Segway Napa

24/02/2025

It was a great weekend too share Sonoma & Calistoga with these folks!

23/02/2025

Feb 23rd - Happy National Tootsie Roll Day.
There are so many fun facts about the tootsie roll, we'll just name a few.
* Invented in 1896 by Leo Hirschfield, named after his daughter whose nickname was Tootsie
* Tootsie rolls were a must have in the hotel rooms for Frank Sinatra
* Tootsie rolls were sent to the American soldiers during the Korean war, the rolls, when warm, become malleable. This was essential in saving the lives of soldiers as they used the tootsie rolls as putty on their equipment.
* Tootsie Rolls were the first penny candy to be individually wrapped

*

20/02/2025

A little fun along the waterfront...

09/02/2025

Feb 9th - Happy National Pizza Day!
My youngest grandson would celebrate this every day if his parents let him. He loves to go to a place called Sgt. Pepperoni's.
Fun facts about this beloved American favorite, that's amore!:
*The United States eats 350 slices of pizza every second.
* Bakers from Naples were the first people to prepare a dish known as ‘pizza’ back in the 1600s.
* The pizza was nothing more than a peasant meal for most Italians in the 1800s.
* The first pizza delivery was made in 1889 when King Umberto and Queen Margherita of Italy requested pizza from Raffaele Esposito.
* Flatbreads outdate "pizza"
* The 5th century Persians soldiers put cheese and dates on their flatbreads, which they cooked on their shields.
* The Hawaiian Pizza was actually created in Canada.
* Meats are best when baked on top of the pizza, while vegetables come out better when baked under the cheese.
* Most pizzerias put cheese on the sauce, then the toppings. (I personally do the opposite., I'm a non-conformist LOL)

08/02/2025

Feb 8th - Happy Potato Lovers Day!

07/02/2025

Feb 7th - Happy National Fettuccini Alfredo Day - Yum! And if you didn't read my post last year- chances are you have been making it wrong. Yep - there is NO cream in the original Alfredo sauce - Read on :)
* This dish was created by Alfredo Di Lelio at his restaurant in Rome in 1908. (some publications say 1914)
* He created the dish as his wife was pregnant and couldn't eat many dishes. But according to his granddaughter, this was created postpartum. Either way- Armando was born in 1908.
* Fettuccine Alfredo is a pasta dish made from fettuccine pasta tossed with Parmesan cheese and butter.
* In Italy this dish is called "Fettuccine al b***o"
* Alfredo liked to serve his dish tableside- making a production of twisting the pasta onto the plate. Many famous Hollywood stars ate at his restaurant.
* The original recipe uses Parmigiano-Reggiano and pasta water.
* Some legends say the "secret" of the original Alfredo recipe is oil is added to the pasta dough; others that the pasta is cooked in milk.

06/02/2025

Feb 6- happy Chopsticks Day! We love taking our Glide N Graze folks to the Oxbow Public Market for some delicious sushi, of course if you can't do chopsticks, forks are always an option.
*Chopsticks were invented around 1200 B.C., forks around 2400 B.C., and spoons around 1000 B.C.
* The word for chopsticks in Chinese means “quick little bamboo fellows.”
* Proper chopstick etiquette includes not pointing with them, not sticking them upright in a bowl of rice, and not passing food from one set of chopsticks to another.
* While bamboo and wood are traditional, chopsticks can also be made from metal, plastic, and even precious metals. (I personally don't like the metal ones- too slippery)
* Japanese chopsticks are typically shorter with a pointed end, while Chinese chopsticks are long and blunt. Korean chopsticks are made of metal and are often flat.
*, In 1877 Female British composer Euphemia Allen wrote The Celebrated Chop Waltz for piano. I use to play it all the time when I was a kid - how about you?

05/02/2025

04/02/2025

Feb 4th - happy national homemade soup day! Nothing better than soup on a windy rainy day. Our Napa River is getting very full.
It's also National Stuffed Mushroom Day - hey, stuffed mushrooms as an appetizer and homemade soup to follow.
Some fun facts:
* The earliest evidence for soup consumption dates back to 6000 BC, and it was hippopotamus soup. ( This was from Mesopotamia- they must've eaten a lot of hippopotamus soup as Iraq and Kuwait don't really have anymore)
* Nebraska requires bar owners to brew soup in order to sell beer
* Chicken Noodle Soup is the most popular in America (personally I prefer Chicken and Dumplings)
* "It’s known that the Romans and Greeks enjoyed mushrooms as part of their diet, and mushrooms were used heavily during the Middle Ages.
* More than likely, stuffed mushrooms became popular during the 14th and 15th centuries—at about the same time that mushroom pies became a popular food item for medieval banquets." /www.holidayscalendar.com

03/02/2025

Feb 2nd - Happy National Tater Tots Day. What kid doesn't like Tater Tots. If we had a tour today - but it's storming so we don't. But if we did, we'd head to The Garden for some of their unique tater tots.
Fun Facts
* Tater Tots were invented in 1954.
*The brothers Grigg, who founded the Oregon Frozen Food Co, later to become Ore-Ida, created these to use up potato scraps.
* Tater is slang for potato (origin: 1750–60; America; by Apheresis, tato, and substitution of -er for final -o, tater)
* Americans consume approximately 70 million pounds of tater tots per year.

02/02/2025

We're getting lots of rain. Will it happen this year?

02/02/2025

Oh - February 1st is also National Eat Ice Cream For Breakfast Day. My youngest, a huge ice cream fan, always points out that eating ice cream for breakfast is good for you as it might improve alertness and mental performance. Look it up!

02/02/2025

Feb 1st , Happy National Baked Alaska Day! Brings back memories of my childhood. My mom taught me how to make these when I was about 8 years old. She cheated lol. She would buy a pound cake, cut it horizontally, and then put layers of the ice cream, cover with meringue and stick it in the oven. So easy, so delicious!
* The dessert was developed by Benjamin Thompson. When experimenting with dessert techniques, he realized that while pastries would conduct the heat and protect a cold core, a layer of meringue would do so to an even greater degree.
*** Thompson served as a spy and informant for the British Army during the American Revolution. Ooh!
* What we commonly call Baked Alaska was dubbed as such by the famous Delmonico’s Restaurant in New York City in 1876 to celebrate Alaska’s annexation.
* As of 2015, a team of chefs in China held the Guinness World Record for the largest baked Alaska, weighing 3.08 tons.

24/01/2025

January 24- Happy National Peanut Butter Day~ we're just going to focus on peanut butter by itself - because there is also a PB&J Day in the spring and a peanut day in the summer.
So - some fun facts about peanut butter,
* It takes about 540 peanuts to make a 12-ounce jar of peanut butter.
* Women and children prefer creamy peanut butter, while most men opt for chunky.
* People living on the East Coast prefer creamy peanut butter, while those on the West Coast prefer the crunchy style.
* The average European eats less than 1 tbsp of peanut butter a year. (they don't know what they're missing!)
* Every year Americans eat enough peanut butter to coat the floor of the Grand Canyon
* If my granddaughter asks you for a sandwich - what she really wants is a spoonful of peanut butter - lol
* Two peanut farmers have been elected president of the USA – Virginia's Thomas Jefferson and Georgia's Jimmy Carter.

21/01/2025

Jan 20th - Happy National Cheese Lovers Day. I fit into that category! We love making a stop at Vella Cheese Company of CA on our Sonoma Segway Tour.
* People have been making cheese for thousands of years, possibly as early as 7,200 years ago.
* Cheese & Wine are the ultimate pairings
* “Pule” is a Serbian cheese made with donkey milk. It is regarded as the most expensive cheese on earth, costing about $600 per pound. Only about 100 donkeys are milked for p**e and the cheese is smoked after it's made. (Why have I never tried this?)
*In 1840, Queen Victoria was given a half-ton wheel of Cheddar as a wedding gift.
* A Wisconsin Law used to require restaurants to serve cheese with every meal. The Law was around from June 1935 to March 1937 and required all restaurants to serve cheese and butter with meals.
* It takes about 10 pounds of milk to make just 1 pound of cheese.

15/01/2025

January 15th - National Strawberry Ice Cream Day. IMHO - the best in the valley is at the Calistoga Creamery- a little corner shop next to CalMart. Made with organic Strauss dairy products - we definitely stop there on our Glide and Graze Calistoga.
* Strawberry ice cream dates back at least to 1813, when it was served at the second inauguration of James Madison.
* Third most popular flavor in the U.S. (I'm sure you can guess the top 2)
* The earliest account for strawberry and ice cream occurred in 1744, when Thomas Bladen a priest, and als, the governor of Maryland , served a dessert of frozen strawberries and ice cream to commissioners.
* Strawberries pair well with milk products and hold up when frozen - a clear choice over watermelon or apples. Although those are good in sorbets.