Monday, March 1, 2021

“Think before you speak. Read before you think.” – Fran Lebowitz


“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies . . . The man who never reads lives only one.” – George R.R. Martin


“Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.” – Lemony Snicket


“Reading is essential for those who seek to rise above the ordinary.” – Jim Rohn


“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.” – Groucho Marx


“‘Classic’ – a book which people praise and don’t read.” – Mark Twain


“The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest (people) of the past centuries.” – Descartes


“In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you.” – Mortimer J. Adler


“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” – Dr. Seuss


“Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.” – Margaret Fuller


“Reading brings us unknown friends” – Honoré de Balzac

Costumes worn in the movie Titanic on display














Sunday, February 28, 2021

Sophia Loren Mambo Italiano

Rum Cake Recipe


Ingredients

  • For the Rum Cake:
  • 1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
  • 1 box yellow cake mix
  • 1 3.4-ounce package vanilla cook-and-serve pudding mix
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 1/2 cup dark rum
  • For the Glaze:
  • 3/4 cup 1 1/2 sticks butter
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 3/4 cup dark rum

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 325º F and thoroughly grease a Bundt pan. Sprinkle the brown sugar and chopped pecans in the bottom of the pan. This will serve as the topping of the cake when the cake is turned out of the pan.
  • Add cake mix and pudding mix to the bowl of an electric mixer. Crack in the eggs and add water, canola oil, and rum, Mix the batter until it is smooth and totally combined.
  • Pour batter into the prepared Bundt pan and bake the cake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a skewer or long toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the cake and removed.
  • When the cake has about 10 minutes remaining cooking time, make the glaze.
  • Melt the butter and sugar together in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Then add water and bring the mixture to a boil for 4 to 5 minutes, or until thick. Carefully add the rum to the mixture and cook for 1 more minute. (Take care when adding the alcohol to the mixture, especially if cooking over an open flame.)
  • Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool in the pan for 5 minutes.
  • Use a skewer or long toothpick and poke holes all over the surface of the cake.
  • Drizzle half the glaze over the surface of the cake, then let the cake sit for about 10 to 15 minutes to allow the cake to absorb the glaze.
  • Carefully invert the cake onto a serving platter and very slowly drizzle the rest of the glaze over the top of the cake, giving the cake a chance to absorb as much as possible.
  • Let the cake sit for a couple of hours to make sure it's really moist and rummy.

addapinch.com
 

Famous Movie Costumes on Display


Barbara Streisand. Hello, Dolly! Costing well above the $100,000 to create, this dress remains etched in history as one of the “most expensive dress ever made for a film.”






Stripes are meticulously placed in front and back of the bodice for unique fashion detailing on this fabulous Sound of Music dress 1965


Maria & the von Trapp children chant "Do-Re-Mi" in the beautiful carriage scene from "The Sound of Music".






Above is the actual dress worn by Emily Blunt in Mary Poppins Returns.  It is all magically hand-painted! 2018




Dinner Dress Titanic



Gone with the wind





Wedding dress in Gone with the wind



Vivienne Leigh in Gone with the wind


Costume designed by Bob Mackie for Carol Burnett, who wore it during a skit on her comedy variety TV show. A spoof on Gone with the Wind, the skit was called "Went with the Wind"



The GORGEOUS Gown designed by Edith Head worn by Rosemary Clooney in the 1954 classic movie White Christmas.






THE SERENITY PRAYER

GOD GRANT ME THE SERENITY
TO ACCEPT THE THINGS I CANNOT CHANGE;
COURAGE TO CHANGE THE THINGS I CAN;
AND WISDOM TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE.

LIVING ONE DAY AT A TIME;
ENJOYING ONE MOMENT AT A TIME;
ACCEPTING HARDSHIPS AS THE PATHWAY TO PEACE;
TAKING, AS HE DID, THIS SINFUL WORLD
AS IT IS, NOT AS I WOULD HAVE IT;
TRUSTING THAT HE WILL MAKE ALL THINGS RIGHT
IF I SURRENDER TO HIS WILL;
THAT I MAY BE REASONABLY HAPPY IN THIS LIFE
AND SUPREMELY HAPPY WITH HIM
FOREVER IN THE NEXT.
AMEN.

--REINHOLD NIEBUHR