Tag: Chocolate

February 19th National Chocolate Mint Day

February holidays

You can put mint in nearly anything. Doesn’t mean it’s good but you still can pout it in anything. One combination they have found that works well is putting mint in chocolate. It does make it refreshing and lightens up that heavy chocolate taste with certain dishes. So that’s why someone came up with National Chocolate Mint Day. No one claims it but still, it didn’t just magically appear… or did it!?! Maybe it was Leprechauns or some magic dragon or something that came up with the idea. We may never know.

How to celebrate – Put some mint in your ice cream. Put some chocolate in your ice cream. Enjoy your chocolate mint ice cream!

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January 31st National Hot Chocolate Day

January holidays

Most of us think Columbus brought back the cocoa bean to Europe and maybe he did. The fact is, the Mayans were making hot and spicy cocoa in 500BC, long before Columbus ever set sail. It was Explorer Cortez who actually took the beans back, in numbers, to Europe in the 1500’s and, of course, it was Swiss Daniel Peter who added milk to the chocolate to make it milk chocolate, the way most of us have our cocoa today. It’s nice to have a hot drink that sweetens up our day and makes our outlook on life a little better, and we owe it all to the Mayans from so long ago.

How to celebrate – Have some cocoa. Visit Mexico. Crush your own cocoa beans like you do coffee to make your own cocoa!

January 27th Chocolate Cake Day

January holidays

If you ask most people what cake they like best the normal reply will be chocolate.now to be fair, there are many, many version of chocolate cake and people who like one generally like them all. It doesn’t even seem to matter much whether it’s milk chocolate, dark chocolate or white chocolate… if you like chocolate, you pretty much like chocolate! The first chocolate cake did not appear until somewhere between the 1890’s and the 1900’s. While Columbus took it back with him to Europe in the late 1400’s it was used in drinks as such before bakers figured out it could enhance more recipes.

How to celebrate – Have some chocolate cake. Make up your own new chocolate cake recipe. Learn about chocolate cake in all the different countries.

December 18th Bake Cookies Day

December holidays

There is nothing like cookies baking to warm up a household or brighten a day. They speak their own language that practically everyone understands. There are hundred of different cookies you can bake, thousands of different flavors and as many different shapes as you can think up. So spend the day baking cookies, open the windows and let the smell waft out, there is some reason somewhere to celebrate something with a handful of warm cookies and a glass of cold milk.

How to celebrate – Bake some cookies. Take some cookies to a neighbor, Visit a bakery for ideas.

December 16th National Chocolate Covered Anything Day

December holidays

In theory, if something tastes good the logic applies that it would taste better if it was covered in chocolate, if you like chocolate. It’s hard to find people who do not like chocolate at least in some form. we know fruit can taste better, nuts, even bugs (Probably they taste a lot better when covered in anything) but I am not sure about meat and certainly not all vegetables would taste better covered in chocolate, unless you don’t like any vegetables and then they probably would taste better covered in chocolate. So it’s time to experiment and find out what you do like covered in chocolate and what not so much.

How to celebrate – Let the experiment begin. Try diff5erent types of chocolate to see which you like best. Did you know chocolate in it’s natural state is sour?

July 7th Chocolate Day

July Holidays

Who doesn’t love chocolate, at least in one form or another? My personal favorite is white chocolate but I will settle for any chocolate normally. Dark chocolate is the healthiest, so if you feel the need for a piece of chocolate you may want to keep that in mind. The funny thing about chocolate in it’s natural form is that it is a little bitter. Columbus (Yes I know we aren’t supposed to mention him anymore) first discovered chocolate used by the natives in a drink. He sent it to Europe where it did not catch on instantly. Somewhere along the line someone thought about adding sugar to it and a new sensation was created!

How to celebrate – Have some chocolate. Try chocolate in it’s original state, no sugar added. Read about the history of chocolate.

May 15th Chocolate Chip Day

May Holidays

Chocolate Chips are a wonderful addition to cookies, muffins, cakes and pies… just about any kind of dessert and even in some cereals! Chocolate chips were created in 1937 by Ruth Graves Wakefield who was preparing cookies at the Toll House Inn. Back then, they really weren’t the chips we know today, rather they were actually chips broken off blocks of chocolate, since then… they have been shaped and created in drops, or chips, for use in a number of different ways.

How to celebrate – Learn how to make your own chocolate chips. Create a new use for chocolate chips. Just eat chips straight out of the bag… who needs the cookie!

March 24th National Chocolate Covered Raisin Day

March Holidays

Time to go to the movies! Or play bridge! These are to two events I remember best when I think of chocolate covered raisins. Mind you, I don’t often think of chocolate covered raisins, in fact… I don’t really think of them at all until today. And that’s odd because I do like them. They should be healthy, but of course they aren’t. Since they are made out of a vegetable and a fruit one would think, “Hey, that works!”. Of course it doesn’t but if you need to feel guiltless when eating, say at the movies, then pretend you are having a healthy snack.

How to celebrate – Get some Chocolate Covered Raisins. Go to the movies. Learn how to play bridge.

February 19th National Mint Chocolate Day

February holidays

Okay, so we all know chocolate came from the America’s when Columbus discovered the Natives there using chocolate for anything from medicine to a coffee like drink. It was brought back to Europe where people didn’t care for it all that much until the Swiss added sugar to it and then it became all the rage. Chocolate pretty much stayed that way, with a few adaptations until 1948 when Baskin Robbins added mint to it to create another sensation, Mint Chocolate. Now you can have it as cookies, ice cream, coffee ore practically anything you can think of.

How to celebrate – Have some mint chocolate. Study Baskin Robbins history. Create some new use for mint chocolate.

January 22nd National Blonde Brownie Day

January holidays

So, what is a blonde brownie? Well here’s a recipe. It seems the only real difference is that it’s made with vanilla rather than chocolate, even though it does contain chocolate chips. So, why not make it with white chocolate? I didn’t find out about that option. Anyway, a brownie is a brownie white or brown and people enjoy them either way. Just making them blonde catches someone’s attention a little differently. They are good either way.

How to celebrate – Make some blonde brownies. Make regular brownies and blonde brownies and see which runs out first. Figure out how to make your own color brownie!