Marilyn's Photos - July 24 2026 - Marinating Steaks

 

What would you marinade a steak in?  Most of us would know about things like soy, beer, citrus, pineapple, pesto, and then?  There's Coca-cola.  Here's what happens: "A Coke marinade for steak is an excellent way to tenderize beef and build a sweet, caramelized crust. The phosphoric acid and carbonation break down tough fibers, while the sugar creates a gorgeous char on the grill. Marinate the meat for 2 to 6 hours in the fridge to let the flavors soak in without turning mushy."  The reference is Bon Apetit Magazine.  What else is in the recipe? The recipe has soy sauce, olive oil, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, paprika and black pepper. All these ingredients make up a marinade themselves, so the coca cola is adding something or other - acidity.  So instead of vinegar or citrus, add coke. What about upping the challenge.  Marinading the steak in whiskey and coke. One site called these Jack and Coke steaks. And branch out a bit as chicken, pork chops and ribs are candidates for a Coke marinade.  There are hundreds of sites offering these recipes.  In the Southern US this is a tradition and has been used for decades.  Coca-Cola is used as a traditional braise in place of red wine. Sweet Onions simmered in Coke will have an extra depth of flavour.  Create a glaze by simmering Coke and then put on chicken wings.  And pecan pie recipes call for a substantially reduced Coke so that it functions as corn syrup.  The advice on what not to put coke in - baking such as brownies or doughnuts. Do put it into Coca-Cola cake.  If you want to cook with all flavours of pop, use orange soda in your baking recipes - think creamsicle cakes. You could have a daily dose of Coca-Cola or some sort of pop in every meal.   Here's a long-ago truck.  Makes me think of boiled-down Coca-Cola. Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.com

Marilyn's Photos - July 23 2026 - How Many Pictures of the Day

 

One estimate is that we take 5.3 billion photos a day and another is 1 trillion pictures every day.  There are about 95 million photos posted to Instagram and 300 million to Facebook every day.   There's a photo of the day every day on BING.  For more variety, we can go to the Canadian National Geographic Photo of the Day, NASA Image of the Day.  Today's NASA image is the Large Magellanic Cloud of our Milky Way.  There's an explanation of it being a dwarf irregular galaxy.  Going to the Canadian National Geographic Photos of the Day the picture is a racoon, so not very distinct. There's a listing for TIME, but it shows pictures from 2013.  And there's a listing for The Guardian.  They post photos of the day selected from the news feed.  It seems that we the common people are posting the most photos of the day. Where do all those photos go?  What does Facebook and Instagram do with the millions of daily images? It targets advertising, trains AI, personalizes content - things like this.  And then what?  How do they store it all?  They have 4 petabytes - that's 4 million gigabytes - of new data a day.  There's a Quora entry HERE that describes the amount and type of storage, and says that Facebook spends $30,000,000,000 a year to keep up its infrastructure.  It seemed like a harmless question, and went straight off the cliff in no time. A mass display at Lilycrest Gardens a few years ago. Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.com

Marilyn's Photos - July 22 2026 - Grandpa Flavours

 

I saw this expression - "Grandpa Flavor" -  it is American pop culture slang to describe foods, drinks or scents that feel old-fashioned and reminiscent of older generations.  These include things like black licorice, sarsaparilla, root beer and rye bread.  There is butter pecan, black walnut, pistachio and dark, bitter coffees.  For Candies and treats the grandpa flavours are rum raisin, marzipan, molasses, and Werther's Originals.  Finally there's strong, sharp cheddar cheese, sardines, and pickled vegetables.  This cupboard full of foods doesn't seem too appealing to me. On the other hand, consider each one.  The first item is black licorice and that's a favourite Dutch treat, especially if it is salted. It is known as zoute drop.  It gets its intense savory-sweet profile from ammonium chloride rather than table salt.  And there are varieties that are "double salt" so considered even better. What about root beer?  It definitely is from a great-great-great Grandpa era.  Root beer is made using the root bark of the sassafras tree or the sarsaparilla vine.  It is a old drink, originating in the 18th century as a type of beer that was brewed.  A key component of sassafras is safrole, and was banned in 1960 when it was found to be carinogenic so it is made with artificial sassafras now.  It seems odd as it was used throughout the 18th and 19th centuries for its medicinal qualities by both indigenous and colonial inhabitants. But I think of Werther's Candies as being the grandest of the grandpa flavours - they are beloved by old people - grandpas and grandmas alike.  I see the little shiny packages in the rooms at Albright Manor when Millie and I visit.  Sometimes Millie launches under a chair or book case and I know what she's seen - an unwrapped Werther's waiting for her.  Werther's firmly cemented its reputation as a grandpa item with its television ads in the 1980s and 1990s.  And it is commonly referred to in obituaries as the candy given out to one and all by the deceased.  Even my own father turned into a Werther's grandpa when he got to long-term care. I wonder if Werther's will catch up to us. Too bad this house wasn't on the garden tour with its traditional garden entrance. To me it looks like it belongs in England. Very stately. Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.com

Marilyn's Photos - July 21 2026 - A Piece of Cake

 

There are complimentary expressions originating in food and cooking that we use to describe a person's personality or temperament - things like spicy, salty, sweet, and zesty. And then there are terms that describe a problem behaviour - cooked, half-baked, toasted, overcooked, and today's headline rage-boil.  I hadn't seen that before - it seems more intense than boiling over. I wondered if there were other expressions I didn't know.  But somehow I knew the ones that were listed. Maybe they are used so much that we are familiar with them  - nutty as a fruitcake, full of beans, cool as a cucumber, not my cup of tea, cheesy, sour grapes, tough cookie, hard nut to crack, butter up someone. Most foods are the subject of expressions:  Sweet, salt and sour: - as sour as vinegar - salt of the earth - sugarcoat  Desserts, especially pie: - piece of cake - pie in the sky - finger in the pie - as easy as pie Eating words: - bite off more than you can chew - eat crow - bitter pill to swallow - eat humble pie - food for thought These seem sort of mundane, part of our every-day conversations.  I guess that's the point as the people who write about these are targeting people taking the International English Language Testing System exams.  Required for university admissions and professional registrations, work visas, migration, and so on, there are many phrases and idioms to learn.  Here is a joke listed for IELTS learners - for many of these, there is a follow-up explanation of what "makes it funny" which itself quite funny.   Why did the student eat his homework? Because the teacher told him it was a piece of cake! To ace the speaking portion of the IELTS or just boost your language skills, understanding the dual meaning here is perfect: Figurative Meaning: The teacher meant the homework was simple and could be finished with no trouble. Literal Meaning: The student pretended to think the teacher was literally offering them a baked dessert. Here's one of the gardens on the Grand Durand Garden tour.  It is an area i Hamilton of 19th century estates and heritage stone mansions .  Lots of large plots of grass.  A vast and beautifully coloured swimming pool and classic-style pool house was the central feature of this "garden." Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.com

Marilyn's Photos - July 19 2026 - The Odyssey is with us

 

When did we read The Odyssey?  It is so long ago that I don't remember. And then maybe we didn't.  I don't think of this as part of  English Literature courses in University.  More likely it was part of Classical Studies.  It was somewhere in the curriculum.  It is considered a cornerstone of literature because of its narrative devices and the theme of the hero's journey with the longing to return home. The Homeric epics formed the basis of the education of everyone in ancient Mediterranean society from the seventh century BCE.  He is regarded as the most influential writer in history and comes in close to William Shakespeare as the greatest writer of all time.   This is much discussion on the current translation that fuels the movie.  It is by Emily Wilson.  Her translation is "literal" - she has removed the archaic, elevated and romanticized diction of past translations.  She has maintained the exact line count and strict ambic pentameter of the original Greek text.  These are radical departures from traditional scholarship.  It is extraordinary that this epic work has been with us for so long.  In the 3rd Century BCE the first Latin translation was done by Livius Andronicus.  In the 1st century AD Dio Chrysostom claimed that the peoples of Classical India had integrated translations into their own folklore.  It seems that has been the subject of translation and interpretation for as long as it has existed. And the interest grew as the centuries went by.   So doesn't it make sense that the cinematic splendour is IMAX 70 mm film would be exciting. And while this is considered one of literature's extraordinary feats, it also has an excess amount of plot activity to fulfill any action movie. It seems a great movie for our troubled times - each of us having a Ulysses sense of longing - I think for the "home" of planet Earth before climate change and population explosion started. This is a picture of the Sainte-Chapelle chapel in Paris - a visit more than 20 years ago.  I went searching for stained glass window pictures and of course, Sainte-Chapelle's are much revered.  The chapel is 778 years old. Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.com