Hey, Grandkids!

In a world that celebrates Mothers’ Day, Fathers’ Day, Siblings’ Day, and Dog Day—you better believe that there’s a National Grandparents’ Day. And wouldn’t you know it, Grandparents’ Day is today! I’ve previously written about the history of the day on this Blog—how it came to be and ways that you can celebrate. But today I’d like to share with you three things that you can learn from Grandma and Grandpa about life and maybe even summer camp.

Some people may think it’s hard for the younger generation to relate to their grandparents, but kids love learning about new things. Grandparents may only have ‘old tricks’, but they’re new to kids of the modern day. Here are a few things we can glean from our grandparents.

The Past
History is always more fun to learn about when you’re learning it from a source who actually lived through historical events. It can be lots of fun for kids to compare how different the world is that they are growing up in and the ones that their grandparents did. Grandparents are also typically good sources for learning about your family tree.

Skill Sets
Because grandparents grew up in a different time, they know skills that kids from your generation never had to learn such as sewing, baking, woodworking, gardening, letter-writing and so on. Grandparents can also help you out with games that you probably never heard of before. When I was younger, my grandfather taught me to play an old card game called Sheep’s Head.

Wisdom
Your grandparents have been through many more walks of life than you. Turn to them for life lessons and advice about situations where you could use the input. Grandparents know how to get through hard times and they know how to help your social skills with some playful humor.

Enjoy your visits and see what you can learn from your grandparents! And don’t forget to wish them a happy Grandparents’ Day! As always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey there, all you Nutty Folks!

Depending on your love for pecans—as well as pie—you may already know (with a certain level of zeal) that today is National Pecan Pie Day! In honor of this day, I’ve compiled a list of five interesting facts that you probably didn’t know about pecans or pecan pie.

• Since the pecan tree is native to North America, it should come as no surprise that more than 80% of the world’s annual pecan crop comes from the U.S.

•  BIG fans of pecan pie down south, it should be even LESS surprising that Albany, Georgia is the world’s pecan capitol. Albany alone holds claim to over 600,000 pecan trees! On average, each tree produces 45 pounds of pecans each year. That means Albany produces roughly 27 million pounds of pecans every year! That’s a LOT of pecans!

• An extremely heart-healthy nut, pecans deliver antioxidants, 19 vitamins and minerals, and fat—the good kind. Among other minerals, zinc is found in the pecan which is quite beneficial to the body’s testosterone production in both boys and girls.

• Roughly 78 pecans go into the average pecan pie. There are about 57 pecans in a pound, thus the average pecan pie weighs about 1.37 pounds. What does that mean? It means that, with the amount of pecans grown in Albany, Georgia, they can make roughly 19,708,029 delicious pies every year!

• Though the origin of pecan pie is somewhat hard to trace, many people credit it to the French who were introduced to the pecan by the Native Americans in the late 1800s. However, some have heard tell that pecan pie has been around since the early 1800s and originated in Georgia. There are no documented recipes that date back this far, but…you never know!

Enjoy a pecan pie of your own today and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Tea Drinkers!

Of course, there’s nothing like a hot cup of tea on a rainy day or the dead of a chilling winter, but what do you do for all those summer scorchers? You might want to try a cooler beverage. Chill your hot drink and throw some ice in there to keep your drink refreshingly COLD! If it’s a hot day in your neighborhood, then today’s perfect to celebrate Iced Tea Day.

One amazing wonder about tea is that it’s such a versatile drink. You can prepare it so many different ways. Hot or cold—the temperature of this beverage is just the tip of the versatiliTEA iceberg. In honor of Iced Tea Day today, I’ll just talk about all the different ways to make ICED Tea.

Served with or without ice, there are many different styles to iced tea:

1.) Some iced tea is sweetened. Lipton offers their iced tea powder—just add water and stir; and you can find Iced Tea in a can from brands like Peace Tea. These popular, packaged cold drinks are typically sweetened with syrup flavors like raspberry, lemon, strawberry, etc., and are usually available in unsweetened versions as well.

2.) Some tea is made infused with loose tea leaves while most chilled, herbal tea makes for good iced tea. This type of iced tea is made by steeping your tea in boiling water for somewhere around five minutes (depending on the type of tea you’re using and how hot your water is) and then chilling it.

3.) Another way to prepare iced tea is called ‘Sun Tea’. While the result is essentially the same as #2, it prolongs the steeping process as water at a cooler temperature shows some resistance to infusion of tea leaves or bags. Leaving a pitcher out for an hour in the sun gives the tea enough time to permeate the pitcher. Fill a glass full of ice and pour the contents of your pitcher for yourself. This takes the longest, but it’s pretty simple. It’s my preferred method.

Always a great way to cool off on a hot day, enjoy Iced Tea Day and, as always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Strawberry Lovers!

If you’re a big fan of strawberries—and who isn’t?—then you’ll go absolutely crazy about today! After all, it’s National Pick Strawberries Day—a great pastime for friends and families to get together for going strawberry-picking! It’s much more relaxing than say, apple-picking and, while apple-picking brings the taste of autumn, strawberry-picking epitomizes the spring season. 

In order to experience the full satisfaction a strawberry can deliver, you’ll have to have picked it yourself. Fruit farms all across the country open their gates this time of year for the general public to come and peruse these perennial plants to pick their prize strawberries. Picking your own strawberries is not only a fun adventure, it’s also a great way to meet and support your local farmers.

A favorite for lots of people, the strawberry certainly has a healthy following. How could it not? It has such a variety of possibilities like jam, pie, toppings for cereal or ice cream, salsa, the list goes on! But instead of telling you about all the ways you can prepare your picked strawberries, let me tell you some interesting, little-known facts about these curious, little wonders of nature:

1.) Strawberries—brace yourself—AREN’T berries! Berries carry seeds on the inside and there are no seeds inside strawberries. And, what most people assume the seeds are—on the outside—are not actually seeds at all, but tiny, whole fruits. Meanwhile, the red, fleshy part isn’t actually a fruit at all, but the receptacle of the strawberry plant!

2.) A Strawberry, by any other name, would taste just as sweet. Interestingly, strawberries have little to do with other berries, but are actually closely related to Roses! That’s right—that matching shade of crimson is no coincidence, it runs in the family.

3.) They’re a “berry” popular fruit (technically called an aggregate accessory fruit)—strawberries have a great number of health benefits such as lowering blood pressure, increasing good cholesterol, promoting heart health, containing a plethora of antioxidants, and more. It’s no wonder people are so crazy about them.

4.) California produces 83% of the strawberries grown in the U.S., weighing in at one billion pounds each year. If you were to line up—berry-to-berry—all the strawberries grown in California from a single year, they could wrap around the equator 15 times! That’s a lot of strawberries.

Find a nice, local farm where you and your family can spend some quality time together picking these interesting fruits off the many strawberry plants. And, as always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Explorers!

If you’re an intrepid explorer, than you probably already know that one of the best places to do your exploring is in a museum! There are all different kinds of museums and they’re all rich with the discovery and exploration of modern, historic—and sometimes PREhistoric—times! From science, art, history, natural history, and other categories, roughly 17,000 museums can be found in the U.S.Lots of small towns have their own, small history museum. And, though widely considered the least popular type of museum to visit, you’d be surprised what you can find out about the history of your own town. Some towns are able to boast battlefields and other, interesting claims to history. Today’s a good day to visit your town’s museum if you have one—it’s National Museum Day!

Easily winning the numbers, small town museums ARE considered less of an occasion than any others. For a step up I would recommend planning a visit to your closest science or art museum. These places will hit the spot when hungry for an afternoon of educational and grabbing entertainment.

In my opinion, however, the natural history museums are best. Born and raised in Milwaukee, I was spoiled with frequent trips to the Milwaukee Public Museum throughout my childhood. I love that place! For a thorough and accurate look into the prehistoric past, ancient times, and modern history, this is a great place to visit.

As opposed to the 60 minute/afternoon-long trip you’ll likely find at most science, art, or small town museums, you could spend the better part of a day browsing the three floors of the Milwaukee Public Museum’s countless exhibits, dioramas, and information signs.

Plan a trip to your closest or favorite museum soon if you can’t make it today! It’s a day sure to be brimming with fun! As always, thanks for reading.

- John