Tell Me Something I Don't Already Know!

A true Modern Diva should always have some interesting bits of trivia that you can share in conversation! Here's today's bit:

This tantalizing bit of trivia was told to me by my husband during dinner tonight. I thought it was worth sharing. This info was found today on USA Today. (and who says reading the paper isn't still worthwhile!)

Today, March 3, 2009, aka 03/03/09, is considered "square root day".

Square Root Day is an unofficial holiday celebrated on days when both the day of the month and the month are the square root of the last two digits of the year. For example, the last Square Root Day was March 3, 2009 (3/3/09), and the next Square Root Day will be April 4, 2016 (4/4/16). The final Square Root Day of the century will occur on September 9, 2081. Square Root Days fall upon the same nine dates each century. The exceptions during this millennium are during the 21st century with the 10/10/2100 day and 22nd century with the 11/11/2121 and 12/12/2144 days also being the Square Root Days.

Ron Gordon, a Redwood City, California high school teacher, created the first Square Root Day for September 9, 1981 (9/9/81). Gordon remains the holiday's publicist, sending news releases to world media outlets. Gordon's daughter set up a Facebook group where people can share how they were celebrating the day. One suggested way of celebrating the holiday is by eating square radishes, or other root vegetables cut into shapes with square cross sections (thus creating a "square root").

In lieu of the square vegetable celebration style, I am sharing this info with our followers. Go forth and be square!

Scrumptious Low Fat Dessert!

OK cooking fans I've conquered one of my small hurdles by finally publishing a post. One of my personal passions is cooking yet I've been hesitating on submitting a post, constantly critical of my content, assuming the 'recipe' wasn't that unique or interesting. Well, I'm taking a leap today and just going for it and what better way to start a task than with dessert! I promise more challenging main course entrees in the future but for today and for my first blogging attempt (yes, at 51 I'm still at 'virgin' with regards to blogging) I submit for your review a yummy sweet treat.
My husband is a dessert fanatic, loves his sweets at night, especially ice cream and sorbet. While I, on the other hand, try to avoid extra sugar, chocolate and envy the extra calories he can consume! I will also admit that I'm more attracted to cakes and cookies! It's a challenge to come up with ideas that don't make me feel like I just negated my day of responsible eating and exercise. A girlfriend recently passed on to me this recipe. She'd enjoyed the cake while at an 80th birthday party for a friend of her mother. Could it be that even 50 years ago good ol' Betty Crocker was health conscious?

Love dessert but hate the calories? Here's a tasty, low fat, low carb, easy to make dessert.

Ingredients:

1 box of Angel food cake mix
1 20 oz can crushed pineapples, packed in natural juice


Preheat over to 350
Use a 10" x 4" tube pan - do not use a smaller bundt pan or cake will rise over sides and make quite a mess in the oven.
Alternate to tube pan: use 3 small loaf pans - these pans are ideal for having multiple cakes that you can then freeze to have on hand for easy desserts later!

Combine Angel food cake mix and 1 can of crushed pineapples.
Mix with hand blender about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes at medium speed. Batter will be light and fluffy.

Pour into tube pan, place in center of pre-heated oven. Bake about 32-35 minutes depending on your oven. Cake should spring back when touched, toothpick inserted in cake should come out clean. Let cool then remove from pan.

Top a slice of cake with fresh berries (a mixture of sliced strawberries, raspberries, blueberries is great!) or sliced bananas and drizzle with a spoonful of non-fat yogurt - be adventurous on the yogurt flavor! Don't have fresh berries on hand, use frozen, take them out while you mix and bake the cake! Or, throw the berries with a bit of yogurt into a blender and pulse to make a delicious topping. Then, fix a nice cup of herbal tea and sit back and enjoy a slice of deliciousness without the guilt.

Life's Hurdles

I woke up this morning after a fitful night of sleep with one of my life's hurdles directly in front of me. I say a "hurdle" because those are what I call my life lessons, or as my father would say "the things in life that give you character". As I look at this hurdle in front of me, I can't help but think of what my fellow Diva blogger just wrote about in Coffee Cup Wisdom. Her thoughts of where we want to be have me thinking and even digging just a little deeper. What does it really mean to be a modern diva? Sure we talk about great gifts, wonderful recipes (soon to come), fun girl nights and even the thoughts that make us wonder where we are in life & how did we get here. But what about when you run into one of your life's hurdles? What do you think about then? How did I get here...what could I have done to prevent this...and the ultimate question of now what??
But there is another part of being a modern diva that sometimes we don't even think about. That is... how we handle our life's hurdles. Friends and family make us feel better or tell us the truth that maybe we don't want to hear. They lend us some "helpful" advice or even just let us vent out our frustration. In being a modern diva, we have to remember that all our past hurdles become a bridge to our future. The bridge needed to help us over the hurdles that are in front of us. As I walk toward my hurdle, I think about all the hurdles I have already overcome...wow! When I walked toward some of those hurdles, I thought that I would never get past them...I thought I was stuck there. But I did...and here I am...a little more experienced, with a little more character and a reminder that its just a hurdle, I can get over this one too.

At this time, all across the world, Modern Divas are being presented with hurdles, whether it be financial, emotional, or physical. So DIVA...reach for your inner strentgh and remember its just a hurdle.