It's National Coffee Day

Halloween 32

It's National Coffee Day. It would be hard to find a person not reliant in some way on the existence of coffee, and Orlenians more than most. Our local specialties of coffee and chicory and cafe au lait are tied into our traditions, like coffee and beignets. I myself enjoy several cups a day of Union Coffee and Chicory. The worldwide history of coffee can’t be given justice in this almanac--you’ll want to read the whole story here (https://www.ncausa.org/about-coffee/history-of-coffee) by the National Coffee Association while you sip your morning cafe au lait.

Lavender is a small town occupied with raising peaches and pecans in northwest Georgia. It's nestled in a gap between two ridgelines that rise 300 feet above the flatter land. Turnip Mountain is on the west, Lavender Mountain on the east. The town is eighty-three miles northwest of Atlanta, and nine miles from Rome. The Central of Georgia Railroad main line runs through town, and has a yard nearby for servicing a large clay pit. What about food? Go to Martha's Skillet, three miles south of Lavender.

If you can't remember when you acquired your current supply of bay leaves, scatter them on the lawn and rake them up with the rest of the dead leaves.

lavender, n.--A leaf from the family of plants that includes basil and mint. Lavender is from western Asia. It's found in the cooking of most of the populations around the Mediterranean. For example, the herb blend known as herbes de provence includes lavender as a main ingredient. The flavor is reminiscent of that of rosemary, but milder. It has an aroma and flavor that puts one in the mid of the blue-purple flowers the plants grow. The color "lavender" is named for the flowers. Honey made by bees from lavender flowers is distinctly different and fragrant. Great in stews and soups, particularly lamb.

Today is Michaelmas, the feast of St. Michael, the Archangel. He is the patron of bakers, greengrocers, and Pensacola. The lore about Michaelmas is that if you eat goose on this day, you'll always have enough money the rest of the year.

The Battle of Salamis began today in 480 BC. Let's dwell a moment on the image of soldiers trying to beat each other senseless with long bludgeons made of hard-cured pork. That done, we note that this was a sea battle, in which the Greek navy managed to defeat the Persians in a small strait between Piraeus and Salamis, near Athens. The Greeks were badly outnumbered, so it was a heroic victory--if not one that resulted in the making of muffulettas.

Today in 1974, the television sitcom Alice premiered. It was about the woes of a waitress working in a place called Mel's Diner. . . Also making its first appearance on TV today, in 1953, was Make Room For Daddy, which ran quite a long time. Whenever I so much as think about its star, Danny Thomas, I think of red beans and rice. When I was a boy, the show came on Monday nights, and my mother never failed to have the beans on the table that night.

On this day in 1985, Deron Cherry of the Kansas City Chiefs made four pass interceptions in one game. . . Olympic synchronized swimmer Heather Pease was born today in 1975. . . Oilman John D. Rockefeller, the man for whom oysters Rockefeller are named, became the first certified billionaire in the United States today in 1916.

"The worst steak in New Orleans is better than the best steak in Texas."--Bum Phillips, Texas native, former coach of the New Orleans Saints, born today in 1923.

"In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is strength, in water there is bacteria."--David Auerbach, film director.