"It's a world of laughter, a world of tears. It's a world of hopes, and a world of fears. There's so much that we share, that it's time we're aware. It's a small world after all." - written by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman & made famous by Walt Disney

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

The Kiss Seen Around the World

There are many moments in history that I would like to go back to just to expenience the emotion in real life.  One of those would be Victory over Japan Day in Times Square (Aug. 14th, 1945). The Kiss or VJ Day in Times Square from Life magazine is one of the most famous photographs in American history and captures the emotion of this event and draws the onlooker into the scene.  After almost four years of war, I can only imagine the exhuberation and relief brought by the end of the conflict.  I never want to have to experience world war but the joy of these two strangers celebrating something that ended halfway around the globe is something that all should find in their lives.

Saturday, August 10, 2013

The S'more: An International Creation

As a former girl scout and daughter of an eagle scout, I fell in love with the s'more at an early age.  When I saw on the Today show that it is National S'more Day I decided to do a little research.  I found that I am not the only one who has a nostalgic love for the campfire favorite that came from the phase I want "some more".  There are numerous sites about the s'more, which seems to be as American as the hot dog.  What I mean by this is that their final forms are credited to Americans and are mostly enjoyed in just the US (and Canada) but the ingredients are definitely international.  The frankfurter is of course German but was sold on buns and popularized on Coney Island in the 1870s.  The same is true of the s'more.  The ancient Egyptians made the first candy from the marsh mallow plant and then the French mass produced marshmallow in its modern form in the 1850s.  Chocolate as a luxury food evolved in MesoAmerica then spread to Europe.  Even though the graham cracker is American (created by a Presbyterian Minister from New Jersey), I do not like them without their international fillers.  The creator of the first s'more is unknown but please thank the girl scouts for publishing the first recipe in 1927.  Now they just need to make a cookie like the s'more.