Author: Prof Patty

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Read More Need Some New Words?

I love Mexican food. Not “spanish” food. Not Tex-Mex food. Mexican food. As in food like people eat in their homes in Mexico. One of my favorite memories comes from when I lived in California and had the opportunity to eat some real Mexican food, particularly food from Sonora. Carne asada tacos, arroz con pollo,…

Read More My Favorite Food

Are Bats Really to Blame for the COVID-19 Pandemic? Around the world, bats are blamed for disease. Bat scientist and conservationist Merlin Tuttle counters these fears and explains why these mammals are so important. Bats have been identified by some experts, and in the media, as the culprits behind the costliest pandemic in modern history, even though the source…

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Over the past few weeks (and months) a number of retailers – including some of my favorites – have filed for bankruptcy. I suspect that some who closed because of coronavirus may fail to reopen or may go out of business within the next 12 months. Here is a list of retailers (and restaurants) I…

Read More Do You Like to Shop?

World Fair Trade Day May 9 is World Fair Trade Day. Support businesses that sell Fair Trade goods. Peace on Fifth is one such store and belongs to my daughter London. She sells on line and has a variety of items including international chocolates. Check out Peace on Fifth.

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 Do You Know Gregory Porter? Hailed by NPR Music as “the next great male jazz singer,” California-born singer and songwriter Gregory Porter’s music career began over 20 years ago, though it wasn’t until he moved to New York City and performed regularly at Harlem’s legendary St. Nick’s Pub that his career really took off. Porter released his debut album, Water, produced by…

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Presenting Cécile McLorin Salvant Born to a French mother and a Haitian father in Miami, Florida, Cécile McLorin Salvant was singing and playing classical piano before she reached the age of 10. A move to France in 2007 saw her study improvisation and vocal repertoire under respected reedist Jean-François Bonnel. Success followed the recording of her debut…

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Popular rider Oliver Lewis rode H. P. McGrath’s thoroughbred Aristides to victory in the first Kentucky Derby on May 17, 1875, at the Louisville Jockey Club. Continue reading. The pair won by a reported two lengths, setting a new American record time for a mile-and-a-half race. Fourteen of the fifteen jockeys in the derby, including Lewis,…

Read More Today in History – May 17

BY OLIVIA B. WAXMAN  MAY 22, 2020 from Time.com Nowadays, Memorial Day honors veterans of all wars, but its roots are in America’s deadliest conflict, the Civil War. Approximately 620,000 soldiers died, about two-thirds from disease. The work of honoring the dead began right away all over the country, and several American towns claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day. Researchers have…

Read More The Overlooked Black History of Memorial Day

Britain and France conclude Sykes-Picot agreement On May 19, 1916, representatives of Great Britain and France secretly reach an accord, known as the Sykes-Picot agreement, by which most of the Arab lands under the rule of the Ottoman Empire are to be divided into British and French spheres of influence with the conclusion of World War I. The…

Read More This Day in History – May 19

Trying to Do Fewer “Bad ” Carbs So…after going to my doctor for a physical, and seeing that I am both an inch shorter than I’ve been my whole life (!!!!) and have gained 8 pounds over the past 7 weeks (sigh) I decided to do something about all this. I can’t make myself taller…

Read More Tiny Peach Cobbler

Today I was in the mood for some southern-style cooking. I was born in the Midwest, grew up in the Midwest and Southwest, and lived among southerners and the descendants of Southerners. My thinking about food is influenced by the deliciousness of southern cooking, that is, the cooking done by black women in their hot…

Read More My Southern Cooking

CT trooper barred from public interaction after profanity-filled traffic stop By Ben Lambert Updated 6:23 pm EDT, Tuesday, May 19, 2020 NEW HAVEN (ctpost.com) — Connecticut State Police are investigating after a trooper was filmed berating a motorist during a profanity-laced traffic stop on the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge, with the trooper barred from interacting with the public, according…

Read More Profanity-filled traffic stop

Winter Favorite: Apple Slices (Actually all year round favorite) When I was a kid in Chicago there used to be a bakery on 63rd and South Park at the foot of the EL (I know this shows how old I am…) South Park is now MLK and the bakery no longer exists. They always had…

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