Tag: Italy

February 9th National Pizza Day

February holidays

There is little doubt that pizza is an American favorite, it’s a world favorite as well! It is said that the first pizza may have come from the Greeks under Alexander the Great as they cooked their bread of their shields while on the march adding spices and herbs to the bread to make in tasty. This may be true, or may not be, there does appear top be record of it but we do know that the first pizza was sold in Naples, Italy in 1738 leading to a market today that averages over 3 billion pizzas sold a year. That’s a lot of pizza!

How to celebrate – Have some pizza. Make your own pizza, Try a pizza topped with fruit!

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October 17th National Pasta Day

October Holidays

Did you know there are some 600 shapes of pasta? They al taste basically the same unless you have added something for flavoring. But I guess having 600 shapes to choose from is fun, or sort of anyway. Pasta is basically just water and flour but if can have seasoning added to it to make it different. It first was consumed by the Chinese 5,000 BC. Apparently Marco Polo brought it back to Europe with his travels. Here in the United States we consume some 20 pounds of pasta a year person.

How to celebrate – Find a new shape for pasta… but you’ll have to learn the other 600 before starting. Have pasta with your meal tonight. Revolt against past by serving an anti-pasta.

September 5th Cheese Pizza Day

September Holidays

One of the world’s most favorite foods is pizza. Of all the types of pizza made, cheese if the most popular. And why not, cheese is really all you need to have to make for the nearly perfect meal ever! Note it does not mention which kind, or kinds of cheese you can use. So long as it melts it will work. You can have thin crust, flat bread, deep dish… as long as it’s round, square or triangular it still can be pizza! And although many of us enjoy adding toppings today is all about the original, plain cheese!

How to celebrate – Make some pizza today. Experiment with different types of cheese. Try white pizza verses regular pizza.

April 26th National Pretzel Day

April Holidays, Unboxing the Bizarre

Though the pretzel is often associated with German food, or snacks, it actually was created around 610 AD in Southern France by Catholic Monks. Some insist that pretzels first appeared in Italy, also made by Monks, who created them as treats for children who said their prayers. The original pretzels were designed to look like arms folded over the chest, as if saying prayers. Of course the Germans claim some credit for the first pretzel as well so about all we do know is that it was created in Europe, somewhere. The first pretzel in the United States was made by Julius Sturgis in 1850 at Lititz, Pennsylvania. While today has some listing a 1983 Pretzel Day we do know that Governor Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania made a pretzel holiday in 2003.

How to celebrate – Have a pretzel today. Learn how to make your own pretzel. Visit a German restuarant.

February 9th National Pizza Day

February holidays

Finally a day most of us can enjoy, National Pizza Day! Since over 3 billion are sold every year in the US it sort of proves American’s love pizza. The first place pizzas were sold was in Naples, Italy in 1738. That makes most think it was an Italian invention That probably isn’t true, in fact the Greek soldiers with Alexander the Great were known to eat a pizza like flatbread while on the march. And what’s the largest American pizza day of the year? Naturally, Super Bowl Sunday.

How to celebrate – Get some pizza today! Learn how to make your own pizza from scratch. Try several of the newer types of pizza to expand your horizons.

February 7th Ballet Day

February holidays

February 7th Ballet Day

Standing right along with the Opera, Ballet is a beautiful art form that seems designed for the upper crust. Perhaps that’s because that is where ballet started. Its roots come from the Renaissance, particularly in France and Italy among the nobility. Dance, speech, music, verse, song and pageantry were all celebrated in the ballet where at the end the audience joined in. Must have been quite a sight! Of course, there were not tutus and all those fancy steps like the A terre, Arabesque and Carbriole weren’t even heard of yet.

How to celebrate – Learn ballet. Go to a ballet performance (If you can find one). Try on a tutu to see how it looks on you.

January 4th National Spaghetti Day

January holidays

When we think of spaghetti we think Italian. Well, we think wrong, though it is a staple of the diets in Italy. Spaghetti recipes date back to the 1200’s in Europe when pasta was commonly used in open market recipes. The Chinese have been known to use pasta perhaps dating back to 5,000 BCE. However, spaghetti did grow in popularity when the Italians began to add sauces, meatballs and cheese to it. Spaghetti in Italian translates to thin string or twine. I would not suggest making your spaghetti dishes with string or twine but I do see how the Italians might call it that.

How to celebrate – Enjoy a nice plate of spaghetti! Make up your own sauce to flavor the spaghetti. See how many different types of pasta you can name.

Dec. 21st National Kiwi Day

December holidays

December 21st National Kiwi Day

Here is a fruit that is native to China and had a certain popularity in the Far East prior to World War 2 but never really caught on until soldiers fighting in New Zealand tried the fruit, liked it and brought it back to the west with them. Originally known as “Yang Tao”, the Chinese gooseberry, it eventually was named Kiwi. Sounds Hawaiian! It is often mixed with strawberries as they seem to compliment each other. Interesting, at least to me, is the fact that though it is native to China, the number one producing country for Kiwi today is Italy.

How to celebrate – Have some Kiwi today. Visit China and see Kiwi in the wild. Make your own recipe using Kiwi.  

September 5th Cheese Pizza Day

September Holidays

Why mess with a good thing? Cheese pizza is great before you add any of the usual toppings – pepperoni, onions, black olives… you name it. When you were a kid you wouldn’t touch any of the rest of that stuff, it was cheese or nothing. As you get older you realize you can pick that stuff off but then what do you do with it? Actually, the original pizza probably didn’t have cheese on it either. Pizza didn’t originate in Italy either, it is probably a Greek soldier thing. They put spices and herbs on flat bread and let it bake in the sun. Maybe they had a little cheese, but probably not. However today it’s all about the cheese, the more the better.

How to celebrate – Have a cheese pizza! Experiment with different types of cheese. Try a white pizza.

August 24th Vesuvius Day

August Holidays

Today, in 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius erupted destroying Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae, killing and estimates 3,360 people. It was one of the worst tragedies known to man at the time… and since. Entire towns were destroyed, towns that held a great deal of wealth. You might think the lesson was learned, don’t build an entire community at the base of a volcano. However, rebuild they did, and the volcano taught them another lesson in 1631, this time killing over 3,500 people. Well, you might notice in the photo that people have built there yet again, tempting fate even when Mother Nature has already warned us. Oh well, tempting the fates seems to be one thing man always tests.

How to celebrate – Visit Mount Vesuvius. Look for your own volcano to build next to. Make a baking soda and vinegar volcano.