What Are We Celebrating Today -- Sunday, February 10, 2013?

Today is my last day of work for about a month. It'll will be nice to be able to not worry about attending Angela's first dance competition of the year, but I'll be worried about money instead. The little bit I make does make a difference. It was paying for dance. I just hope my boss needs me to help out at one of the other locations on Sunday afternoon, as that location starts in 3 weeks.

So...what are we celebrating....

1). Umbrella Day: Okay, I am hoping to have to use an umbrella today. This holiday is in honor of one of the world's most invaluable inventions. On a rainy, day, we are sure glad that someone was smart enough to invent it. It's also increasingly popular to use umbrellas to shade ourselves from harmful UV radiation, and the heat of the sun. It's also good to hit someone that tries to mug you...oh wait, I think that only happens in the movies. LOL

2). Plimsoll Day: It's Plimsoll Day. It's the day we remember Sam Plimsoll (and I bet you've never heard of him either). He does have his own Wikipedia page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Plimsoll.

Sam Plimsoll was a member of the English Parliament, and was considered a social reformer, who championed sailors' safety while traveling the world's waterways in crammed-full ships. He was the force behind  the amendment of Britain's Merchant Shipping Act, which came about in response to the then-national problem of dangerously overloaded ships. Plimsoll's bill, dubbed the Unseaworthy Ships Bill, passed in 1876, and required that a mark be present on a ship's hull to indicate the waterline at which maximum cargo capacity was reached for the vessel....and now that is referred to as the Plimsoll Mark or Plimsoll Line. I bet you're still wondering why the line is so important. Well, The line is necessary because the buoyancy of a ship changes from freshwater to saltwater, and from tropic water to arctic water. Can you imagine what this could do if you overloaded a ship in one place and sailed to an area where the water was less dense?

I know, I know, you didn't plan on a science lesson today. Hmm...I bet all those in the Navy and Coast Guard know who Sam Plimsoll was. I'm also not going to get in to how the Plimsoll line helped fashion the Plimsoll shoe.

3). World Marriage Day: This holiday honors husband and wife as the foundation of the family, the basic unit of society. It salutes the beauty of their faithfulness, sacrifice and joy in daily married life. The idea of celebrating marriage began in Baton Rouge, La., in 1981, when couples encouraged the Mayor, the Governor and the Bishop to proclaim St. Valentines Day as "We Believe in Marriage Day". The event was so successful, the idea was presented to and was adopted by Worldwide Marriage Encounter's National Leadership. By 1982, 43 Governors officially proclaimed the day and celebrations spread to U.S. military bases in several foreign countries. In 1983, the name was changed to "World Marriage Day", designated to be celebrated each year on the second Sunday in February. In 1993, his Holiness, Pope John Paul II, imparted his Apostolic Blessings on World Marriage Day. WMD celebrations continue to grow and spread to more countries and faith expressions every year. For more information visit the website.

4). Cream Cheese Brownie Day: Yum. Philadelphia lent its name to the first commercial brand of cream cheese in the U.S. Catskill dairy farmers in the post-Civil War period needed to boost their businesses and find uses for their overstock of fresh milk, according to "The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink." Farmer William A. Lawrence used double the cream in a cheese recipe which he sent to Philadelphia. The cream cheese was originally sold under Star Brand Cream cheese. In 1885, it officially became Philadelphia Cream Cheese. So now use it to top some brownies.

Betty Crocker® Cream Cheese Brownies

1 box (1 lb 6.5 oz) Betty Crocker® Original Supreme brownie mix
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup water
2 eggs or 3 eggs
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened *
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 350ºF. Grease bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with shortening or cooking spray.
2. In medium bowl, stir brownie mix, pouch of chocolate syrup, oil, water and 2 eggs for fudgelike brownies (or 3 eggs for cakelike brownies), using spoon, until well blended. Spread in pan.
3. In another medium bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Gradually beat in sugar. Beat in vanilla and 1 egg just until blended.
4. Pour cream cheese mixture over brownie batter in pan; cut through mixture with knife several times for marbled design. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.
5. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until cream cheese mixture begins to brown and toothpick inserted in brownie 2 inches from side of pan comes out clean or almost clean. Cool completely, about 1 hour. For 24 brownies, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Store tightly covered and, if desired, in refrigerator.

Enjoy. If I remember to pick up a few items, I may make some gluten free brownies for me.