CarolCooks2…My Monday Musings…3rd January 2022.

Happy New Year!

Another New Year and for that I am grateful…I would like to wish all my readers old and new a Very Happy New Year!

I hope it is a peaceful, productive and healthy New Year…I am making no New Year Resolutions as most are broken before the month of January is out…I will be going back to healthy eating as December and most of last year has been months of excesses depending on my moods…

I will strive to be less wasteful and to be kind…kind to myself and others…

Welcome to Monday Musings…which could be anything that has happened throughout the last week, something I have read or watched, could be a pet peeve or almost anything.. welcome to my world!

National Drinking straw day…US

Way back in the day drinking straws were made from Ryegrass…

Inventor Marvin C. Stone became especially frustrated by the straws’ shortcomings, as the taste of the rye mixed with that of his drink, gave it a grassy taste. He then patented the modern drinking straw in 1888. The first straw Stone made was just paper wound around a pencil to make a thin tube, and he then slid the pencil out from one end and applied glue between the strips.

Another great way to celebrate this holiday would be to learn to make the drink that inspired Marvin Stone to create a new kind of straw in the first place: the mint julep. Then, sit back, sipping your drink through a straw that is environmentally friendly and be grateful it does not taste like ryegrass!

Mint Julep Recipe

Ingredients

Makes 2 cocktails

  • 10 mint sprigs
  • 1-ounce simple syrup OR 4 sugar cubes OR 4 teaspoons of sugar
  • 5 ounces of your favourite bourbon whiskey
  • Mint sprigs for garnish

Place half of the mint and simple syrup or sugar into one special julep cup, or double old-fashioned glass, and the other half of the mint and sugar/syrup into another. Muddle the mint well with a spoon to dissolve the sugar and to release the oil and aroma of the mint. Pour half of the bourbon into one glass, and the rest into the other. Then, fill both glasses with crushed ice and stir quite energetically, until the glass becomes frosty. Garnish with the mint sprigs and enjoy!

If a Mint Julep is not for you, another drink that needs to be enjoyed with a straw is a frozen Margarita. The Margarita is a classic cocktail, which consists of triple sec, tequila and lemon or lime juice. It is traditionally served with a salt glass rim and a piece of lime.

The time has come for YOU to do your bit for the planet...and ditch your plastic straws on this date (if you have any!). Instead, opt for a metal straw, glass straw, bamboo straw, wheat straw all of which can be used again and again. There are quite a few options even edible straws on the market now …SEA is a new category of materials made from seaweed—a regenerative and carbon-sequestering input. It outperforms carbon-intensive paper products and bioplastics…

SPAM!

I have been inundated by spam for the last few months somedays it has hit 400-500…not funny as sometimes my regular readers get caught in spam and with so many, I cannot check… it has been driving me mad…The happiness engineers just told me that it didn’t affect my blog so to just leave them be…I don’t want them there….have you tried deleting 1000 spam comments… it takes time…

The solution (found) quite by chance…takes just 4 steps…the result was immediate ..Spam is now in single figures or a 0…Yeah!

Note: I am on the Premium Plan.

  1. On the left-hand sidebar click “Jetpack”
  2. CLICK Akismet Anti Spam(4th) one down.
  3. Page down and click “Strictness
  4. Save Changes.

The results were instantaneous…

Mark Weins…

I love his videos as much as Mark loves his food…this video was filmed in the north Thailand in a Christian Village where they celebrate Christmas…I love authentic Thai food and this video shows you just that…I loved watching it and could relate to much of the food which is eaten here…not all by me but like Mark, we always have a lot of fresh vegetables at every meal…

I have been to our families village where they have catered on mass just like this for many people and it is fascinating to watch the preparations and cooking…I do hope you enjoy it …it is far away from the tourist areas  Mark normally takes us away from the tourist areas where authentic Thai food is cooked and eaten…

January 3rd 1988…Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night premieres on Cinemax; concert performance includes James Burton; Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, and k.d. lang

This is fabulous I have had it playing in the background whilst writing…some great guitar and keyboard plus the unmistakable voice of Roy Orbison and Friends…

That’s all for today…Thank you for joining me I look forward to your comments…Happy New Year xx

55 thoughts on “CarolCooks2…My Monday Musings…3rd January 2022.”

  1. Pingback: CarolCooks2 weekly roundup… 2nd-8th January 2022- | Retired? No one told me!

      2. CarolCooks2 Post author

        I believe anyone can apply to nominate a subject for a specific day and many of them are pure marketing while others are bordering on the ridiculous… If it was for bad drivers it would be here…However there is an international day to celebrate women drivers… 😀 x

        Liked by 1 person

    1. CarolCooks2 Post author

      You are welcome, Becky…I am not alone in really hating spammers and anything which projects them into a black hole in outer space is fine by me I hope it helps …Happy New Year 🙂 x

      Liked by 1 person

  5. Rebecca Budd

    That Akismet Anti Spam works beautifully, doesn’t it. I am so glad that we connected in 2021 and I look forward to 2022 with great anticipation. I was inspired by your words: “I will strive to be less wasteful and to be kind…kind to myself and others…”. I will be taking those thoughts with me into 2022! Sending many hugs!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. CarolCooks2 Post author

      It most certainly does Rebecca.. I am also so pleased we connected in 2021 and look forward to what 2022 brings.. Sending many hugs back for a fabulous New Year and beyond.. Go with joy in your heart and it will be such a great adventure for us both.. 🎉💕💕

      Liked by 1 person

  6. tidalscribe.com

    Who can fail to be charmed by cheerful Mark, what a lovely village. Perhaps there are scenes vegetarians may not like, though we skirted over the killing part. But what could be better than fresh pork and to butcher your own pigs is less hypocritical than eating ‘pigs in blankets’ with no idea who they were! A true feast when the whole village joins in.

    Liked by 2 people

  7. D. Wallace Peach

    Happy New Year, Carol. I get thousands of spam and also can’t check for bloggers who get stuck in there. It makes me sad. I don’t have premium, so I just delete them all. Ugh.
    And great video from Mark. Now that made me happy! How fun. ❤ ❤ ❤

    Liked by 2 people

    1. CarolCooks2 Post author

      Mark is such a joyous person with such a zest for life and food he always makes me smile… Spam was a nightmare until I discoveted the little Askimet link even though you don’t have premium maybe Askimet is an option I found it quite by chance.. Spam just sucks..👀💞💞

      Liked by 1 person

  9. Clive

    What an amazing guest list the Big O attracted!

    On spam, I have a free account so the Jetpack route doesn’t apply, but I find it very easy to get rid of. I just click ‘comments’ in the left side menu, then choose ‘spam’ from the options given. If I feel like checking for mistakes I can do that, then it’s just a case of hitting the ‘empty spam’ button. Never fails.

    Liked by 2 people

      1. Clive

        Neither did I, sadly. Do you remember those pop shows that ran in the early sixties, a whole bunch of acts playing at local cinemas? I think he came to ours but I was too young to go. x

        Liked by 1 person

  11. Jim Borden

    the Thai community dinner video was great – I love seeing such comunity gathersings. What an impressive list of people on the Roy Orbison video.

    and I have to admit I stilll occasionally use a plastic straw, although there are more and more places providing paper ones. In such cases I won’t use a straw because the paper straws are terrible…

    Liked by 2 people

    1. CarolCooks2 Post author

      I’m happy you enjoyed the community dinner…I love watching Mark Weins..as for straws there are still too many handed out with drinks you buy and yes paper straws are useless…I have a little holder and take our straws with me I use bamboo as they are readily available here 🙂 x

      Liked by 1 person

  12. beetleypete

    Even though I had ‘Strict’ set, I still got a lot of Spam like you. Then last week, that trickled down to 3-6 a day, for some reason.
    We have metal straws that are washable. We haven’t had plastic straws for as long as I can remember.
    Best wishes, Pete. x

    Liked by 2 people

    2. CarolCooks2 Post author

      Yes mine trickled down at one point and then back with a vengeance then I found(with) no help from the Happiness engineers the askinet button and yeah single figures 🙂 x

      Liked by 1 person

  13. Pingback: CarolCooks2…My Monday Musings…3rd January 2022. – MobsterTiger

  15. beth

    that spam is so crazy! for some reason i had that level for a few days and then it went back to normal, 5-7 a day. who knows why it gets triggered. i love the mass cooking and the roy orbison, both. happy new year to you, carol –

    Liked by 2 people

  16. Ritu

    Tell you what, Carol, I’ve been having the same spam issues.
    I’ll go check out your solution when I get to my computer!
    Gotta say, I don’t like paper straws, at all. We have the reusable metal ones in my home!
    Stay happy 😊

    Liked by 2 people

    1. CarolCooks2 Post author

      Spam was driving me crazy but I am a little ****** that WP didn’t point me in the right direction when I spoke to them…its bliss now hardly any spam instead hundreds daily and it was instantaneous..poof gone! Brilliant!

      Like

  18. petespringerauthor

    Oh my gosh, Carol! I’ve never had those kinds of spam numbers. Of course, you’ve got way more followers than me that attract those kinds of things. That must be aggravating.

    Thanks for the YouTube clip of Orbison and friends. I’m going to listen to the whole thing.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. CarolCooks2 Post author

      I never had until about 5 months ago… WP were no help now the most I get is 5 a day and more often or not less… It was so aggravating you wouldn’t believe.. I do hope you enjoy Roy Orbison and friends I loved it, Pete.. x

      Liked by 1 person

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