Category: Foodie Awareness Days

Culinary Calendar – July

July is National Picnic Month – which makes sense in light of the fact that it is also National Baked Bean Month, National Hot Dog Month and National Ice Cream Month.

I love a good picnic (I am scheduled to attend two in the next week) but I can’t say I’m terribly excited about baked beans being on the menu. I’m not a baked bean fan – never have been. I love bean salad or mashed beans or bean stew. But there is something about baked beans that I have always found slightly disquieting and a bit wrong. The texture maybe? Apparently July is also National July Belongs to Blueberries Month – which may or may not be true but is awkwardly phrased and just a bit presumptuous of the Blueberry Lobby. I’d like to know how the hot dogs, baked beans and ice cream feel about this territorial smack talking.

But I think we can all agree that making July National Culinary Arts Month is unlikely to cause a throw down between food or create culinary controversy (unless some other month feels slighted in some way). I think maybe NPR thinks June is National Culinary Arts Month because every other piece I seem to hear lately is food related. Not that I mind or am complaining. Just an observation. Here’s hoping it continues throughout this celebratory time in culinary calendar.

But what are we celebrating on the long July days? Lots of things, my friends. Lots of things and here are is a break down of the first few days to whet the food fun appetite!

• July 1 is National Gingersnap Day and my parents’ anniversary now that I think about it. I don’t know if they would accept a box of gingersnaps as the appropriate gift but I may give it a go.
• July 2 is National Anisette Day but I can’t imagine why.
• July 3 is National Chocolate Wafer Day and while I am never adverse to a bit more chocolate in my life, wafers are a bit lightweight and insubstantial for something as robust (or which should be as robust) as decent chocolate. A chocolate wafer always risks being – chalky or dusty.
• July 4 is National Barbecue Day which seems a logical extension of National Picnic Month. Good way to tackle two culinary holidays with one food festivity. Multi-tasking! That’s my motto
• July 5 is National Apple Turnover Day but I will be far too busy at my gargantuan family picnic to notice. Have a turnover for me.
• July 6 is National Fried Chicken Day and again, this makes perfect sense in light of July being National Picnic Month. Nigella has said – several times over the course of several series’ that fried chicken is the prefect picnic food. And she is not wrong.
• July 7 is National Strawberry Sundae Day for those who need more specifics than National Ice Cream Month. Or maybe just those who need an excuse for more ice cream. Don’t bother making excuses. It’s hot. That is reason enough. Dig in. Enjoy.
• July 7 is National Macaroni Day and there are many ways to celebrate it. Macaroni salads for – yes, you guessed it – picnics. Macaroni necklaces to keep children occupied and then beaming with pride when parents wear them. Come on, Dads! Macaroni jewelry isn’t just for Mom anymore. Pretend it’s puka shells and channel your inner David Cassidy (oh dear – I think I just dated myself)

So as you can see – July is a real heavyweight on the culinary calendar and I haven’t even mentioned National Milk Chocolate with Almonds Day (which strikes me as unnecessarily fussy), National Pina Colada Day (which I believe should be a weekly event), National Caviar Day (which seems oddly timed), and National Penuche Day (which I shall have to look up).

So see you ’round the picnic table and then back here soon for more food holiday fun!

Gather round, my friends and let us discuss (even digest) the food side of February. It may be a short month but it’s certainly not short on culinary celebrations.

Grapefruit Month: I have a confession. I am not a huge grapefruit fan. I know lots of people are and there are heated debates among them regarding the superiority of pink vs white grapefruit but to me it’s just too sour. I have heard that in South America they are often cooked which renders them a bit sweeter. I may consider trying that this summer. Has anyone else tried it? How is it?

Macadamia Nut Month: Since macadamias are often found in some of my favorite cookies (as in any cooking with chocolate chips in them), I approve heartily of celebrating them. I did wonder if we actually needed a whole month. It seemed to me, in my nutty ignorance, that a day would be more than sufficient – until someone pointed out that macadamia nuts are excellent for the diet (they lower bad cholesterol being high in monounsaturated fatty acids). So, instead of the cookies (which I tend to have around year-long) why not indulge in a handful of macadamias a few times a week for the month. It can’t hurt, and it might help. But hey – do not give any to your dogs. Macadamias are toxic to our canine friends.

Hot Breakfast Month: I know, I know. No one has time for breakfast. Heck, I work at home and even I am hard-pressed to remember when my last hot breakfast was. But I can tell you what it was because when I do hot breakfast at home, it’s because I am craving softly scrambled eggs (the kind that take ages but are so worth it), a well-toasted and thoroughly-buttered (with unsalted butter) plain bagel, shredded potatoes-n-onions and orange juice. Bliss.

Snack Food Month: A month? With SUCH a wide variety of snack food available for us to enjoy and celebrate, I personally would need a whole year or at least half a year. Certainly, it needs its own post – and I’ll be getting right on that.

Cherry Month: Considering how many types of cherries there are, we may need more than a month to celebrate them all properly. And really, who wouldn’t extra time for cherry pie, cherry sorbet, cherry sundaes, chocolate covered cherries, dried cherries (excellent in summer salads not to mention in trail mix – even in frozen yogurt) and cherry preserves. Maybe we should – within Cherry Month – declare a day for the top 20 or 30 most popular species? Someone get on that, right away! Thanks.

As the month progresses, there are days dedicated to everything from Baked Alaska to stuffed mushrooms (that’s today in case you were wondering) to frozen yogurt to tortellini. The month will fly by but at least we won’t be hungry.