Good morning, welcome to our series sharing Food Holidays: Food Holidays: October 13th, 2021. Today is National Peanut Festival which I know David would love celebrating my purchasing Peanuts for his snack. Would you like Peanuts as well?
The National Peanut Festival (NPF), the United States‘ largest peanut festival, is held each fall in Dothan, Alabama, to honor Peanut growers and to celebrate the Harvest Season.
Established in 1938, these fairgrounds are located on Highway 231 South, three miles south of the Ross Clark Circle. Festivities include games and amusement rides on a large midway, Animal acts, agricultural displays, outdoor amphitheater with live music concerts by national recording artists, beauty pageants, arts and crafts displays, contests, food and a two-hour parade. The National Peanut festival also sponsors and holds field crop exhibits with prizes awarded to each exhibitor.
The Peanut festival also has other competitions, including sewing, cake decorating, photography, who has grown the biggest Peanut, cooking, and art. Every year, crowds of people enjoy the festival.
There was no festival between 1942 & 1946. In 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic there was also no festival, instead the Carnival who hosted the Festival went to the local mall and had acts and performances performed here.
Wikipedia
Here are today’s five thing to know about Nuts:
- Nuts are healthier in raw form because over 15% of the healthy Oils are lost in the roasting process.
- Studies show that people who eat Nuts regularly live 2-3 years longer than those who don’t.
- Nut Allergy is among the most common food allergies.
- Roasted Nutshells were used as a Coffee substitute during the Civil War.
- Did you know half of the world’s Nuts are inedible or poisonous to humans.
Yorkshire Pudding Day
The story begins hundreds of years ago and in true fairy tale fashion, we begin with Once Upon a Time…
Wheat Flour began to come into common use for making Cakes and Puddings. Cooks in the North of England devised a plan to change the course of cookery FOREVER! They began making use of the fat from the dripping pan to cook a batter Pudding while the Meat roasted in the oven. Scandalously genius!
In 1737, the first recipe for “dripping pudding” was published in The Whole Duty of a Woman. A guide for the fairer sex with rules, directions, and observations for a lady’s conduct and behavior.
The topic of a lady’s love life was included with tips for married, single, and even divorced women! Talk about scandalously genius. Wouldn’t you like to get your hands on a copy??
The book was surely a huge success, right? The important thing here though is that recipe for “dripping pudding.” It was fairly simple – make a good batter as for Pancakes, put in a hot toss-pan over the fire, add a bit of Butter to fry the bottom a little, then put the pan instead of a dripping pan and under a shoulder of Mutton, shake it frequently and it will be light and savory. When the Mutton is done, turn it in a dish and serve hot.
In 1747, Hannah Glasse shook up the recipe with her own version in The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Simple. Forget Nigella, Glasse was the original domestic goddess! Glasse re-invented and re-named the dripping pudding, which had been cooked in England for centuries although the Puddings were much flatter than the puffy versions known today.
Then in 2008, the Royal Society of Chemistry got involved when it declared that “A Yorkshire Pudding isn’t a Yorkshire Pudding if it is less than four inches tall.” This came about when Ian Lyness, an Englishman living in the Rockies experienced a series of Yorkshire Pudding “flops” in the high country despite huge successes in the low Country. Its no myth – the rise is just not the same at certain altitudes! Pretty crazy when you can quite obviously cook perfect pudds atop the Pennines.
That aside, Yorkshire Pudding is still a staple of the British Sunday lunch and in cases is eaten as a separate course prior to the main Meat dish. This is the traditional way to eat the Pudding and is still common in parts of Yorkshire today. There is a reason for this too.
Because the rich Gravy from the Roast Meat drippings was used up with the first course, the main Meat and Vegetable course was often served with Parsley or White Sauce. This was a cheap way to fill diners, thus stretching the use of more expensive ingredients since Yorkshire Pudding was served first. Should you wish to tighten those purse strings, this is one way to do it.
If you’re anything like us though, you like to load your plate with all the trimmings – Yorkshire included, so forget the other courses! If, after all of that, you are ready for dessert, do like they do in some areas of Yorkshire and fill the Pudding with Jam, or as a “Pudding” in the true sense, try Jam and Ice Cream.
As a final note, Chemical scientist and Author John Emsley, of Yorkshire, believes that the ability to make good pudds is “in the blood and instinct of people born and raised [in Yorkshire].”
Kids love M7Ms, and adults feel nostalgic eating M&Ms, and M&Ms won’t melt in your hand, just in your mouth. Did you know it’s National M&M Day. Get ready to celebrate M7Ms which were created in 1941, this iconic candy has been a staple for over 75 years.
NATIONAL M&M DAY ACTIVITIES
- Bake sales are always great because they get everyone involved in the celebration and they raise money for a cause. So celebrate National M&M Day by inviting friends and family to join you in a bake sale. The only catch is that all the recipes have to incorporate M&M’s into whatever item they make.
- We don’t mean sweet as in “rad” or “cool” (although we’re sure it will be),when we say sweet, we mean foods, snacks, and drinks that’ll satisfy anyone’s sweet tooth. You can serve M&M Brownies, Cookies, Cupcakes, Smoothies, or cocktails!
- We’ve all seen the commercials: the smart, know-it-all red one, the dumb but kindhearted yellow one, the sassy, sultry green M7M. Odds are, there’s an M&M you connect with most,. On National M&M Day, celebrate by rocking a yellow tie, a red shirt, or a green scarf — whatever helps you get in touch with your inner M&M.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
