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July 2, 2008

Gallery of Unfortunate 4th Of July Cards

The Gallery of Unfortunate 4th Of July Cards

Cap'n Wacky's comments aded a dimension of their own to dozens of cards from the era when anything went.

Posted by Sheila Lennon  at 12:29 PM | Permalink

June 30, 2008

Blogs upgrade is under way

One by one, projo blogs will take on a new look and new functions as we upgrade to Movable Type 4 today.

We expect there'll be some cleanup, and that some new features won't be useful immediately. Blogs will remain available through the upgrade, although new postings may be delayed.

I hope it goes smoothly.

7:21 a.m.: The 7 to 7 news blog is converting now, so the morning crew are publishing the news to the Projo BizBlog. The headlines at the top of the projo.com homepage point there -- it's the ad hoc news blog for now.

Posted by Sheila Lennon  at 6:20 AM | Permalink

June 29, 2008

Lemonades for a hot day

AP
Vanilla Bean Lemonade

Top ades: Lemonade recipes to freshen up your summer

Looking good to me, The Rocky Mountain News's

Sparkling Ginger Lemonade
Serves 5

2 cups water
1 cup honey
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
2 cups club soda, cold
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

In a small saucepan, combine the water, honey and ginger.
Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat, cover and let steep for 10 minutes.

Place a mesh strainer over a bowl and strain the mixture into it, discarding the ginger.

Transfer the mixture to a pitcher and cool completely.

Stir in the soda and lemon juice.

Serve over ice.

- April/May issue of Taste of Home magazine

Nutritional information per serving: 218 cal., 0 fat, 0 chol., 60 g carb., 0 pro., 0 fiber, 26 mg sodium

and

Vanilla Bean Lemonade

Serves 8, makes 2 quarts

12-ounce can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
6 cups cold water
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 vanilla beans or pure vanilla extract, to taste
2 large lemons, quartered and seeded

* In a 3-quart pitcher, combine the lemonade concentrate, water, sugar and salt.

* Stir until the sugar is dissolved.

* If you're using vanilla beans, split the beans lengthwise down the middle and scrape out the seeds into the lemonade mixture. Discard the beans.

* Stir until the seeds have separated.

Alternatively, add vanilla extract to taste.

* Let the lemonade steep for at least 10 minutes.

* Strain the lemonade, if desired, through a fine-mesh strainer to remove any vanilla-bean residue.

* Squeeze each lemon wedge into the pitcher, then add the rinds.

* Chill until very cold, and serve in tall glasses over ice.

- Fred Thompson's Lemonade, Harvard Common Press, 2002)

Nutritional information per serving: 110 cal., 0 fat, 0 chol., 29 g carb., 0 pro., 0 fiber, 67 mg sodium

There's more there at the link -- Watermelon Lemonade, Old-Fashioned Lemonade, Lemonade Float.

Homemade Limoncello from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

2 lb. lemons 1 quart (4 c.) clear grain alcohol such as vodka 6 c. purified water 2 1/2 c. cane (or granulated) sugar

With a very fine grater, zest the lemons. Put zest and vodka in a tightly sealed jar or bottle large enough to accommodate at least a quart of liquid.

Place container in a cool, dark and dry place for at least 3 to 5 days. Shake the jar at least twice a day. Zest will turn white when flavoring is done. Strain the zest from the liquid through a fine sieve; discard the zest and set aside the flavored vodka.

Place 6 cups water in a saucepan over low heat and add sugar. Heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves and syrup is clear.

Cool syrup to room temperature and mix with lemon vodka. Strain the sweetened lemon vodka through several changes of coffee filters and store in tightly sealed bottles in the refrigerator. Chill and enjoy.

Indeed.

Also from up north there,

Iced Watermelon Cooler Spiked With Lime. For four people, you want 8 cups of ripe, sweet watermelon (cut in 1/2-inch cubes) with the seeds removed. Put them in a blender or food processor with the grated rind of 1/4 medium lime and the juice of the lime. Purée. Add sugar to taste. If needed for contrast, add more lime juice. Strain the purée through a sieve, pressing down to get all the juice from the pulp. Chill. Moisten glass rims with lime juice, dip them in sugar and fill with ice. Add the watermelon water and garnish with skewers of melon chunks and mint leaves. Gin, vodka or rum are all good additions.

The Stamford Advocate get into process (Main squeeze):

For easy, convenient lemonade that can be made in a moment's notice, prepare lemonade syrup similar to the concentrate found in cans in the supermarket freezer case. Here's how: boil sugar and water for a few minutes, add fresh lemon peel and juice, and let the mixture steep for at least an hour; strain the syrup and keep it in the refrigerator. When you want a drink, mix some of the syrup with water or club soda.

All variations spring from this.

Concentrate: Think frozen. Why not use frozen lemonade for the Tulsa World's strawberry lemonade ice pops, with fresh strawberries? It's almost there anyway.

Posted by Sheila Lennon  at 10:33 AM | Permalink

Happy anniversary to us

Five years ago today, Captain Joe Dempsey -- whom I've known since St. Augustine's School -- ferried Joe Landry and I down the river in his Water Taxi to the Hot Club, where we were married by Superior Court Justice Patricia Hurst, my attorney in a child custody suit in 1984. That child was my maid of honor, her 6-year-old son the ring bearer.

It had rained for days, and would the following days, but this one wedding day was sunny, pleasant and perfect.

The music floating out over the water came from Mark Taber, a Providence original, playing solo keyboard on the sunny deck as he had at Leo's for so many years.

We looked out at a gathering of happy faces, people who had been part of something that got us to here; for once, we knew almost everyone in the crowd.

Wes' Rib House catered. Two bands played. The head bartender asked how I wanted my drinks, weak or strong. "Very weak," I said. "I gotta last."

Around sunset, a club manager asked if we wanted to keep the party private or let in customers.

"Open it up, let 'em in," we said.

I'm still running into people who say, "You don't know me, but I was at your wedding!"

Joe and I are still having a great time.

Posted by Sheila Lennon  at 10:15 AM | Permalink