Walk straight, my son - as the old crab said to the young crab

I’m going to plagiarize Hubby by sharing one of his favorite anecdotes.

When he was a kid, his family had a vacation home on an inlet in southern New   

Jersey.  They would spend the summer there swimming, fishing and crabbing.

They would take skipping rocks to a whole new level.  Instead of using flat stones like everyone else in the civilized world, they used the crabs they caught.

They would take the crabs and lay them on their back on the palm of their hand.  And, then they would rub their belly which would relax and hypnotize the crabs. 

They would then take the crabs and fling them across the water.  As soon as the crabs hit the water they would wake up and their legs would flail as they skipped along the surface of the water.

I'm not sure if that's cruelty to animals or not but it must have been hysterical to watch.

I poked around a bit to try to find out why rubbing it's belly makes it got to sleep.  I didn't fun much, but what seems plausible is that being held upsidedown boggles their itty-bitty nervous systems.  but, then again . . . who doesn't like to have their belly rubbed?

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Triple Orange Sour


1 1/2 fluid ounces vodka
1/2 fluid ounce triple sec
2 1/2 fluid ounces sweet and sour mix
1 1/2 fluid ounces fresh orange juice
1 slice orange


Pour vodka, triple sec, sour mix, and orange juice over ice into a cocktail shaker. Affix the lid, and shake until the outside of the shaker has frosted.


Strain into a highball glass filled with crushed ice, and garnish with a slice of orange.

His Master's Voice

You know the logo . . . ‘His master’s voice’ . . .  it’s been used in advertising for over 100 years!

There’s a story behind the image . . . meet Nipper.  Nipper is the little dog looking inquisitively into the horn of the phonograph.  Nipper was a real live dog. He was a stray that ended up in the home of painter Francis Barraud.   He got his name because he had a propensity to nip at people’s ankles.  Barraud observed that his dog was fascinated with the phonograph . . . he couldn’t figure out where the voice was coming from.  It wasn’t until three years after Nipper died that he rendered the iconic painting.

Originally named 'dog looking at and listening to a phonograph', the image didn’t garner much interest.  The response when he tried to sell the painting were

'no one would know what the dog was doing' and 'dogs don't listen to phonographs' . 

Apparently they were wrong because Nipper sure did!

In an attempt to make it more appealing, Barraud decided to modernize the painting by replacing the black horn with a newer style.  He approached Berliner Gramophone with a photograph of his painting asking if he could borrow a brass horn to use as a model.  The manager was so taken with the image he told Barraud he would buy the painting if he replaced the Edison cylinder machine with a Berliner gramophone.

A visitor to the gramophone company saw the painting and commissioned Barraud to make a copy for him.  The gentleman took the painting from England to the United States where he trademarked the painting and gave the patent to his partner . . . who happened to own the Victor Talking Machine company.  The Nipper painting soon became the brand logo the company and is still to this day.

Unfortunately, Barraud Barraud sold the rights to the Nipper painting, and only received two payments of £50 each.

Candied Orange Peel

This candied orange peel is made with an unusual method that makes it especially flavorful and aromatic.  You can roll the strips in granulated sugar or leave them plain, to use in cakes and breads, cookies, or to dip in chocolate.

Weigh the oranges whole, and take an equal weight of sugar.

Wash and scrub the oranges. Squeeze the juice through a strainer into a large pan. Mix the sugar with the orange juice.

Cut the peel in narrow strips.

Boil the peels in water, changing the water twice and replenishing it with boiling hot water kept ready for this purpose. Cook the peels until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Bring the orange juice and sugar mixture to a boil, add to it the drained orange peel strips and boil 20 minutes.

Drain on racks, and when dry but still slightly tacky roll in sugar or leave as they are.

A man is not an orange. You can't eat the fruit and throw the peel away

Don’t throw away your orange peels . . . besides compost, they have their potential separate from their juicy interiors; their precious essential oils.  Orange peels have a potential oil yield of 1.5 - 2%. 

The peels in their whole form make for a great nonabrasive natural sink scrubber, try a large section of orange peel. Use the interior side of the peel to remove grease and kitchen grime. The natural oils in the peels will clean and shine the sink, and the kitchen will have a pleasant citrus scent.  And then grind the peel in your garbage disposal to make it smell fresh and clean. 

Orange oil is highly flammable, and dried orange peels make fantastic fire starters. Simply dry them on paper towels or in a dehydrator. Place the dried skins beneath pieces of kindling before lighting. Burn baby burn!

You can also extract the oil from the peels after you’ve dried them.  See this previous post . . .

Once you’ve extracted the oil you can used it as a natural insecticide in your garden.  Instead of spraying your vegetables with a commercial pesticide that can contain harmful chemicals, you can make your own homemade pesticide with orange oil. Because it’s completely organic you can spray on the entire plant . . . including the fruits and vegetables. 

To make the orange oil insecticide you will need:

1 Tbsp. Orange Essential Oil

1 Qt. Water

Spray Bottle

1 Tsp. Cayenne Pepper

Combine 1 tbsp. of orange essential oil with 1 qt. of water in a spray bottle.

Add 1 tsp. of cayenne pepper to the mixture.

Shake the bottle to mix the oil with the water.

Spray the orange oil pesticide on vegetables to deter insects. Spray the stems, undersides of the leaves and the vegetables themselves to protect them.

Store the pesticide away from heat and direct sunlight. Shake the bottle before each use.

Firewater Friday - Some people gaze into their navel for inspiration. I look into mine and see navel fluff

Belly button fluff (BBF). . . those little poofs of fuzz that appear mysteriously in your navel . . . what is it and how does it get there?  Inquiring minds want to know . . . well, I did so you get the benefit of my inquisitiveness.  Lucky you!

I have a long standing belief that navel lint was manufactured by little dudes that labor to create the biggest ball of fluff they can in the shortest amount of time possible.  I imagine they would like a little something like the doozers in Fraggle Rock.  Those little guys are soooo freaking cute!

Anyhoo . . . BBF is made up primarily of clothing fibers with sweat, fat, dead skin cells and loose strands of body hair mixed in for texture and consistency.    The quantity of each ingredient varies from belly button to belly button depending on the formulation devised by the particular doozer crew performing the actual labor. 

BBF is an anomaly in that it defies gravity; most BBF comes from your underwear.  A shocking discovery reveals that the lint particles actually migrate upwards via a line a body hair that extends from the groin area to the navel . . . the hairs around the belly button are arranged in a spiral configuration; much like a conveyer belt moving materials that leads directly to the belly button and to the doozers. 

The favorite color of doozers is blue-gray . . . much the same color as clothes dryer lint.  But some radical elements of the workforce will incorporate crazy colors like red and green. 

Those who go commando and/or shave their belly hair have less BBF than the average person.  These people are also responsible for the increasing unemployment numbers being reported by doozer unions worldwide.

Although moral among doozers is generally high . . . actually the highest of most large workforces . . . there are disgruntled crews that put bad things into the finished BBF product.  These bad things are what cause the unpleasant odors that sometimes accompany the lint. 

Doozers like a clean work environment.   A clean doozer is a happy doozer.

The world record holder for the largest collection of BBF belongs a hospital worker from Australia. He has been continuously collecting BBF for 18 years. Strangely, he reports that his fluff is almost always red in color, which changes to a yellow-blue after many years. He swears that he never wears red clothing.   He wants to save enough to stuff a pillow. Some people have way too much time on their hands . . . and lint in their belly buttons.

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Fuzzy Navel

• 1 ounce vodka
• 1 ounce peach schnapps
• 4 ounces orange juice

Pour ingredients into a highball glass almost filled with ice. Stir.