Sharing the Birthday Pie

Peach & blueberry pie ready for my friend who shared my birthdate and is a pie guy. He also compiles our winning stats for our monthly 5 Crowns card games. So much fun.

The pie is an adaptation of one my mother always made with rings of cherries, apples, and raisin as filling.  This one is a combination of peach filling and blueberry filling.
After making the bottom pie crust I filled the edges with the peach filling (ringing the edges but keeping it from spilling over into the center) - only a small layer.  Then I  filled the center with the blueberry filling.  Finally I filled up the peach layer on the edges.

The top was made with cut out pie crust shapes - small circles around the edge and card symbols in the center.  Note in the 5 Crowns game that we play the suits are hearts, diamond, clubs, spades, and stars - hence the stars her in this assemblage of shapes.
Ideas for creating other pie crust toppings can be found here: 
How To Make a Decorative Pie Crust - Topless Baker.  Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEdbuJceBxo
Six Easy Decorative Pie Crusts: Howdini Baking.  Youtube at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=mIrLU0Coijw
3 Amazing Pie Crusts Designs! (Braided, Leaves, and Floral Crusts). Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG-uWxhV6uc

Using these ideas - get creative and make your own designs.  Check out the basics: How to Pretty Up Your Pie with Pastry Cutouts.  http://dish.allrecipes.com/how-to-pretty-up-your-pie-with-pastry-cutouts/

Whose Birthday is September 13? #3

Whose Birthday is September 13? #3

Ten Things we know:

1. Her series of books about Little Bear was illustrated by Maurice Sendak. 
2. Born on September 13 in 1920, she died on 12 July 2012.
3. She was born in Fredericia, Denmark.
4. Moved to the United States at the age of four.
5. She was widowed at the age of 43.
6. She was a first-grade teacher in New York City and later moved to New Hampshire.
7. She remarried (1970) and after the death of her second husband, Pulitzer-winning journalist Homer Bigart (1991) she moved to North Carolina.
8. She wrote her books in longhand.
9. Her last book was Little Bear and the Marco Polo.
10. She died of complications of a heart attack, at the age of 91.
    
    
    Author #3 is Else Holmelund Minarik.  Her first husband who she married at age 20 was Walter Minarik. Before she wasa a first-grade teacher she was a journalist writing for the Daily Sentinel - a newspaper of rome, New York (curing World War II).
11. 
    

Whose Birthday is September 13? #2

What author is our #2 author to share our September 13 birthday?

Ten things about this author:

1. Born in Jackson, Mississippi on September 13, 1943.
2. Grew up in Toledo, Ohio.
3. Currently lives in Colorado.
4. Has one daughter.
5. She graduated from the University of Toledo (Ohio) in 1965.
6. Authored several books about the struggle of the African American in the deep South.
7. Stories based on her own and her family experiences.
8. Won the Newbery Award in 1977 for Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.
9. In 1987 she wrote The Gold Cadillac.
10. Other titles include Song of the Trees (Book 1 of the Logan series, 1975) and Let the Circle be Unbroken (Book 3 of the Logan series, 1981).
    
    
    
    By now you should know that the author is Mildred D. Taylor.  Learn more about Taylor on her publisher's site at http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/30681/mildred-d-taylor/.

Whose Birthday is September 13? #1

Who shares my birthday of September 13 - what author is associated with this clue?

Ten things we know about this author:

1. This author was born on September 13, 1916 in Wales and died on 23 Nov 1990.  
2. His parents came to Wales from Norway, and the author's first language was Norwegian.
3. His best known books include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
4. He served in the British Army in 1939; and then in the Royal Air Force from 1939-1946.
5. His books sold more than 250 MILLION copies throughout the world.
6.  When he was eight he was among a group of boys that put a dead mouse in a candy jar at a local sweet shop - "Great Mouse Plot of 1924"
7. When he wa in boarding school as a boy he was very lonely and wrote his mother every week.  When she died in 1967 he discovered that she saved every letter that she wrote him.
8. He was six feet, six inches tall.
9. He was a fighting Ace pilot for the British Air Force during World War II
10. He is buried in the St Peter and St Paul's Church in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, England.
    
    And if you don't already know the first author who shares my birthday is Roald Dahl --  In November 1996, the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery was opened at the Buckinghamshire County Museum in nearby Aylesbury.  

The official birthday week - Day 1

The first official birthday celebration.  Check in the next several days to see what literary people share my birthdate - September 13.

Check your skills - follow the blog.

The Best Birthday

Many years ago I got an early birthday present - exactly 1 week before my birthday -- my first son was born.
Today - September 6th is his birthday.
Happy Birthday to someone who leads the way... for three brothers and two sisters; and countless others who were/are members of his units, squads, teams etc. all over the world - 82nd Airborne, Rangers, Special Forces - and those who now serve with him as a civilian paramedic, a deputy sheriff, RWB members, Team Rubicon, and just all-around great guy.
Visit his blog at http://mikemac356.blogspot.com/
Follow him on twitter at https://twitter.com/mikemac356
Visit his medical/gun safety web site http://eighteenzulu.com/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/eighteenzulu/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/eighteenzulu or https://www.facebook.com/mike.mcelmeel

A legend before his time. 

September Birthday Notes - Sept 3

Today the birthday celebration includes FIVE CROWNS.  Once upon a time we played Euchre (always a small town Iowa game to pass the day away), and five hundred.  Never Bridge that is for the serious player and we are never serious.  So this afternoon it will be "Five Crowns" - never mind how many odd or even number will come to play, but one does need a unique card set.

We find, that since the wild card changes from hand-to-hand, as does the number of cards dealt each player, that a score card is helpful.  Here is our score card.  Download it and print 4 to a page.
So the official birthday party card game has just become Five Crowns.  Have a great time playing it with friends.

The Backstory:
The game is a rummy style game that has no Aces and no twos.  There are five suits - black spades, red hearts, yellow stars, green clovers, and blue diamonds; and two of every card in the deck.  Jokers and the featured numeric card are wild.  For example on the eight hand, eights and jokers are wild, and each player gets dealt eight cards.  On the ten hand, tens and jokers are wild, and each player gets dealt ten cards.  The object is to create enough runs or books in your hand that you can lay down all your cards at one time.  The first one to do that forces the others to earn points (not a good thing).  After the first player lays down, each of the other players get one more chance to draw (and discard), construct as many runs or books as they can, and lay those down.  The cards that could not be booked or put into a run count as points and must be recorded on the score card.  Zero is the best score.

This card game has only been around since 1996 when Set Enterprises, Inc. developed the game.  Set Enterprises, Inc. is a game publishing company based in located in Fountain Hills, Arizona.  Complete play instructions can be found on the Set Game website at https://www.setgame.com/five-crowns,
The company was founded by Marsha Jean Falco who was researching canine genetics - and ended up with a canine focused matching game titled SET. She was doing genetic research in Cambridge, England at the time the game was developed.  She has a M.S. in population genetics from Michigan State University and her B.S. in animal science from Arizona State University.  SET was released in  1991 (but was first developed in 1974) Later she developed several other card games before releasing Five Crowns in 1996.   Marsha has retired and Marsha and Robert Falco's daughter Colette Falco runs the company (2017).
 

September Birthday Notes - Sept 2

Today (September 2) is the September birthday of Penny Colman -- her books are fantastic. Visit her on face book at https://www.facebook.com/penny.colman and wish her a happy birthday; and then check out her website at http://pennycolman.com/ - while she writes of strong women perhaps my all-time favorite title is: Corpses, Coffins, and Crypts: A History of Burial. But a close second would be Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony: A Friendship That Changed the World. Penny Colman - happy happy birthday.

 This photo was taken by Coline Jenkins, the great, great grandaughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Penny Colman was speaking at the annual convention days in Seneca Falls, NY - acknowledging the first Women's Rights Convention held there in 1848.  Colman's talk was based on her book Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony: A Friendship That Changed the World.
(photo was originally published at pennycolman.com)

Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Library of Congress image

Elizabeth Cady Stanton (November 12, 1815 – October 26, 1902)
While Stanton can not be included in our birthday list for September, September played a part in her legendary status as an advocate for women's rights.

It was in September 1848 that Elizabeth Cady Stanton gave her impressive speech "Address on Woman's Rights."

The National Park Service has more information.

Susan B. Anthony
Library of Congress image

Susan Brownell Anthony (February 15, 1820 – March 13, 1906)
Anthony does not qualify for our September birthday list either - but she is certainly a person that has contributed to the image of woman who are Virgos.  Those born in September - from August 22 - September 23 are Virgos.
Virgos are very independent. They are fully able to put their intelligence to use and get things done for themselves.
Libra - September 24 - October 23. Libras like to be around other people, they are all about partnerships and groups. Libras have excellent instincts and intuition.

 International Woman's Day is celebrated annually on March 8.  This Google image was showcased in 2011 and highlighted the celebration of women.  You can prepare to celebrate the accomplishments of woman by integrating women into every curriculum focus from SEPTEMBER to the end of the school year.  Everyday... incorporate the accomplishments of women: inventors, explorers, politicians, founders of our nation --
Historical September birthdays.
823 – Ermentrude of Orléans, Queen of the Franks by her marriage to Charles the Bald (d. 869)
1657 – Sophia Alekseyevna of Russia (d. 1704)
1772 – Martha Jefferson Randolph, American daughter of Thomas Jefferson, occasionally served as hostess at the White House for her father (d. 1836)
1861 – Corinne Roosevelt Robinson, American sister of Theodore Roosevelt (d. 1933)
1866 – Eurosia Fabris, Italian saint (d. 1932)
1871 – Grazia Deledda, Italian author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1936)
1874 – Myrtle Reed, author, poet, journalist and philanthropist. Published under the pseudonym Olive Green.
1886 – Wilhelmina (Minnie) Vautrin, American missionary to China, known for saving the lives of many women and girls when the Japanese invaded Nanjing in 1937 (d. 1941)
1920 – Jayne Meadows, American actress and author
1929 – Barbara Murray, English actress
1939 – Carol Lynn Pearson, American poet and author
1939 – Kathy Whitworth, American golfer, won 88 LPGA tournaments in her career
1940 – Fatema Mernissi, Moroccan sociologist and scholar, one of the founders of Islamic feminism (d. 2015)

and in 1962 – Rachel Carson’s book, Silent Spring, is published. In it she demonstrates the connection between the use of DDT and the long-term effects on plants and animals.

Start your march to International Woman's Day - NOW with these September events.

September Birthday Notes - Sept 1

Officially declared September as THE birthday month.  The celebration has begun ... however, I began last night with friends at Biaggi's.  Fettuccine Lobster was fantastic. A creamy lobster sauce with large pieces of lobster over black fettuccine (cuttlefish ink creates the color). Tried the bread pudding for dessert -- might have chosen the cheesecake with better results.
Try our favorite September Birthday Cheesecake.

Birthday Cheesecake from McBookwords