333/365: National Rice Cake Day*

Posted on November 29, 2013 by Midwest Mark

Take today’s food holiday with a grain of salt. Or, more accurately, a grain of rice. November 29 is National Rice Cake Day!

It is also National Lemon Cream Pie Day, but if you’re like us, you had plenty of pie yesterday to tide you over for awhile. In fact, you’ve probably still got leftovers today. A light, tasty, low-calorie and low-fat rice cake sounds much more appealing on Black Friday!

Rice cakes are very popular in Asian culture. They may be made with rice flour, ground rice, or whole grains of rice compressed together. Rice cakes can be sweet or savory, and are available in a variety of flavors. Rice has been cultivated for over 7000 years, and is primarily grown in warm, humid climates. In Pacific Rim countries especially, rice is the basis for many meals and snacks. Sweet rice cakes called mochi were eaten by Japanese nobility as far back as the 8th century, and really began to flourish by the end of the 12th century. Once Tokyo became the capital of Japan during the Edo Period (1601-1868), rice cakes became a popular festival treat, and began appearing at roadside stands throughout the country. To this day, many Asian street vendors sell variations of rice cakes made with vegetables, seaweed, and seafood that are fried to order. In the U.S., puffed rice cakes are common. These are considerably healthier, and are a popular low-calorie substitute for pastries.

We picked up a bag of white cheddar flavored rice cakes to celebrate. This is my favorite flavor; I often enjoy rice cakes for a snack, and today was no exception!

National Rice Cake Day

Related articles
Categories: Grains, Snacks | Tags: , , , , , , | 2 Comments

332/365: National French Toast Day

Posted on November 28, 2013 by Midwest Mark

There are many things to be thankful for today; among them, a sweetened breakfast dish made with bread and beaten eggs. November 28 is National French Toast Day!

It’s also Thanksgiving, of course. We’d like to wish a happy holiday to all our readers and their families!

Thanksgiving is probably the most filling day of the year, with so much food served most people feel like they are going to burst at the seams if they take one more bite. We certainly don’t need to celebrate food on this foodiest of food days, but at least it’s a breakfast dish that will take the bite off our hunger while waiting for turkey and all the trimmings later in the day.

First, let’s dispel any myths about the name. French toast was not invented in France. The earliest recipe appears in Apicius, a Roman cookbook dating to the 4th century. It mentions soaking bread in milk (but not egg) and calls the dish aliter dulcia which flows off the tongue nicely, but simply means “another sweet dish.” Hardly an inspiring name. It was first called “French toast” in a 1660 cookbook called The Accomplisht Cook. Written by somebody who was not an accomplisht speller, apparently. It’s called pain perdu in some parts of the world. Anybody who has ever watched Chopped has seen a struggling chef enter the dessert round and cheat his or her way out of it by making French toast and calling it pain perdu, but in France it actually IS considered a dessert, so I suppose we can let it slide. French toast, or whatever you call it, is easy to prepare: soak a couple of slices of bread (it can even be stale) in a mixture of beaten eggs and milk (or cream), fry on both sides until brown and cooked through, and top with maple syrup, confectioner’s sugar, or some other concoction of your choice. Wikipedia’s list of toppings includes Vegemite, ketchup, baked beans, cheese, cold cooked meats, and gravy. I think whoever wrote that was smoking crack.

To celebrate, we whipped up some French toast for breakfast. Because we don’t have enough cooking to do today! At least French toast is simple to make, and took the edge off our hunger.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The syrup spelled out 332 until it all kind of ran together.

The syrup spelled out 332 until it all kind of ran together.

Related articles
Categories: Breakfast | Tags: , , , | 4 Comments

331/365: National Bavarian Cream Pie Day

Posted on November 27, 2013 by Midwest Mark

If you’re a pie fan, you’ll enjoy today’s holiday Bavaria much. November 27 is National Bavarian Cream Pie Day!

The day before Thanksgiving isn’t ideal for celebrating a pie, but there’s nothing we can do about that pesky calendar. In a perfect world, we would at least be honoring pumpkin pie, but nope. That one’s coming up later in the year. On Christmas Day, as a matter of fact, which is going to be all sorts of fun because we traditionally have cheesecake that day. Ahh well, by then we’ll just have a few days left in the challenge, and will probably just be glad that it’s nearly over!

Bavarian cream is a gelatin-based pastry cream invented by Marie Antoine CarĂŞme, a legendary French chef (he’s a dude; don’t be fooled by that name) who is considered the forefather of haute cuisine and is often called “the chef of kings, and the king of chefs.” He was sort of the Gordon Ramsay of his day, I suppose, only minus a few thousand f-words. It was named after Bavaria, a state in Germany, of course. The first recipe in an American cookbook appeared in D.A. Lincoln’s Mrs. Lincoln’s Boston Cook Book: What to Do and What Not to Do in Cooking in 1884. Fannie Farmer got in on the action in 1896, with her own recipe. While Bavarian cream is delicious on its own, it has since become a popular pie filling that requires two hours of refrigeration and nothing more. Other than the ingredients, time, and labor used in preparing the cream itself and the pie crust, of course. But other than that – easy peasy!

To celebrate, I made a miniature pie, a trick I learned early this year. The Bavarian cream was a simple mixture of cream cheese, instant vanilla pudding mix, milk, and Cool Whip. I used refrigerated pie dough and lined a mini tin with that, baked it (in the toaster oven, no less) and topped with the Bavarian cream filling. It was surprisingly delicious!

Tara couldn’t resist digging into it with her fingers. 🙂

National Bavarian Cream Pie Day

Related articles
Categories: Desserts, Pastry | Tags: , , , , | 3 Comments

330/365: National Cake Day

Posted on November 26, 2013 by Midwest Mark

Today’s food holiday is a piece of cake! Literally. November 26 is National Cake Day!

Hardly the first time this year we’ve celebrated cake. There have been cupcakes, shortcakes, spongecakes, pound cakes, angel food cakes, devil food cakes, applesauce cakes, cheesecakes, hazelnut cakes, coffee cakes, carrot cakes, and even – though this may be a stretch – pancakes. I haven’t done the math, but I think only pies have been better represented this year. Here’s a great chart I found detailing the history of many different types of cakes. Credit goes to a website called Foodbeast for this. Hey, at least I don’t have to type very much today!

caked-up-infographic

To celebrate, we shared a slice of lemon cake with vanilla frosting from the bakery at Fred Meyer. It was light, airy, and delicious!

National Cake Day

Related articles
Categories: Desserts, Pastry | Tags: , , | 9 Comments

329/365: National Parfait Day

Posted on November 25, 2013 by Midwest Mark

If you like to dress in layers, you might also be fond of eating in layers…and if that’s the case, today will be right up your alley. November 25 is National Parfait Day!

It’s also National Eat With a Friend Day. But without a specified food to share, we’re going to have to stick with parfait, even though we have already honored this sweet dessert twice – with chocolate parfait in May and strawberry parfait in June.  Both times previously we made our parfait from scratch, but since then discovered that one of our favorite local grocery markets (and sources for our challenge) carries fresh parfaits in their bakery section. Never ones to look a gift horse (or in this case, a gift parfait) in the mouth, I was keen on simply picking one up and celebrating that way. Thanks, WinCO, for making the third go-round on this particular challenge nice and easy! We had a rainbow parfait made with Jell-O and whipped cream.

National Parfait Day

Related articles
Categories: Desserts | 2 Comments

328/365: National Sardines Day

Posted on November 24, 2013 by Midwest Mark

There’s something a little fishy about today’s food holiday. November 24 is National Sardines Day!

Hmm. Can’t say we’re particularly thrilled with this one, though sardines were extremely popular in the U.S. during the early part of the 20th century. These small, oily fish – related to herring – were named after Sardinia, an island in the Mediterranean where they were once abundant. In some parts of the world, they are known as pilchards. They are usually served in tin cans after being packed in oil, water, or a tomato-based sauce.

Nicholas Appert, a  Frenchman and professional cook in the early 19th century who liked to experiment with methods of preserving food, developed a technique that caught the attention of Joseph Colin, who was interested in preserving freshly-caught sardines, in order to ship them to soldiers in the field, giving them a nutritious, easy-to-carry meal. By packing them in tin cans, he was able to ship 30,000 cans a year by 1836; his tinned sardines became a big hit with the military. An alternate story has Napoleon Bonaparte helping to popularize sardines by initiating their canning in order to feed the citizens of the lands he ruled. No offense, but I’m not sure if I trust that guy.

During the early and mid-20th century, sardines were popular in America because of their low cost. They were a cheap meal for college students (kind of like ramen is today) and those who couldn’t afford lavish roasts. They gradually fell out of favor, with sales slipping in the 1960s and 70s. In 2010, the last sardine factory in the U.S. closed its doors for good. There are signs that the little fish are making a comeback, though I remain skeptical over this.

There are some food holidays we look forward to more than others. Today’s ranked waaaay down there. We dutifully bought a can of sardines, however – choosing ones that were packed in oil and lightly smoked – and wrinkled our noses as I peeled back the tin. Tara took a slice and put it on a cracker, while I just fished one out (pun intended) and ate it straight up. Surprisingly, neither of us found the fish nearly as disgusting as we thought we would. To me, it wasn’t all that different from canned tuna. I actually went back for more.

National Sardines Day

Related articles
Categories: Seafood | Tags: , , , , , | 4 Comments

327/365: National Eat a Cranberry Day*

Posted on November 23, 2013 by Midwest Mark

You may have “red” about today’s holiday in the news. November 23 is National Eat a Cranberry Day!

And also National Espresso Day. But we’ve celebrated several coffee holidays this year, while not yet paying homage to a fruit that I’m particularly fond of. Plus, with Thanksgiving right around the corner, these little red guys are going to take a starring role. In my mind, you can’t have turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy and stuffing and green bean casserole without also including cranberries. We may be a few days early, but today we are honoring the cranberry! (And despite the official name of the holiday, we’re eating more than one).

Cranberries are one of three fruits native to North America (the others being blueberries and Concord grapes). Native Americans used them as a food source (in particular, pemmican – a combination of crushed cranberries, dried venison, and melted fat), fabric dye for rugs and blankets, and medicine to treat arrow wounds. Pilgrims originally named the fruit “craneberry” because the pink flowers that bloomed in the spring resembled the head and bill of a sandhill crane. They found them not only delicious, but a helpful bartering tool with the local tribes. Sailors took cranberries with them on ocean voyages to prevent scurvy, and began shipping them to Europe for sale. Captain Henry Hall was the first to cultivate cranberries in 1816, and by 1871, the first association of cranberry growers was formed. Today, 40,000 acres of cranberries are harvested every year.

Cranberries don’t actually grow in water, though they need very specific growing conditions to thrive: acidic peat soil, fresh water, sand, and a growing season that lasts from April to November, plus a dormancy period that allows the fruit to chill and mature. They actually grow on vines that survive indefinitely; some in Massachusetts are 150 years old and still producing fruit!

To celebrate, we bought a bag of almonds that contained dried cranberries. It’s a good thing today is Eat A Cranberry Day, because there were a whopping two in the bag. Oh, well – that’s one apiece, all we needed anyway!

National Eat a Cranberry Day

Related articles
Categories: Fruit | Tags: , , , , | 2 Comments

326/365: National Cashew Day*

Posted on November 22, 2013 by Midwest Mark

Today’s celebrated dish is a kidney-shaped seed that is sometimes referred to as “the world’s healthiest food.” November 22 is National Cashew Day!

It’s also National Cranberry Relish Day, which would be great…if Thanksgiving weren’t next week. I love cranberry relish, but I don’t particularly feel like making it twice. I’ll wait ’til Turkey Day for that. Instead, we’re honoring the mighty cashew, one of many nuts we’ve paid homage to this year (see almonds, pistachios, pralines, pecans, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, etc.).

Cashews are actually the seed of the cashew apple, native to Brazil. They grow on the bottom of the fruit (which itself is considered a delicacy in Brazil and the Caribbean) and must be shelled before being sold because the interior of the shell contains a caustic resin used to make varnishes and insecticides. Not something you would want to ingest willingly! Cashews are nutritional powerhouses not only because they are shaped like boxing gloves, but also due to the fact that they contain less fat than most other nuts, and 75% of that is oleic acid, the same heart-healty monounsaturated fat found in olive oil. In fact, cashews have so many healthy antioxidants and vitamins, new studies show if you eat a handful a day you will start aging in reverse and will never die.

OK, not really, but I bet that got your attention! Eating a handful a day of most nuts IS good for your health, and cashews are no exception. So indulge to your healthy heart’s content!

We bought a can of cashews and each had a handful to snack on. Good stuff…cashews are some of my favorite nuts!

National Cashew Day

Related articles
Categories: Nuts | Tags: , , , , | 4 Comments

325/365: National Beaujolais Nouveau Day*

Posted on November 21, 2013 by Midwest Mark

If you’ve got grape expectations for today, you won’t be disappointed. The third Thursday in November – this year, that’s the 21st – is National Beaujolais Nouveau Day.

It’s also National Gingerbread Day, so run as fast as you can if you’re in the mood for eating a gingerbread man. But we’ve already done this back in June, so we’re popping our corks instead.

Turns out Beaujolais Nouveau Day is celebrated internationally and is a rather big deal. It’s even got its own website. It occurs on the third Thursday of November and is celebrated in France with fireworks, music, and festivals. Wow, who knew? At one minute past midnight, the newest batch of Beaujolais – a fresh and fruity red wine made from the Gamay grape in the Beaujolais region of France, and fermented for just a few weeks – is released to the public, per French law. Per French law. They take this stuff seriously! The wine was created about a century ago by locals as a “cheap and cheerful” way to celebrate the end of the harvest season. Up until 1951 the wine was only enjoyed locally, but that year a wine merchant named Georges Duboeuf came up with the idea of holding a race to Paris carrying bottles of the newest vintage wine. By the 1970s this had become a national event, and it spread to neighboring countries in Europe during the 80s and to North America and Asia in the 90s. Today the wine is enjoyed around the world, and the latest vintage is eagerly anticipated by many.

I happen to be pretty familiar with this wine, even though I prefer whites. My dad will sometimes have a bottle of Beaujolais on hand, and I don’t mind the flavors. We picked up a bottle from Trader Joe’s over the weekend, and it proved to be the perfect after work drink. Not bad at all for a red – fruity and light!

National Beaujolais Nouveau Day

Related articles
Categories: Alcohol | Tags: , , , , , | 2 Comments

324/365: National Peanut Butter Fudge Day

Posted on November 20, 2013 by Midwest Mark

Today we find ourselves in a familiar sticky situation. November 20 is National Peanut Butter Fudge Day!

Alas, yet another fudge holiday. There have been plenty already. We noshed on nutty fudge, chewed chocolate, and partook in penuche. Each time, we mentioned fudge’s storied history, how it originated in a women’s college in the 1880s and was such a sensation that other women’s colleges across the country attempted to make their own versions of fudge, with varying results. No need to rehash all that…but I do have a rather humorous story to share.

I mistakenly thought today was National Beaujolais Nouveau Day. I was so convinced of this, I popped open a bottle of the wine. We toasted and sipped. I posted the blog entry. We even planned dinner around this (spaghetti, which of course goes perfectly well with red wine). And then, when I was reading over the post – ironically, something I rarely do afterwards – I noticed that I had written the holiday landed on the third Thursday of November. The only problem with that? Today is WEDNESDAY. The problem is, as I’ve mentioned before, about a third of the way through the year I realized these posts are so time consuming, I should write them in advance. Knock out a bunch ahead of time, and fill in the blanks on that particular food holiday. This worked out well. At first I’d write a few ahead of time. Then a week’s worth. Then…well, let’s just say I had gotten in the habit of really writing far out in advance. The only downside is…well, today. Looking at my calendar weeks ago, I was off by one day. I thought the 20th was a Thursday. It was not. You know what really confuses me, by the way? I had also partially written this post in advance. I don’t know what I was thinking. Suffice it to say, at 6:30, we were suddenly scrambling to celebrate peanut butter fudge. I remembered a friend, Wendy, had mentioned how easy fudge is to make. You can even do it in the microwave, she said. A quick Google search confirmed this. I was able to find an easy four-ingredient microwave peanut butter fudge recipe. It’s here, if you’re interested.

Making the fudge took less than ten minutes, but then we had to let it set in the fridge for 90 minutes. Amazingly…it turned out delicious! The consistency was spot on, the flavor, rich and intense. Who knew fudge was so easy to make?!

National Peanut Butter Fudge Day

Related articles
Categories: Candy | Tags: , , , | 4 Comments

Blog at WordPress.com.