Every Day Is Special: New England

Showing posts with label New England. Show all posts

March 4 – Vermont Celebrates Statehood

Posted on March 4, 2016

Vermont is pretty small, as U.S. states go. It's 45^th in land area, out of 50, and it's 49^th in population – only Wyoming has fewer people. Even its cities are pretty small. Its capital city, Montpelier, is small by state-capital standards – it's 50^th in population. In other words, it's the smallest of the 50 state capitals. And Vermont's largest city, Burlington, is the smallest city to be the largest city of any state.

But Vermont isn't in last place in all things:

It was the 14^th state to join the union – Number 1 after all the 13 colonies had joined. (Actually, the land that makes up Vermont was in dispute between two of the colonies, New Hampshire and New York.)

It is one of just four states that were at one time independent countries. (Can you name the other three? Answer below.) Vermont became an independent republic with a written constitution in 1777. It may surprise you to realize that Vermont was an independent nation for 14 years!

Vermont was the first state to partially abolish slavery.

Vermont is the top producer of maple syrup in the U.S.

Some say that the nation's best corn maze (maybe the world's best?!) is the Great Vermont Corn Maze in Danville. The corn-plant “walls” of the maze are 10 feet tall, the maze itself sprawls over 10 acres, there are 4 bridges within the maze, and most people take 2 to 5 hours to find their way through!

Vermont is #1 in libraries “per capita” (in other words, there are more libraries per thousand people) than any other state. And that is true even though the libraries receive no state funds – just local funds or private monies.

Check out this video on making maple syrup.

And here are just a few of the lovely landscapes to be seen in Vermont:

Spring...

Summer...
when you can read poetry as you hike!

Fall...

And winter...
Vermont is lovely!

ESPECIALLY in the fall!

ANSWER:

The other four states that were independent countries are California, Texas, and Hawaii.

Also on this date:

Musician and activist Miriam Makeba's birthday

Henry the Navigator's birthday

March Forth on March Fourth

Inventor Garrett Morgan's birthday

Anniversary of the discovery of the Orion Nebula

Plan ahead:

And here are my Pinterest boards for:

November 13 – National Indian Pudding Day

Posted on November 13, 2015

In Britain in the 1500s, one popular “comfort food” – humble but warm and filling – was called hasty pudding. It was made by cooking wheat flour in boiling milk or water until becomes about as thick as an oatmeal porridge.

In other words, hasty pudding is pretty much Cream of Wheat cereal!

Indian pudding is not like Cream of Wheat. But some people call Indian pudding “hasty pudding,” nonetheless.

When British people first began to settle in North America, they learned from the Native Americans how to grow corn, and how to grind it into cornmeal – something that the colonists sometimes called “Indian meal.”

So when the New England colonists made hasty pudding, they substituted cornmeal for the wheat flour.

Hasty pudding, New England style, was often called Indian pudding. The desert developed with the availability of sweeteners and spices, and the version we generally enjoy today consists of cornmeal boiled in milk and stirred until it has thickened. It is flavored with molasses, cinnamon, nutmeg, and eggs, and then it is baked so that it will have a smooth, silky texture.

Like pumpkin pie, Indian pudding doesn't look all that delicious to many people; actually, personnel in New England restaurants report that many people don't like the sound of the pudding – they don't want to even try it. However, most people who do try the pudding find it delicious. And those who eat Indian Pudding regularly consider it perfect cold-weather fare.