Today is National Puzzle Day. I enjoy puzzles, especially those that involve the use of words. What's your favorite type of puzzle? Crossword? Jumble? Anagrams? Soduko? JIigsaw? Does anyone do puzzles regularly? Research suggests that puzzles can help maintain memory and delay/prevent memory issues in one's later years. Sorry no sources of citations for this research.
Today is also National Plan A Vacation Day.
I am retired so I'm not sure I can actually take a vacation. But with the beastly weather we are having in N Central Florida, I have wondered where I might go to escape these arctic like conditions.
Each year, Americans leave more than 600 million vacation days unused. Project: Time Off has uncovered an alarming trend over the last 40 years: Americans are taking fewer and fewer vacation days. They believe that vacation travel is valuable and necessary for strengthening personal relationships, inspiring creative thinking, improving professional performance, and promoting better health.
Where would you most like to go on a vacation? Or if you don't like travelling, what would you most like to do for a "stay-cation" ?
National Corn Chip Day
A little history and some factoids here:
"The corn chip or friotes are not to be confused with the tortilla chip. Both are made from cornmeal which is baked or fried in oil.
Differing steps for processing the corn separate the tortilla from the corn chip. The corn for a tortilla chip is soaked in a lime-water solution that breaks down the hulls. This process creates a crisper, milder chip. A corn chip is sturdier with a stronger corn flavor. Both were popular snacks originating in Mexico.
There are two men credited with patenting and marketing the corn chip in the United States. First, Isador J. Filler often ate a tostada (a hard corn tortilla with toppings) while traveling in San Antonio, Texas as a salesman. He struck on the idea of making them in rectangles and marketing them as a chip. In 1932 he patented his concept.
Around the same time, Elmer Doolin was also traveling in San Antonio and was enjoying friotes. According to the story, he paid $100 for the recipe. Experimenting in his home until he created the ideal chip, Doolin then started selling them from the back of his Model T Ford. When he began mass producing them under the name of Frito Corn Chips, they were a hit.
In 1945, Doolin came to an agreement with Herman Lay (of potato chip fame) to distribute Doolin’s Fritos across the country. The two companies merged in 1959 after Doolin’s death.
I know there are more than a few salsa aficionados among us. Perhaps your expertise extends to chips as well?
