3/365: National Chocolate Covered Cherries Day

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Midwest Mark

Today is National Chocolate Covered Cherries Day. Remember those Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups commercials from the early 80s, where there’s a guy walking down the street eating a chocolate bar, and he bumps into a girl walking down the street eating a jar of peanut butter? The most annoying exchange then transpires.

She: “Hey, you got chocolate in my peanut butter!”
He: “You got peanut butter on my chocolate!”
(In unison): “What?! Mmm…delicious!”

Anyway, you have to wonder if the chocolate covered cherry was a similar happy accident. Its exact origin is unknown, but I’d be more inclined to believe somebody might be walking down the street eating cherries than a jar of peanut butter. (Seriously, have you ever seen anybody walking down the street licking peanut butter off their fingers?!). What we do know is, Cella’s Confections in New York introduced chocolate covered cherries in 1929. Folks needed something sweet and tasty to take their minds off that horrible Great Depression, so the timing was perfect. Chocolate covered cherries consist of a maraschino cherry dipped in milk chocolate and refrigerated overnight. Doesn’t get much simpler than that! We would have made our own, but we were on the go this evening and by the time they were ready, it would have been National Spaghetti Day. So a quick trip to Fred Meyer solved that dilemma!

We brought the box along to Red Robin, where we met up with a couple of Tara’s friends from Eugene whom she hadn’t seen in ten years. So, after burgers and fries, we all indulged in chocolate covered cherries. Sadly, the box of ten cost a whopping $1.89, and I’m sure you can imagine what an 18.9-cent chocolate covered cherry tastes like. If I had it to do over again, I’d splurge for Godiva.

Oh, well. It’s all about the spirit of the quest, anyway.

Chocolate covered cherry

I’m also thrilled to report that our challenge has already received international attention, just a few days in. A radio station in England talked up the blog on their afternoon drive time show. So welcome, readers from the UK! We’re glad to have you aboard. Stick around ’til October 13, and we’ll be giving you blokes a shout-out with National Yorkshire Pudding Day!

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2/365: National Cream Puff Day

Posted on January 2, 2013 by Midwest Mark

Today is National Cream Puff Day. This dessert was introduced to the U.S. in 1880, but dates clear back to the 1540s, where it originated in Europe. It was created for royalty: King Henry II of France’s pastry chef is said to have whipped up the first profiterole (fancy word for cream puff) at the insistence of his wife, Catherine de Medici. Henry largely ignored Catherine in favor of his mistress, so perhaps the pastry was a literal “sweet” gesture to win him over.

Or maybe fatten him up.

Either way, France in the 16th century wasn’t a very happy place, thanks to near-constant war and poverty. A sweet treat like the cream puff could maybe, for a moment at least, make the French forget about their woes.

It made Tara and I forget about ours today. There are few desserts more decadent, in my opinion. Cream puffs are light, flaky, and filled with a delicious cream center. To achieve this consistency, flour and salt are added to a mixture of boiled water and butter, baked at high heat for 20-25 minutes, then cut in half in order to prevent them from deflating. No matter how you slice ’em (pun intended), they are good!

We didn’t make ours, though. Instead, Larson’s Bakery on Mill Plain came to the rescue. I walked in, scoured the display case, and found a pair of Bavarian Cream Puffs on the end, calling my name. I managed to snag the last two left.

“Did you know today is National Cream Puff Day?” I asked the cashier.

“It’s funny you should mention that,” she replied. “One of the managers told me the other day, and I meant to make extras, but I completely forgot about it.”

No harm, no foul. I brought them home, and Tara and I scarfed them down as a pre-dinner appetizer. Upstairs in the bedroom, even. Who says you have to save dessert for dessert? They looked too good to resist, and they were mighty tasty. Bavarian cream puffs have a chocolate topping and a Bavarian cream filling, and are pretty similar to an eclair. Think of them as cream puffs kicked up a notch. Tara isn’t even real keen on cream puffs, but she declared these to be very good. (There is a National Eclair Day, by the way. June 22nd).

Bavarian Cream Puffs have a bonus chocolate layer.

Bavarian Cream Puffs have a bonus chocolate layer.

Two days in, and this project is beginning to feel fun. Maybe by the time summer rolls around we’ll feel otherwise, but right now, we’re enjoying it! Check out the new Calendar page for a daily list of our upcoming food challenges. Tomorrow it’s chocolate covered cherries. Pretty easy so far!

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1/365: National Bloody Mary Day

Posted on January 1, 2013 by Midwest Mark

Happy New Year!

The beginning of 2013 marks the start of our yearlong food challenge, Eat My Words. Or should I say, food and beverage challenge, because today is National Bloody Mary Day. Given our fondness for this beverage, it’s not much of a stretch to begin this ambitious project with something so easy, but at least we get to ease into things.

The origins of the Bloody Mary are unclear. Paris bartender Fernand Petiot claimed to have invented the drink in 1921; his concoction was a mix of nothing more than 1/2 vodka, 1/2 tomato juice. He later added worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, Tabasco, and salt. Comedian George Jessel said he invented the Bloody Mary in 1939, at a bar in New York City. The name has been associated with Queen Mary I of England, the actress Mary Pickford, and a waitress named Mary who worked at a Chicago bar named the Bucket of Blood. Where it came from may be in dispute, but one thing is certain: the Bloody Mary is delicious!

Although, I didn’t always feel this way. I had tried a few Bloody Marys over the years, mostly using pre-made mixers, and never cared for them. Until I met Tara. She swore she made a killer Bloody Mary, and in fact – within 5 minutes of meeting her in person for the first time, in March of 2011 – I was sipping one of her famous concoctions. And it was damn good, too – the best I’d ever had. I’ve been hooked ever since.

Tara here.  From here on out, you’ll know it’s me from the italics.

I have my friend, Robin, to thank for showing me how to make a killer Bloody Mary.  I’ve made many since she shared her secrets and when someone asks me for the recipe, I always get it wrong because I just throw in a little of this and a little of that.  This morning, though, I actually took notes while building our first cocktail of the new year.

Toasting to the start of our challenge!

Toasting to the start of our challenge!

Start with a large glass filled three quarters with ice.  These are about fourteen ounce glasses.

Pour worcestershire sauce for six to seven seconds.  (Seriously, I was counting while it dribbled into the glass.)

Mark likes his spicy, so to his glass I added six dashes of Tabasco.

Next pour in two to three ounces of vodka.  Thankfully, you can get away with using cheap vodka since the harshness is masked by all the other good stuff.  Our favorite is Absolut Peppar.  It’s a good thing it’s harder to find in Vancouver because it’s a little on the pricier side and we spend enough on booze as it is!

Then add ten shakes of celery salt.  Or less, I suppose.  Mark just read this over my shoulder and asked if I really put that much in our drinks.  Hey…I like ’em salty.

Which is why I use half Clamato and half tomato juice to fill the rest of the glass.  Make sure you leave room for garnish!

We all know the typical Bloody Mary garnish is a celery stalk and maybe a green olive or two.  As tasty as they are, there are so many more options for dressing up your cocktail.  We keep on hand pickle spears, pickled green beans, pickled asparagus, blue cheese stuffed olives, garlic stuffed olives, and an italian garden mix of pickled cauliflower, carrots, and peppers.  Yummy!

Lastly, top it all off with a squeeze of lemon AND lime wedges.  Enjoy!

If you have a favorite Bloody Mary fixin’ or recipe, we’d love if you’d share with us. As good as these are, there’s always room for improvement!

One day down, 364 to go. Tomorrow it’s National Cream Puff Day. Tough life we lead, eh?

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The Countdown Begins…

Posted on December 1, 2012 by Midwest Mark

In exactly one month, we will begin an exciting year-long challenge known as Eat My Words. 

The idea has been bouncing around in my head for a couple of years. Facebook was trumpeting National Doughnut Day, and one of my coworkers apparently heard the message; he treated the office to several boxes of the sugary treats. “I wish every day was National Doughnut Day!” I thought between chewy bites of a maple bar. Once I came down from my sugar high, however, I realized that doughnuts would quickly lose their appeal if we celebrated them all year long instead of setting aside one special day to love, cherish, and honor them.

I started to wonder if there were other food days celebrated during the year. A quick Google search confirmed that not only was each day of the year dedicated to a specific food, but there were food weeks and food months, too. It turned out there was a veritable smorgasbord of food holidays worth celebrating. But how to pay homage was the question.

The answer, it turned out, was obvious. Eat that food on its given holiday.

But that seemed like a Herculean task, one that would require a lot of planning and extra expense. Most importantly, you’d have to have support, and I was single at the time. Doing it on my own seemed too overwhelming, so I shelved the idea for a couple of years.

And then I met my girlfriend, who was intrigued by the idea and enjoys food (and adventure) just as much as I do. Suddenly, it was Game On. 2013 is going to be our year!

Will it be easy? Not a chance…but that’s kind of the point. (I’d be lying if I said Julie & Julia wasn’t also an inspiration – not the book and/or movie per se, but the idea of attracting an audience for this endeavor while it’s taking place. I’m a writer, after all. If this is successful, I’ll have a year’s worth of material to turn into a book).

So, here’s hoping we can get it done! We’ve come up with a specific set of rules to guide us along our way.

Season’s eatings, everyone!

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