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Who doesn’t love to look up into the sky at the stars…or sang this song with their mothers “Twinkle Twinkle little star that classic children’s song says, “How we wonder what you are.” …

But did you Know?

Look up into the sky on a dark, cloudless night and you might be inclined to think you’re looking at millions of stars. But in reality, we can only see about 2,000 stars, give or take, at any given time. It’s true that millions of stars exist in our universe, but the majority of them are too far away for us to see and are not bright enough…

StarFish…

All children clamour to hold the starfish they find on the beach however marine scientists have undertaken the difficult task of replacing the beloved starfish’s common name with sea star because, well, the starfish is not a fish. It’s an echinoderm, closely related to sea urchins and sand dollars…The five-arm varieties are the most common, hence their name, but species with 10, 20, and even 40 arms exist…wow I have never seen any of those…have you?

Star Fruit… or Carambola as it is also known is a very pretty looking fruit which is often used as a garnish but there is so much more you can do with it, add it to your smoothies and the bonus is it doesn’t need peeling just washing as the skin is edible…

I have pickled it, made relish added it to savoury dishes it goes well with chicken and fish and looks so pretty in an upside-down cake…one of my favourites is this salsa… starfruit salsa is made with starfruit, jalapeno, red onion, cilantro, lime juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper! just lovely served on a nice piece of grilled salmon…

Did you know?

Dwarf stars are smaller and less potent than their giant counterparts, but this actually works to their advantage. Because the high energy of larger stars is not sustainable, dwarf stars tend to live longer.

When meteoroids enter Earth’s atmosphere (or that of another planet, like Mars) at high speed and burn up, the fireballs or “shooting stars” are called meteors.

There are many fruits and spices prefixed by “star” generally because they have a resemblance in shape to a star just like the following…

Star Gooseberry…is not like the gooseberry I know and love it is a small tree rather than a bush and the fruits grow in clusters…They are pale yellow or white, waxy, crisp and juicy, and very sour with a single seed in each fruit.

The fruits are eaten raw with sugar or cooked. The young leaves are consumed as a vegetable…also known as the Otaheite gooseberry, Malay gooseberry, Tahitian gooseberry, Country gooseberry, star gooseberry, starberry, arbari, West India gooseberry, or simply gooseberry tree… used in traditional medicines the leaf and root are used as an antidote to viper venom.

Star Anise…is a beautiful spice from the fruit of the Chinese evergreen tree Illicium verum…Because of similarities in their flavour and names, star anise is often confused with anise, though the two spices are unrelated.

In cooking it can be used whole or in the powdered form…used in classical Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian and Middle Eastern cuisines, especially as a flavour enhancer in broths, soups and curries…It’s well known for its presence in the Chinese “5 spice” and Indian “Garam Masala” blends… Star anise also makes a great addition to sweet dishes and desserts, such as baked fruit, pies, quick bread and muffins…one of my well-used spices it is also used in traditional Chinese and folk medicine practices…

A star is born…Originally it hit the screens in 1937…my favourite although I haven’t watched the most recent remake…was starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson(1976)…

Time to watch (and) weep again…

Star Jasmine…a beautiful plant with highly fragrant summer flowers planted by the back door the scent on a summer’s evening is so heady…just beautiful…

Star Nosed Mole… this mole really does have a nose like a star…

But did you know?

We’ve all looked skyward to see a canvas of twinkling stars at some point. So you might be surprised to learn that the stars aren’t actually twinkling. This is caused by the Earth’s atmosphere. Because the stars’ light has to pass through so many layers of the atmosphere, which has varying densities, it can create a twinkling illusion.

Star Ruby …Star rubies are amongst the rarest and most coveted gems in the world. Even more so in comparison to star sapphires, since the chromium that colours them pink and red limits the sizes they can grow to. Each star ruby is so unique in appearance, that matching pairs (much less a set) is nearly impossible.

Star Ruby is also the name of the red grapefruit and the name of a flower…the flower belongs to the frangipani family and has beautiful cerise to hot pink flowers with a white star radiating out from the centre of each flower to the outer petal tips, thus the name star ruby.

Star Trek…for all you fellow Trekkies I couldn’t finish without mentioning “Star Trek”… the first broadcast was on September 6, 1966, its fame wasn’t immediate…it wasn’t until the 1970s that it became a hit even achieving cult status…Star Trek eventually spawned a franchise, consisting of eight television series, 13 feature films, and numerous books, games, and toys, and is now widely considered one of the most popular and influential television series of all time.

Songs… I am spoilt for choice…Madonna, Lucky Star, Video Killed the Radio Star, Jimi Hendrix, Nicki Minaj, April Lavine, Enja, Earth, Wind and Fire, The Rolling Stones, Foo Fighters, Lou Reed…Elton John, All the many Christmas Songs….I’ll leave” Star” to Clive who produces Easy Listening one of my favourite music blogs…far too many for me…

Star Man …

Did you know?

The Egyptians are credited with giving us our first accurate star chart. It dates back more than 1,500 years B.C.

Thank you for joining me today on Saturday Snippets I hope you enjoyed finding out about the connections I found to my one-word prompt “Star”…I hope all my friends and family in the UK who are celebrating the Queen’s Jubilee are having a fabulous Jubilee weekend…as always I look forward to your comments xxx