10 Random Things About Chocolate

Since I am a fan, and since chocolate makes everything just a little better, it made my

list of ten random things today.  Here are 10 things you may

or may not know about chocolate:

1.  Hershey's produces 80 million kisses each day.

2.  Cadbury made the first chocolate bar in 1842..thank you Cadbury.

3.  The global chocolate market was 83.2 billion dollars in 2010.

4.  German chocolate cake was named for Sam German, an american and has nothing to do with Germany.

5.  People who feel depressed eat 70% more chocolate than their non-depressed peers.

6.  One chocolate chip can supply enough energy for a person to walk 150 feet.  I'm good for several hundred miles....

7.  Americans eat 2.8 billion pounds of candy each year, half of which is chocolate.

8.  When English Buccaneers overtook a Spanish warship they set it on fire because they believed the cacao beans were sheep dung.

9.  Commercial chocolate contains such low amounts of cacao solids, it is the sugar people are addicted to.  No kidding?!

10.  Switzerland's people eat more chocolate than any other country at 22 pounds per person per year...America is 11th with 11 pounds per person per year.

Now that you are armed with these amazing facts about chocolate, watch Chocolate (love that movie)

and eat yourself some sinfully delicious chocolate...or send some my way.

10 Random Things...... About Me

Because inquiring minds want to know......

1.  I was once bitten by a scorpion on the leg....in the bed....in a motel.

2.  I am deathly afraid of scorpions.

3.  I met my husband while working as a dipper in an ice cream parlor when I was 16.

4.  I once saw Sailor Bob in person.

5.  I was the best skipper in my first grade classroom.

6.  I do not like the summer.

7.  I am a diehard Jane Austen fan and keep a JA book on my night stand at all times which I read nightly regardless of whatever else I am reading.

8.  I have been known to rub the blue dot in the National Enquirer.

9.  I always order a turkey sandwich when having lunch out.

10. Even though my parents warned me as a child never to stick my hand in a fan, I did so anyway and had to get 27 stitches....I was 50 at the time.

It's a fact that there is absolutely NO reason anyone would need this information, but it's just the sort of thing I like to read on other blogs.  I would love for anyone interested to post a random thing about themselves in the comments below....Just because...

10 Random Things About Cows

For anyone who does not know, I live on a farm.

A cow farm specifically.  I thought you might like to know ten random things about cows.  Why?  You never know when small talk will be called for at a party or conference.  The conversation will surely lag at some point and you can then trot out your cow info and impress the crowd.  So, here are ten random things about cows.

1.  Hay and straw are two different things.  Cows eat hay.  They do not eat straw.  Ever.  Straw is used for stalls, landscaping, displaying with pumpkins and autumn decor but not for eating....by anything.

2.  Cows can eat up to 90 pounds of food per day.

3.  Cows can drink between 25-50 gallons of water daily.

4.  Cows (like myself) eat on and off all day.  They "graze."

5.  A full grown cow weighs about 1500 pounds (or as we used to tell school kids, the same as about 30 kids)

6.  Calves weigh about 80 pounds when born.

7.  Milk is measured in pounds.  1 gallon equals about 8 pounds.

8.  Dairy cows give an average of 60 pounds of milk daily.

9.  Aside from hay, cows eat corn silage, haylage, grain, grass and roasted soy beans in addition to minerals as needed.

10.  And finally, contrary to popular belief, black/brown cows do not give chocolate milk (as city kids have been known to ask...makes me think there are not enough children's farm books out there.)

Now you have 10 amazing random facts about cows to share with friends and relatives.  They will be amazed with your knowledge and you will be the belle of whatever party you may be invited to.

(My appreciation to whichever of my relatives snapped the above pictures; I have many and don't know who took what....I just know it wasn't me!)

OH AND CONGRATS TO MALINDA MARCHETTI FOR WINNING

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