363/365: National Pepper Pot Day

Posted on December 29, 2013 by Midwest Mark

One of our final challenges involves a thick and spicy soup that played a crucial role in American history. December 29 is National Pepper Pot Day!

And of course, this is one of those unusual/complicated dishes that is impossible to find in a small town like Ely (and probably a stretch to locate even in a thriving metropolis such as Portland). One that requires careful preparation at home. Of course, we’re not AT home, and busy with other things…so how on earth will we possibly celebrate this food holiday? Is our quest for completion doomed to failure with a mere 3 days left?!?!

Read on, friends.

The year was 1777. The date, December 29. The Revolutionary War was in full swing, and George Washington’s troops were hunkered down in a snowy field in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, tired, weak, cold, and hungry. Area farmers had sold their crops to the British Army for cash, rather than rely on the meager currency carried by the Continental Army. Capitalism was at its finest, even then. The soldiers were low on food, and even lower on morale. And then Christopher Ludwick, the baker general of the Continental Army, gathered together every bit of food he could find: scraps of meat, tripe, vegetables, and pepper. He mixed the ingredients together in a large pot with whatever spices and seasonings he had available, and created a hearty, thick, spicy soup that became known as Pepper Pot. It gave the soldiers much-needed strength, which in turn restored their confidence. Pepper Pot is known as “the soup that won the war.” If not for Christopher Ludwick, we might all be driving on the left side of the road today and speaking in funny accents.

There are many different recipes for Pepper Pot. Truly, it’s one soup you can create from scratch on your own, following Ludwick’s original idea of using whatever is available. We more or less used this recipe from the City Tavern in Philadelphia, altering it enough to make it our own. Here’s the kicker: we made the soup Thursday evening, before we left for Ely. We enjoyed it for dinner that night, and then brought leftovers with us to heat for lunch while out of town. Probably the most prep work we’ve had to do all year (minus the vanilla custard, which also took place during a trip to Ely).

And how was the Pepper Pot? Absolutely delicious! The soup was rich, hearty, and aromatic; the allspice added warmth and a unique depth of flavor. This recipe’s a keeper – definitely one of my favorite challenges of the year!

National Pepper Pot Day

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362/365: National Chocolate Candy Day

Posted on December 28, 2013 by Midwest Mark

They’re really milking it down the homestretch. December 28 is National Chocolate Candy Day!

It feels like we’ve celebrated about a hundred different chocolate and/or candy holidays this year. They have been so plentiful, I think we need a new food pyramid. One that looks like this:

chocolate-candy-pyramid

But, I can now say that this is the very last one! There are no more chocolate holidays this year. No more candy holidays, either. This is it, baby!! And it’s a good thing, too. Because at this point, I’ve got absolutely nothing new to say about either chocolate or candy. However, there is one final twist to our challenge: we are traveling out of town for New Year’s, leaving today for Ely, Nevada. We’re going to spend a week visiting family and friends in Ely, Las Vegas, and Elko, and stopping by to say hi to a ghost in Tonopah. Which means we are going to finish up this monumental project on the road, some 840 miles from where it first began. That in itself seems a little odd, but it’s just representative of some of the many challenges faced during the course of the year. A lot of times we were on the go, away from home, but we made it work then…and we’ll make it work now.

We ate a couple of miniature Reese’s peanut butter cups in honor of this holiday. Very early in the morning, before we hit the road. It’s going to be a long travel day, and that was one less thing we had to worry about en route.

National Chocolate Candy Day

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361/365: National Fruit Cake Day

Posted on December 27, 2013 by Midwest Mark

If you don’t take a bite of today’s food, don’t worry: it’ll still be around, in pretty much the same exact form, 10 years from now. Or so the jokes go. December 27 is National Fruit Cake Day!

Fruitcakes are cakes made with chopped candied or dried fruit, nuts, and spices. They are dense and rich, with detractors complaining that they’re rock hard and nearly inedible. We can blame ancient Rome for this monstrosity; the first fruit cakes, containing a mixture of pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, and raisins – mixed with barley mash – appeared during Caesar’s heyday. They became popular all over Europe, and closely associated with Christmas, when fruit cake was often given out as a gift (and subsequently re-gifted). When made with alcohol, fruit cakes can remain edible for years! These overly preserved monstrosities get such a bad rap that a holiday devoted to getting rid of them – National Fruit Cake Toss Day – has been created (January 3rd). Hmm, this may have to become one of our first food challenges next year!

To celebrate, we bought a fruit cake from the grocery store. Took a couple bites and decided its reputation is well deserved. Blech! Overly sweet and dense pretty much sums it up.

National Fruit Cake Day

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360/365: National Candy Cane Day

Posted on December 26, 2013 by Midwest Mark

You’ll really earn your stripes if you help us celebrate today’s food holiday. December 26 is National Candy Cane Day!

National Candy Cane DayCandy canes are cane-shaped hard candy sticks that are traditionally white with red stripes and peppermint flavored, though nowadays different variations exist. There are a lot of false reports about how candy canes are religious symbols, with the colors representing blood and purity, the three red stripes symbolizing the Holy Trinity, and the shape itself, a letter “J” when inverted, standing for Jesus, but while these stories sound plausible – especially given the candy cane’s association with Christmas – they simply aren’t true. In reality, candy canes were the invention of the choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral in Germany in 1670. Bothered by the noise caused by children attending his Christmas Eve services, the choirmaster enlisted the aid of a local candy maker to create a peppermint stick to shut the heathens up keep the children preoccupied. Since he was giving them away during church services, he had the candy maker bend them into the shape of a shepherd’s hook to remind the kids about Jesus. Perhaps that’s where the other, more elaborate stories originated! Candy canes were traditionally all white until the turn of the 20th century, when stripes began to appear.

Because Christmas just passed, we had candy canes on hand. Celebrating this holiday was a breeze!

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359/365: National Pumpkin Pie Day

Posted on December 25, 2013 by Midwest Mark

Merry Christmas, everybody!

December 25 is the most magical day of the year – even if you’re too old to believe in Santa Claus. And like every other day of the year, it’s got its own dedicated food holiday. Christmas Day is also National Pumpkin Pie Day!

Which makes sense. Pumpkin pie is a traditional autumn/early winter dessert most often served on Thanksgiving and Christmas. It consists of pumpkin custard baked in a pie shell and flavored with a variety of spices including cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. Most people use canned pumpkin, since it’s easier to work with (and every bit as delicious). Pumpkins, which are native to North America, have been used as pie fillings for centuries; Hannah Woolley’s The Gentlewoman’s Companion, published in England in 1675, contains one of the earliest recipes. The dish didn’t really catch on in America until the early 19th century, when it began appearing as a dessert course following Thanksgiving dinner.

You’re probably busy unwrapping gifts or spending time with loved ones, so we won’t commandeer too much of your attention with a food-related blog post. We had frozen a couple slices of pumpkin pie from Thanksgiving, and defrosted them to enjoy on Christmas morning. They still tasted surprisingly good. We hope you have a wonderful holiday!

National Pumpkin Pie Day

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358/365: National Egg Nog Day

Posted on December 24, 2013 by Midwest Mark

If the stockings are hung by the chimney with care, it’s time to kick back in front of the tree and enjoy today’s perfectly appropriate and festive food holiday. December 24 is Christmas Eve, and Christmas Eve is National Egg Nog Day. What an excellent pairing.

Egg Nog is a sweetened beverage made with milk or cream, sugar, whipped eggs, and spices such as nutmeg. It is often mixed with liquor (brandy, rum, whiskey, bourbon, and vodka are all popular choices) and is closely associated with the Christmas holidays. Egg Nog is packed full of vitamins and antioxidants and is extremely low in calories and fat, making it a popular beverage choice for folks on a diet or those returning from a workout at the gym.

NOT.

But it sure is delicious! It is unknown where and when, exactly, the drink originated. It might be related to posset, a Medieval European beverage made with hot milk. “Nog” may come from noggin, a carved wooden mug used for serving alcohol. Or it could come from egg ‘n grog, a Colonial drink made with rum. An infamous Egg Nog Riot occurred in the U.S. Military Academy in 1826 when whiskey was smuggled into the barracks to make egg nog, resulting in twenty cadets and one enlisted soldier being court-martialed.

To celebrate, we made spiked egg nog to enjoy while watching that holiday classic, Bill Murray’s Scrooged. Tara added a splash of Presidente brandy – okay, more than a splash – to our nog, along with a sprinkle of nutmeg and served it over ice. Ho, ho, how delicious!

National Egg Nog Day

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357/365: National Pfeffernuesse Day

Posted on December 23, 2013 by Midwest Mark

Feeling tongue tied today? You just might, after trying to pronounce today’s food holiday. December 23 is National Pfeffernuesse Day!

Pfeffernuesse is a small, round cookie with ground nuts and spices that is popular during the holidays in Germany, Denmark, and The Netherlands. The dough is rolled into balls and is initially hard, leading many to dunk the cookies in coffee or milk, similar to a biscotti. Over time, they soften. The name translates to “pepper nuts” in English, though these cookies do not always contain nuts. A National Pfeffernuesse Day is observed by many European countries on the same date.

In Dutch folklore, Pfeffernuesse is closely associated with the Feast of Sinterklaas (December 5 in The Netherlands, December 6 in Germany and Belgium). Children receive gifts (or lumps of coal, depending on whether they’ve been precious little saints all year, or assholes) from St. Nicholas on this day. The cookie has been a part of these European yuletide celebrations since the 1850s.

Pfeffernuesse are one of those cookies you’d recognize if you saw it. Sure enough, they’ve been a part of many a holiday cookie tray over the years. I couldn’t find them in the grocery store, so I looked up several recipes online – the basic ingredients are the same, but the exact spices vary – and ended up combining elements from a couple of different recipes to create my own. Here it is:

Ingredients

    • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
    • 1 pinch salt
    • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
    • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
    • 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
    • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
    • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
    • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
    • 1/2 cup butter, softened
    • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
    • 1/4 cup molasses
    • 1 egg
    • powdered sugar, for rolling baked cookies in

Directions

  1. In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, salt, baking soda, pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves, set aside.
  2. In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed cream butter, sugar, and molasses until fluffy. Beat in egg. On low speed gradually add flour mixture and beat just until blended. Cover and chill dough for at least 1 hour.
  3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease baking sheets. Roll dough into 1 1/2 inch sized balls. Place balls two inches apart onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes.
  4. When cookies are cool enough to handle, but still warm roll in powdered sugar. Transfer cookies to cooling racks to cool completely.

The verdict? These were different from any other type of cookie I’ve ever had. They’re warm and spicy, with just the subtlest hint of pepper. The color and consistency – and flavor, even – reminds me somewhat of gingerbread. They were pretty good!

And I might also point out, these represent the final baking challenge of the year. There is nothing else left to bake, and actually, only 1 more thing left to cook. Wow!

National Pfeffernuesse Day

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356/365: National Date Nut Bread Day (Round 2)

Posted on December 22, 2013 by Midwest Mark

Don’t forget to check your calendar, you crazy person, you! December 22 is National Date Nut Bread Day. (Apparently, the closer we get to the end, the more of a stretch these puns become).

And also, the less original the holidays, as we already celebrated National Date Nut Bread Day on September 8. I warned y’all back then we had another duplicate holiday! There were no alternatives back then, and there are none today. So we’ll add date nut bread to the list of duplicate food holidays.

With our challenge nearly over, I’m planning a special post afterwards, and would love to answer any questions you might have! The ones we most often hear are,

  1. What was the worst food you tried?
  2. What was the best?
  3. Which was the most difficult challenge to celebrate?

I’ll be answering all those, of course, but if you’ve got more – fire away! I’m also interested in knowing whether you’d see any value in turning this year’s challenge into a book. It would be a simple self-published Kindle edition costing no more than $2.99 or so. Be honest – my feelings won’t be hurt if you say no! I just need to know if it’s worth the effort to format and try selling. I also have friends in the app business (shout out to Heidi and Ross) who have approached us about making a National Food Holidays app based on the blog. It sounds like an intriguing idea to me. Thoughts?

But onto more important matters. That is, the date nut bread. Even though the holiday was a duplicate, the recipe was not. This time Tara tried a new recipe. It calls for soaking the dates in orange liqueur. ‘Nuff said!

National Date Nut Bread Day

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355/365: National Kiwifruit Day*

Posted on December 21, 2013 by Midwest Mark

You’ll be green with envy if you don’t take a bite into today’s sweet and juicy food of honor. December 21 is National Kiwifruit Day!

Alternatively, some calendars list today as National Hamburger Day, but others show that as May 28 (we celebrated brisket). There was also a National Cheeseburger Day in September, so we’re going with kiwifruit (only I’m shortening it to kiwi, since that’s what many people call it, and it’s less cumbersome to type) instead.

Kiwi is the edible berry of a woody vine native to China, and has actually been declared a National Fruit of China. In the early 20th century, Mary Isabel Fraser – principal of a girl’s college in New Zealand – brought back kiwi seeds after visiting mission schools in Yichang. The seeds of the Chinese gooseberry, as the fruit was known back then, were planted in 1906, and began fruiting in 1910. The fruit was popular with American servicemen stationed in New Zealand during World War II, and plans were made to market and export the fruit to the U.S. Not feeling the name was an accurate representation of the fruit, it was changed to melonette, but the importer was unhappy because melons and berries attracted high duties. Exporter Jack Turner suggested the name “kiwifruit” in 1959 because both the fruit and New Zealand’s native bird, the kiwi, were similar in appearance – small, brown, and furry. The name has stuck ever since (except in China, where it is now known as the Macaque peach.

Whatever you call it, kiwis are delicious! The easiest way to eat them, I learned long ago, is to slice them in half, and then scoop out the sweet flesh with a spoon. Which is exactly what we did this morning.

National Kiwifruit Day

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354/365: National Fried Shrimp Day*

Posted on December 20, 2013 by Midwest Mark

Today’s dish delivers big flavors in a small package. December 20 is National Fried Shrimp Day!

And though out of season, it is also National Sangria Day. This spiked punch, which originated in Spain, is made with red wine, brandy, simple syrup, and fresh fruit. Lots of it. You could shake Carmen Miranda’s hat over the punchbowl and still not have enough for a proper pitcher. Since there isn’t much fresh fruit in season the week before Christmas, we’re celebrating fried shrimp instead.

Shrimp have been an important food source for eons. By eons, I mean, a really long time! Archaeologists in 1991 discovered ancient raised paved areas near the coast of Chiapas, Mexico that they theorized were used for drying shrimp in the sun, and clay hearths nearby were substituted when there was no sun. Physical evidence of shrimping dating back to 600 AD was discovered off the southeastern coast of North America, evidence that Native Americans in that region incorporated the crustacean into their diets. And in the 3rd century AD, the Greek author Athenaeus wrote “… of all fish the daintiest is a young shrimp in fig leaves.” I don’t know about the fig leaves, but I’ll agree with the shrimp. There’s a reason it’s the most popular seafood in the U.S., after all! They can be cooked and eaten using a variety of techniques. Just ask Bubba from Forrest Gump! Today, of course, we’re asked to enjoy them fried. Well, okay…if you insist!

We drove up to Seattle for an early Christmas visit with Tara’s mom and family today. On the way, we stopped at Mrs. Beesley’s, a favorite roadside burger stand, for a fried shrimp basket.

National Fried Shrimp Day

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