HOORAY FOR THE JOY-GIVERS! We always need more smiles, music and laughter. This fun series salutes those seriously unsolemn people, places and things that bring joy to the world. Starting during the pandemic, an oft joy-challenged time, readers are introduced to present-day joy givers and reminded of cherished joy givers of the past. Each salute will have online links to add more opportunities for happiness in the comfort of your socially-distanced home. Many installments of the series will include a salutary food or drink recipe to add another element of pleasure.
The “SHIELD THE JOYOUS” shields, which will be given to those honored or to their family, are inspired from a passage in “The Book of Common Prayer” (1662). Prayers are lifted to “tend the sick, give rest to the weary, bless the dying…and shield the joyous.” Joy givers are precious. Let us preserve them, protect them, treasure them, smile with them, laugh with them, tap our toes with them and give them A ROUND OF APPLAUSE.
PLEASE GIVE A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR: DINAH WASHINGTON
First, let’s share a round of laughs with this joke Dinah Washington, a once-upon-a-time gospel singer and touring performer would have loved: “A Baptist preacher dies and goes to heaven. As he approaches the pearly gates, he hears a band of singing and dancing angels approach and he is thrilled to make his entrance. But, St. Peter, the holy gatekeeper, asks the preacher if he would mind stepping aside a moment. Surprised, the preacher does as instructed. The angels march out of the gates and jubilantly embrace a man in a bus driver’s uniform and welcome him into heaven. Then, St. Peter tells the minister that he can enter. The preacher man says, ‘Thank you, St. Peter, but help me understand how someone like me who has served the Lord all my life was asked to let a bus driver precede me and that ordinary fellow was led by a band of angels?’ St. Peter replied, ‘Well, frankly, whenever you preached, people slept. But, whenever that fellow drove, people prayed.’”
Here is a round of great things to salute “The Queen of The Blues:”
- DINAH WASHINGTON was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama as Ruth Jones in 1924.
- DINAH WASHINGTON worked as a “ladies room attendant” and other menial jobs in Chicago. clubs while she launched her career to become one of America’s greatest band singers.
- DINAH WASHINGTON got her first major singing “gig” with jazz great, Lionel Hampton.
- DINAH WASHINGTON recorded 447 songs crossing over every musical genre from Blues to Rock, torch songs to Country and Western.
- DINAH WASHINGTON was married eight or nine times (no one seems quite certain because she married some twice); her last marriage was to football star, Dick “Night Train” Lane.
- DINAH WASHINGTON was a pistol-packing, fine jewelry-bedecked lady who was confident to be her own bodyguard.
- DINAH WASHINGTON died in Detroit and her funeral was conducted by Aretha Franklin’s preacher/father; she went to heaven wearing a mink coat and a tiara with a “Cadillac procession” stretching 24 city blocks.
- DINAH WASHINGTON is slated for a film biography produced by Quincy Jones with “The Queen of The Blues” played by Oprah Winfrey.
FREE YOUTUBE ROUND-UP OF DINAH WASHINGTON JOYOUSNESS: Some of her “must hear” singles are “A Sunday Kind Of Love,” “What A Difference A Day Makes” and perfect for this time of year, “September In The Rain;” for a wonderful hour of her soulful sounds, delight yourself with “Dinah Jams/Full Album” (1:01:21 minutes)—This joy-givers life was not always joy-packed but there are many, bliss-filled parts in the four-part documentary, “The Life and Times of Dinah Washington.”
What a difference this dame makes! Please join us in giving her “A Round of Applause” and enjoy this easy, fun recipe for “DINAH WASHINGTON QUEEN OF THE PECAN CARAMEL APPLES” shared by my friend, Joel Woodard, who has Alabama roots and has blossomed in New York and the northeast into one of America’s most-admired, joy-giving interior designers and lifestyle gurus.
Dinah Washington Queen of the Pecan Caramel Apples
Obtain any type of eating apples you prefer. Wash and remove the stems. This recipe makes six Pecan Caramel Apples.
A fun little twist on this is substituting popsicle sticks with comparably sized twigs from a tree. Collect and wash those as well.
Insert the twigs where the stems were; line a sheet pan with wax paper and set aside.
Prepare your caramel.
2 cups packed light brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans (you can toast these in the oven if you like)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- In a heavy saucepan combine sugar, milk, shortening and salt over medium high heat. Mix well and bring to a boil. Boil for two minutes stirring constantly.
- Remove from heat and stir in extract. Use the whisk attachment on an electric mixer to beat the caramel at medium speed until mixture thickens, about 7 minutes. The caramel will lose its gloss.
- Dip the apples in the caramel, covering entire surface. Allow excess to drip back in pan. Place on lined sheet tray to harden for at least one hour. Sprinkle or roll apples in the pecans.
- Drizzle any leftover caramel over the apples.
Copyright 2020 Humble Roots, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
