Happy Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Hymn
We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing;
He chastens and hastens His will to make known;
the wicked oppressing now cease from distressing:
sing praise to his Name, he forgets not his own.
Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining,
ordaining, maintaining his kingdom divine;
so from the beginning the fight we were winning:
thou, Lord, wast at our side: all glory be thine!
We all do extol thee, thou leader triumphant,
and pray that thou still our defender wilt be.
Let thy congregation escape tribulation:
thy Name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!
Words: Nederlandtsche Gedenckclanck, 1626;
trans. Theodore Baker, 1894.
Music: Kremser
Enjoy this day with your family and friends.
Veterans’ Day 2025
Armistice Day, Veterans’ Day, Remembrance Day
The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month…
In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe;
To you, from failing hands, we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Written by Lt-Colonel John McRae (1915)
D-Day
It was 81 years ago today.
This is the SS Jeremiah O’Brien. She was present at D-Day, making many Channel Crossings to support the effort.
She was almost scrapped, but was lovingly restored and she even made the trip from San Francisco back to Normandy for the 50th anniversary.
She’s moored at Pier 45 in San Francisco and can be toured.
There’s No “Saving” in Daylight Saving Time
There’s no “Saving” in Daylight Saving Time. None. No daylight is saved. Cutting off the bottom of the blanket and sewing it to the top doesn’t make the blanket any longer.
Time Zones were established in 1883 mostly for the Transcontinental Railroads. At that time there were four, Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific.
In 1918, the Interstate Commerce Commission was given responsibility over time coordination for transportation and the five time zones we use today were established, Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific, and Alaska. Hawai’i time is one hour behind Alaska Standard Time. It’s the same as Alaska Daylight Time because Hawai’i doesn’t participate in Daylight Time. Arizona switches between Pacific and Mountain Time because it too doesn’t participate in Daylight Time.
Daylight time was implemented at this time (March 19, 1918) to save fuel during WWI for War Industries and to extend the working day. The Daylight time part of the law was repealed on August 20, 1919.
Daylight time was brought back during WWII (February 1942) with a sunset of six months after the end of the war -or- such time as designated by a concurring resolution. It actually took Congress to pass a bill. Congress passed H.R. 3974 which became the law “To provide for the termination of daylight saving time, ” 59 Stat. 537.
In 1966 Congress passed the Uniform Time Act resetting the time zones and setting Daylight Time from the last Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October.
In 1973, in a misguided attempt to “save energy” Congress passed the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act of 1973. It was set to enact Permanent Daylight time from January 6, 1973 to October 26, 1975, It was so unpopular that HR 16102 amended it on October 2nd, 1974 to resume the last Sunday in February of 1975 to October 26, 1975 and continue normally thereafter.
The dates that Daylight Time have started and ended have changed, mostly starting earlier and earlier, from the last Sunday in April to now the first Sunday in March. The end of Daylight Saving only just changed this century from the last Sunday in October to the first Sunday in November, leaving Halloween with a little more light after school for trick-or-treaters.
Daylight time has gone from six months of the year to eight months of the year.
But Standard time is the time of the Earth. It’s when the sun is overhead at noon.
Changing time twice a year is disruptive to schedules, both human and animal. It’s disruptive for children. The more light in the evenings, while many adults may find it welcome, can make it hard for children to get to sleep.
If Daylight time were to be made permanent sunrise wouldn’t be until 9:00 or nearly so in December when many children are trying to get to school, either walking or at bus stops.
Sure the days get shorter, but they get longer too. The Spring and Fall Equinoxes are when the day and night are equal in length. The Winter and Summer Solistices are when we have the Longest Night and the Longest Day. It happens every year and no amount of fiddling with the clocks will change anything.
Keep Standard Time permanent like Hawai’i, Arizona, and Puerto Rico.
Chicken Tikka Masala
International Eat a Tasty Animal for PETA Day is coming up and I’ll be posting and linking to recipes from now until then. Here’s the sixth.
IEATAPETA (March 15) Recipe 6
This one is from Anthony O’Shaughnessey via X.
Kielbasa with Cannellini and Greens
International Eat a Tasty Animal for PETA Day is coming up and I’ll be posting and linking to recipes from now until then. Here’s the fifth.
IEATAPETA (March 15) Recipe 5
This is one of the recipes in my arsenal for a quick dinner.
Kielbasa with Cannellini and Greens
Kielbasa or Smoked Sausage
1 15-ounce can of cannellini beans
1 medium onion diced
1 15-ounce can petite diced tomatoes
1 bag fresh baby spinach or 1 bag frozen cut-leaf spinach
Cut the sausage into bias-cut rounds 1/4″-1/2″ thick or dice into 1/2″ cubes. Cook over medium heat, rendering out the fat and browning the meat. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Add the beans, (rinsed or not), the tomatoes (with juices), and the spinach. Cook until the fresh spinach is wilted or the frozen spinach is completely defrosted and cooked through.
Serve over rice.
Jacques Pépin’s Chicken Thighs with Garlic Spinach
International Eat a Tasty Animal for PETA Day is coming up and I’ll be posting and linking to recipes from now until then. Here’s the fourth.
IEATAPETA (March 15) Recipe 4
Today we’ll let Jacques Pépin show us how to make Chicken Thighs with Garlic Spinach!
Easy Spaghetti Dinner
International Eat a Tasty Animal for PETA Day is coming up and I’ll be posting and linking to recipes from now until then. Here’s the third.
IEATAPETA (March 15) Recipe 3
Today we’d been shopping and I needed something that was really easy and fast to put together so we picked up a jar of spaghetti sauce (tomato and basil), a pound of ground beef (pork or sausage would do as well), and a loaf of garlic bread. I already had some bucatini noodles at home. Because of the garlic bread, I cut down on the amount of pasta.
Brown the meat while you’re preheating the oven to heat the garlic bread and cooking the pasta. Add the jarred pasta sauce to the browned meat, add the drained pasta to the sauce, mix it up, serve with the garlic bread and enjoy!
Pork Chops With Apples
International Eat a Tasty Animal for PETA Day is coming up and I’ll be posting and linking to recipes from now until then. Here’s the second.
IEATAPETA (March 15) Recipe 2
This recipe is from Taste of Home. The pork chops are browned, cooked on each side until the center reads 145ºF. Then the thinly sliced apples are cooked in butter, brown sugar, cinammon, and nutmeg making a delicious sauce to serve on top or on the side.
Dad’s Hamburger Soup
International Eat a Tasty Animal for PETA Day is coming up and I’ll be posting and linking to recipes from now until then. Here’s the first.
IEATAPETA (March 15) Recipe 1
This soup is easy to make with what’s on-hand in the freezer and pantry and comes together fairly quickly.
Dad’s Hamburger Soup
One bag of frozen mixed vegetables
One can of diced tomatoes with juices
One or two cans of whichever type of beans you like, cannellini, navy, pinto, red, black, etc.
One medium onion, diced
Two to three cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
salt
pepper
One one-liter box of beef broth or stock
One to two pounds of ground beef.
Mix the ground beef with about 1/2 a cup of the broth. **see note
Cook the onion in olive oil in a large pot until translucent, then add the garlic.
Add the beef and brown it, breaking up any clumps. Season with salt and pepper. Add Worcestershire sauce.
Add the rest of the broth, the frozen vegetables, and the cans of tomatoes and beans. You can rinse the beans or dump them in with the aguafaba.
Macaroni or other small pasta noodles (or rice) could also be added to bulk up the soup if you want to just add more broth or stock.
Feel free to season with any other seasonings you like. It’s even better the next day!
**note
Adding liquid (water or stock or broth) to the ground meat allows it to be smaller clumps when you brown it so it’s not in big chunks. I’ll use water, but if it’s a soup where I’m already using stock or broth, I’ll use that instead.
