of 16 states known as Bundesländer.
16. Germany has a strong Christmas market tradition, with Nuremberg and Dresden hosting some of the oldest and most famous markets.
17. It is a member of the Schengen Area, allowing for border free travel between many European countries.
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British people roll their eyes when Americans claim they are related to royalty. Personally I don't care one way or another. In the 21st century, I'm a proud commoner.
What makes history great fun (no pun intended:) is how we are all descendants of Charlemagne. It's ultra cool and simultaneously, nothing special, as it applies to every human with European ancestry. We also have a zillion other 16 times great-grandparents, too many to count!
Richard I of England lies next to his mother Eleanor. He requested to lie at the feet of his father Henry II at the Abbey of Fontevraud (not captured in the photo) as an act of contrition for rebelling against him. All the bodies buried in the Abbey were destroyed during the French Revolution.
Richard I of England's ancestry traces back to William the Conqueror (his great-great grandfather), who was of Norman French and Viking (Norwegian) ancestry. William's Norman dynasty that ruled England integrated into a broader European landscape, including the Germanies.
Richard I was said to be his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine's favorite son. He had at least one known illegitimate son, Philip of Cognac, who lived into his 30s before disappearing (without legitimate issue) into history.📜
I love when new artifacts or documents are found or decoded like the Dead Sea Scrolls, the body of Richard III, or the letters of Mary Queen of Scots. A history buff loves when facts emerge to unravel mysteries, as well as, to debunk them!
