Commemorating The Nation's Anniversary-Day 3

Hubby Tony and I are learning a little bit about each of the States, and enjoying food from them as a way to celebrate the USA's 250th anniversary

Today it was Tony's turn to research again. He came up with these interesting state facts:

• Missouri You can thank the state for the ice cream cone. In 1904, St. Louis hosted the World’s Fair. A Syrian gentleman named Ernest A. Hamwi had a concession at this fair, selling “crisp, waffle-like” pastries. In the neighboring booth an ice cream vendor was doing his thing. It was so popular the vendor’s dishes were fully depleted. Hamwi rolled his pastries into cones… and the rest is history.
• Maryland Mary Pickersgill designed the flag that flew over Ft. McHenry during the War of 1812. Francis Scott Key wrote “The Star-Spangled Banner” after seeing the flag still waving during a battle in 1814.
• California Has the highest and lowest points in the contiguous U.S., more national parks than any other state, and an economy so massive it frequently ranks among the top ten largest globally.
• Ohio Officially became the 17th state of the United States on March 1, 1803. Interestingly, while President Thomas Jefferson signed the act enabling Ohio's statehood on February 19, 1803, Congress had technically forgotten to officially ratify the state constitution. This administrative oversight wasn't officially fixed until 1953, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower retroactively signed a resolution recognizing March 1, 1803, as the official date of statehood.
• Wisconsin During the summer, the population of Door County reaches ten times the number of year-round residents (28,000 vs. 250,000).

Tony had a jam-packed schedule today, including dinner out with a friend, so we agreed that he would prepare his food item for lunch. That item ended up being a frozen pizza from Imo's, the original St. Louis style pizza, which opened their first restaurant in 1964. The frozen pizzas were rolled out in 2022.

St Louis style pizza has a cracker crust and is topped with Provel cheese (a processed blend of cheddar, Swiss, and provolone). In the restaurants the pizza is cut into squares. Today Tony chose to cut his freshly-baked pizza into the more traditional wedges and serve it with a green salad.

Five years ago today: Another Sign Of Normalcy