Each & every Christmas Eve, Santa Clause sets out across the world, delivering toys to good little girls & boys. And, along the way, his yuletide mission is fueled by everyone’s traditional offering of cookies & milk. With all those goodies at every single stop, just how much weight would St. Nick pack on? There’s…
As we get ready to celebrate the holidays, you might be around friends & family (please be safe). And, if/when you are, you might want to share the latest “scuttlebutt”. But, have you ever wondered what that exactly is, and why we want to hear it? When we make conversation, we use a variety of…
Unless you’re very lucky, or very well-organized, your Christmas lights are likely all tangled up when you get them out of storage. One way or another, you’ll eventually end up on your hands & knees, fighting to untangle that seasonal snarl. And you’re not alone: a few years ago, even the British grocery chain Tesco…
Each December, we throw a big shindig in celebration of the anniversary of Jesus’s birth. But, without a birth certificate or other official record of His actual birthdate, December 25th seems like it’s an arbitrary date for our Christmas traditions. So, how was it chosen as THE date? The Bible doesn’t name a month, day,…
With all the snow & ice on the ground around us, an odd-yet-interesting question popped into my weird brain: what exactly is the difference between the 2 frozen treats of ice cream & gelato? One of the main differences: butterfat. Ice cream’s main ingredients involve milk, cream, sugar, and egg yolks, but the secret to…
Going through health care provider qualifications can be daunting, especially as their names often come with designations that don’t really make their title clear. Most of us know an MD is a “Doctor of Medicine”, but what is a DO? MDs & DOs, or “Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine”, get pretty much the same medical school…
Does snow have a scent? Your initial response might be “no”, since snow is only frozen water, which should be odorless. But, if you’ve ever predicted a big snowstorm based on a familiar tickle in your nose, then you understand the answer isn’t straightforward. So, what exactly happens when we “smell” snow? The answer has…
Misbehaving children getting lumps of coal actually predates Santa as we know him now; the tradition is also associated with St. Nicholas, Sinterklaas, and La Befana. There doesn’t seem to be a single specific legend about any of those figures that might give us a definitive explanation as to why coal is doled out to…
(*in best Dwight Schrute voice) FALSE: the phrase “spill the beans” did not originate when Kevin Malone dropped his huge pot of chili in season five of The Office. People actually started talking about spilling the beans more than 2000 years ago! Back in ancient Greece, they had a voting method that involved uncooked beans.…
With the chill in the air we’re feeling now, you couldn’t be blamed for daydreaming about diving into a big ol’ hearty bowl of soup. Or, perhaps, stew. Either will certainly warm & fill you up, but they’re certainly not the same thing. So, what’s the difference? Both liquid-based, soups & stews can contain a…