National Oatmeal Cookie Day

National Oatmeal Cookie Day is on April 30th in the United States.

This is a national day celebrating two common items combined, the cookie and oatmeal. It is not celebrating the cocktail of the same name - yes, there is a drink called the Oatmeal Cookie.

Cookies, which are also known as biscuits, are small, flat baked treats. This particular type has oatmeal, which are ground oat groats, added into the mix.

A similar type of item would be flapjack, or oat bars, although flapjacks are not cookies, as they are bars rather than flat biscuits, and they use rolled oats, rather than ground ones.

Other ingredients, such as chocolate chips or raisins, could also be added to the cookie mix if desired. Oatmeal, by itself, is quite healthy, but the health benefits tend to be higher before it is used to make cookies.

National Shrimp Scampi Day

National Shrimp Scampi Day is on April 29th in the United States.

The name of this may be confusing to those who aren't American. In many other countries, the name "scampi" is actually used to refer to a specific type of shellfish. In the US, it is often used either to refer to a way of preparing shrimp, or as simply as referring to shrimp on the menu. Whatever the usage, it refers to a white fleshed crustacean.

The dish shrimp scampi is made from shrimp, naturally enough, which is then cooked in garlic butter and dry white wine. It may then be served with other things, such as bread, or with either pasta or rice, but it can also be served by itself. In this case, "scampi" is a dish rather than a type of food.

National Blueberry Pie Day

National Blueberry Pie Day is on April 28th in the United States.

Another day celebrating another sweet dessert pie, this time one made with blueberries.

Many types of dessert pies are filled with fruit, but blueberries are considered to be one of the easiest that can be made. Like other pies, this has a pastry base inside which is the blueberry filling. the pie may lack a top crust or, alternatively, it can be a circular pastry crust or a crumble crust.

Blueberries are small, indigo coloured berries that are grown in many places. The peak season for harvesting can stretch from May to August, in the Northern Hemisphere, so April is on the early side of the season to be celebrating a pie made from blueberries.

The reason that blueberry pies are considered to be one of the easiest is because of the amount of preparation that needs doing to them first - which is basically washing them and removing any extraneous stalks. They don't need seeding, pitting, skinning or pre-cooking; they can just be baked as is.

National Prime Rib Day

National Prime Rib Day is on April 27th in the United States.

Prime rib, which is also known as a standing rib roast, is considered one of the primal cuts of beef. Primal cuts can vary from region to region, and prime rib is one of nine American primal cuts. Other countries cut beef into many more primal cuts.

The prime rib is traditionally cooked so that it is standing on its rib bones, which is where the alternative name of standing rib roast comes from, and, when cooked this way, the meat does not touch the plate. Alternatively, the tops of the ribs can be removed, which makes carving the meat easier.

A prime rib may contain between two to seven ribs, even though an entire rib section uses ribs six to twelve. In addition, according to USDA guidelines, a prime rib does not have to be cut from USDA Prime beef, so it's worth checking just what quality of meat has been used to make a prime rib.

National Pretzel Day

National Pretzel Day is on April 26th in the United States.

Pretzels are a type of bread product that originated in Europe. The pretzel is most commonly shaped into a knot before being baked, although other shapes are possible. The dough would be rolled into a strip, which is intertwined and twisted back on itself, forming a distinctive shape. The exact origin of the pretzel is uncertain, but they are believed to have been first created by German monks in the Early Middle Ages. There are accounts of them possibly dating back to the 7th century AD.

Today, pretzels are available in many different sizes and types. Small pretzels can be eaten as a snack, whilst larger ones can be eaten more like normal bread. They can be treated with different seasonings, too. Salt is the most common seasoning for a savoury pretzel, with small ones tending to have crystals of salt on them, but other seasonings are possible too, such as chocolate, sugar and nuts, with there being sweet forms of pretzels too.

National Zucchini Bread Day

National Zucchini Bread Day is on April 25th in the United States.

Bread is one of the oldest foods around that has not been harvested, gathered or otherwise acquired from natural sources, but has instead been made, dating back tens of thousands of years. Different breads can be made by adding other foods to the mix before baking, zucchini being one of these.

Zucchinis, which are also known as courgettes, are a type of summer squash - summer squash being squashes that are harvested whilst they are immature and their rind is still soft. Although eaten as a vegetables, they are actually a type of fruit.

To make zucchini bread, ripe zucchinis would be mashed and added to the mixture, not dissimilar to how banana bread is made. Zucchini bread can be either a sweet or savoury bread, mostly depending on what other ingredients are also added to the mixture.

National Pigs-in-a-Blanket Day

April 24th is National Pigs-in-a-Blanket Day in the United States.

Pigs-in-a-blanket, or pigs in blankets, are, these days, typically served as an appetiser. They describe a range of small foodstuffs common in many different countries. In each case, they are sausages, of different types, that are wrapped in different foods.

The type of sausages used to make them varies from country to country, with small sausages such as chipolatas, hot dogs or cocktail sausages typically being used. In the United Kingdom, the sausages are wrapped in bacon and are a traditional accompaniment to Christmas dinner. In the United States, the sausages are normally wrapped in some sort of dough, including biscuits (American, not British), croissant and pancake dough, and are then baked. The sausages may, as an alternative, be first stuffed with cheese before being wrapped. These are commonly served at cocktail parties and are accompanied with some sort of dipping sauce.

National Picnic Day

April 23rd is National Picnic Day in the United States.

The word picnic appears to come from the French pique-nique, which was simply used to describe people dining in a restaurant who had brought their own wine.

Today, a picnic is food that is eaten outdoors, although not, for instance, in your own garden. The picnic is usually combined with travel to another location, such as an area of natural beauty or a park.

Picnics are generally eaten in the summer, when the weather is better, so April is a little bit early to be having one in much of the Northern Hemisphere.

Picnics range from the small, family oriented event to larger, group meetings and picnics, associated with social and community events.

Most food at picnics is eaten cold, but some may use a barbecue. Some areas are specifically designed for picnics, including picnic tables and perhaps more.

Any food can be eaten, but mostly food that is suitable for eating by hand is preferred.

National Jelly Bean Day

National Jelly Bean Day is on April 22nd in the United States.

Jelly beans are small, bean shaped candies (or sweets) that consist of a gel interior surrounded by a candy shell. The main ingredient in them is sugar (or similar ingredients), and they come in a variety of, mostly bright, colours.

The Turkish dessert known as Turkish delight (or, in Greece, Greek delight) is believed to be the inspiration for jelly beans, but the modern candy didn't come into existence until during the American Civil War.

There are now gourmet jelly bean manufacturers, such as Jelly Belly, which make the beans in many more flavours than the original ones (which tended to be just fruit or spice) including drinks (some of which are "alcoholic" although the beans are not), popcorn and bubblegum. The colours of the jelly beans generally correspond to the flavour.

National Chocolate-Covered Cashew Truffle Day

In the United States April 21st is National Chocolate-Covered Cashew Truffle Day.

There are national days. There are specific national days. And there are really, really specific national days. This is one of the latter. Not only is it a truffle, it's a cashew truffle. Not only is it a cashew truffle, it's one that has been covered in chocolate.

Truffles, in this case, are a type of chocolate confectionery. They typically have a chocolate ganache centre, but in this case cashew nuts (and cashews are actually a seed, not a nut) replace that ganache filling.

This is then covered with chocolate and, depending on the recipe, may also be decorated with other things, such as being dusted with cocoa powder.

There are also different types of truffles from different countries.

National Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Day

National Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Day is on April 20th in the United States.

Upside-down cakes are pretty much what they sound like - cakes that are upside down.

The cake mixture is made as normal but, before it is poured into the pan in which is is cooked, chopped fruit is placed in the base. Then the mixture is poured on top of the fruit. This means that, once the cake is cooked and removed from the pan, the chopped fruit is now on the top of the cake as a decorative topping.

In pineapple upside down cake, the fruit that is used is, of course, pineapple. Pineapple (which is actually a multiple fruit comprised of many berries) is skinned and, usually, sliced when it is used. The pineapple upside-down cake is a traditional American dish.

National Garlic Day

April 19th is National Garlic Day in the United States.

Garlic is a seasoning that is a type of onion, and has been used for over 7,000 years. It is believed to have originated in south-western Asia, but has been spread across the world, as it is very easy to grow and can be cultivated in mild climates. It also grows wild in many regions to which it has been spread. China is, by far, the world's largest producer.

Garlic usually grows in bulbs that are made of cloves, although some varieties only have a single clove. The clove is the part most commonly eaten, but other parts of the plant are edible. Garlic is most commonly used for its strong flavour, and it can be eaten raw or cooked. It is usually crushed, sliced or chopped.

Garlic may have a small health benefit, and garlic capsules - which lack the flavour and smell of the natural substance - are commonly sold as supplements.

National Animal Cracker Day

National Animal Cracker Day is on April 18th in the United States.

Animal crackers are pretty much what they sound like - crackers in the shape of animals. Despite crackers usually being a savoury dish, animal crackers are sweet, like cookies, as the dough is sweet. They are made from a layered dough, like normal crackers.

The animals are usually those that would be seen in zoos, circuses or Africa. As well as the light coloured sweet variety, there are also darker, chocolate flavoured variants.

Animal crackers were first imported to the US from the UK in the late 19th century. They proved so popular that they were produced domestically. Probably the most famous US variety is Barnum's Animals Crackers (after the Barnum and Bailey Circus), actually called Barnum's Animals, produced by what is now known as the Nabisco company, but there are many other varieties.

National Cheese Ball Day

April 17th is National Cheese Ball Day in the United States.

This is an American dish that is commonly served during the Christmas period. Which makes April an odd time to be celebrating it.

The ball is made from cheese spread and, as can be guessed from the name, it's made into a ball.

Many different cheeses can be used, as long as they are soft - although some cheese balls are made from multiple types of cheeses, including ones that aren't soft.

Many soft or cream cheeses can be used in both sweet or savoury dishes, depending on what other ingredients they are combined with. Consequently, cheese balls can also be sweet or savoury, simply by altering what the cheese is combined with. The balls can be coated with the other ingredients.

In 1800, the town of Cheshire, Massachusetts, was the only town in Berkshire County that supported Thomas Jefferson. On his victory Cheshire, being a cheese making town like its namesake county in the UK, made a celebratory cheese ball weighing 1,235 pounds from cheese curds from every farmer in town.

National Eggs Benedict Day

National Eggs Benedict Day is on April 16th in the United States.

There are conflicting reports to when this dish was created and by who. One report credits it to a Wall Street broker called Lemuel Benedict, who said he ordered a dish in 1894. The other credits another Benedict, Commodore E. C. Benedict. The dishes actually have differences.

The dish is an American one that is served for breakfast. An English muffin is sliced in half and toasted, and is then topped with ham or bacon, poached eggs and Hollandaise sauce.

There are many variations of Eggs Benedict, most of which have different names. Some variations use streaky bacon, smoked salmon, spinach, black pudding and corned beef, but there are many other variations. Some replace the ham or bacon; others add more ingredients. The Commodore's recipe used a hot, hard cooked egg and ham mixture in the hollandaise sauce.

National Glazed Spiral Ham Day

National Glazed Spiral Ham Day is on April 15th in the United States.

This is another one of those really specific national days. It's not just a ham - it's a glazed ham. It's not just a glazed ham - it's a spiral sliced glazed ham.

The spiral slicing machine was invented by John Harry Hoenselaar. Although he patented it in 1944, he was unable to find anyone interested. In 1957 he was offered The Honey Baked Ham Company, which he bought for $500, and started selling the ham.

Glazing is a process in which a coating is applied to the outside of food. This coating is often sweet and, in the case of the original ham, often used honey. Savoury glazes are used too.

National Pecan Day

April 14th is National Pecan Day in the United States.

The pecan tree is a type of hickory tree native to parts of North American. The name is from an Algonquian word which means a nut requiring a stone to crack. They are one of the most recently domesticated major crops, but they had been eaten for many centuries prior to being domesticated.

Pecans are not a true, botanical nut, but are a culinary one. Like many nuts, they are rich in many nutrients of different types, including unsaturated fats and omega-6 fatty acids. Eating pecans daily may have some health benefits.

Like most nuts, they can be used in both sweet and savoury dishes, although in the US they are popular in sweet desserts, such as pecan pie, a traditional dish in the Southern U.S., and pecan torte.

National Peach Cobbler Day

April 13th is National Peach Cobbler Day in the United States.

Peach cobbler is, obviously enough, a cobbler that uses peaches. But what is a cobbler itself?

Cobblers can be either sweet or savoury. Peach cobbler, as it uses a fruit, is a sweet dessert dish, rather than a savoury one. They replaced the suet pudding, as British American colonists were unable to get the needed ingredients and cooking equipment.

The basic cobbler has the filling, in this case peaches, poured into a baking dish. This filling is then topped, with such as batter, scone, pie crust or biscuit (the U.S. type). Some cobbler variants may also have a bottom crust. These are most common in the American South.

The peach cobbler is a traditionally American South recipe, so it would be common to find it in the two crust variety. In such a case, it would also be frequently topped with vanilla ice cream.

National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day

National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day is on April 12th in the United States.

This is a variant on the standard cheese sandwich, which consists of cheese, of whatever type desired, between two slices of bread, possibly with the addition of a spread of some type. The difference is, in this case, the sandwich has been cooked.

The concept of cooking cheese sandwiches has been around for years, and in many different cultures. It is also known as the toasted sandwich or toastie. Once the sandwich is made, it would then be placed under the grill, so that the bread toasts and the cheese melts (some cheeses are better suited for melting than others). Alternatively, the sandwich could be heated on a griddle or in a frying pan, and would be flipped partway through cooking. Today, appliances designed to cook sandwiches like this can also be bought. The trick is to cook the sandwich evenly without burning the bread.

As well as the cheese, and possibly a spread, other ingredients may also be added to the sandwich. Ham is popular, but vegetables, especially onions, may also be included.

National Cheese Fondue Day

April 11th is National Cheese Fondue Day in the United States.

Although the name fondue is now used to refer to a variety of different related dishes, such as chocolate fondue, or anything else which involves food being dipped into hot liquids, the original fondue was the cheese fondue. The name fondue comes from the French word meaning "to melt." The dish is quite an old one, dating back to the turn of the 18th century, but it became really popular in the middle of the 20th century.

Cheese fondue is a dish of Swiss, Italian and French origin. A cheese sauce is melted into a communal pot, and then kept liquid by a small, portable heat source, such as a stove, that is placed under the pot when it is served on a table.

Long forks are used to dip small pieces of food, such as vegetables, meat and toasted bread into the cheese. Different types of cheese may be used, and other ingredients are added as well, with their being different variations on the cheese fondue.

National Cinnamon Crescent Day

National Cinnamon Crescent Day is on April 10th in the United States.

Cinnamon crescents are a type of sweet pastry roll. They are a fairly simple pastry to make, as they can be done by simply adding cinnamon, a spice, to the dough before cooking. The rolls would then be glazed after being cooked, and cinnamon can also be added to the glaze by combining it with powdered sugar and dusting it over the wet glaze, which could be butter.

These pastries would be crescent shaped when made, hence the name, although other shapes could also be made. Cinnamon does not need to be the only thing added to the dough; different recipes could add different items, such as chopped nuts and chopped fruit.

National Chinese Almond Cookie Day

National Chinese Almond Cookie Day is on April 9th in the United States.

This is another really, really specific day, and also another day celebrating yet another variety of cookie (or biscuit). Admittedly, there are probably an unlimited number of different ways to cook cookies.

Although these are called Chinese, and there is extensive use of almonds ijn Chinese cuisine, these cookies more than likely originated in the US.

There are different ways of making these cookies, but the easiest way is taking a simple, plain cookie recipe, folding almond extract into the dough, and, when putting the cookie mix onto a tray for baking, pressing an almond into the top of them. The cookies would then be baked as normal; the only difference is the almond and almond flavour.

There is a very similar Turkish cookie called the Acibadem Kurabiyesi.

National Empanada Day

National Empanada Day is on April 8th in the United States.

You may well not have heard of empanadas, or know what they are. They are also known as pastel and pate, but the name empanada is Spanish, Galician or Portuguese in origin, and the dish itself is Galician in origin. The name comes from the verb empanar which means wrap or coat in bread.

The earliest mention of empanadas in a cookbook was in the sixteenth century, but the dish is older and appeared during the Moorish invasions of the Iberian peninsula. It is related to similar dishes that originated in the Middle East and India.

Empanadas are breads or pastries that have been stuffed that is then baked or fried. There are regional variations and, as well as Spain, it can be found in Iberian influenced regions, especially South and Central America and parts of North America.

The dough or bread is stuffed with such as meats, cheese, vegetables, seafood and fruit - so it can be either a savoury or a dessert dish - which is then folded over and cooked.

National Coffee Cake Day

National Coffee Cake Day is on April 7th in the United States.

The name "coffee cake" is not quite as clear cut in its description as it sounds, as there are a couple of different things that are called coffee cakes. The first is any cake designed to be eaten on a coffee break and, therefore, with a drink of coffee at a coffee table. Although both coffee and table may be altered. This could in theory be any type of cake, but it tends to be loaf shaped single layer cakes which are sliced.

The second type, and the one that this day refers to, is the more obvious sort of coffee cake - that is a cake that is flavoured with coffee or that is made with coffee. Again, this could describe a wide range of cakes, but they will all taste of coffee. Sponge cakes are popular for flavouring like this, but there are many different types and shapes.

Fresh Tomato Day

Fresh Tomato Day is April 6th in the United States.

The tomato - fruit or vegetable? Well, botanically it is considered to be a fruit, but for culinary proposes (and also under U.S. Customs regulations) it is considered to be a vegetable.

The tomato, believe it or not, actually originated in the South American Andes, where it was used by the Mesoamerican peoples. It has since spread all around the world. Although it can be grown outside, it is also a popular greenhouse "vegetable" so it is available all year round.

Tomatoes can be used in cooking and relishes, and also in drinks (tomato juice is popular), but this day celebrates the fresh tomato. Tomatoes are eaten raw, and are popular in salads.

Fresh tomatoes of many different varieties can easily be obtained in most shops, but for truly fresh ones you could grow your own. Some of the smaller varieties can easily be grown in a pot on the windowsill.

National Caramel Day

April 5th is National Caramel Day in the United States.

Caramel is a versatile confectionery product that comes from heating - or "caramelising" - various different sugars. The sugar - and there are different types of sugar that can be used - is heated slowly to 170 °C (340 °F). As there are a number of different stages in heating sugar, when doing this at home a sugar thermometer, which is designed for this, is useful.

Caramel, which has a distinctive "caramel" colour, can be used in desserts, candies and in ice cream or custard. Crème caramel and crème brûlée are two custard based desserts topped with caramel; the first with soft caramel and the second with hard.

Depending on the sugar types and what other ingredients may be added, caramel can range from liquid to soft and chewy candy.

National Cordon Bleu Day

National Cordon Bleu Day is on April 4th in the United States.

Cordon bleu is a French name meaning blue cord or ribbon. It has nothing to do with the ingredients that are used to make the dish; instead it means that the dish is considered to be worthy of a blue ribbon.

There are several different cordon bleu dishes, with the differences between them largely being the main meat that is used. Cordon bleu is quite a new dish; the earliest references are from the middle of the 20th century.

With cordon bleu dishes, the meat is wrapped around cheese or a cheese filling, breaded and then fried. Common variants are veal cordon bleu, which is veal wrapped around ham or prosciutto and a slice of cheese. Chicken cordon bleu uses chicken instead. Ham cordon bleu is ham stuffed with mushrooms and cheese. There are other variations to the recipe.

National Chocolate Mousse Day

National Chocolate Mousse Day is on April 3rd in the United States.

Mousse is the French word for foam and this describes what mousses are like. They have a light, airy texture that comes from beating air into the mix. The actual texture may vary; they can be light and fluffy to thick and creamy.

Mousses can be both sweet and savoury, depending on the ingredients. Chocolate mousse, not that surprisingly, is a sweet dessert dish rather than a savoury one.

To the normal ingredients - typically either whipped cream or whipped egg whites - that are used in sweet mousses, chocolate is added. Chocolate mousse is, in fact, one of the most common types of sweet mousses. The chocolate would most likely be some form of powdered chocolate or cocoa, whether bought that way or made with by grating chocolate, which would then be mixed into the other ingredients.

National Peanut Butter & Jelly Day

National Peanut Butter & Jelly Day is on April 2nd in the United States.

Peanut butter and jelly, or PB&J, is a type of sandwich popular in North America.

In the peanut butter and jelly sandwich, peanut butter is spread on a slice of bread and then topped with jelly (jam) before finishing it off with another slice of bread. Alternatively, the top piece of bread can be skipped and the sandwich either eaten as on open sandwich or with the one slice simply folded over.

The idea of combining peanut butter with other foods in sandwiches has been around for as long as peanut butter itself. The first mention of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich came at the beginning of the 20th century. Now you can buy sealed crustless peanut butter sandwiches that can be kept on the shelf for some time.

In what may come as a surprise, PB&J sandwiches are actually quite a healthy snack.

National Sourdough Bread Day

National Sourdough Bread Day is on April 1st in the United States.

Sourdough is, as the name suggests, a type of bread which has a slightly sour taste to it.

Normal breads are made using cultivated yeasts (the yeasts are used as a leavening agent in the dough; leavening agents lighten and soften the dough). Sourdough is made using natural yeasts and lactobacilli, rather than cultivated ones. The sour flavour comes from the lactic acid produced by the lactobacilli.

Sourdough is a very old way of making bread. How old is not known, but sourdough bread has been found dating back almost six thousand years, and it probably pre-dates that by several thousand years. Most bread in history is sourdough; it is only in the past century and a half or so that cultivated yeasts have been used. Sourdough may not be as common or popular as it once was, but it is still produced.