National Champagne Day

Agne27 [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

December 31st, is National Champagne Day in the United States.

As today is also New Year's Eve, and it's traditional to welcome the New Year with a glass of bubbly, this is a pretty logical day to celebrate the drink.

Champagne is a sparkling wine, which uses secondary fermentation to add the distinctive fizz. Not every sparkling wine is champagne though, and in many places it can only refer to the sparkling wines produced in the champagne wine producing region of France, it being a product with a "controlled designation of origin."

Champagne, despite being French, owes a lot of its success to its popularity with the British. The British developed a taste for the bubbly whilst the French still preferred their wines pale and flat. Wines were popular in Britain, and the country had the wealth to buy them, but lacked the ability to produce them.

The bubbles did cause a problem in the early days of champagne production - the bottles simply couldn't withstand the pressure and would explode. Fortunately, that tends not to happen now. Even so, it is wise to be careful when opening a bottle of champagne, as the cork can fly off with a lot of speed.

National Bacon Day

Joy [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]

National Bacon Day is on December 30th in the United States.

Bacon is a type of pork that has been cured and then cut into slices. There are two primary types of bacon, side, or streaky, bacon and back bacon, which has more meat and less fat.

Bacon is used in many dishes. It is popular in cooked breakfasts, especially such as the Full English and the regional variants, in sandwiches and for wrapping roasts, vegetables and seafood. More recently, it has started turning up in a whole variety of other dishes, from chocolates to ice cream. The full range of bacon-related dishes now available has grown exponentially.

Bacon can also be flavoured. It can be smoked using different woods and other substances, from chilli to sugar to honey to maple syrup can also be used.

There are also a number of bacon variants that do not contain pork. Turkey bacon is one of the more well-known ones, but there are also soya-based bacons suitable for vegetarians.

National Cookie Exchange Day

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National Cookie Exchange Day is on December 22nd in the United States.

Yes, this is another holiday related to cookies (or biscuits, in other countries). This time, however, it's a holiday celebrating giving them to others, rather than about a specific type of cookie, and the Christmas season is a season of gift giving. Cookies can be given to others, or exchanged with others; perhaps for different cookies, perhaps for something that isn't a cookie at all.

Cookies are frequently bought pre-made, but they are also one of the easiest dishes to bake. The most basic cookies only contain flour, sugar and a fat, but adding extra ingredients makes them more interesting. In some cases, they don't even need baking at all. So, top make that exchanged cookie mean more, why not make it a homemade one as well?

National Kiwifruit Day

December 21st is National Kiwifruit Day in the United States.

Kiwifuit, also known as kiwi fruit, to distinguish them from Kiwis, which are both flightless birds from New Zealand, and New Zealanders themselves (though outside New Zealand they are often simply called kiwis as well), are a type of fruit that are actually native to northern China. Even though they are commonly associated with New Zealand, they were not introduced to that country until 1906. The kiwfruit were first commercially exported from New Zealand though, but China is the largesy producer by far.

Kiwis are about the size of an egg and are covered in brownish, fibrous skin which is removed before consumption. The inside of the fruit has a soft texture and has green or golden flesh with many tiny, edible, black seeds. Kiwi fruit are normally eaten raw.

National Coquito Day

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December 21st is National Coquito Day in the United States.

So, what is a coquito? It's a drink that originated in Puerto Rico and the name is Spanish and means "Little Coconut". It is a drink that is traditionally served at Christmas, and it has a number of similarities to eggnog.

Not surprisingly, for a drink called Little Coconut, it does contain coconut. Coconut cream and coconut milk are combined with sweetened condensed milk and rum; Puerto Rican rum is naturally in the traditional recipe, but other rums could also be used. Spices and seasoning are also added to the drink, with vanilla, cinnamon and cloves being the most common. It is garnished with cinnamon or nutmeg.

One way in which coquito does differ from eggnog is that it is served cold, whilst eggnog is served warm. Considering eggnog originated in countries that are cold at Christmas, and coquito in a place that definitely isn't, this is not surprising.

National Sangria Day

Evan Swigart from Chicago, USA [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]

December 20th is National Sangria Day in the United States.

Sangria, which derives from the Spanish "sangre" meaning blood due to its' dark red colour, is a traditional summertime drink popular in Spain and Portugal that has also become popular in the UK and US. Given that it's a popular summer drink, celebrating it in the middle of winter seems a trifle odd. The earliest forms of the drink were popular in Spain, as well as in Greece and, rather more oddly, England.

The drink is a type of punch. Although sangria is normally alcoholic, non-alcoholic versions can also be made. The majority of the drink consists of red wine to which chopped fruit including lemons, limes, apples, oranges, peaches and melon to name a few, are added. A sweetener and a small amount of brandy are also added, although soft drinks such as Sprite or Seven Up can replace the brandy.

When made with white wine it is known as sangria blanca, or white sangria. In Europe, only if the drink is made in Spain or Portugal can simply be called Sangria; those from other countries must be labelled as being from that country, such as French sangria.

National Ice Cream Day

December 13th is National Ice Cream Day in the United States.

Given that ice cream is a cold dessert, having a day celebrating a food often associated with warm summer days in the middle of one of the coldest months of the year may seem a trifle odd. Still, ice cream desserts are popular all year round, even if ice cream cones may be rather less common in December.

Ice cream is, usually, made from milk or cream that is flavoured, sweetened and then frozen. Different flavours of ice cream - and there are many, many flavours, from the plain to the bizarre - come in different colours, the colours often associated with the flavour. Ice cream can mean different things to different people, even though such as frozen yoghurt is considered to be a separate food. Ice cream can be eaten on its own, but is also used in a wide range of other dishes, from drinks to sundaes to milkshakes to cakes to hot dishes, such as Baked Alaska.

Image: Lotus Head from Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)]

National Gingerbread House Day

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December 12th is National Gingerbread House Day in the United States.

What is a gingerbread house? Well, it's a house made of gingerbread. Essentially, a gingerbread house is a rather individual form of cookie. It's made from cookie dough that is cut into the appropriate shapes - walls, roofs etc. - then baked and assembled. The most common type of material used is a crisp ginger biscuit made from gingerbread, but they can also be built from dough that is moulded into shape then baked.

Gingerbread, and gingerbread houses, are both associated with Christmas, so December is a logical time of year to celebrate them. Once the house is assembled (melted sugar tends to be used as "mortar", as does royal icing), it is decorated with such as icing to represent snow. Candies can be used to further decorate the house, or even make parts such as the roof. Gingerbread houses can range from a simple gingerbread cabin to a full-blown mansion, and just about any type of building has been made into a gingerbread house at some point. Even entire villages have been made this way.

National Lager Day

December 10th is National Lager Day in the United States.

Lager, which is the German word of storage, is a type of beer. The name originates from the practice of storing, or "lagering," beers in caves to keep them cold. As refrigeration methods improved, so did the popularity of lager.

Lagers are available as pale lagers, or dark. Pale lagers are the most widely consumed and available beers worldwide. These are golden coloured drinks at the high end of the alcohol scale for beers that were developed in the 19th century.

Dark lagers which, as their name implies, are darker than pale lagers and range from amber to a dark reddish brown, were more common prior to the emergence of pale lagers, as until that point lagers were predominately dark.

Lagers do not have to be just drink either. There are uses for them in cooking too - although some lagers do not react well to heating.

National Stuffing Day

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National Stuffing Day is on November 21st in the United States.

Stuffing is commonly served with roasts, particularly types of poultry, such as roast chicken. It may either be cooked inside the roast, in an existing cavity or perhaps in a manufactured one, if the roast in question is made from a cut of meat that has had a pouch made in it, or in a separate dish. Even though roast poultry may be the most common dish to use stuffing these days, fish and other meat may use it as well. During holiday seasons, turkey and goose are the most common roasts to use stuffing, although at other times it is part of the traditional British Sunday lunch. When the stuffing is inside the roast in an existing cavity, that roast may take longer to cook and may end up being overcooked or not cooked enough. It is therefore a good idea to cook stuffing outside of a roast.

Stuffing itself normally consists of some sort of bread mixture, with that used for poultry consisting of breadcrumbs along with salt, pepper, onion, celery and sage. Other ingredients may also be used, with chestnuts being a common one in the UK, especially at Christmas. Typically, different types of stuffing will be used for different foods.

Banana Pudding Lovers Month

home made banana pudding. Photo courtesy of Stu Spivack

Banana Pudding Lovers Month is in November in the United States.

This is a commercially created holiday created by, perhaps naturally, a pudding company. Namely, Rodgers' Pudding Company.

This is a dessert pudding that, of course, uses bananas in it. In its most common variant, it rather resembles an English trifle and is a dish associated with Southern cuisine in the U.S.

To make the pudding, cookies, particularly vanilla wafers or ladyfingers, vanilla flavoured custard and sliced fresh bananas are placed in a dish. These are placed in layers, and then more layers of the same are repeated with the dish then topped with either meringue or whipped cream. This would be a refrigerated dessert, but there are also baked variants of the dish.

There are even two banana pudding festivals; the National Banana Pudding Festival in Tennessee and the Georgia State Banana Pudding Festival in Georgia.

National Split Pea Soup Week

The second week of November is National Split Pea Soup Week in the United States.

Split pea soup, which can also be simply called pea soup, is an old dish that dates back over two thousand years, to Greece in 400 BC - or even earlier. The pea had definitely been cultivated between 500-400 BC by both the Greeks and Romans, and vendors on the streets of Athens sold hot pea soup.

Split peas are the seeds of the pea plant which have been dried, peeled and split. Pea soup can also be made from fresh peas as well. Split peas, however, store well, and split pea soup is an effective way of using them. In Britain, pease porridge - pease was the old world for pea - was a staple food for many years.

Garden pea soup, made with fresh peas, does not tend to be as thick as split pea soup is. This can vary, though, and does depend on how the soup is prepared. The colour of the soup can also vary, from greyish-green to yellow. Many old pea soup dishes still exist, in one form or another, around the world.

The American type of split pea soup is, unlike most other soups of the same type, thinner than soup made with fresh peas - whereas in most cases it's the other way around. It also usually contains visible peas, as well as vegetables and pork. Pea soup in the U.S. generally refers to a smooth puree.

International Stout Day

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November 7th is International Stout Day.

Stouts, today, are dark beers, although the term originally just mean strong beers. Stouts are not porters, another type of dark beer, although they are linked, and several drinks were called "stout porters".

Porters are a drink that originated in London in the early 18th century and, should you be wondering where the name came from, was especially popular with porters. Porters were stronger in flavour, went longer without spoiling and were cheaper.

Porter was then exported to Ireland, with a brewery in Dublin run by Arthur Guinness brewing his own; today, that is perhaps one of the best-known stouts. The beer became black through the use of black patent malt and also gained a stronger flavour. The word "stout" took on the meaning "strong" and was therefore applied to strong beers.

Today, a stout can be recognised by its black colour and, especially in the case of Guinness, its cream-coloured head.

National Fig Week

The first week of November is National Fig Week in the United States.

Figs are the fruit produced by a tree which is known as the Common Fig. This was one of the first plants to be cultivated, rather than simply being harvested as it grew in the wild. Samples of domesticated figs have been found dating back over eleven thousand years, which means that they pre-date the earliest known use of domesticated rye and wheat by one thousand years. The fig has cultural and religious significance in many places and cultures, with fig leaves, for example, being mentioned very early on in Genesis in the Bible.

The earliest trees were native to parts of the Middle East and western Asia, but have since been spread across many other countries, where they are grown both for their fruit and for ornamental purposes. The Middle East, and parts of the Mediterranean coast, are still where the majority of figs are grown today, with currently only two producers in the top ten, the United States and Brazil, not hailing from that region. Turkey is the largest fig producing country.

Figs can, and are, eaten fresh, but they are also fried and used in jams. Ripe figs do not tend to transport or keep well after being picked, so most commercially available figs are in dried or otherwise preserved or processed forms. One common use of processed figs is in the Fig Newton, or the generic fig roll, a cookie (or biscuit) that has a filling made from figs.

National Calzone Day

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November 1st is National Calzone Day in the United States.

Calzones are a type of Italian pizza but, unlike the more common flat pizzas, these are folded and baked in an oven, although in Italy some street venders sell small ones that have been fried.

The ingredients that go into a calzone can vary, just like they can with a regular pizza. Cheese is a typical ingredient, with mozzarella being common but not the only one. Ham, salami and vegetables can also be included, and different varieties can have different ingredients. Plus, making your own choice means that effectively a calzone can be stuffed with the full range of ingredients that can be found in a normal pizza. They are also often topped with such as marinara or other sauce.

With calzones being folded and baked, their taste is different, as the juices can combine inside. In addition, it is not really possible to have a "slice" of calzone as there is nothing to cut into slices. This is the reason for vendors in Italy selling small calzones; these can be eaten whilst standing.

National Pasta Month

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October is National Pasta Month in the United States.

Pasta is a dish intimately associated with Italy and is made from an unleavened dough of durum wheat flour that is mixed with water or eggs. This is then formed into sheets or shapes, and other elements may be substituted for the wheat flour for such as different tastes, textures and gluten-free recipes.

Pasta comes in two primary types, dried and fresh. Dried pasta is, naturally, dried - spaghetti is one that many will be familiar with - whilst fresh pasta is not, being still moist. Dried pasta will keep in a cupboard for a substantial amount of time whilst fresh pasta needs refrigerating and eating quickly, or alternatively freezing. Pasta can be served with causes in different dishes, stuffed with different foods or served in such as lasagne, where the pasta is in layers. It can even be added to soup dishes. Many pasta dishes also incorporate cheese in them and some are baked in an oven.

Pasta is a versatile food, with a huge range of types and many different things that can be done with it. One thing that is usually not done is serving pasta plain, because without some other ingredients, it makes a rather boring dish.

American Cheese Month

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October is American Cheese Month in the United States.

American cheese is not cheese of any sort that is simply made in America. Instead, it is a specific type of processed cheese. By legal definition, for a cheese to be called American cheese, it must be processed from cheddar cheese, colby cheese, granular cheese, washed curd cheese or a combination of two or more of those. American cheese has a low melting point and, although it is available in blocks, like more traditional cheeses, it is also commonly available in slices, either in stacks or individually wrapped. These slices of American cheese are the type that are found in the typical cheeseburger; the low melting point means that the cheese will typically melt simply from contact with the burger. Like most processed foods, American cheese is perhaps not as healthy as its more traditional cousins.

National Sausage Month

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October is National Sausage Month in the United States.

The sausage is, normally, a meat product (there are vegetarian options) made from ground meat with spices and other flavourings. For meat-based sausages, pork, beef and poultry are all common choices. Filler ingredients such as breadcrumbs may also be added. These are then stuffed into a skin, traditionally made from intestine although there are other variants.

There are many different regional variations when it comes to sausages. Some of these are raw, and are cooked with different methods such as broiling, grilling, pan-frying and barbecuing. Other sausages are precooked or preserved by curing, drying and smoking, which in some cases means the sausage can be stored without being refrigerated. Sausages are one of the oldest preserved foods, as they were created by using the scraps left over from butchering an animal. Modern sausages are more likely to be deliberately created as an end product, rather than being a way to use up all the scraps.

With all the different regional varieties of sausage, from salamis to hot dogs to bratwursts and more, there are a host of different methods for classifying them as to type and recipes for creating them.

Vegetarian Month

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October is Vegetarian Month in the United States.

Vegetarianism is, at its root, the abstention from eating meat and the flesh of any other animal, eating only plants instead. However, there are degrees of vegetarianism.

The strictest form is vegan, which not only abstains from eating animal flesh, it also abstains from using any animal by-products; this includes such as eggs, milk and honey.

Ovo-lacto vegetarian includes the consumption of eggs and dairy. Variants of thus are ovo-vegetarian which includes eggs but not milk and lacto-vegetarian which includes dairy but not eggs.

Semi-vegetarians may infrequently include the consumption of such as fish, poultry or other meats; the justification for this, for the consumers, is that vegetarianism only relates to the eating of mammals. The Vegetarian Society does not consider this to be vegetarianism.

Vegetarianism can be healthy but also contains potential health problems due to dietary deficiencies, although there can also be health benefits such as heart health and longevity. Beans, mushrooms and nuts are an important part of any vegetarian diet, as they contain a lot of protein, something generally lacking outside of meat. The most important thing is that a vegetarian diet be balanced; eating properly requires research and care.

National Dessert Month

October is National Dessert Month in the United States.

Dessert is the name given to the course that (usually) concludes a meal, although sometimes coffee, or other hot drink, is considered to be the final course. The dessert is normally a sweet dish, but the name can be used to describe other foods, including those that can be eaten at other times of the day, such as pancakes, a common breakfast item. There are many different types of foods that can be called dessert, including, but not limited to, pies, puddings, cakes, pastries and biscuits/cookies, as well as more obvious dessert dishes such as ice cream.

Desserts, because they are sweet, have a tendency to be high in fats and sugars. Consequently, they can be both fattening and unhealthy if care isn't taken, or they are overindulged in.

There are ways around this inherent unhealthiness, though. Dishes made with fresh fruit, for example, fruit salad, are both sweet and healthy. Ice cream and sorbets can be made that use other things, such as artificial sweeteners, instead of sugar. Low fat substitutes can be used in sweet dishes. Quark, a type of soft cheese, can be used to replace soft cheeses in dishes such as cheesecake.

National Seafood Month

October is National Seafood Month in the United States.

As seafood is, literally, any form of sea life that is eaten as food, there are many different types and varieties of it. The two largest categories of seafood are fish and shellfish, and the definition is sometimes expanded to include any freshwater life that is eaten as food.

Seafood, assuming it isn't contaminated - a growing problem - is a healthy type of food. One portion of seafood eaten every week could lower the chances of heart disease and cut the chance of suffering a heart attack in half. Fish can also help with the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. Seafood is rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Research is still ongoing into these, but they could help health in general. One way of avoiding contaminated seafood is by eating types that are low on the food chain; the higher up the food chain, the greater the contamination.

Seafood can be prepared in many different ways. It can even be eaten raw, in dishes such as sashimi.

National American Beer Day

October 27th is National American Beer Day in the United States.

Given that beer is a global drink, what makes an American Beer?

Well, first of all, it really should be brewed in the United States. Beer is not always brewed in the country with which it is associated; there are many Australian beers and lagers that are brewed in other countries, under license. How true to the national beverage one is that isn't brewed in the country in which it originated is open to question. Some will always assert that beer brewed in a different place tastes different and, indeed, they could well be right, as the water used will be different for a start, and there could well be other differences caused by the brewing in a different environment (and under different government regulations).

The main type of American beer, and the one most associated with the US, is what is called American lager, which is a type of pale lager. Originally from Europe, this is what is described as a modestly hopped beer and will often use unmalted grains such as maize and rice.

The most well known American lager is probably Budweiser, but other brands exist, particularly in the Coors family of beers, such as Coors Light.

National Pretzel Month

In the United States, October is National Pretzel Month.

Pretzels are a type of bread product. They are traditionally baked in a very distinctive "knot" shape. The pretzel is believed to have originated in European monasteries, and have for a long time been associated with Christianity.

The settlers who later became known as the Pennsylvania Dutch introduced the pretzel to the Americas. From Pennsylvania, the pretzel then spread out to other parts of the region. As new production methods for baking were introduced, soft pretzels became popular.

Today, there are many different types of pretzel. These are available in both hard and soft forms, and can come with a whole range of different glazes and seasonings as well as seeds and nuts. The pretzel can come in both sweet and savoury varieties, and can come from small, snack sized types up to much larger ones that are used to make such as sandwiches.

National Pork Month

October is National Pork Month in the United States.

The pig is one of the oldest domesticated animals, dating back to at least 5000 BC, and pork is the name given to the meat from this animal. The pig is believed to have been domesticated from the wild boar in either the Near East or China. Wild boar, a wild version of the domesticated animal, can still be found.

Pork itself is one of the most popular and widely consumed meats in the world; however, there are a significant number of people who are prohibited from consuming it for religious reasons.

There are various different meats that are commonly consumed, such as loin, ham, gammon and bacon, as well as pork chops and loins. Pork is often preserved, and ham, gammon and bacon are all examples of preserved pork. Additionally, pork is also used as a base meat in other products, most notably sausages.

National Popcorn Poppin' Month

October is National Popcorn Poppin' Month in the United States.

Popcorn comes from a type of corn called maize. It is the kernel, which puffs up when heated. Popcorn is quite an old dish; examples have been found dating back to around 4700 BC.

Today, popcorn is strongly associated with entertainment, particularly with the cinema and watching films.. It is usually bought pre-made, but it can also be cooked at home, using either popcorn machines, on the hob, or possibly in the microwave.

At its most basic, popcorn is actually a healthy snack, as it is high in fibre and antioxidants and low in calories and fat and free from both sugar and sodium. That is before anything is added to it, and it is rare for it to be actually served like that.

Popcorn is quite a neutral dish; it can be made into a savoury one by adding salt, or a sweet one by adding toffee or butter and sugar. As an alternative to sugar, artificial sweeteners could be used.

National Pizza Month

October is National Pizza Month in the United States.

Italy is the country that is most associated with the pizza - one suggestion for the origin of the word is Latin, and another is Italian. The earliest known reference to pizzas is in a Latin manuscript from central Italy at the end of the tenth century. It is probable that the dish pre-dates this reference by a lot, and many other cultures have similar dishes that date back over seven thousand years.

The traditional pizza is made from flat, round bread that is covered in tomato sauce and cheese, as well as possibly other toppings, then baked. This is the simple cheese pizza today, and there are many other variations, including the folded pizza known as the calzone. The cheese used should be, but usually isn't, buffalo mozzarella. Pizzas can also be cooked in different ovens.

The modern pizza can be made up any way desired, but many variations are not considered to be "true" pizzas by purists. Some versions don't even use bread. The crust of the pizza can also vary, from thin and crispy to deep dish to stuffed, to name a few. Probably the greatest number of different pizza types can be found in America, many of which use typically American toppings which are less likely to be found on the Italian pizza.

National Pickled Peppers Month

October is National Pickled Peppers Month in the United States.

There are a variety of different pickled peppers. They are created by preserving, using pickling, different types of capsicum peppers.

Capsicum peppers themselves come in a range of different types. There are the large, mild, red, green, orange and bell peppers. At the other end there are the small and hot chilli peppers.

Not every type of capsicum is traditionally pickled. One variety that is commonly pickled is the jalapeño. These are small peppers that are sliced, pickled and used in a variety of different dishes, especially in Tex-Mex cooking, and on pizzas and in sandwiches.

Other types that are also commonly pickled, albeit less commonly than the jalapeño, are the Greek, banana, Hungarian wax and sport.

Adding pickled peppers can spice up a meal, but care should be taken to make sure that the taste fits.

International Day of the Nacho

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International Day of the Nacho falls on October 21st.

Nachos are a Tex-Mex dish, a combination of Texan and Mexican cuisine. The primary ingredient is tortilla chips, which are either wedges of corn tortillas that are fried or baked, or circles pressed out of corn masa that are also fried or baked. As a snack, they are served with melted cheese and jalapeños. However, there are more complex versions which can involve additional items such as chilli, olives, salsa, guacamole and more. Such dishes can easily be made large enough to serve as a full meal.

Nachos are credited to Ingnacio "Nacho" Anaya, who created the dish in 1943 for the wives of U.S. soldiers stationed at Fort Duncan. After arriving at the Victory Club restaurant in Piedra Negras after it had closed, the snack was created using what little was left in the kitchen. The first nachos were the basic ones; tortilla chips, melted cheese and pickled jalapeños.

National Apple Day

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October 21st is National Apple Day in the United States.

The apple is a sweet (usually) edible fruit that grows on the apple tree. Although the tree originated in Central Asia, it is now grown worldwide, with China accounting for about half of the over 80 million tonnes of apples grown every year. The apple is a fruit that has religious or mythical significance in many traditions.

There are over 7,500 known cultivars of apples, making the selection found in the typical supermarket seem rather sparse. Apples are eaten many different ways, both cooked and raw. Some apples, of cultivars known as cooking apples, are larger and often tarter than dessert apples and are usually and not eaten raw, instead being cooked in various dishes. There are other cultivars that are dual purpose, used for both cooking and eating raw.

The juice from apples is also drunk. This can be as simple fruit juice, known as cider in the U.S., or as the alcoholic variety, called hard cider in the United States but known in most other countries as cider, or perhaps apple cider.

Apples contain a moderate amount of dietary fibre, but are otherwise quite low in essential nutrients.

National Eat Country Ham Month

October is National Eat Country Ham Month in the United States.

Ham itself is a pork product, but what is the difference between regular ham and country ham?

Country ham is a fairly modern product, as the first mention to it dates back only to 1944. It is a type of cured ham, but the curing part is a lot older than this particular ham.

First, country ham is salt-cured for several months. It is then, optionally, smoked using a hardwood. Following that, or skipping the smoking process, the ham is then aged for a variable period, anything from a few months to a couple of years.

The crust of the ham may be removed, or cleaned, before it is eaten, for the outside of it can be very salty, but this depends on personal preference. The ham itself, even with the crust removed and after being soaked, still tends to be on the salty side, so this is not a ham to choose if you don't enjoy salty food.

National Cookie Month

October is National Cookie Month in the United States.

The cookie, which is also known as a biscuit in most countries outside the United States, is a type of, usually sweet although there are some savoury variants, baked item that tends to be small and flat.

The simplest cookie ingredients are just fat, sugar, flour and eggs. This is a rather boring type, and other ingredients are usually added to the mix. Cookies are very flexible, so there are a whole range of different varieties around. Some of the more popular additions to the mix are nuts, fruit - usually dried - and chocolate. Some cookies are also filled.

To cook them, the cookies are normally baked in an oven, but this does not have to be the case, as there are no-bake recipes around. No-bake cookies tend to be made from a binder, which is melted and then mixed with the other ingredients, and then allowed to set afterwards.

National Chili Month

October is National Chili Month in the United States.

Chili, or chilli, is commonly used as a short name for the dish chili con carne, which means chili with meat.

Chilli is a spicy stew made from meat - typically, but not always, beef, and there are vegetarian options, such as five bean chilli and those made with vegetarian protein options - chilli peppers and tomatoes. Chicken and pork are also used.

The precise recipe for chilli does depend on the area, and does vary. Beans are a common ingredient, even in non-vegetarian recipes, with red kidney beans being popular. Other ingredients include spices, such as cumin, and garlic and onion, but others can be used, and there are many personal recipes for the dish.

As well as being made from scratch, chilli can also be purchased pre-made, and tinned. It can also be used in other dishes, such as in chilli burgers and chilli dogs.

Chilli can be as hot as you want it to be, from essentially unspiced to dangerous to eat. It is commonly served with nachos and rice, and cheese is a popular topping.

National Caramel Month

October is National Caramel Month in the United States.

Caramel is made by heating different types of sugars (there are several sugars) and is versatile with a range of uses. Caramel, when made, varies in consistency, as it can be anything from liquid to solid, depending on what is being made with it.

To make caramel, sugar is slowly heated to 170°C, at which point caramelisation occurs. In caramelisation, sugar molecules break down and then reform.

Caster sugar can be heated with water to make a sauce. Sugar can be made into candy by heating it with butter, milk or cream and vanilla flavouring.

Some different types of caramel are candies like pralines, nougats and brittles, or desserts such as crème caramel and crème brûlée. There are many different things that can be made, and these are only a few. Caramel can also be used in combination with other foods; chocolates are popularly filled with caramel.

National Liqueur Day

In the United States, October 16th is National Liqueur Day.

Liqueur may be very similar to liquor, at least in spelling and sometimes in pronunciation, the latter especially in the United States and Canada where the names are often pronounced in a similar fashion, but the two are different types of drinks, although both are alcoholic and, indeed, both are also distilled drinks.

Liquor is a strong distilled beverage made from various different sources. Liqueurs are distilled drinks that have then been flavoured. This can also increases the confusion, due to the increasing number of liquors, such as vodka, which are now available in flavoured forms.

Different flavourings can be added to liqueurs, such as flowers, nuts, fruits, cream, herbs and spices. They frequently have added sweeteners, such as sugar, and are therefore frequently sweet drinks. The drinks from which liqueurs are descended are herbal medicines.

One difference between liqueurs and liquor is that the former usually has a lower alcoholic content than the latter, although they are still stronger than wines and beers, but some of them do have high percentages of alcohol.

National Eat Better, Eat Healthier Month

October is National Eat Better, Eat Healthier Month in the United States.

For a variety of reasons, or diet today is not as healthier as it could, and should, be. Too many meals are eaten "on the go" rather than whilst sat down, and many are purchased from fast food restaurants, which can be high in thinks that make food taste good, but are not healthy. At home, family and evening meals are often pre-packaged meals that are then heated up at home, and these also can be high in substances that are unhealthy. Fresh fruit and vegetables are also not eaten as often as they should be.

There are ways we can try and eat better and healthier, often quite simple. Avoid buying processed and junk foods, and you avoid the additives they contain. Take a few moments to sit and enjoy your food when eating during working hours, instead of simply eating at your desk or workplace. Making your own packed lunches instead of buying pre-made and fast food can not only be healthier, it can also be cheaper.

Make batches of healthier food at home when you have free time, and then either eat it during the week, or build up a collection of homemade frozen food. Choose leaner meats, and eat more fish. Grow your own vegetables, if you have the time, ability and space to do so.

It may seem that you can't afford to take the time to eat better, but it will give you more time in the long run.

National Dessert Day

In the United States, October 14th is National Dessert Day.

Now this is a celebration day many people could get behind - one celebrating the dessert. Of course, the word dessert does cover a huge range of dishes. The dessert is the final course in a meal, usually the main meal of the day.

Dessert dishes are typically sweet, but do not have to be. They can also be referred to as the sweet course, afters or pudding. Early desserts tended to be made from natural ingredients, with honey and nut based ones popular (some of which still are, such as the baklava). Some dessert dishes are also eaten at other times of the day. For example, pastries are a popular breakfast item in many countries.

Sweet desserts tend to be, by their very nature, high in sugar, and sometimes fats, so they are often not the healthiest if dishes to consume. This is not always the case, though, as there are many dishes that can be made with fruit that tend to be healthier - although this does depend on how the fruit is served and what with.

Desserts includes pastries, ice cream, cakes, cookies, custards and pies, but are not limited to these, and there are many different sub-types.

National Yorkshire Pudding Day

October 13th is National Yorkshire Pudding Day in the US.

The Yorkshire pudding, which is also simply known as the Yorkshire, dates back to at least the early 18th century, which is when the earliest known reference to them occurs. The Yorkshire is a traditional staple of the British Sunday Lunch, and is a type of savoury popover.

The ingredients of a Yorkshire pudding are really quite simple, being only  batter made from milk, flour and eggs, although seasonings, such as salt and pepper, and water are also sometimes added. Although the ingredients are simple, it's not always as easy to get a Yorkshire to turn out the way it should, as they are supposed to rise when cooking. The batter is poured into oiled and preheated baking pans and placed in the oven. Flat Yorkshires are not what you want, and opening the oven at the wrong time can cause them to sag.

Yorkshire puddings vary in size, from miniature to giant. Mini and normal Yorkshires commonly accompany a meal, whilst giant puddings are frequently filled with other ingredients, especially gravy, and eaten as a meal, rather than as an accompaniment.

National Gumbo Day

October 12th is National Gumbo Day in the United States.

Gumbo apparently first came from southern Louisiana in the 18th century, and is still strongly associated with that region, and New Orleans, and is the official cuisine of the state. There are different verities of gumbo available; the original is known as the Creole variety, as they first cooked it. The dish draws on the cuisines of France, Spain Africa and the Native Americans, with Italian and German influences.

So, what is gumbo? Well, it's basically a sort of stew. A stock, which can come from different sources, then has meat or shellfish added to it, thickener, and various seasonings, as well as vegetables that are also used for seasoning such as onions, bell peppers and celery.

A wide variety of different main components of the dish can be used, such as crab and shrimp for shellfish, and chicken, rabbit, duck and even alligator for meat. Beef and pork are rarely used, though, other than as sausages. The dish is often simmered for some time before eating. Depending on the ingredients, the dish can cover a gamut of costs for preparation, from cheap to expensive.

National Sausage Pizza Day

October 11th is National Sausage Pizza Day in the United States.

Pizza is always a popular dish and there are a whole range of toppings that can be put on them if you desire. Practically anything, in fact, although some are more popular than others - and there are always some toppings that people will think are a horrible idea.

Today the topping is sausage (usually with the other standards, such as cheese and tomato), which is apparently a topping strongly linked with the Chicago pizza.

The sausage topping is not what people in some other countries, such as the UK, would consider to be a sausage, even though they technically are. Rather than the traditional British sausage, a sausage pizza tends to use those of other countries. Consequently, this type of pizza in the UK would be more commonly known by such names as pepperoni and salami, rather than sausage, so anyone expecting to get an old fashioned banger on this pizza is probably going to be disappointed. Not that you couldn't use such as a topping if you wanted to.

National Angel Food Cake Day

National Angel Food Cake Day is on October 10th in the United States.

Angel food cake is so named because of how light it is, which made it "food of the angels". The cake is an American variant of the sponge cake that dates back to the late 19th century, when the first recipes were being published in cookbooks. This apparently included the first cookbook by a Black American woman.

The cake is made from egg whites, which are whipped until they are stiff, with cream of tartar added to the mix. The rest of the ingredients are then folded in, which in a basic cake is just flour, preferably wheat. The resulting cake then has a very light texture, as there is no fat used in the standard recipe. The cake is usually cooked in a specific angel food cake pan, which has a tube in the centre.

Once the cake is baked, it may then be covered in such things as a frosting, glaze or a fruit sauce. Some modern chefs have added spices to the mix.