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February Happenings

100

This is the most popular color of rose given on Valentine’s Day.

What is red? Roses account for 83 percent of all flowers sold on Valentine’s Day, and 63 percent of those roses are red.

200

This major bodily organ gets its own month in February.

What is the heart? The American Heart Association has designated February as American Heart Month, a time to raise awareness about heart disease, including prevention and treatment.

300

 Fat Tuesday is the culmination of this event.

What is Mardi Gras? Fat Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday in the Christian faith.

400

Chosen because it includes the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, February is when this annual observance is celebrated.

What is Black History Month? We started observing Black History Month in 1976. It is the outgrowth of Black History Week, established in 1926.

500

If you are born on this numerical day in February, technically your birthday will happen only every four years

What is February 29? Leap years occur every four years, and February gains an extra day.

Dining with Words

100

This term refers to a menu with separately priced items.

What is à la carte? In the United States, you can order à la carte from most menus. Prix fixe, or all-inclusive meals, from appetizers to dessert, are often found in high-end restaurants.

200

This term means to beat an ingredient, such as cream, to incorporate air into it.

What is whip? You can whip cream with a mixer, or you can use a whisk to accomplish the same result with elbow grease and more time.

300

 Food Network celebrity Alton Brown calls this type of cooking in a gas oven “upside-down grilling.”

What is broiling? You won’t get a charcoal flavor, but you’ll get the equivalent of a gas-grilled meal.

400

This is the term for chopping an ingredient into cubes larger than minced cubes.

What is dice? The cubes vary in size from 1/8 to 1/4 inch.

500

According to Good Housekeeping, to do this is “to cook food in a small amount of fat in a skillet over relatively high heat, stirring often or occasionally.”

What is sauté? When sautéing a protein, you turn it once or twice. However, when sautéing vegetables, the technique is similar to stir-frying.

Sightseeing in the USA

100

This antebellum South Carolina city boasts cobblestone streets, horse-drawn carriages, and Fort Sumter.

What is Charleston? Nighttime ghost tours draw many tourists to the city.

200

This former maximum security prison sits in the middle of San Francisco Bay on a gigantic rock.

What is Alcatraz? Tours are conducted daily, with ferry service from San Francisco. Alcatraz was first a military prison during the Civil War and operated as a federal prison from 1934 to 1963. Al Capone was its most famous prisoner. Whitey Bulger also served time there.

300

This string of islands off the coast of North Carolina houses the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, with its distinctive, diagonal black-and-white stripes.

What are the Outer Banks? Orville and Wilbur Wright’s historic flight took off from the Outer Banks, and the majestic Wright Brothers Memorial is perched atop Kill Devil Hill.

400

If spelunking is high on your bucket list, there’s no better place to take a cave tour than the Mammoth Cave in this state.

What is Kentucky? Mammoth Cave is the longest known cave system in the world, with more than 400 miles of mapped passageways.

500

This city is best place in the Northeast to see Gilded Age mansions.

Where is Newport, Rhode Island? The most famous mansion is the Vanderbilt Mansion. You can tour the mansions, but some are open only during the summer.

The Lines Are Drawn

100

Vertical lines run this way.

What is up and down, or from top to bottom? The straight legs on the average dinner table are vertical lines.

200

This visual line separates the ocean from the sky

What is horizon? The water doesn’t really meet the sky on the horizon; it’s an optical illusion. The beach is a great place to see the horizon unobscured.

300

White lines that run across the street at an intersection are known as this.

What is a crosswalk? The lines indicate pedestrian walkways for crossing the stree

400

This letter is made up of two diagonal lines that cross in the center

What is X? The alphabet comprises many letters that are formed solely of straight lines. Other letters are made of curved lines or a combination of straight and curved.

500

These equidistant lines never cross; for example, railroad tracks

What are parallel lines? Above-ground electrical wires are another example of parallel lines.

Home Ec Class

100

Pounds, ounces, tablespoons, and teaspoons are part of the category of weights and this.

What are measures? Weights and measures are units that quantify volume, length, weight, etc.

200

We were taught about this graphical representation of food and the number of servings of each group we should have in a day.

What is the food pyramid? MyPlate has since replaced the food pyramid.

300

Use your glass measuring cup for measuring this type of ingredient.

What is liquid? Dry ingredients are measured in metal or plastic flat-top measuring cups

400

Add this to a roux to make a béchamel sauce.

What is milk? Both are basic French sauces and made with flour and a fat, usually butter. They have been incorporated into American sauces and are the base of gravies, Alfredo, and cheese sauces.

500

We were taught that when no fire extinguisher was available, we should put out grease fires with this common ingredient.

What is baking soda? Today, the best way to put out a grease fire is to use a fire blanket because it doesn’t create a mess.