September 13th is National Peanut Day. January 24th is National Peanut Butter Day, and PB&J lovers can look forward to April 2nd. A bit of history about the peanut, also known as a groundnut and goober. First, it isn’t a nut, but a legume. The difference: A legume is a pod with multiple seeds. A […]
August 6th is National Root Beer Float Day: a type of ice cream float (a.k.a. ice cream soda) that combines ice cream, usually chocolate or vanilla, with root beer. Just place a couple of scoops of ice cream in a tall glass, add the root beer, and serve with a straw and a long spoon […]
[1] Artisan lollipops from Quevanna. [2] European lollipop art (photo courtesy Williams-Sonoma). [3] Taking lollipops to the next level: art. From MolassesCandy.Blogspot. July 20th is National Lollipop Day. According to the National Confectioners Association, eating sugar from a stick likely dates to prehistoric man, who licked honey off the stick he used to scrape […]
July 2nd is National Chocolate Wafer Day. Most people who have eaten chocolate wafer cookies think they’re the invention of Nabisco, which has sold its Famous Chocolate Wafers cookies (photo #2) since 1924. But the wafers are much older. While chocolate was a drink for centuries (check out the history of chocolate), by the end […]
Watermelon and feta stacks. The recipe is below (photo courtesy Mozzarella Company). [2] Instead of the dressing in the recipe below, you can drizzle balsamic glaze across the plate, as shown (photo courtesy Watermelon.org). [3] This Watermelon “Caprese” uses the conventional Caprese cheese, mozzarella, and substitutes watermelon for the not-yet-in-season tomatoes. It adds pizzazz with […]
June is National Candy Month. How much does mankind like candy and its chief ingredient, sugar or honey? Well: Our species evolved with a built-in sweet tooth. The history of candy dates back to cavemen. They ate honey and honeycomb; but took the next step to make candy from it, by drying it into a […]
For holiday weekends or cookouts, most of us pick up cole slaw at the grocery store. This commercial slaw generally consists of cabbage, mayonnaise thinned with vinegar, and a few shreds of carrot for color. It may be tangy and crunchy, but it can be so much more flavorful. Here’s how to fix up store-bought […]
[1] Fluffy biscuits need baking powder (photo of buttermilk biscuits Robyn Mackenzie | Fotolia). [2] There would be no fluffy pancakes without baking powder. Here’s the recipe for these Banana Bread Pancakes from The Baker Chick. [3] Baking powder from Clabber Girl, one of the original brands still going strong—it’s the number-one seller in the […]
May 13th is National Fruit Cocktail Day. We’re all familiar with cans of fruit cocktail from Del Monte, Dole and Libby’s. But who first created it, and why is it called “cocktail?” First: There is no alcohol in a conventional fruit cocktail. So why is it called fruit cocktail, instead of simply fruit salad? There’s […]
It’s February 23rd, National Banana Bread Day, and there’s only one thing for us to do: Bake a loaf, with lots of chocolate chunks. We prefer making ours with overripe bananas [photo #3]: brown peel = more pronounced flavor. Our friend Beth swears by using frozen bananas (we haven’t tried that yet). BANANA […]