Eat a Peach Day
Peach labels are as colorful as the fruit they brand. Images of 1940s-styled women, tigers, geese, beaches, robins and farms all liven up the labels. Before the marketers took over with their clever logos, the peach was enjoyed in China as early as 550 B.C.E. The fuzzy fruit came to North America when the Spanish explored Florida in the 16th century, according to "The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink."
* Turn those ripe peaches into Peach Macaroon Cobbler or make a Peach Steak Sauce.
* Ripen peaches on the counter, not in the fridge.
* Once ripe, eat the peach! Or store in the fridge for up to 10 days.
* Store excess, ripe peaches in a plastic bag in the freezer after slicing them and adding one tablespoon each of lemon juice and sugar, advises the South Carolina Peach Council.
National Safe at Home Week
Workman's Comp is all well and good, but more people are injured at home, not at work, according to Safe at Home International. Safe at Home sponsors National Safe at Home Week annually the last Monday through Friday in August. Its goal is to raise awareness of and eliminate home-related injuries.
Tips from the Home Safety Council, a nonprofit organization:
* Practice fire drills at home and have a disaster preparedness plan in place.
* Take precautions to avoid falls and poisoning.
Tooth Fairy Day
An equal number of sources peg Tooth Fairy Day onto Aug. 22, while others are stuck on Feb. 22. Hey, we get our teeth professionally cleaned twice a year, so why not let kids celebrate Tooth Fairy Day just as often? The tooth fairy leaves a token, typically money, under the pillow of a child who has lost a tooth.
In "The Good People: New Fairylore Essays," author Rosemary Wells, of "Max and Ruby" fame, wrote about this important rite of passage:
"...the Tooth Fairy is just one very viable and influential member of an ancient and recognized 'tribe' of representatives including the mouse, rat, and spider which are tied to rituals used to mark a significant period in human life."
* Keep a tooth eruption chart handy if you have kids ages six through 12.
* Suffer through the pain of the movie, "Tooth Fairy" in which you may wish the lead actor, Dwayne Johnson, would crawl back under a rock.
