Media Monday - Perspective

Perspective

The proper or accurate point of view or the ability to see it.

We have an ugly truck, a really ugly rusty white truck.  It sits in the driveway collecting dirt and leaves most of the time.  But if you look at it the right way it can be very picturesque – it all depends on your perspective.

So take your camera out and look at things differently then you do every day.

Foodie Friday - Cocoa-peanut logs

Cocoa Krispies was introduced in the United States in 1958.  It is a chocolate flavored version of Rice Krispies. 

Rice Krispies (also known as Rice Bubbles in New Zealand and Australia) is a breakfast cereal created by Clayton Rindlisbacher for Kelloggs and was introduced in 1928.  It is created by making a paste of rice and sugar which is then formed into rice shapes (called berries) and then cooked, dried and toasted.  The rice berries expand and form a hollow rice shape with very thin walls that are crunchy and crispy.  They are famous for their ‘snap, crackle and pop’ sound when milk is poured on them.

The Kellogg company was started by two brothers, Will Keith (W.K.) Kellogg and Dr. John Harvey Kellogg in Battle Creek MI.  They entered the cereal business in 1906 with Kelloggs Corn Flakes.  The company believed that everyone, not just those on special diets, could be interested in wholesome cereal foods.  They continually improved their product line and packaging techniques to meet the changing needs of consumers.

The introduction of pasteurized milk greatly helped to expand the appeal of breakfast cereals.

The depression brought hard times to many people.  WK Kellogg responded by doubling his advertising spending and reduced the hours of the three plant shift to create a fourth shift enabling more people to work.  Mr Kellogg declared – “I’ll invest my money in people.”

Malitta Jensen and Mildred Day, were the inventors of Rice Krispy Treats the most well known recipe or ‘treat’ using Rice Krispies.  They invented the recipe as a Campfire Girls fundraiser.

But so far I have found two recipes that do not use marshmallows.

According to Wikipedeia Ogg the Caveman was the mascot for Cocoa Krispies from 1968 to 1971, so we can narrow down the age of this clipping to that time period.  There is a copyright date of 1964 on the bottom of the clipping so we will have to assume that that is the date that the recipe was originally published.

***

On a personal note –

Joel Rosenberg, 1954-2011

We were very saddened to find out that our friend, Joel, passed away yesterday.

He will be missed very much, but will live on in his family and through his many books starting with his first book -

Joel made us laugh, and was always up for a good argument.  He was devoted to freedom and was a very active gun rights activist.  If more people were like Joel that world would be a much better place.

Thursday In the Life - Volunteer!

Volunteer – meet new people, build stronger communities.

Is life just about going to work and then going home and sitting in front of the TV?  With the economy being what it is – not good – there is a lot of negative talk every where.  People want to blame someone, something, but don’t seem to want to do anything to change it.

So why not do something positive and volunteer? I have yet to find an organization that says that they have too many volunteers.  The MN Literacy Council has pre-service training for ESL tutors twice a month, I was told that they average about 30 students for each class, and they still wish that they had more volunteers.

Not sure what you could volunteer for?  Check out volunteer opportunities on the internet.   

I looked at http://www.volunteermatch.org/ and found 1716 volunteer opportunities within a 20 mile radius of Minneapolis.  They range from giving manicures to senior residents, letter writing , bingo assistants, Wii gaming experts, sewers to help mend clothes, it seems whatever your skills there is something that you can help with.

It is even more important now when services are being cut due to lack of funding that people get out and get more involved in their communities.  If you have children get them involved too. 

My daughter volunteered at the MN Historical Society* when she was in high school.  She did activities for small children, cataloging & organizing artifacts and other projects. They had a family weekend where we sorted documents from WWI. By volunteering she was able to do go to the exhibits and learn how important volunteers are to organizations like this and got an idea of some of the things that go on behind the scenes in a museum.

VOLUNTEER, have fun, share your skills.
*The Minnesota Historical Society is a non-profit educational and cultural institution created by the Territorial Legislature in 1849 as one of its first acts, even before statehood. Its essence is to illuminate the past as a way to shed light on the future. The Society collects, preserves and tells the story of Minnesota’s past through museum exhibits, libraries and collections, historic sites, educational programs and book publishing. 

The Minnesota Historical Society preserves collections that tell the story of Minnesota through the ages. Some artifacts are thousands of years old. Many items predate the history of the state itself. Included are:

• 176,712 Books
• 70,369 Periodicals
• 166,700 Pamphlets
• 353,178 Photographs
• 1,437 Sound Recordings
• 1,114 Films and Videos
• 19,277 Maps and 2,027 Atlases
• 6,072 Art Works
• 1,783 Oral History Interviews
• 4,139 Newspaper Titles; Newspapers are on 69,484 Microfilm Reels
• 36,538 cubic feet of Manuscripts, 5,922 Microfilm Reels
• 54,743 cubic feet of State Archives, 11,853 Microfilm Reels
• 232,456 Historical Objects
• 1,152,504 Archeological Artifacts

Since 2001, the Society's budget has been reduced by about $5 million per year, or approximately 18%. (In FY 2003, the state appropriation for MHS was $27,395,000. In FY 2005, that appropriation was $22,280,000.)

In 2010 more than 2,300 volunteers contributed 48,335 hours in 32 programs with 129 staff coordinating volunteers.  For the first time, the value of volunteer contributions exceeded $1 million, equivalent to 23 full-time employees. This value is calculated using data developed by the Independent Sector

If you are in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and have never visited the MN Historical Society I urge you to check it out.  It might be more interesting then you think!  Really!  I am not a big museum goer and I enjoyed it.  I even got to see Prince's purple coat!