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.