Word-Wednesday for June 19, 2019

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac for Word-Wednesday, for June 19, 2019, the 25th Wednesday of the year,  the 170th day of the year, with 195 days remaining.


Nordhem Lunch:


Earth/Moon Almanac for June 19, 2019
Sunrise: 5:20am; Sunset: 9:30pm; 9 seconds more daylight today
Moonrise: 11:32pm; Moonset: 7:22am, waning gibbous


Temperature Almanac for June 19, 2019
                Average        Record         Today
High            74                  98              75
Low             53                  33              54


June 19 Celebrations from National Day Calendar

• National Coconut Day
• National Beautician’s Day
• National Chocolate Pudding Day
• National Parchment Day
• Juneteenth, also known as Juneteenth Independence Day or Freedom Day, is an American holiday that commemorates the June 19, 1865, announcement of the abolition of slavery in the U.S. state of Texas, and more generally the emancipation of enslaved African Americans throughout the former Confederate States of America. [There is work yet to be done.]

June 19 Riddle
Why is a hen immortal?*


June 19 Pun
So a car full of Irish nuns is sitting at a traffic light in downtown Dublin, when a bunch of drunk hooligans pull up alongside the sisters in a Subaru. “Hey, show us your teets, ya bloody penguins!” shouts one of the drunks.

Quite shocked, Mother Superior turns to Sister Mary Immaculata and says, “I don't think they know who we are; show them your cross.”

Sister Mary Immaculata rolls down her window and shouts, “Piss off, ya fookin’ little wankers, before I come over there and rip yer balls off!”

Sister Mary Immaculata then rolls up her window, looks innocently back at Mother Superior, and asks, “Did that sound cross enough?”


June 19 Notable Historic Events, Literary or Otherwise, from On This Day

• 1910 Father’s Day celebrated for 1st time.
• 1973 The Rocky Horror Picture Show stage production first opens in London.

June 19 Author/Artist/Character Birthdays, from On This Day

• 1623 Blaise Pascal.
• 1897 Moe Howard.
• 1905 George Voskovec [Jirí Wachsmann], Czech actor, 12 Angry Men, Somewhere in Time.
• 1927 Karel Kupka, Czech composer.
• 1947 Salman Rushdie.
• 1954 "Taz" Tasmanian Devil, Warner Bros. cartoon character.
• 1978 Garfield

Words-I-Looked-Up-This-Week Writer's Challenge
Make a single sentence (or poem) from the following words:

• bumbledom: petty local bureaucracy; officious and pompous behavior by minor officials; officials of this type collectively.
• Giffen good: a product for which demand increases as the price increases and falls when the price decreases.
• monopsony: a market situation in which there is only one buyer.
• mountebank: a person who deceives others, especially in order to trick them out of their money; a charlatan.
• mullered: drunk, extremely intoxicated.
• orgulous: haughty.
• philostorgy: parental love; natural affection.
• strawberry moon: the full moon in June closest to the summer solstice, so named because this is the time of year when wild strawberries begin to ripen.
• turbot: a European flatfish of inshore waters, which has large bony tubercles on the body and is prized as food.
• typophile: a lover of printed matter or typography. [What’s your favorite font?]

June 19 Word-Wednesday Feature
Rhubarb

rhubarb: n., the thick leaf stalks of a cultivated plant of the dock family, which are reddish or green and eaten as a fruit after cooking; the noise made by a group of actors to give the impression of indistinct background conversation or to represent the noise of a crowd, especially by the random repetition of the word “rhubarb” with different intonations; a heated dispute.

Grown in China and Tibet, rhubarb was imported into ancient Europe by way of Russia. Dated to originate in the late 14th century, from Old French rubarbe, from Medieval Latin rheubarbarum, from Greek rha barbaron "foreign rhubarb," from rha "rhubarb," perhaps ultimately from a source akin to Persian rewend "rhubarb" (associated in Greek with Rha, ancient Scythian name of the River Volga) + barbaron, neuter of barbaros "foreign" [i.e., barbarian].

In its English form, rhubarb subsequently passed through two etymological transformations. In the first, attributed to the circa 1852 practice by the theater company of English actor Charles Kean (1811–1868) at the Princess’s Theatre, London, actors mumbled the word rhubarb repetitively to mimic the sound of indistinct conversation, because it does not have harsh-sounding consonants or clear vowels. Subsequently, its transformation with respect to meaning "a heated dispute" can be traced to 1938 when it was first used by broadcaster Garry Schumacher to refer to a heated dispute on the field.

'Tis the season of rhubarb pie, and my favorite recipe from Saveur Magazine, appears below. If you have other rhubarb recipes, please leave your recipe as a comment.

INGREDIENTS
3 ¼ cups flour; substitute ¼ cup arrowroot or corn starch; add 1 tsp. psyllium to flour
14 tbsp. [0.875 cup] unsalted butter, cubed and chilled, plus more, melted, for brushing
2 tsp. kosher salt
4 cups roughly chopped fresh or frozen, thawed, rhubarb
2 cups sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1 tsp. vanilla extract; cinnamon
2 eggs
Vanilla ice cream, to serve (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Pulse 3 cups flour, butter, and 1 tsp. salt in a food processor until pea-size pieces form. Add ½ cup ice-cold water; pulse until dough forms. Form into a ball; halve and form into two disks. Wrap; chill for 1 hour.

2. Heat oven to 350°.
In a bowl, toss together remaining flour and salt, along with rhubarb, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and eggs; set filling aside.
Unwrap dough; roll both disks into 11"-wide x 1⁄8"-thick circles. Transfer one circle to a 9" deep-dish pie pan; mound filling inside.
Transfer second dough circle over top of pie; trim and crimp edges. Brush dough with butter and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake until golden and bubbling, about 1 hour; let cool and serve with ice cream on top, if you wish.


Be better than yesterday, learn a new recipe today, try to stay out of trouble - at least until tomorrow, and write when you have the time.

Because her son never sets.*