123/365: National Chocolate Custard Day*

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Midwest Mark

May 3rd is one of those days where more than one food holiday is celebrated. According to our calendars, it is both National Chocolate Custard Day and National Raspberry Tart Day. But wait…some calendars list May 5 as National Chocolate Custard Day. And they all show August 11th as National Raspberry Tart Day. The deeper into this challenge we get, the more confusing it becomes! I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to discuss how we decide which food holiday to celebrate when there is conflicting information like this.

First off, though we have an official calendar, this is really a compendium of multiple food holiday calendars out there. There are no fewer than 7 or 8 different food calendars on the internet and, while they all agree with each other 95% of the time, that other 5% can be really annoying. Every day I check our calendar against two or three other reputable ones to make sure they’re all in agreement. When they aren’t, my philosophy is, “majority rules.” Today is a perfect example. More calendars claim May 3 is chocolate custard day than May 5, so we’ll go along with that. Occasionally, I’ll come across a food holiday listed on one calendar that doesn’t show up anywhere else, or that I’ve otherwise missed. Take May 6, for instance. Up until a few days ago, I’d assumed we were making crepes suzette. But then I discovered a listing for National Beverage Day. When that happens, I scour the internet for backup proof. Sure enough, multiple websites list May 6 as National Beverage Day. As long as I have correlating documentation, I consider it official. For that reason, our own calendar is constantly evolving. The truth is, crepes suzette would have been a challenge for a workday with the kids, so I’m glad I found out we can just gulp down a drink of our choice instead, and call it good. At this point, we are glad when we can take the easy way out. There’s no shame in that. Hey, next week we have to cook a roast leg of lamb. Trust me, we are paying our dues and working hard at this project!

When there are multiple food holidays, we simply choose the one that appeals to us most. That may be based on personal tastes, what our schedules look like, or something else intangible, like the fun factor. We both hate lima beans, but we chose them over pineapple upside down cake on April 20 because we thought it would be far more interesting to eat something we otherwise wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole. Because there are two holidays for raspberry tart, today’s choice was a no-brainer: we’re celebrating National Chocolate Custard Day!

Frozen Chocolate Custard(Whew. Longest explanation ever).

Custard is prepared using a cooked mixture of milk or cream and egg yolk. It can vary from thin to thick, based on the amount of egg yolk and thickener added to the recipe. Most custards are used in dessert preparations, and include sugar and vanilla. They can also be used as a base for quiches and other savory foods. Custards have been popular in Europe for centuries, dating back to the Middle Ages.

Because we had chocolate parfait a couple of days ago, we decided to switch things up today and celebrate with frozen chocolate custard. There just so happens to be a place called Sheridan’s right down the street from us that serves delicious frozen custard. We hadn’t been there in awhile, so we stopped by on our lunch and got some frozen custard. With the temperature pushing 80 degrees, it hit the spot on a warm Friday afternoon!

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122/365: National Truffle Day

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Midwest Mark

May 2nd isn’t a day to be trifled with. You can, however, truffle with it. ‘Cause that’s what we’re celebrating, folks. National Truffle Day!

It seems like we just celebrated truffles. As a matter of fact, we did: April 21st was National Chocolate Covered Cashew Truffle Day. A very specific holiday that almost left us grasping at straws. Fortunately, today’s rules are much looser and open to interpretation. I suppose since chocolate isn’t even specified we could even celebrate by eating the type of truffles that are a fungus dug from the ground, but where’s the fun in that?

Since I already covered the history of the truffle in the April post, I’ll talk about the history of where I got today’s truffles from instead. Ooh, way to mix things up! This past weekend, I made a special trip into downtown Portland to pick up some truffles from Moonstruck Chocolate. This company is celebrating their 20th anniversary this year. They were formed in Portland, Oregon, in 1993, with a simple mission: to produce handcrafted artisan chocolates that not only tasted delicious, but looked good, too. In other words, “a chocolate indulgence for all the senses,” according to their website. And to that end, they have been wildly successful. Their creations are beautiful and imaginative, and gained notoriety in 2005 and 2006, when their Oscar-shaped chocolate truffles were featured in gift baskets handed out during the 77th and 78th Annual Academy Awards ceremonies. Best of all, they taste remarkable! Each piece is still individually handcrafted using quality ingredients. If you’re lucky enough to live in the Pacific Northwest and can get your hands on Moonstruck chocolates, you’ll find yourself asking, “Godiva who?!”

And no, this is not a paid advertisement. I just love them that much. (Besides, we had to have good truffles this time after getting scolded for eating stale truffles left over from Christmas a couple of weeks ago!).

I spent a good five minutes surveying the glass display case for the perfect truffles to celebrate today’s holiday. After much deliberation, I settled on a milk chocolate cow and pony, a peach bellini truffle, and a raspberry chambord truffle. They were all delicious!

Moonstruck Chocolate Portland

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121/365: National Chocolate Parfait Day

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Midwest Mark

May 1st is the “perfect” day to celebrate chocolate desserts: it’s National Chocolate Parfait Day!

It also marks a special occasion: today we are 1/3 of the way through our food challenge. Four months down, eight to go. We still have a lot of ground to cover, but we’re making progress. I’ve begun dreaming of 2014, when we’ll be able to eat whatever we feel like on any given day. Seems like such a novelty now. Which is not to say that I’m not enjoying this project. I am. We both are. But it’s definitely a lot of work! And expense.

As alluded to above, parfait is a French word meaning perfect. It was invented in 1894 in France (duh) and was originally a frozen dessert consisting of cream, sugar syrup, and eggs. Nowadays it may also contain frozen custard, whipped cream, sauce, and fruit, and is usually served on a plate rather than in a glass. The preparation varies by country. In the U.S., parfait describes a chocolate mousse or pudding layered with whipped cream, fruit, and cookie crumbs or other toppings. No matter how you partake of your parfait, you will find it c’est magnifique!

We partook of our parfait by preparing a prepackaged pouch of pudding perfectly. Instant chocolate pudding, to be exact, and both fat-free and sugar-free, to boot. We layered that in a glass with generic Cool Whip and crushed graham crackers, and voila! A quick and easy parfait.

Chocolate Parfait

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120/365: National Raisin Day

Posted on April 30, 2013 by Midwest Mark

You might just shrivel up and die if you don’t get to experience the sweet succulence of today’s food holiday. April 30 is National Raisin Day!

I talked about the history of raisins back when we were eating them dipped in chocolate, so I won’t rehash all of that. It does explain why some of these posts are shrinking in size, however (hey, just like dried grapes!): we’re starting to get into variations of the same things we’ve already eaten. This is where it’s time to get creative. So, here goes:

…

Man, I got nothin’.

OK, I kid. I did learn that National Raisin Day is one of the older American food holidays that we celebrate. It dates back to 1909, when Fresno resident James Horseburgh Jr., in an effort to save the fledgling San Joaquin Valley raisin industry and raise awareness of the dried fruit, held a giant festival celebrating all things raisin. Local hotels and the railroad industry pitched in, and residents were served raisins with every meal. The festival was a success, and the industry took off in central California. To this day, the San Joaquin Valley is the world’s largest raisin producer.

There are so many different ways to enjoy raisins, we weren’t sure what to do to celebrate today. But one thing was certain: we are getting sick of desserts. (This does not bode well for June, where at least 10 of the first 15 food holidays are dessert-centric). So Tara took some in to work to snack on, and I added a generous handful to a bowl of oatmeal this morning.

Raisins

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119/365: National Shrimp Scampi Day

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Midwest Mark

There’s nothing tiny about the flavor in today’s celebrated dish. April 29 is National Shrimp Scampi Day!

“Scampi” is the Italian word for shrimp, and refers to both a type of shellfish and a preparation. Technically speaking, shrimp scampi translates to “shrimp shrimp” which is pretty redundant, unless you’re Little Caesar’s (“pizza pizza!”). It is essentially shrimp cooked in garlic, butter, lemon juice, and white wine, and typically served over pasta. Shrimp scampi was basically unheard of prior to World War II; during the 1950s and ’60s, many Italian dishes caught on and went mainstream – including scampi, cacciatore, and Sophia Loren.

Shrimp scampi is pretty easy to make, and delicious! I used the below recipe, which I found online and modified slightly.

Ingredients
1 1/2 pound jumbo shrimp, shelled and deveined
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons finely chopped parsley

Directions
Put the shrimp on a large pie pan or plate and pat them completely dry with a paper towel. Arrange the shrimp so they lay flat and are evenly spaced.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper. Add the butter to the skillet. When the foaming subsides, raise the heat to high, and invert the plate of shrimp over the pan so the shrimp fall into the pan all at once. Cook the shrimp, without moving them, for 1 minute. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Turn the shrimp over and cook for 2 minutes more. Transfer the shrimp to a bowl.

Return the skillet to the heat and pour in the wine and lemon juice. Boil the liquid until slightly thickened, about 30 seconds. Scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Stir the  parsley into the sauce. Pour the sauce over the shrimp, season with salt and pepper to taste and toss to combine.

Serve over the pasta of your choice.

Shrimp Scampi

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118/365: National Blueberry Pie Day

Posted on April 28, 2013 by Midwest Mark

Few things are as American as blueberry pie. Which makes April 28th a pretty patriotic day: it’s National Blueberry Pie Day!

Blueberries are native to North America, and weren’t even introduced to Europe until the 1930s. They grow like crazy in New England, and appealed to early settlers, who found many uses for the fruit – but strangely, eating them plain was rare. Until the 19th century, consuming fresh fruit was thought to be unhealthy, so the blueberries were typically baked into pies. I’m guessing the colonists’ food pyramid looked a lot different than ours! New England housewives almost always had a supply of both sweet and savory pies on hand, ready to serve to family and guests. Pies were proof that the family farm was thriving.

Most of the time, celebrating these food holidays is fun. But not so much when you’ve got a delicious leftover birthday cake, and the next day you’ve got to eat blueberry pie. We wanted to buy a slice to share and call it good, but blueberry pie is hard to find. Maybe if this were Maine we’d have better luck, since blueberry pie is that state’s official dessert. But blueberries would have to be in season for us to have any shot of finding one locally, and we’re still a couple of months away from that happening. We came up with a pretty good solution, though: bake a mini pie instead! I found some small aluminum pie tins in the grocery store, and used this recipe. The result? Pretty amazing, actually! The blueberries were fresh, at least (but flown in from California). I was left wondering why you don’t see blueberry pie on more menus around these parts. I probably could have gobbled the whole thing up in two minutes, but we did have that chocolate cake waiting. @#$! timing.

Blueberry Pie

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117/365: National Prime Rib Day

Posted on April 27, 2013 by Midwest Mark

Steak lovers will have no beef with today’s food holiday: April 27 is National Prime Rib Day!

Beef. It's what's for dinner.

Beef. It’s what’s for dinner.

Prime rib, originally known as a standing rib roast, is a cut of beef from the primal rib, one of the eight primal cuts of beef. It is called a “standing” roast because it is usually roasted in a standing position, with the ribs stacked vertically. Removing the bones from this cut and slicing it into steaks yields rib eyes. It’s unclear exactly when and where prime rib originated, but most historians believe roasts became popular during the Industrial Revolution, when hungry men desired a hearty meal after assembling widgets and other doo-dads all day long. Some cuts of meat are more popular than others, and prime rib has always been particularly sought after by beef connoisseurs. A nice slice of prime rib will contain the “eye” of the rib and the outer, fat-marbled muscle. It is typically rubbed with salt and other seasonings and slow roasted over dry heat for several hours. Prime rib is a popular “Sunday roast” in the U.K., where it is traditionally served with Yorkshire pudding. Here in the good ol’ U.S. of A., mashed or baked potatoes are popular accompaniments.

April 27 also happens to be my birthday. The fact that it’s National Prime Rib Day is a happy coincidence, as prime rib is my favorite cut of steak, and I have a tradition of going to the Original Roadhouse Grill for prime rib on my birthday anyway. Or I used to, at least. It had been a few years, but today marked the perfect opportunity to reinstate that tradition. And, let me just say: the prime rib was amazing. Cooked a perfect medium rare, with an herb/salt crust, horseradish sauce, and au jus. It was to die for – the perfect birthday meal.

Prime Rib

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116/365: National Pretzel Day

Posted on April 26, 2013 by Midwest Mark

You’ll be in the mood to twist and shout today if you’re a pretzel lover. April 26 is National Pretzel Day!

It is believed that the pretzel was created by a bored monk (is there any other kind?) in the year 610, at a monastery somewhere in southern France or northern Italy. Scraps of dough were formed into strips and folded, to represent a child’s arms in prayer, with the three holes representing the Holy Trinity. The warm dough was offered as a bribe to children who memorized Bible verses and prayers. They called the doughy creation pretiola, Latin for “little reward.” As it spread through Italy the name was changed to brachiola, meaning “little arms.” Germany, probably more closely associated with pretzels than any other country, offers up an alternate version of their backstory, claiming they were invented by desperate bakers being held hostage by local Dignatories. Whatever their true source, pretzels (called bretzels there) have been an integral part of German culture for centuries. German immigrants known as Pennsylvania Dutch introduced the pretzel to America in the 19th century, and soon handmade pretzel bakeries flourished throughout the Pennsylvania countryside and beyond. In 1850, the first hard pretzel bakery opened in Lilitz, Pennsylvania; hard pretzels became a popular snack food that appears in various shapes and sizes – sticks, rods, braids, and loops. In the 20th century, street vendors in cities such as Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia popularized soft pretzels. The pretzel remains an iconic image of Philadelphia today, with residents consuming 12 times the national average each year.

I love pretzels, particularly freshly baked soft pretzels warm from the oven, sprinkled with salt and dipped in yellow mustard. I will rarely emerge from a shopping mall without eating a pretzel. Sometimes, I go to the mall just for a pretzel. Today was one of those days. Auntie Anne’s never disappoints.

Pretzel

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115/365: National Zucchini Bread Day

Posted on April 25, 2013 by Midwest Mark

Squash any thoughts you might have about giving away a garden’s worth of zucchini today. Turn it into a sweet, savory dessert instead: April 25 is National Zucchini Bread Day!

Similar to banana bread, zucchini bread is considered a “quick bread.” These bread types don’t use yeast as a leavening agent and require no fermentation, so the dough can be baked immediately. Quick breads originated in the United States in the 18th century with the discovery of pearlash, a leavening agent that produces carbon dioxide gas in dough. They became a favorite during the Civil War when food was scarce and a loaf of bread could be whipped up quickly to feed the soldiers, hence the name. Zucchini itself is the result of a squash plant, native to America, that was brought back to Italy and mutated. Which is not to say it grew teeth and started eating people ala Audrey from Little Shop of Horrors, though that would make for a rather interesting history. Zucchini grow rapidly and can become quite large, exceeding 3′ in length. They are usually picked when they’re smaller, as the flavor is better and gardeners won’t break their backs hauling them into the kitchen that way. Because they are so easy to grow, they have a reputation for overabundance. Stories persist of people waking up to bags full of zucchini on their front porches, left there in the dead of night by gardeners seeking to rid themselves of excess squash. That’s never happened to me, though I did find a steaming bag of something else on the front porch once. Zucchini bread is the result of home cooks trying to come up with something, anything, to do with all that damn zucchini. The first time I heard of it I though, eww, even though I love zucchini. It didn’t sound very appealing in a bread – but it’s actually very good that way.

For today’s challenge, Tara baked up a loaf of zucchini bread ourselves. It turned out delicious!

Zucchini Bread

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114/365: National Pigs In A Blanket Day

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Midwest Mark

Grab your napkins and sPORKS and go hog wild over today’s food holiday. April 24 is National Pigs In A Blanket Day!

Even though the first recipe for pigs in a blanket as we know it was published in Betty Crocker’s Cooking For Kids in 1957, different versions of this meal existed long before then. As far back as the 1600s, field laborers in England were putting meat inside of dough for a quick, nourishing, and portable meal. Pigs in a blanket is basically pork wrapped inside something else, though the type of pork (and the blanket itself) has varied greatly over the years. A popular version in the 1800s consisted of oysters that were rolled in a slice of bacon, pinned together with a toothpick, grilled, broiled or fried, and served hot on toast. But in this case, the pig is the blanket, he’s not IN the blanket. That’s just not right! Nowadays, the dish most often refers to hot dogs, Vienna sausages, or breakfast sausages wrapped in crescent dough or a pancake and baked, unless you’re in Europe, where cabbage rolls are often called pigs in a blanket. Technically speaking, that makes perfect sense. They became a popular party food in the 1960s, and for a while in the 70s Pillsbury sold a canned version that was ready to bake. Apparently, they thought the American consumer was wasting too much time and effort actually rolling a hot dog inside dough. It IS an awfully labor-intensive task – amazing that the canned version never really caught on. /sarcasm.

Pigs in a blanket are also called devils on horseback, kilted sausages, and wiener winks.

Yes, really.

We decided to stick with the tried-and-true and make pigs in a blanket with crescent dough and hot dogs. We even added a slice of American cheese to some of them. For such a simple and lowbrow meal, I have to say, they were pretty damn tasty!

Pigs In A Blanket

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