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8 SOLERA DIAMOND VALLEY | APRIL 2021 By Theresa Rossetti, Resident Reminder: I don't enjoy cooking. My family didn't starve or grow up on fast food, but simple fare, combined with leftovers from Sunday Dinner at my In-Law's, kept them fed. For this month, we're talking flatbreads. If you've looked at any menus in the last few years, or seen a recent commercial from Panera, you might have seen some there. They're easy to bake, great for dinner for two, or, cut into smaller pieces, as an appetizer for a group. For the flatbread itself, make your own using whatever accommodations you need for your particular food needs (gluten- free, cauliflower crust, etc.) or buy them ready made. Can't find flatbread? Use pizza crust, naan, or any other edible that can hold up to fairly high heat and toppings. Here's one I've made a few times for those unsuspecting friends: EXPERIMENTING ON UNSUSPECTING FRIENDS Part Two: Flatbreads Shrimp Scampi Flatbread Ingredients: • 3 tbsp butter • 1 tsp olive oil • 8 oz shrimp, peeled and deveined • 3 cloves minced garlic • ½ tsp kosher salt • ¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes (or to taste) • 1 tsp lemon juice • 1 flatbread or thin pizza crust • 4 oz mozzarella (or an Italian cheese blend) Instructions: • Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. • Melt the butter and heat the oil in a medium saucepan. Add the shrimp, garlic, salt and pepper flakes. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until the shrimp is pink, and the garlic is fragrant. Toss with the lemon juice. Remove from the heat. • Tilt the saucepan and spoon the liquids onto the flatbread, brushing it over all of the crust. • Sprinkle the cheese over the top, add the shrimp, tucking them into the cheese to anchor them. • Bake for 7-9 minutes (or check the instructions on your purchased crust of choice). • Remove, cut and serve. By Dick Roppé, Resident On an individual level, it starts with a well thought-out plan. A setup. It usually involves some kind of prank or hoax. Once instigated then completed it's followed by a raucous shout… "APRIL FOOLS!" As I began writing this article, I tried looking for a distinction between a prank and a hoax. I discovered that a prank, a hoax, a spoof and a practical joke are pretty much the same thing. It's not clear when April Fools' Day started. Historians have made various unsubstantiated arguments that its origin dates as far back as the 14th century. Even the media has had its hand in perpetrating April 1 spoofs. Here are a few I discovered from several sources. In 1976, British astronomer Sir Patrick Moore told listeners of BBC Radio 2 that the unique alignment of Jupiter and Pluto at precisely 9:47 am on April first would result in an upward gravitational pull making people lighter. He invited his audience to jump in the air and experience "a strange floating sensation." It was billed as The Jovian- Plutonian gravitational effect. In 1996, Taco Bell took out a full-page ad in seven major newspapers announcing that they had purchased the Liberty Bell to "reduce the country's debt" and renamed it the "Taco Liberty Bell." When asked about the sale, White House press secretary Mike McCurry responded tongue-in-cheek that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold and would henceforth be known as the Lincoln- Mercury Memorial. Closer to Hemet - In 1993, a radio station in San Diego told listeners that the Space Shuttle had been diverted to a small, local airport (Montgomery field to those familiar with the area). Over 1,000 people drove to the airport to see it arrive during the middle of the morning rush hour - snarling traffic for hours. Interestingly, there was no shuttle orbiting at the time. A 1985 issue of Sports Illustrated, dated April 1, featured a story by George Plimpton on a baseball player, Hayden Siddhartha Finch, a New York Mets pitching prospect who could throw the ball 168 miles per hour. Sidd, as he was known, did have a number of strange quirks, such as playing with no shoe on one foot and a hiking boot on the other. For those not familiar with baseball, a pitcher accurately hurling the ball around 100 mph is a highly sought-after commodity. Going back to 1906, the front page of the Wichita Daily Eagle reported that a giant, 12-foot-high wave caused by heavy snow melting in the mountains was traveling down the Arkansas River from the north. At the same time, warm waters in the south had caused hundreds of thousands of frog eggs to hatch, and the frogs were now migrating north up the river in such numbers that they completely covered the river for 11 miles. According to the newspaper, the two forces — the wave from the north and the frogs from the south — were both scheduled to hit Wichita at approximately 10 am, and it was anyone's guess what would happen when they met. Townspeople showed up in droves and waited three hours before they realized it was all a prank. In conclusion, having been a longtime writer for the View, it saddens me to report that, due to COVID-19, the number of pages in the View will be reduced to eight – half of which will be ads, and our writers will be limited to one article every other month. Also, our publication will no longer be available online. The good news? Hard copies will still be available at the Lodge for only $3 per copy. APRIL FOOLS! Fool Me Once - Shame On You; Fool Me Twice - Shame On Me

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