It’s National Tennessee Day

Today we honor and celebrate all that is the great state of Tennessee. On June 1, 1796, Tennessee was admitted into the Union as the 16th state. On June 24, 1861, Tennessee became the 11th and last state to secede from that same Union at the start of the Civil War.

On March 21, 1925, an anti-evolution law was passed in Tennessee. The religious world was upset by Darwin’s theory of Evolution. No public school in the state could teach evolution. The anti-evolution law was abolished in 1967. Just for the record, as a Catholic I believe in evolution within a spices, that environmental adaptation was part of the creation plan. Pond scum evolution is just a theory, one that I am not required to accept. And that’s all we need to say on the subject.

Weird Laws Still on the Books:
It is illegal to lasso a fish in Tennessee. However; it is okay to shoot a whale while riding in a car. As a matter of fact, the only animal that is allowed to be hunted from a car are whales. There’s just one small problem – Tennessee is a land-locked state. I guess that’s their way of saying no hunting from a car.

We’ve all made jokes about road kill. In Tennessee, if you happen upon road kill while driving home and it looks appetizing (maybe a deer?) it’s okay to take it home and eat it. Yeah, you can’t make this stuff up.

Most young people live with roommates when they are first striking out. And that’s alright in Tennessee, so long as no more than seven woman live together in the same house. Eight or more, and the state feels it’s really a brothel. Hum, what they do about college dorms?

Tennessee wants to make sure there is no wiggle room for prostitution in their state. It is illegal for a woman to approach men in a suggestive manner. Women cannot drive around the state with their windows rolled down to wink at men or call men over to their cars. But that’s not all. Women are not allowed to telephone a man and ask him out on a date. Wonder if they’ve updated the law to include texting.

No reflection on the good folks of Tennessee, but their lawmakers seem to worry a great deal about sex and promiscuity. In Tennessee it is against the law for students to hold hands while at school. Why? Holding hands is considered a “gateway” to sexual activity. I kid you not.

Interesting Facts:
Originally called the Volunteer State for the state’s participation in the Battle of New Orleans, more National Guard Soldiers from Tennessee fought in the Gulf War than any other state.

Are you a fan of Cotton Candy? Then you need to thank William Morrison and John C. Wharton of Nashville, Tennessee. They came up with a method of spinning heated sugar into a sweet treat they called “Fairy Floss”.

While I exist on coffee, Hubby’s caffeine beverage is Mountain Dew. What does that have to do with Tennessee? Everything! In the late 1930s, two brothers from Georgia, Barney and Ally Hartman, moved to Knoxville, Tennessee. The brothers were big whisky drinkers, but in Tennessee they couldn’t find their favorite mixer. Rather than have someone from Georgia ship it to them, the Hartman brothers decided to make their own. Hence Mountain Dew was born. But not as a soft drink. It was created as a mixer for whisky cocktails.

The nation’s first ever self-serve grocery store, Piggly Wiggly, was founded in Memphis in 1916. Before Piggly Wiggly opened its doors, grocery stores did not allow customers to gather their goods. Instead, a customer would give a list of items to a clerk, who would then collect them throughout the store. That’s not all, they were the first to introduce checkout stands, marked prices on every item in the store, and in 1937, began providing customers with shopping carts.

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Now that the nights are growing colder, hot chocolate is bound to have an appeal. Tennessee Hot Chocolate will warm you in more ways than one.

Tennessee Bourbon Hot Chocolate
3 cups Milk
3/4 cup Half-and-Half
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/3 cup Bourbon
Handful Mini Marshmallows

In a saucepot over medium heat, combine milk with half-and-half. Heat thoroughly without allowing milk to boil

Whisk in sugar and cocoa powder. Whisk continuously until sugar has dissolved and the cocoa is blended.

Ladle hot chocolate into mugs. Top with marshmallows, serve and enjoy.