I like to reflect on people who grace the world with qualities that make it a better place. That said, I note that “classy” needs a touch of refinement, as we could be high or low class, just as the word “quality” does not specify good or bad quality. Classy to me means rich in spirit, not in money.
So, I suggest Classy Day seeks those with sophistication, elegance, and inner classiness… whether gobbling up a lobster or lounging barefoot in my back yard.
To me, classy folks exude good manners, respectfulness, or a timeless way of dressing, even when donning costumes to attend special events…
…or winning a spring hat contest by making one featuring Annalee doll bunnies.
I am honored to say that my mother is a perfect example of a classy person. She and Dad met in high school.
They were married in 1950, and you can be certain that she was a classy bride.
Here on my www.GoodLiving123.com website, I endeavor to express and share little things that can help make good living as easy as 1-2-3. I learned all such things from my mother.
I was quite the handful as a youth, but she had the strength and determination to get and keep me on the right path. As a little tribute to her for her 90th birthday, in 2020 I released a book dedicated to her. “Good Living Skills Learned from my Mother” gave me an opportunity to expound on just a few of the countless skills she worked hard to live and teach by example.
Amidst the 40 that I chose to include, skills like “no idle hands,” “choose to be a positive role model,” “get back up,” and “forgiveness” get chapters. The same is true for “rise above the fray,” “make every moment count,” and “follow your dream.” No matter what she has been doing, Mom always exudes all those skills and many more.
Of special importance to me is the chapter called, “Leave a Place Better than You Found It.” She always took the extra time to do this, even down to sweeping any stray grains of sand off the porch of the little cabin we would rent for a week at Newfound Lake in New Hampshire before we could drive away.
She was classy during travels, too… whether on a boat with Dad off Cape Cod or on a cruise ship in Bermuda.
Family has always remained paramount… whether we visited them in Florida…
…or they visited my sister living in Hawaii.
Mom has always been the “Hostess with the Mostest.” Countless people have been grateful recipients of her gracious hospitality and fabulous baking skills.
I observed her calm and diplomatic approach, and her ability to make others feel special as she supported every endeavor any of her children undertook, like the grand opening of a new bank for which I’d been an organizer.
Mom lifted us above herself and celebrated with us with a heart filled with genuine love and generosity… even while hosting Miss New Hampshire contestants and then meeting a Miss America backstage.
Classy people, like Mom, are honest and trustworthy, culturally aware and involved, and self-confident in who they are. Together, Mom and Dad made a rockstar team.
I feel blessed to have been able to celebrate many of their anniversaries with them… including the 25th, 50th, 60th, and more.
Mom loved becoming a grandmother and then watching her grandbabies grow up.
And she is a doting great grandmother, too!
Now, at age 93, we are blessed with her good health. She works out in the swimming pool, sings in a fun chorus, runs a card shop, plays bridge regularly, and remains active in her women’s organization.
Her spirits and wits are sharp. We can still talk about absolutely anything and everything and get laughing like schoolgirls.
I am also confident that when the Lord does call her home she will have left this Earth as a far better place than she found it. But till then, I keep on praying for more blessings and more years with Mom.
Happy Classy Day, Mom!
Glenna Gulumian Burnham, my mother, remains the classiest person I’ve ever known. If I can follow her lead in even a miniscule manner, I will know that I have contributed to Life in a positive way.
Thank you, Mom!
“Ultimately, America’s answer to the intolerant man is diversity, the very diversity which our heritage of religious freedom has inspired.”
In the days of the 13 colonies, the faith of Britain’s appointed governor in each colony determined that colony’s official religion. Only white males of that governor’s religion could vote in that colony. In our fledgling nation, Jefferson fought against any such mandatory establishments of religion. Separation of Church and State was very clear. Leaders were expected to practice their religion, but not force it on their states. Everyone was to be able to practice their religion without discrimination or coercion.
In 1954, President Eisenhower encouraged Congress to add “under God” to our Pledge of Allegiance. “In God We Trust” was added to all US currency in 1955 and became our national motto the next year.
I can think of no better way to celebrate National Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day than sinking my teeth into the crunchy, savory, succulent, perfectly grilled sandwich! Pastrami on rye was introduced to Americans in 1888 by Romanian immigrant Sussman Volk. His deli was New York’s first, and the first pastrami on rye was made with goose meat. Much has changed, and the variations are endless. You can even swap coleslaw for the sauerkraut and thousand island dressing for the mustard, but then you are making a Pastrami Reuben. Today, we’ll focus on the Hot Pastrami Sandwich. You can grill it, toast it, or serve it simply on the bread. Your way is the right way.
KISS Tips: I love to serve this the same way I enjoyed it for years at the Rein’s Deli… with chips or fries and a kosher dill pickle.
We’re celebrating National Baking Month with a recipe from yesterday’s look at National Arkansas Day. Arkansas Possum Pie does not contain opossum… or any other meat. It’s a creamy layered pie with chocolate and cream cheese in a melt-in-your-mouth pecan shortbread crust. Okay, you could opt for Super Simple and use a prepared, store-bought 9” graham or shortbread crust, but the crust is the only thing we’re truly baking in this recipe. The pie’s name came from its deceptive appearance. Topped with thick whipped cream, you can’t see the flavorful layers beneath, so the pie is “playing possum,” so to speak. ‘Tis yummy!
Arkansas Possum Pie
Joining the Union in 1836, Arkansas became the 35th State. The name Arkansas came from the Quapaw Indians, whom the French called the “Arkansaw.” In truth, the first people to live there arrived around 11,650 BC.
One of my most memorable moments came as stood in my own backyard in New Hampshire. With our land abutting a wetland, I had been able to watch an annual eagle nest. Just once I happened outside in time to observe an eagle teaching its eaglet to ride a thermal updraft. The little one would catch it and go up and around, but then, whoops… out it slipped, drifted back down and caught it again. On its third attempt, the eaglet “got it.” Then I watched as they both gracefully drifted up, up, up and away out of sight. It was glorious.
“Of all the forces that make for a better world, none is so indispensable, none so powerful, as hope. Without hope men are only half alive. With hope they dream and think and work.”
Many music icons were gone too young, and Elvis Presley was one of them. He was born into a poor family in Tupelo, Mississippi on January 8, 1935. His twin was delivered 35 minutes before him, stillborn. In 1946 for his 11th birthday, his parents gave Elvis his first guitar. At age 13, his family moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where he received a “C” in music class in high school. His teacher told Elvis that he just didn’t have an aptitude for singing. So, he brought in his guitar and sang a song that had just been released by Fairly Holden and His Six Cold Papas… “Keep Them Cold Icy Fingers Off Me.” The teacher agreed that Elvis was right. She didn’t appreciate his kind of singing.
Elvis Presley could not read music, but he played and sang by ear. If he heard a song that he liked, he could make it his own. In 1954, at the age of 19, Elvis and his group performed their first live show and he signed his first contract with RCA records at age 20. In Nashville, Tennessee, in 1956, Elvis recorded his first album, which included the hit single “Heartbreak Hotel.” His stardom grew rapidly, even while he served in the U.S. Army from 1958 – 1960. Elvis continued recording music and making movies until his sudden passing in 1977 at his home in Graceland in Memphis at just 42 years of age.
The singer and actor still reigns as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century. He holds many records to this day, including the most certified gold and platinum albums, the most albums charted on the Billboard 200, the most number-one albums by a solo artist on the UK Albums Chart, and the most number one singles by ANY act on the UK Singles Chart. In 1971 the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences recognized Elvis Presley with its Lifetime Achievement Award. He was also posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
January is National Soup Month. Soup makes a marvelous mouth-watering way to warm up on a chilly winter’s day. A favorite of mine is Chinese Hot and Sour Soup, which I have been making and enjoying since the mid-1970s. Here’s my only slightly updated 1975 recipe.
As an adult, I love the songs of the mockingbird. We have some amazingly talented ones at our home in the North Carolina mountains. They can trill on and on for up to an hour, with seemingly no repeats. (I was sorely disappointed when I returned to Lake Winnipesaukee last summer to find the mockingbirds favoring the calls of the crows and seagulls.)
As noted yesterday, I enjoy sharing recipes on my website and social media articles. In 2023, I am pleased to note that I shared 90 recipes with you. They ranged from appetizers, tapas, beverages, and brunch items to entrees, side dishes, snacks, soups, and sweets. Here is the full list of my recipes shared via my website & social media in 2023. They are all archived on this site in their respective articles.
& Super Simple Oysters Rockefeller
BEVERAGES:
BRUNCH:
Super Simple Wiener Schnitzel
VEGGIES & CHEESE:
SAUCES & CONDIMENTS:
SIDES (inc VEGGIES):
Café Martin Crème de Menthe Brownies
What fun I had writing articles, posting insightful and silly quotes, and sharing recipes with you in 2023. In total I shared 174 “Notable Quotables” from a wide array of folks, from Eleanor Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, and Ronald Reagan to Thomas Sowell, Kahlil Gibran, Aristotle, Voltaire, Socrates, and proverbs from many cultures. Words rang out from John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Dolly Parton, Doris Day, and Bob Hope, along with Albert Einstein, Karl Marx, Amelia Earhart, and Douglas MacArthur. The lists continued with diverse thoughts shared by Andy Warhol, Ernest Hemingway, Mae West, and Martin Luther King, Jr. to Mark Twain, Norman Vincent Peale, Michael Jordan, and Auguste Rodin… to name just a few. We covered politics, war, philosophy, family, relationships, nature, wisdom, behavior, and encouragement.
While the Bloody Mary is typically consumed by mid-afternoon, enjoy one any time you like! Let our recipe get you started.
“I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.”
Post that “Do Not Disturb” sign and finish doing whatever needs doing. No Interruptions Day gives us an official excuse to ignore requests that slow us down from accomplishing whatever is on our “to-do” list.
“When we seek hope, it may be best to give hope to someone else. Wrap someone in your arms, look them in the eyes, and tell them that you won’t give up.”
“Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.”
Mom’s Super Simple Raisin Sauce for Baked Ham
Super Simple Spiced Cranberry Raisin Chutney
“When we recall Christmas past, we usually find that the simplest things – not the great occasions – give off the greatest glow of happiness.”
“The most beautiful things are not associated with money; they are memories and moments. If you don’t celebrate those, they can pass you by.”
“If you can cut the people off from their history, then they can be easily persuaded.”
“There can be no friendship without confidence and no confidence without integrity.”
Sir Ronald got to take both daughters to visit The Biltmore in Asheville, NC this past week. The largest single-family residence in America harkens back to a fascinating time in our history. But the gingerbread house of The Biltmore is definitely a masterpiece! Perfect for today… National Gingerbread Decorating Day!
“Character is like a tree and reputation a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.”
Celebrate National Lager Day with a favorite “cold one.” Or prep some recipe that lets your lager shine. I do not drink any beers, but beer, lager, wines, and other liqueurs work perfectly in various, scrumptious recipes. Here’s one of my go-to tastebud cravings, especially with warm, soft pretzels… okay, tortillas chips are great, too!