A traditional Easter Simnel cake

For decades, my mother ordered fruitcakes from the Collin Street Bakery to give to family & friends. The cakes were shipped in cans directly to their customers, so it saved a lot of trouble in Christmas shopping for distant relatives. When that became too expensive, she and my sister started making fruitcake cookies themselves, putting them in tins, and giving them to local friends. It was a labor of love for them, and it was something they really enjoyed.

Sarajevo (2014 film) Poster from Internet Movie Database promo

This Austrian 2014 film premiered exactly 100 years after the outbreak of WWI. I just saw it on Netflix, and I was fascinated with the acting, design, and photography. What hooked me, however, was the supposedly original conspiracy theory that some of the officials of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire actually pulled off a set-up. They used Serbian youths to do the deed, as was duly recorded in the official record. As far as a limited Google search would provide, it appears that the storyline was fiction.

Growing up in Texas, it meant one thing FOOTBALL! We didn’t have beautifully colored leaves or mountain drives, except in far West Texas. In some countries, Halloween is known as the Day of the Dead. In the Christian Church, it is known as All Saints Day. It’s a time to honor our fore bearers, but somehow it evolved into spooks, ghosts, and goblins.