National Bicarbonate of Soda Day

December 30th is National Bicarbonate of Soda Day in the United States.

This multipurpose substance is also known as bicarbonate of soda and baking soda and isn't actually a food in itself. Although it occurs naturally, John Dwight and Austin Church, some years after the first was produced artificially, started a factory ion the mid 19th century that made baking soda from sodium carbonate and carbon dioxide.

It is actually a salt, and can be used as a cleaning agent and fire extinguisher amongst other uses, as well as its use in cooking. In cooking it is used as a leavening agent in baking - hence the name "baking soda." This is its primary food use, although it can also be used to tenderise meats and make vegetables softer.

In baking, bicarbonate of soda reacts with the acidic components in batters which causes carbon dioxide to be released expanding the batter and giving the characteristic texture many have, including pancakes, cakes, breads and fried foods.

Pepper Pot Day

December 29th is Pepper Pot Day in the United States.

This is not, as the name might suggest, a celebration of that means of dispensing, usually ground, pepper. This is in actual fact a thick soup or stew that is also called Philadelphia Pepper Pot.

The soup (or stew) is made with beef tripe, pepper and vegetables. The origins of the stew are legendary, albeit a fairly recent legend, dating back to the American Revolutionary War. One story has it that the baker general of the Continental Army, Christopher Ludwick, made the stew during the winter of 1777-8. Local farmers had sold their produce to the British, rather than accept the Continental in exchange - a very weak currency - so the soldiers had to make a stew from anything they could lay their hands on.

National Chocolate Candy Day

December 28th is National Chocolate Candy Day in the United States.

Chocolate may not always be considered to be a candy (or sweet) but it is, as the term can be used to describe any type of sweet confection - even bittersweet chocolate.

There are so many different types of chocolate candies that they seem to be in an entire category by themselves - and, in fact, can be treated that way. This definition includes items such as chocolate bars (of whichever of the many types) and truffles, but excludes white chocolate (as this is not considered to be true chocolate). It can include all the rather vague items too which are covered in chocolate, which can mean anything that is dipped in chocolate, or uses it.

The most popular types of chocolate candies are probably the chocolate candy bars, which come wrapped and can include just about anything. Boxes of chocolates too are popular, especially at this time of the year.

National Candy Cane Day

December 26th is National Candy Cane Day in the United States.

Candy canes are what they sound like - a piece of candy in the shape of a cane (or walking stick, or shepherd's crook if you prefer).

It's not known precisely when these were invented. There is a story dating them back to the latter half of the seventeenth century in Germany, which ties them in with giving sweets (candy) to children during Mass in the shape of a shepherd's crook to remind them of the shepherds who attended Jesus. This is probably false.

There is a definite recipe for candy canes published in the middle of the 19th century, and was associated with Christmas - an association it still bears - a few decades later.

The traditional candy cane is a short, red and white striped hard candy pole with a hook on the end. It has been hung on Christmas trees for decades now, so the day after Christmas is an ideal time to eat them - they are no longer really needed for decoration by this point.

National Pumpkin Pie Day

December 25th is National Pumpkin Pie Day in the United States.

This may seem an odd dish to have Christmas Day as its national day, given all the other foods associated with this day, such as turkey, Christmas pudding and fruitcake, but pumpkins are used in many different recipes in the US and are native to North America, and are popular during the Thanksgiving and Christmas season.

Although the harvesting season for pumpkins - a type of squash - was earlier in the year, pumpkin pie is rarely made from the raw pumpkin itself, as this is certainly a harder way of doing it. The pie is made using a pie shell and rarely has a top crust. The interior filling is a pumpkin based custard that has been flavoured with spices, with cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg being the most common. When making pumpkin pie, many will normally use pre-made commercially available pumpkin pie filling, which comes with the spices included in it. Using a pre-made pie shell and pre-made filling certainly makes this an easy dish to prepare.

National Eggnog Day

National Eggnog Day is on December 24th in the United States.

It's not truly known when and where the drink eggnog originated. It may have come from East Anglia in England, or it may be descended from the medieval drink known as a posset, which was made with hot milk. It moved to the Americas in the 18th century.

Whilst many versions of this drink do contain alcohol, this is an optional extra, although spirits are the most usual ones used. The basic constituents of eggnog are eggs (not surprisingly), milk and /or cream and sugar. The eggs are supposed to be raw, although this is uncommon these days due to health reasons, and whipped to give it a frothy texture, and the finished drink is often garnished with spices, typically ground cinnamon or nutmeg. The drink is traditionally served warm.

This is a drink much associated with this time of year, both Thanksgiving and Christmas, in Canada and the United States. It can be drunk by itself, or added to other drinks, especially those which commonly have milk added, such as tea and coffee, and other foods.

National Pfeffernuesse Day

December 23rd is National Pfeffernuesse Day in the United States.

Pfeffernüsse is a dish you may well not have heard of. They are actually a type of small cookie that are popular in the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark during the holidays, which makes late December a perfect time to be celebrating them.

They are not an old dish, probably dating back to the mid 19th century, and they are believed to have been associated with the feast of Sinterklaas earlier in the month - Sinterklaas is a figure based on Saint Nicholas and, as you might guess, one of the sources for Santa Claus.

Pfeffernüsse recipes differ, with no one recipe in particular being specific to the cookie. Spices are contained in all of them, especially anise, cinnamon and cloves, and they are normally sweetened with molasses and honey.

National Date Nut Bread Day

National Date Nut Bread Day is on December 22nd in the United States.

This is another really specific food day, as it celebrates not just any old type of bread, but one with two particular ingredients.

Bread, in all its many different varieties, is one of the oldest prepared foods, dating back to the dawn of agriculture. It is quite a flexible dish, as many additional ingredients can be added to it. Date nut bread is one of the varieties that is of a sweeter, rather than savoury, nature.

The date is the fruit of the date palm, and dates have been harvested for thousands of years. They originated in the Middle east, probably in the region of Iraq, and, given that they would have been collected by hunter gatherers before they were cultivated, have been a source of food even longer than bread. The other ingredient, nuts is similarly a foodstuff that would have been gathered prior to being cultivated, but "nut" refers to many different varieties of food, many of which are not even, botanically, nuts.

National Fried Shrimp Day

National Fried Shrimp Day is on December 21st in the United States.

This is another national day that is supposedly rather specific - a certain type of seafood prepared in a certain way - but is actually rather vaguer, depending on the region, than you might think.

Shrimps are a type of crustacean that is also, depending on the region, referred to as prawns. In North America they would normally be called shrimps; in the United Kingdom, prawns. The two species are actually different, but are so close in appearance that they are often called by both names. In reference material, though, prawn is being used to describe the freshwater variety and shrimp the marine ones.

Shrimps (or prawns) vary in size, from small to large, with the large types being known as king prawns, or jumbo shrimps. They are used in a lot of dishes and, as far as mercury content is concerned, are one of the safest types of seafood, as they are so low on the food chain they contain one of the smallest amounts.

There are many different ways to fry shrimp. They can be shallow or deep fried, with or without batter. Quite often, when battered, the shell isn't removed first - which seems a bit pointless, as the shell, and thus the batter, is then removed to eat them.

National Pear Month

In the United States December is National Pear Month.

This might seem an odd time of year to have a fruit month, being in the middle of winter, but this month is supported by the United States Department of Agriculture. The reason being that fruit is still needed during the winter months - perhaps more so - and pears are actually one of the ones that are in season at this time of year.

Pears are a fruit tree whose cultivation as a food source dates back to antiquity and is native to the temperate regions stretching from Europe and Africa to Asia. The fruit is both a good source of dietary fibre and vitamin C - the latter especially beneficial during winter - but it should be noted that the vast majority of both of these nutrients is contained in the skin of the fruit, so peeling the fruit destroys much of its nutritional value, so eating them raw, like apples, is probably the best way. Not every pear grows in the stereotypical pear shape though.

National Oatmeal Muffin Day

December 19th is National Oatmeal Muffin Day in the United States.

Another one of the more specific food celebrations, this one for a particular type of muffin.

This type of muffin is sometimes called an American muffin, to distinguish it from the flatter version known as the English muffin. This type is an individual bread dish, rather like a cupcake in both preparation and size. Cupcakes are often made in muffin trays. Muffins can be sweet or savoury, although sweet varieties tend to be more common.

This particular type uses oatmeal, which is made from oat groats. There are a number of different ways of preparing oatmeal, such as grinding, steel-cut, crushed and rolled. These different ways also tend to result in a product with different cooking requirements, so care should be taken that the muffins are cooked in the correct way.

Before cooking, other ingredients can also be added, and after cooking, the muffins can then be decorated or topped.

National Hard Candy Day

December 19th is National Hard Candy Day in the United States.

As can be determined from the name, hard candy is a type of candy, or sweet, that is hard. They are also commonly known as boiled sweets. Hard candies are intended to dissolve slowly in the mouth

Hard candy is made by boiling a sugar syrup, which can be made from different sugars - fructose, sucrose, glucose, or other sugars - 160°C (320 °F) and then cooling it. The boiled syrup, as it reaches room temperature, becomes stiff and brittle. The finished product is almost completely sugar, although sugar-free variants do exist.

Boiled sweets are not simply boiled and cooled in their manufacture. Flavourings and colourings would be added to the sugar after it is boiled, and the resulting mixture can be made into individual confections. Before it cools it can be moulded, rolled or folded into other shapes, one of which is the traditional British seaside confection called rock.

Many early hard candies were actually medicinal in use, especially for sore throats. Sucking on a boiled sweet can help a sore throat anyway, and prescriptions would also be made more palatable by adding them to hard candies - sugar-coating them, in other words. Throat lozenges are still made into hard candies, although these are sugar-free these days, which use a sugar substitute as well as an artificial sweetener, such as aspartame, but most boiled sweets are no longer medicinal in nature, and there are many different types, shapes and flavours available.

National Roast Suckling Pig Day

National Roast Suckling Pig Day is on December 18th in the US.

Now, this is a dish that seems very medieval, and it really isn't one that is suitable, or even possible, to cook in most homes. It's also much older than medieval, dating back many centuries prior to that, and it may even be older still, given that the pig was one of the earliest domesticated animals.

A suckling pig refers to very young pig slaughtered for food. This would then usually be roasted whole, perhaps on a spit - which is certainly out of the question in most ovens, but possible in restaurants and outdoor dining, say with a barbecue pit.

It is still cooked in many cuisines. After the suckling pig is roasted, it is also quite often served whole at a table, where bits are then carved off, or alternatively slices could be cut from the spitted pig itself, if outside. It isn't usually served as a smaller dish, because then it would be hard to tell that it was a suckling pig.

Needless to say, this isn't a dish that is popular with some people.

National Maple Syrup Day

National Maple Syrup Day is on December 17th in the United States.

It's not uncommon to come across "maple-flavour syrup" in restaurants rather than the genuine article. This is because genuine maple syrup, even of the cheaper varieties, is quite expensive.

Maple syrup is made from the sap of a number of different maple trees, predominately sugar, red and black, although others can be used. The syrup was first collected by North American natives, and later by European settlers.

The maple trees are "tapped" - holes are bored into the trunk, and the sap harvested from them. Improperly boring the hole can damage the tree. The sap is then processed to remove the water, leaving the remainder mostly sugar.

Most maple syrup comes from Canada and the United States, with Quebec and Vermont respectively being the two largest producers; Quebec alone produces almost two thirds of the world's supply of maple syrup. There are different gradings of maple syrup, although this vary depending on the production area, with the US and Canada having different definitions of the quality. Canada actually has a strategic reserve of maple syrup.

National Chocolate-Covered Anything Day

December 16th is National Chocolate-Covered Anything Day in the United States.

What can you cover with chocolate? Well, like the name says, anything. Some things will definitely taste better than others, and some will probably not work unless you have really unusual tastes, but chocolate is used to cover a wide range of different foods, and not just the standards.

Standard items include fruit - such as strawberries with a chocolate and fondue, for which marshmallows are also used, and cherries - biscuits or cookies - there are many different chocolate covered biscuits - and nuts of many different types, both culinary and botanical.

More unusual items include foods that would normally be considered savoury, such as pretzels, crisps (potato chips) and, rather bizarrely, bacon. Some of the earliest known uses of chocolate by Mesoamericans did include mixing it with savoury foods that today seem odd to most, such as chillies.

You can try covering anything in melted chocolate, simply by either dipping it in or mixing it into the chocolate, but if it's something you've never tried before, it's best to just do one or two items as a sample, just in case it turns out to taste horrible.

National Cupcake Day

December 15th is National Cupcake Day in the United States.

The cupcake, also known as the fairy cake (which is actually a variant with a "wing" made from the top of the cake) and cup cake, is a small, individual cake that dates back to at least the late 18th century in a recipe in which the capes were baked in small cups - hence the name. Today, baking cupcakes in cups is no longer necessary, as there are baking trays and other implements designed specifically to cook them in, with muffin tins being one of the most commonly used.

They shouldn't be confused with the other cup cake which are named after the measurement of ingredients by volume (a common trait in American recipes), namely cups.

Cupcakes have an advantage over normal cakes in that they are easier to cook evenly and quicker to cook. There is also no problem with cutting them into slices - one cupcake is one portion.

There are a wide variety of different cupcakes, from the most basic to the most extravagant. Modern cupcakes shops and stalls, which typically sell only cupcakes, can practically make them into works of art.

National Bouillabaisse Day

National Bouillabaisse Day is on December 14th in the United States.

Bouillabaisse is a stew that originated in the city of Marseille in Provençal in France. The name comes from the Occitan (a Romantic language) bolhabaissa which is constructed from the verbs boil and simmer.

The stew is traditionally a fish stew, Marseille being a port town, that used rockfish as a base, these being fish that the fishermen were unable to sell on. The three traditional fish were red rascasse, sea robin and European conger, but other can also be used. Shellfish of various types, such as crab, are also commonly added. various vegetables were also included such as potatoes, onions, tomatoes and leeks.

Recipes for traditional Marseilles bouillabaisse do vary, with many different versions exiting in the city, both commercial and private. Naturally, people dispute as to whose recipe is the most authentic.

Interestingly, the various components of a bouillabaisse are traditionally served separately, with the broth being served first, and then the fish, unlike in other fish stews, such as gumbo, where all the ingredients are served in the same bowl.

National Cocoa Day

December 13th is National Cocoa Day in the United States.

Cocoa is a term that is a little too generic, as it can be used to mean several different things. All of them, in this context, do relate to chocolate.

Cooa was what chocolate itself used to be called. The cocoa (or cacao) bean is the seed from which the various cocoa derivatives that make chocolate come from. Cocoa is also a hot beverage also known as hot chocolate. Cocoa powder, also called cocoa solids, is yet another product.

In this case, what is being referred to is the drink, or hot chocolate. The drink itself can be made in various ways, all of which involve chocolate. The chocolate component can come from shaved chocolate, melted chocolate or cocoa powder, or cocoa solids, a mixture of substances left after extracting the cocoa butter, the vegetable fat, is extracted from cacao beans.

Chocolate drinks date back an estimated 2,000 years. Modern ones are frequently made from powder which is mixed with heated water or milk, and often sweeteners such as sugar. The drink is also commonly topped with other things, such as cream and marshmallows.

National Ambrosia Day

National Ambrosia Day is on December 12th in the United States.

Ambrosia! The mythical food or drink of the Greek gods, granting immortality or longevity to those who ate or drank it! So how can it have its own national day?

Well, it doesn't. The ambrosia being celebrated on this day is not the mythical food of the Greek gods, but a far more mortal kind. Nor is it the British food manufacturer known for their custard and rice pudding.

Instead, this ambrosia is actually a type of fruit salad. As with all fruit salads, the actual ingredients can vary - fruit covers a wide range of different items - but the most common ingredients are pineapple, orange or mandarin orange segments, coconut and miniature marshmallows. Other fruit is usually added to this base. It is then mixed with such things as yoghurt, cottage cheese, sour cream, cream cheese or whipped cream and the resulting mixture is then refrigerated before serving.

National Noodle Ring Day

National Noodle Ring Day is on December 11th in the United States.

Noodle rings are pretty much what they sound like. Pretty much, as there are two possible interpretations for the name. The first, inaccurate, one is it being noodles in the shape of a ring. The second, accurate, one is noodles cooked in the shape of a ring.

Noodles, or other similar foods such as pasta, are mixed with cheese and eggs and then baked in a ring mould. Other ingredients can also be used. The finished dish is in a torus or doughnut shape, with a hole in the centre of it. This hole can then be filled with other foods, making it an interesting and different way of serving pasta.

Before being placed in the ring, the noodles or pasta generally need cooking first - if they aren't, they may not cook properly in the oven.

National Fruit Cake Month

December is National Fruit Cake Month in the United States.

This seems like quite a logical month to be celebrating fruit cake, or fruitcake, as it is also known. Christmas cake, a festive cake eaten in December, is probably one of the most popular types of fruitcakes - although Christmas cake is not, strictly speaking, a type of cake, as the ingredients used to make it can vary. Christmas cakes are frequently iced. Fruitcakes have been around for centuries; the oldest known fruitcake recipes originate in ancient Rome.

Fruitcakes are cakes that are popularly eaten at various celebrations, such as Christmas, but they are also a popular, traditional wedding cake. Whilst wedding celebrations can, and do, occur throughout the year, Christmas is only celebrated at, well, Christmas.

A fruitcake is pretty much what it sounds like - it's a cake made from fruit. The fruit used in fruitcakes tends to be candied, dried or both, and other ingredients include such as chopped nuts, alcohol and spices, which are added to the mixture. The resulting cake is often quite rich.

Although fruitcakes can be rich, this is not always true. There are many different variations of fruitcakes, and some countries make cakes that are actually quite light, whilst others have cakes that are moist and rich. In the UK, fruitcakes can cover a range, with Christmas cakes tending to be at the rich, dark and moist end of the spectrum. US fruitcakes are often similar to the richer British types, containing lost of fruit and nuts, but rarely contain alcohol.

National Pastry Day

December 9th is National Pastry Day in the US.

This is a celebration of the base material, pastry, rather than the various small, sweet products known as pastries.

Pastry is a simple, yet versatile, product. It dates back to the ancient Mediterranean, making it comparatively recent compared to baked products such as bread. At its simplest, pastry is simply flour, water and a shortening agent such as butter. There are other ingredients that can be added to it as well, such as other shortening agents (like oil) eggs, milk and sugar.

Different types of pastry use different ingredients, but it is what is done with the pastry that often defines whether it is a sweet or savoury dish. The same pastry can be used in both; both puff and shortcrust pastry, the latter being the most common type, are used in both sweet and savoury dishes. It's what is made with the pastry that makes the difference.

There are other types of pastry available. For those who wish to bake at home, but don't want to go through the hassle of making their own pastry, pre-made pastry can be purchased in a variety of forms, from pie shells to sheets to blocks.

National Brownie Day

National Brownie Day is on December 8th in the United States.

This is a celebration of the baked good, also known as the chocolate brownie, rather than the mythical creature. Not that you'd really want to eat the mythical being.

Brownies are flat baked squares or bars that first came to being in the US in the late 19th century. It's not known specifically how they came to be created - or rather, it may be, but there are three different versions, and it isn't known which of them, if any, might be true.

Brownies are made with chocolate (the type that isn't is known as a blondie) but they can have other ingredients added to them too, such as nuts, chocolate chips and cream (which can create a marbled texture) to name a few. They can be eaten as-is, as an accompaniment to a hot drink such as coffee, and are also a popular dessert, warmed and served with ice cream.

Brownies are sometimes considered to be cakes, other times to be cookies (or biscuits). In the UK, this is an important distinction, as cakes are zero-rated for VAT, whilst biscuits are not.

National Cotton Candy Day

National Cotton Candy Day is on December 7th is the United States.

Cotton candy, which is also widely known as candyfloss, is a sugar dish that actually dates back to 18th century Europe. Given how difficult it was to make back then, as it was made by hand, it was a definite luxury item, not the one commonly seen at fairs today. Cotton candy itself is basically spun sugar - almost entirely sugar - with some colourings and flavourings added. Pink and blue are probably the most common colours seen.

A machine for spinning cotton candy was invented in the late 19th century by a confectioner, John C. Wharton, and William Morrison - who was, of all things, a dentist! So a dentist made a pure sugar confection that is not exactly beneficial to the teeth. Although it was probably beneficial to the dentist trade.

The original machine was shown at the 1904 World's Fair, and the confection was called fairy floss - which it is still known by in Australia. The name cotton candy was actually patented in the 1920s by the inventor of another machine for spinning candy floss.

National Gazpacho Day

December 6th is National Gazpacho Day in the United States.

Gazpacho soup is a soup that originates from Andalucía in Spain, although it is eaten all over Spain and Portugal. It tends to be less common in more northern climes thanks to its most notable quality - it's served cold.

It's not certain how gazpacho came about, but both Arabic and Roman origins have been considered. It is made from raw vegetables and a tomato base, which are chopped with herbs. Stale bread is an optional extra. The resulting combination may then be blended and olive oil, vinegar, water and salt are added.

With it being a cold soup, it is popular in the summer as a cooling dish. This only really applies if the summers are warm, of course. Just don't do what Arnold Rimmer did in Red Dwarf and send it back to the kitchen to be heated up.

Microwave Oven Day

December 6th is Microwave Oven Day in the United States.

The microwave oven is more commonly known as simply the microwave, although that is a rather inaccurate name, as microwave refers to a type of radiation. The oven itself uses microwave radiation to heat food that is placed inside it by using a process known as dielectric heating.

American inventor Percy Spencer invented the first microwave oven in 1945, when he filed a patent for one, following the end of World War II. Spencer was an expert in radar tube design and, during the war, was standing in front of an active radar set when he noticed that the candy bar in his pocket had melted. This had been noticed by others, but Spencer was the first to actively investigate the phenomenon. He experimented with popcorn kernels, producing the world's first microwaved popcorn, and an egg - which was less than successful. Following the war, he used microwave technology to develop the microwave oven, with the first being sold commercially in 1947, the first domestic microwave becoming available in 1955, and the first tabletop microwave, which is, effectively, the modern microwave, coming out in 1967. Spencer received a one-time payment of $20 for his invention from the company he worked for, Raytheon.

Microwaves are most commonly used for defrosting, reheating and preparing certain food items that would otherwise take substantially more time to do. Not every food is suitable - as one of Spencer's first experiments showed, they will explode if placed in a microwave - and if metal objects are placed inside a microwave they can cause dangerous sparking.

National Sacher Torte Day

December 5th is National Sacher Torte Day in the United States.

Sacher torte, which is also known as sachertorte, is named after its inventor. Said inventor was the Austrian, Franz Sacher, who created the first torte in Vienna in 1832. It was created by Prince Wenzel von Metternich, and Sacher was, at that time, only sixteen years old and an assistant to the Prince's personal chef, in his second year of training. Today, the sachertorte is one of the most famous Viennese dishes.

The sacher torte was not a truly original creation, as there were recipes for similar dishes dating back to the beginning of the 18th century. The torte was received well, but nothing further really happened with the recipe. After David Sacher, the son of Franz, perfected the recipe and started serving it at a pastry shop called the Demel, and later at his own Hotel Sacher, the dessert started becoming much more well known.

A controversy erupted between the Demel and the Hotel Sacher in 1938 over the use of the label "The Original Sacher Torte." The Demel was where Eduard's son, also called Eduard, found employment at the Demel following the bankruptcy of the Hotel Sacher, brought the distribution right for a cake to the shop. The legal fight continued until 1963, and resulted in the Hotel Sacher being able to use "The Original Sachertorte" and the Demel the right to decorate their tortes with a triangular seal reading "Eduard-Sacher-Torte."

The torte itself is, as its base, a chocolate cake. It is made from two layers of dense chocolate sponge cake, between which is sandwiched a thin layer of apricot jam. The cake is then covered in a dark chocolate icing.

National Comfort Food Day

National Comfort Food Day is on December 5th in the United States.

Going by the dictionary entry, comfort food is quite a recent creation, as the first appearance of the name was only in 1977. The actual concept of comfort food has been around longer, though.

Comfort food is food that is frequently high in carbohydrates and easy to prepare. It is eaten to provoke a psychological or nostalgic feeling - or to make you simply feel better, as is the case with that traditional comfort food, chicken soup, which is often consumed when ill.

Different cultures and countries have their own comfort foods, but the aim behind eating them tends to be the same. The stereotypical comfort foods are often those that are strongly associated with the culture or country in question. In addition, what determines a comfort food can vary from person to person. Overindulging on comfort food in order to raise a person's spirits can be a problem, if the comfort food in question tends towards the high-calorie junk food type.

National Cookie Day

December 4th is National Cookie Day in the United States.

Cookies - which are also known as biscuits (not to be confused with the American bread) - are small baked treats. Outside the US and Canada, the name cookie usually refers only to certain types of biscuit.

Cookies, at their base, are a very simple recipe, involving sugar, eggs, flour and either cooking oil or butter, but they are rarely limited to just those ingredients. Instead, many other ingredients are added to them. Other ingredients include spices, nuts, fruit - especially dried - and chocolate.

They are not always baked, either, as some cookie recipes are no-bake.

Cookies, in one form or another, have been around as long as bread has, but early forms were not sweet, and would not be considered to be a cookie by today's standards. The earliest known form of the modern cookie dates back to 7th century Persia when sugar was added to what had been up until then small, flat, hard bread. The true modern cookie only dates back to the 18th century.

Cookies are actually quite simple to make at home - in theory anyway. Practice can be a little different.

National Egg Nog Month

December is National Egg Nog Month in the United States.

Egg nog, which is also spelled eggnog, as well as being known as egg milk punch, is a drink that is often associated with both winter and the Christmas period, which makes December an ideal month to be celebrating the drink.

The actual origins of egg nog, as well as the original ingredients, and even the meaning of the name are not known for certain. One suggestion is that it originated in East Anglia in the UK; another is that it may have been derived from the posset, a medieval European drink made with hot milk. The nog part of the name may be derived from noggin, which was a Middle English word for a type of small, carved wooden mug.

The drink is served chilled and has a frothy texture, which comes from the whipped eggs it contains. It also uses milk and/or cream as well as sugar. The drink is commonly spiced, with spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg. Although it doesn't have to be alcoholic, there are alcoholic versions which use such as brandy, whisky and rum.

In its truest form, the eggs used are supposed to be raw. In store bought egg nog, this is unlikely to be the case, as raw eggs can run afoul of food and drink regulations, so the eggs will either be cooked or be replaced. Even if it is made at home, it is still not necessarily a good idea to use raw eggs, due to problems that can come from such.

National Fritters Day

December 2nd is National Fritters Day in the US.

Fritter is a generic name that is used to describe a wide variety of different foods, both sweet and savoury, including vegetables, fish, meat and fruit, that have all been prepared in a similar way.

The base ingredient(s), whatever they are, are battered or breaded and then fried. In some cases, the ingredients are done whole, or from large pieces of the food in question, such as banana and pineapple fritters (the latter usually being pineapple rings), or alternatively they can be chopped or ground up and made into portions that are then battered or breaded.

Fritters can be found across the world with many cultures and countries having their own varieties. In Britain, fish and chip shops serve a range of fritters, including such things as Spam. The batter can vary from quite light, as in Japanese tempura, to fairly heavy, such as in the British chip shop batter.

National Cookie Cutter Week

The first week of December is National Cookie Cutter Week in the United States.

Naturally enough, this week celebrates the use of cookie cutters. Cookie cutters, which can also be known as biscuit cutters are a kitchen utensil designed to cut cookie, or biscuit, dough into different shapes, instead of having the more standard circular - or circular-ish, for home made drop cookies - shape. Cookie cutters aren't just used to cut cookies, though; they can also be used to cut sandwiches into different shapes.

Cookie cutters vary in type, and in complexity. The standard type of cookie cutter, and the simplest, cuts a shape out of the dough. The cutter is pressed into dough that has been rolled flat. Another type is a detail cutter, which marks a detail into the surface of the dough. A third type is the mould, which often has a design that is pressed into the surface of the cookies, and can be in the shape of a rolling pin.

There are also the cookie press and the cookie cutting sheet, both of which are used to make larger quantities of cooking. The press extrudes the cookies in ornate shapes, whilst the sheet cuts many cookies at the same time. These last two are less likely to be used in home baking.

December is an ideal month to be celebrating the cookie cutter, for the Christmas period is probably the major celebration for making shaped cookies. Christmas-themed shapes such as snowmen, Santa Claus and reindeer, or, more simply, stars and trees, are popular.

National Pie Day

December 1st is National Pie Day in the United States.

The pie is a very old dish, with some of the oldest dating back over 11,000 years, although pie pastry is rather more recent. Pies are also very versatile, coming in a whole range of types, and they can be both sweet and savoury. The pie served the original purpose of a foodstuff that was easy to transport - the casing surrounding the interior protected it and made it easier to transport. The pie as we know it today is a rather more recent invention. Some earlier pies used earthen pie cases, rather than pastry ones, which could then be reused. The pie would be used to keep food fresh for periods of time, or clean in unsanitary conditions. In the latter case, if the pie was made of pastry, the pie crust itself would be disposed of and only the actual filling would be eaten.

There are today different types of pies. The top crust pie, known as the cobbler, has the filling at the bottom of the dish, which is then covered by the crust. A filled pie is the reverse; the pastry is at the bottom of the dish and the filling is put into it. Two crust pies have pastry on both the top and the bottom of the pie, enclosing the filling, although it isn't unknown for the top crust to be a lattice of pastry rather than a complete crust. There are many different varieties of pie, used as desserts, snacks and savoury meals, with many different regional variations.

National Eat a Red Apple Day

National Eat a Red Apple Day is on December 1st in the United States.

The proverb, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away", evolved from a 19th century Welsh saying intended to convey the health benefits of eating the fruit.

Apple trees are one of the oldest, if not the oldest, trees to be domestically cultivated, and today there are over 7,500 different cultivars of apples, produced in countries all over the world.

Apples are often eaten raw and, although lower in vitamin C, and other essential nutrients, than many other fruits, do contain high levels of dietary fibre, as a variety of different phytochemicals in the peel.

Why red apples, though? Well, there doesn't seem to be a reason. Apples come in red, green, pink and yellow, as well as russetted and bi and tri-coloured. There are therefore many different red apples, such as the Red Delicious, which is one of the more common ones.

National Mousse Day

November 30th is National Mousse Day in the United States.

Mousses can be either sweet or savoury dishes. The name "mousse" is the French for foam, and pretty much describes what the dish is.

With both sweet and savoury versions possible, many different ingredients can be used to make a mousse.

The ingredients are foamed, so that air bubbles are incorporated into them, so they need to be in a suitable state to be foamed in the first place, by, perhaps, melting or puréeing them as appropriate.

The texture of the finish mousse can vary; it can be fluffy or thick depending on how it is made.

Cream is a popular base ingredient for making dessert mousses, which will then have other ingredients added for the flavour; chocolate being a popular choice.

National Lemon Cream Pie Day

National Lemon Cream Pie Day is in November 29th in the United States.

Cream pies are pies or cakes that are filled with pudding or custard, of different flavours. The crust can be of different types, including pastry. The lemon cream pie is a speciality of the Southern United States.

The traditional dish tends to be made on a standard pie shell; this could be a fresh one, or a pre-bought one. The lemon flavoured filling is made from cream, eggs and sugar - and, of course, lemons. This would then be baked in the oven.

This is traditionally an open topped pie without a top crust, but, as an alternative, it can be topped with meringue instead of being open. The meringue would be added after the pie has been baked.

National Chocolates Day

November 29th is National Chocolates Day in the United States.

This day is a celebration of chocolate in its oh so many different forms. There are, in fact, so many different types of chocolate that it's hard to pick where to begin.

The most basic forms are, of course, the simple chocolate bars. These can come in white, milk or dark (also called bittersweet) chocolate. These are broad categories, and the actual names, as well as what makes a chocolate fall into a particular category, vary in different regions and countries. The simple chocolate bar can then have things added to it, nuts being a popular addition.

Spreading out from the chocolate bar includes anything that contains chocolate. This includes sweets, or candies, biscuits, or cookies, and desserts and cakes. It can also include chocolate based drinks.

Although chocolate is often considered to be a sweet food, there are many savoury dishes that include it, and it was, in fact, originally used in savoury foods.

National French Toast Day

National French Toast Day is on November 28th in the US.

French toast is not truly from France, as the earliest known reference to it dates back to around the 4th or 5th century AD, centuries before France existed, and it has a different name in France itself. It is not toasted either. It is, though, made from bread.

French toast, which is also known as eggy bread, looks to have been a recipe designed to make use of stale bread - the French name translates as wasted (or lost) bread.

Slices of bread are soaked in beaten eggs and fried. It can be eaten as a sweet or a savoury dish; with the sweet versions, other ingredients such as milk, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon are also added, before the bread is fried. Sweet toppings may also be added, such as fruit or butter. In savoury varieties, salt and sauces may be used instead.

National Bavarian Cream Pie Day

November 27th is National Bavarian Cream Pie Day in the United States.

The Bavarian cream pie, which is sometimes just named Bavarian cream, is not really a pie and it probably isn't from Bavaria either. It is similar to cream, but actually has more in common with custard.

This is a sweet dessert that is believed to have been created in the early 19th century by Parisian chef Marie-Antoine Carême, an exponent of grande cuisine and believed to be one of the first ever international celebrity chefs. The latter being a quite impressive feat, predating television chefs by more than a little. It is named either after the German region of Bavaria, or to honour a visiting Bavarian notable.

Bavarian cream is a pastry cream that has been thickened with either isinglass or gelatin and then flavoured with liqueur. Whipped cream is added, and then the mix is used to fill a fluted mould, chilled, and then turned out when ready to eat. It is often served with fruit or fruit sauces.

National Cake Day

November 26th is National Cake Day in the US.

What is cake? Such a generic word it is. Nowadays, cake is normally refers to a baked dessert that is similar, in many ways, to bread. Cakes date back centuries, although the name is not quite as old. Early cakes were fried breads and cheesecakes - cheesecakes, despite the name, would rarely be considered to be a type of cake today, as in fact they are really a type of pie.

There are many different types of cakes, with some broad categories. There are the aforementioned cheesecakes, sponge cakes - which are very common - and butter cakes such as devil's food cake.

Fruitcakes are also a popular type, especially when celebrating certain things, such as weddings or Christmas with the Christmas cake. There are many different ingredients that can be added, too.

Some cakes may be left as-is, being essentially a sweet bread that is sliced, which may then be toasted or buttered. Glazes, frostings and icing are all popular decorations, Some cakes, such as the Victoria sponge, may be sliced and filling added between the layers, making a layer cake.

National Parfait Day

November 25th is National Parfait Day in the United States.

There are actually at least three different dishes called parfait, depending on where you ask for one. In France, parfait is a type of frozen dessert, but in the United Kingdom, it is a meat paste or pâté.

This particular day is celebrated in the United States, so it's the United States version of parfait that is the correct dish, although even in the US, parfait refers to two different dishes.

The first of these is the traditional French parfait. The second is, like the French dish, also a dessert.

This dish is a layered one. Parfait cream, ice cream and flavoured gelatins are layered in a tall dessert glass and then topped with whipped cream, fruit and, sometimes, liquers. An alternative version uses yoghurt instead of ice cream and cream, and layers of fruits, nuts and granola.

National Sardines Day

November 24th is National Sardines Day in the United States.

Sardines, which are also known as pilchards, are a variety of different fish within the herring family. They are small and oily, and the name is believed to have originated from the island of Sardinia in the Mediterranean, where the fish were once common. Whether a fish is a sardine or a pilchard can vary from country to country, and can actually be used to refer to the same fish at different ages.

Sardines are a common food fish, commonly canned but they can also be eaten fresh. They are high in both vitamins and minerals, and tend to be low in contaminants. this is because they are low on the food chain; those higher up it may have consumed large quantities of lower species, concentrating the contamination. As with many commercial fish, they have been heavily harvested, sometimes too much so.

Canned sardines can be preserved in many different liquids, like most canned fish. Oils, such as olive oil, water and sauces are all popular. Canned sardines can be eaten as is. Fresh sardines can be grilled, and they are also pickled, in brine and vinegar, and smoked.

Eat a Cranberry Day

November 23rd is Eat a Cranberry Day in the United States.

Cranberries are the fruit from the evergreen shrub of the same name. Unusually for fruit with "berry" in the name, they are actually berries. So many are not. Given how tiny cranberries are, eating merely one in celebration of this day is not really useful.

There are different species of cranberry plants. Although some do grow outside North America, the berries were first eaten by North American natives, and the United States and Canada are still the biggest producers of the berry. The first reference to Native Americans eating cranberries dates back to the fifteenth century; it is probable that they were consumed before that.

Cranberries can be eaten raw - and have been marketed as a "superfruit" when raw, as they are high in antioxidants and nutrients - they are usually eaten processed in other forms. This is because the raw cranberry is hard and bitter. Commercially, they are sweetened and sold as cranberry juice, cranberry sauce (a popular condiment with turkey at Thanksgiving and Christmas) and dried. Even dried cranberries are sweetened.

Although cranberries do seem to have health benefits, there are some people who are advised against taking them, namely those taking warfarin as a medicine, as it seems they react badly together.

National Espresso Day

November 23rd is National Espresso Day in the United States.

The first machine for making espresso, which is a type of coffee, was patented in 1884 in Turin in Italy. This machine made the coffee in bulk, rather than individually.

To make espresso, water that is just short of boiling is forced through finely ground coffee beans. The drink that results from this process tends to be thicker than other coffees and have a higher proportion of solids, as well as being stronger flavoured and having a foam on the top.

Although espresso can be drunk as it is, it is also used as a base in many other coffee drinks, including lattes and cappuccinos, but there are others. Such a drink will often have "shots" of espresso in them, with each shot being an individual serving.