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 | On the eleventh day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me Eleven pipers piping . . . Ten lords a-leaping . . . Nine ladies dancing . . . Eight maids a-milking . . . Seven swans a-swimming . . . Six geese a-laying . . . Five golden rings . . . Four calling birds . . . Three French hens . . . Two turtle doves . . . And a partridge in a pear tree. |  |
| THE ELEVENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS--The eleven Faithful Apostles: (1) Simon Peter, (2) Andrew, (3) James, (4) John, (5) Philip, (6) Bartholomew, (7) Matthew, (8) Thomas, (9) James bar Alphaeus, (10) Simon the Zealot, (11) Judas bar James. (Luke 6:14-16). The list does not include the twelfth disciple, Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus to the religious leaders and the Romans. |
 | What made the hatter mad?
More than 100 years ago, the felt hat makers of England used mercury to stabilize wool. Most of them eventually became poisoned by the fumes, as demonstrated by the Mad Hatter in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Breathing mercury's fumes over a long period of time will cause erethism, a disorder characterized by nervousness, irritability, and strange personality changes. "Eating fish contaminated with mercury, a poison that interferes with the brain and nervous system, can cause serious health problems, especially for children and pregnant women." . . . National Resources Defense Council (And this stuff is put in fillings for your teeth and in the vaccines for your children!) |
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| MOURNING DOVE pixdaus.com |
| Groom's Cake History
An Old Tradition for Modern Weddings If you've attended weddings recently where there was not one but two cakes, you may have enjoyed what appears to be a charming new tradition: the groom's cake. |
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| Nifty computer cake |
| The fact is, however, the groom's cake isn't new at all. With origins in the 17th century, the groom's cake is really a very old wedding tradition, somehow lost and now rediscovered for the most elegant wedding receptions.
The history of the groom's cake is as varied as its flavors and shapes. Some sources say it originally was a rich, dark fruit cake without icing; some say it was a fruit cake with white icing to match the bride's cake which was decorated with spun sugar. |
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| Evidently the groom is a drummer. |
| Still others take the lore a step further and say the groom's cake became the top layer of the bride's cake and was not served to guests. Instead, it was placed in a tin and drenched in brandy to preserve it for celebration of the couple's first anniversary. |
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| Formal |
| Many know the groom's cake as the confection that was wrapped in individual silver or white boxes monogrammed with the couple's initials and tied with fancy ribbons. These dainty packages were distributed to guests as wedding favors to take home.
In the South, the groom's cake tradition has enjoyed renewed popularity in recent years, especially with single female guests. Legend has it that if they take a slice of the groom's cake and place it beneath their pillows at bedtime, they will dream of their future husbands. |
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| Hexagon |
| Today, remnants of these various traditions remain or have evolved into other wedding customs. For instance, couples still reserve the top layer of the wedding cake for their first anniversary, but it no longer needs to be preserved in brandy. And although the Southern groom's cake customarily was a dark fruit cake, it now comes in any flavor, shape or color.
Many couples are designing groom's cakes baked and iced to reflect the groom's hobbies or interests. Original and engaging, groom's cakes have resembled the groom's antique car or cowboy boots, while others in traditional cake shapes have sported hunting scenes or his favorite hole on the golf course. |
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| RAZORBACK Somebody went to Arkansas! |
| In the past, groom's cakes, which were separate from the bride's cakes, were either cut and wrapped to be eaten after the reception, or they were served from another table for those guests who preferred a darker, richer cake. |
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| Traditional |
| Today, the groom's cake is still sliced and served separately, usually by a member of the wait staff. Some couples prefer to offer the groom's cake at the rehearsal dinner, a fitting time since the groom's family hosts the occasion. |
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Thought to have been cultivated since about the 13th century in Europe, Brassica oleracea gemmifera are usually sold loose rather than on the stalk. These vegetables are high in carbohydrates and fiber, and are also good sources of vitamins A and C, potassium, phosphorus and calcium. Great Britain has more than 5 times the acreage of this vegetable planted as all of the U.S. combined. In France and Belgium, small ones smaller than a grape are preferred. What is this vegetable?
PASS YOUR MOUSE OVER THE QUESTION MARKS FOR THE ANSWER! |
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| CLOUDLESS SULPHUR BUTTERFLY (Phoebis sennae)
The genus name Phoebis comes from the Greek phiobos meaning "pure" or "radiant," and the species name most likely refers to one of the butterfly's host plants, Senna (Cassia sp.). |
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| The male Cloudless Sulphur is a lovely, solid-yellow butterfly with a wingspan of about 2 1/2 - 2 3/4 inches. The female can be yellow or white and has a brownish-black border. Both sexes have two small silver spots on the underside of their hindwings. Larvae are yellow with horizontal brownish stripes. |
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| Larvae |
| The Cloudless Sulphur ranges throughout Southern California and the Southwest, east through the southern United States and south into Baja California and northern Mexico. |
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| BAR-TAILED GODWIT |
| The guar or cluster bean is most likely native to India, where the young beans are used as a vegetable.
They are also used as a livestock feed, and for producing a guar gum, which is used as a thickener and emulsifier in commercial food processing. Guar gum has almost 8 times the thickening power as cornstarch, and is used in dressings, sauces, milk products, and baking mixes. It is also used in paper manufacturing, textiles, printing, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. (This stuff is what makes that sticky mess in your ice cream carton.) |
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| Cambridge University Botanic Garden Location: Bateman Street, Cambridge, CB2 1JF Cambridgeshire, England | |
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| IMPERIAL FRITILLARY AND BEE | |
| I think computer viruses should count as life. I think it says something about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. We've created life in our own image.
---- Stephen William Hawking (1942- ) British theoretical physicist |
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| Cuernos Del Paine, Andes Mountains, Chile |
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| WATER PITCHER |
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How long can a carp live?
PASS YOUR MOUSE OVER THE QUESTION MARKS FOR THE ANSWER! |
| DISCLAIMER: Material used in Bitts and Bytes is gathered from various sources--mainly the World Wide Web.
Authorship cannot always be credited nor the source defined. Authenticity of material is assumed to be correct, but is not guaranteed. |  |