SADDLE CREEK - Interesting Stuff

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Here are some interesting things - Enjoy

Happy New Year

Hours of happy times with friends and family
Abundant time for relaxation
Prosperity and new opportunity
Plenty of love when you need it the most
Youthful excitement at life's simple pleasures

Nights of restful slumber
Everything you need and deserve
Wishing you love and happiness

Years and years of good health
Enjoyment and mirth
Angels to watch over you
Remembrances of a happy year!

A Jar of Nothing Gift

For this project all you need is an empty jar.

You can print this saying out onto some adhesive label paper suitable for your printer or print it onto normal plain paper. Use some clear craft glue to adhere it to the jar.

If you want to go all out you can add some ribbon to the jar and even box it up for a great gag gift.

--The Saying---
Did you say nothing?
When you were asked what you wanted for
Birthday, Anniversary, Graduation or Christmas.
Don't you remember saying NOTHING
Well this time someone heard you, searched
high and low and found this perfect gift for you

Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Don't you love the smell of fresh popped corn? Popcorn's history dates back over 5,000 years ago. It's believed by archaeologists and researchers to be the oldest of a group of five sweet corns; Indian corn, pod corn, popcorn, sweet corn and field corn. Ancient corn pollen (not popcorn variety) has been found and judged to be 80,000 years old. This pollen was found two hundred feet below where the site of Mexico City sits today.

Popcorn was originally grown in Mexico but somehow it had spread globally through India, China and Sumatra years before the first European explorers arrived on North America's shores.

Popcorn ears over 5,600 years old was found in the Bat Cave in New Mexico in 1948 and 1950. The size of these ears of popcorn ranged from 1/2 inch to 2 inches long and are the oldest ears of popcorn known.

Popcorn was popped by throwing it on sizzling hot stones tended over a raging campfire. Naturally, as it popped it shot off in various directions. The game was to catch the popcorn and the reward was snacking on it.

Grains of popcorn over 1,000 years old were discovered on Peru's east coast. Preservation methods of the Peruvian Indians was so advanced that 1,000 years later, this corn still pops.

The Indians of North and South America popped corn 2,000 years ago. Teenage girls today would most likely balk at wearing popcorn to the prom but Christopher Columbus, in 1492, observed West Indian natives wearing popcorn corsages as well as using popped corn to decorate ceremonial headdresses. Columbus noted in his memoirs that Indians sold popcorn to his sailors.

Cortez, another European global explorer, wrote in his diaries Aztecs decorated ceremonial garb with popped corn. He noted it symbolized goodwill and peace and how the Aztecs made necklaces and other ornaments for the god's statues with the grain, especially that of the god Tialoc, the god of rain, fertility and maize (corn).

An amazingly clear documentation of popcorn comes from an early account of a Spaniard. He records observations of a ceremony honoring the Aztec god watching over fishermen. "They scattered before him parched corn, called momchitl, a kind of corn that bursts when parched and discloses its contents and makes itself look like a very white flower; they said these were hailstones given to the god of water."

French explorers, about 1612 in the Great Lakes region, made mention in their documents the use of popcorn by the Iroquois. This popcorn was popped in pottery with heated sand. The Frenchmen took part in an Iroquois dinner that included popcorn soup and popcorn beer.

Popcorn was spreading through almost all tribes of North and South America by the time the Pilgrims arrived. Quadequina, a brother of Chief Massasoit of the Wampanoag tribe brought popcorn to the first Thanksgiving dinner in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The Indians brought popcorn to many of the meetings with colonists as a goodwill gesture ‑ kind of like their contribution to the potluck meal.

Ancient poppers made of soapstone, pottery and metal have been found in Indian excavation sites. Most of these have tripod legs and are large clay containers with lids to be set directly in the fire. They were used with and without oil, depending on preference.

Some Indian tribes discovered the delicacy of popping oiled popcorn while it was still on the cob. Somehow the corn stayed attached to the cob and it was eaten in the same manner as corn on the cob. This is the ancestor of buttered popcorn. The Winnebago Indians have a long history of enjoying popcorn on the cob, stabbing a stick through the cob and holding the ear close to the fire.

During this time, crude popcorn poppers were being invented. Some were small mesh baskets fashioned with a handle made by blacksmiths. Poppers have been found measuring up to eight feet across to handle large amounts.

The colonists loved popcorn so much they served it with sugar and cream for breakfast. This was the very first puffed breakfast cereal.

Popcorn carts were seen on every street always following the crowds after their invention in 1885. These were steam and gas poppers easily pushed through parks, fairs, carnivals, conventions and expositions. Home versions of popcorn poppers were invented in 1925 and quickly snapped up by those able to afford them. Believe it or not, poppers started being manufactured by young teenagers in junior‑high metal shop classes to keep up with the demand.

Popcorn eating thrived until the Great Depression. It was one of the few luxuries families could afford. Sugar was rationed and sent overseas to soldiers during World War II so candy was scarce. Because of this, the American consumer ate more popcorn, in fact, three times more popcorn than usually consumed.

However, this upswing was temporarily doomed. As television came into existence and going to movie theaters slowed down, so did popcorn snacking. It took a few years for people to get back into the popcorn habit in front of the small screen. But as you can see Jolly, Jiffy Pop and Orville Redenbacher rake in billions of dollars and popcorn enthusiasts live on.

The Pap ago Indians of Arizona still to this day pop corn in clay pots up to eight feet wide. These pots are known as 'ollas'. Researchers have documented these poppers go back in design 1,500 years to the South American Indian and Mexican cultures. Interesting Facts about Popcorn

Popcorn: the long‑running success at the concession stand Popcorn is and will probably always be the number one hit at the concession stand: It can be easily produce, attractively displayed, and has for decades enjoyed the greatest popularity among the theater audience. Looking back: corn in early Mexico The origins of the coveted snacks can be traced back very far: archeological findings reveal that the corn plant was already cultivated in Mexico’s central plateaus around 2,500 BC. To the Aztecs, corn was not only used as an important food source, but also as ornaments in head decorations, or even as oracle pieces: experienced medicine men would throw the kernels into an open fire and tell the future according to their ‘popping direction.' In 1493, the explorer Christopher Columbus brought the corn to Europe. Extensive cultivation, however, did not take place until the invention of the plow in the mid‑18th century. The invention of the popcorn machine In 1885, the American Charles Cretors invented the popcorn machine. Actually, his newly designed patent was originally a peanut roaster, to which he simply added a top part for popcorn production. The real breakthrough for C. Cretors & Co., however, came at the Columbian Exhibition in Chicago in 1893, when the first mobile, steam driven popcorn machine was introduced to a large, pop‑eyed public. A snack establishes itself

In the United States, popcorn was immensely popular from the very beginning: In the early 1900s, popcorn wagons, drawn by horses, were seen on nearly all festivals and fairs. And in the Golden Twenties, the horse wagons were replaced by more powerful, HP‑driven ‘popcorn‑mobiles.' During the depression, popcorn, with the reasonable price of only five cents, was one of the very few luxury goods that the many impoverished families could afford. And when candy production hit a low during the 2nd World War, as sugar was sent overseas to the US troops, popcorn consumption suddenly even tripled.

In the mid‑80s, the popcorn machine – and with it also popcorn in general – was finally established by OCTAGON in German film theaters as well.

By the way: Marion, Ohio (USA), is proud to be home to the only popcorn museum in the world – featuring a large number of historical popcorn machines. Pop the question: How does popcorn work?   When a popcorn kernel heats up, the moisture inside the kernel expands until the hard shell cannot withstand the pressure and explodes. This takes place at a temperature of around 240 to 260°C. In a fraction of a second, the over‑heated starch inside the kernel puffs up by the moisture pressure, forming a white fluffy solid and then immediately cooling off. Through the rapid cooling, it solidifies shortly before the final part of the ‘explosion.’ Popcorn is thus in fact nothing more than a tiny ‘frozen explosion.’

Native Americans had a less scientific explanation how corn kernels turned into popcorn: It was believed that little spirits lived inside the kernels, who, when their ‘homes’ were heated, were instantly disturbed and would angrily burst out of the kernels. Not every kind of corn can become popcorn For the production of popcorn, only a certain kind of maize kernels can be used; they have to contain the needed moisture‑filled hollows. Their main cultivation areas are the USA, Argentina, and the south of France; whereas the very best quality popcorn comes from Indiana and Ohio. Even among the right sorts of popcorn, there are differences in quality: a skilled professional would recognize a real premium sort of corn by characteristics such as its popping volume (between 1:44 and 1:48), the amount of kernels per gram (preferably less than 75 kernels per 10 g corn), and a moisture content of about 15 percent at 70°F. Pop goes the kernel: this is how a popcorn machine works The operational principle of today’s popcorn machines is easily explained: the machine contains a steel kettle which includes a dumping mechanism for easy emptying of ready popcorn. The kettle is electrically powered, allowing for the corn to get heated to more than 250°C in no time. On most machines, an agitator, reaching down into the kettle, provides for continual stirring of the corn and sugar (or salt), thereby preventing it from burning. The kettle discovered with a light tin lid, which is automatically lifted when the pressure of the popping kernels increases. Many machines also feature a heated base‑plate to keep the fresh popcorn warm. Pop‑cornucopia: Nutritional Facts Popcorn consumption and a sound diet are in no way contradictory: popcorn contains plenty of fibers, potassium, vitamins B1 and B2, and energy‑providing carbohydrates. What’s more, there are no artificial additives or preservatives. Consequently, it’s perfect as a small in‑between snack. A cup of unsweetened popcorn contains between 31 and 55 calories. In other words, this crunchy movie treat is far behind those true fatteners such as potato chips and chocolate bars. A  variety ranging from sugar‑sweet to rich and savory Over the years, the most varied flavors of popcorn have established themselves – depending on which flavorings and additives are used at the concession stand. While Germany, Belgium, Luxemburg and Switzerland loves sweet popcorn, the rest of Europe prefers the salted version. Americans, furthermore, add melted butter, and the Japanese even tickle their palates with seaweed‑ or shrimp‑flavored popcorn.

Round Tuit History Lesson

A long time ago, in Roman Britain...

Meet Procrastinatus. He was a Roman, who lived in Britain some two thousand years ago.

Although many things were different with life in those times, Procrastinatus had one thing in common with many of us today - he liked to put things off.

"Why do it today, when it can be done tomorrow?", he asked.

There was one particular task which Procrastinatus would not do for several years, much to the distress of his wife - fix the under-floor heating. In fact, after a couple of freezing winters, she was so fed up she was ready to pack her bags and return to Rome.

Finally, Procrastinatus saw sense and repaired the heating system.

His wife was so pleased she had a special, round, bronze plaque commissioned to thank him for finally getting around to it.
 

And so, nearly 2,000 years later the Round Tuit was discovered at an archeological dig in Somerset, England, alongside a rather splendid (but obviously lifted and repaired) mosaic floor.