Tag: bread

December 22nd National Date Nut Bread

December holidays

I am not sure why we need a day set aside to celebrate date nut bread but I guess we do. Actually there is no reason to not celebrate date nut bread day. Date Nut bread has been with us for a while, not exactly sure when it was first made but probably as soon as people realized they could make bread with both nuts and dates in it! It’s more filling and actually contains things that are good for us so, eat up!

How to celebrate – Have some date nut bread. Learn how to make date nut bread. Make your own version of date nut bread.

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November 17th Homemade Bread Day

November holidays, Unboxing the Bizarre

There is nothing like the smell of homemade bread baking in a house that turns that house instantly into a home. Bread, a basic part of the diet for thousands of years, has been around since 5,000 to 10,000 BC. I know, that’s not narrowing it down a lot but it’s as close as science can get! There’s white bread, wheat bread, rye bread, nearly any kind of grain can be turned into bread, it just depends on your preferences. Today was probably created by the Homemade Bread Day Committee of Montague, WI though no one seems to know for sure.

How to celebrate – Make some bread today. Make some bread for your neighbors. Visit a bakery.

February 24th National Toast Day

February holidays

February 24th National Toast Day

This day is celebrated on the last Thursday of February so the dates will change. This year it’s on the 24th obviously. The day was created back in 2014 by the Tiptree World Bread Awards in the UK. Since then it has world wide and celebrated nearly every place bread is available, which means, everywhere! It’s a simple enough item to make, you just need bread and fire and that has been around for over 8,000 years according to historians.

How to celebrate – Make your own bread. Figure out which brand of bread is your favorite. Learn how to make fire.

December 22nd National Date Nut Bread Day

December holidays

So if you were trying to figure out how to pass your morning, or your afternoon, or both… why not make some date bread. Most people like date bread, even if it doesn’t make it to the top of their list it is generally there somewhere. There seems to be a little doubt as to whether today should be celebrate on December 22nd or September 8th. Who cares!?! Make it both days! Interestingly, when I looked up simple recipes it said it contains nuts and sugar. Well duh, but I think it requires a bit more than that. There are a lot of recipes on line so it should be easy enough to find one you like.

How to celebrate – Make some date nut bread. Make several loaves so you have it handy for the holidays. Make up your own recipe and share it with the world.

November 17th Homemade Bread Day

November holidays

Today was created by the Homemade Bread Day Committee of Montague, Mi. No one seems to know exactly when that occurred but since bakers celebrate today by pricing a loaf of bread at 40 cents, the price charged in the 1970’s. There is nothing like the smell of bread baking. It can fill a house with a scent that makes nearly everyone feel better and hungry. I remember visiting a bakery at a Marine base just as they were baking bread for the day. I did not want leave and none of those with me wanted to leave either. If you can remember that scent from one or two loaves being baked at a home imagine a thousand loaves being baked all at the same time.

How to celebrate – Bake some bread today. Visit a bakery today. Thank a Baker.

November 3rd Sandwich Day

November holidays

If you have ever had lunch then you probably have had a sandwich. Actually sandwiches today have become quite an art form. Well supposedly they didn’t exist back in 1762 when gambler John Montagu had no time for a regular meal so he placed a piece of meat between two pieces of bread and made it his meal so he could remain at the gambling table. He was the 4th Earl of Sandwich. Naturally, one thing led to another and the sandwich was created. This may be true, and it’s sort of fun to think it is true, but I just can’t imagine that no one before Montagu had made a sandwich… or maybe they just weren’t famous enough to have it named after them. We all could be eating a Neanderthal instead.

How to celebrate – Create a new sandwich. Have a breakfast sandwich. Try placing bread between two pieces of meat and create the un-sandwich.

November 3rd Sandwich Day

November holidays

If it’s lunch time, most of us are probably having a sandwich. It’s filling, tasty, and portable! It is really a full meal – in most cases, bread, meat, cheese, and vegetables! Supposedly, the sandwich was created by the 4th Earl of Sandwich, John Montagu, who spent a great deal of time in gambling halls in the UK and did not have time to sit and have a full meal. He thought to himself, if he put the meat he was having between two pieces of bread he could take his meal with him and eat as he played. This was in 1762. While it might be true, and probably is, I find it a little hard to believe that people before Montagu hadn’t thought up the idea. But none-the-less, today we celebrate his invention the sandwich in the best way we know how… eating a sandwich.

How to celebrate – Have a sandwich. Invent some type of new sandwich. Try adding new and different things to your sandwich.

December 22nd National Date Nut Bread Day

December holidays, Unboxing the Bizarre

Another food day for the holidays, this one is pretty good though! It’s National Date Nut Bread Day, a sort of desert, sort of snack, sort of meal kinda thing. That means you can have it for breakfast, lunch or dinner… or all three.

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It all starts with dates, originally harvested in the Middle East as far back as 6,000 B.C.. Dates are not prunes, they just seem like they are. Actually dates are pretty sweet, chewy and, by themselves, good for you. A true fruit of the dessert.

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Next come the nuts. Walnuts, pecans, practically any nut you choose except for peanuts. Peanuts are not actually a nut, they are a legume. Besides, a lot of people are allergic to peanuts, as well as tree nuts and any other sort of nut. So you may want to skip the nuts and just make date bread if you have family members who are allergic to nuts. (See how complicated it gets!)

www-cappersfarmer-com

Anyway, here’s a recipe for you if you care to make it for your family. It is believed Date Nut Bread was first made in England. Probably after the crusades when England sent troops to the Middle East. Anyway, some how they ended up with dates and naturally hat led to date nut bread.

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Add a little cream cheese and you have a meal fit for a King, like the King of England! I can just imagine King Arthur sitting around the round table munching on some date nut bread with his knights.

How to celebrate – Make some date nut bread. Grow your own dates. Gather around your own round table.

April 17th National Cheeseball Day

Unboxing the Bizarre

When I started doing these blogs I thought how interesting these holidays might be.  Little did I know I would be writing one about cheese balls.  I do like cheese balls, but there’s not much to say about them.  They are made out of cheese and in a ball shape.  Depending on what you add to them they can be either healthy or not, crunchy or silky, served with meat or without.

You can use practically any kind of cheese, make it spicy or mild and serve it with vegetables, crackers, pretzels, fruit, bread, well… just about anything you can imagine.  No one knows when the first cheese ball was made, or where, but my best guess is that as soon as cavemen realized how to make cheese, the cheese ball came into being.  It’s meant to be dipped into, peeled away but never cut.  To cut the cheese would be rude.  There are many recipes for cheeseballs.  Depending on your taste of cheese some will be wonderful, others… maybe not.  So what really separates one cheese ball from the next?  Aside from the flavors, it is what they look like.  Below are a few samples I found that at least amused me.

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Obviously the cheese ball can be used to celebrate any holiday, even the weird and bizarre.   In fact, you really don’t even need for there to be a holiday to enjoy a cheese ball.  Again, Congress did not declare the day and no president ran on a cheese ball platform to get elected. (They have their own kind of cheese anyway.)

So how do you celebrate?  Well, make one of the recipes supplied above.  Create your own recipe remembering you really can use anything to make your cheese ball.  Or find a party to go to and take them a cheese ball, even if it’s just because you want one yourself.