The Rooney Bin

From scruffy stubble to handlebar-style or pencil thin, lip hair is in vogue. It hasn’t always been that way. At the start of the Victorian era facial fuzz was deemed distasteful, the mark of an artist or revolutionary. By the 1860’s the moustache trend had gained in popularity.   I’ll get right to the point. ... Read More

George Washington collected them. Christopher Columbus used them to prevent scurvy on long ocean voyages. Shakespeare wrote about them, and they were mentioned in the Bible. Americans consume about nine pounds of them a year. Elvis Presley liked his fried. Break out the cucumbers, vinegar, salt and spices; the last week in May could ... Read More

It’s the time of year when folks look forward to summer fun. However, as the social season wraps up in May there are many opportunities to eke out entertainment at galas and ever popular cocktail parties. The cocktail party is thought to be an American invention, but cocktails have been around for some time. The ... Read More

“Isn’t it appropriate that the month of the tax begins with April Fool’s Day and ends with cries of ‘May Day’?—Anonymous             T. S. Eliot wrote “April is the cruelest month…” but it’s also National Humor Month. The weather plays jokes as it vacillates between showers and sunshine and hot and cold. It begins with ... Read More

“The mother of mankind was Eve; She had some tricks up her sleeve; A serpent made her sin; Then she lured Adam in; That’s how she became Momma Eve.”—First Momma by Jackie Rooney Sunday is Mother’s Day. The Bible says Eve is the mother of all living things, but did Adam serve her breakfast in ... Read More

“Italian gelato. Take the deliciousness of a regular ice cream cone, times it by a million, then sprinkle it with crushed-up unicorn horns.” –Jenna Evans Welch, author of Love & Gelato Buon Giorno. I’m ba-a-ack! The Rooney Bin just returned from a whirlwind gelato tour of Italy. The entire family went. Fortunately we have a ... Read More

For the past 50 plus years, the Rooney Bin kitchen has been my exclusive domain. My biggest problem was what to prepare for the evening meal until an illegal alien cook invaded my turf. I’d announce that I’m going to the grocery store and ask “what do you want for dinner?...Hello-o! What do you ... Read More

  “Long ago, when men cursed and beat the ground with sticks, it was called witchcraft. Today, it’s called golf.”—an old Irish saying Green is popping out everywhere; it’s a sign of Wednesday’s vernal (spring) equinox. ‘Tis the month to wear green, if only a wee shamrock on Sunday for St. Patrick’s Day. Green is the ... Read More

The Rooney Bin is filled with relics, including its residents. There was a time when antiques were valuable, and folks collected them because they evoked happy memories of days gone by. Today you can’t give them away. Take telephones for example.             Sunday is Land Line Telephone Day. Who has a landline anymore? The Rooney ... Read More

“I do not believe in using women in combat, because females are too fierce.”—Margaret Mead             March is the month to celebrate American women. In 1981, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Rep. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., co-sponsored a congressional resolution proclaiming Women’s History Week. Following that lead, in 1987 Congress declared March National Women’s History Month, ... Read More