June 11 of each year is the day to celebrate National Corn on the Cob Day. Fresh corn on the cob is a summertime treat that people from all corners of the United States look forward to as we start the picnic season.
Corn on the cob is also known in different regions as pole corn, cornstick, sweet pole, butter-pop or long maize. It is a sweet corn that is picked when the kernels are still tender when it’s in its milk stage.
Boiling, steaming, roasting or grilling are the most common ways of preparing corn on the cob. If it is grilled or oven roasted, the corn is usually left in its husk during the cooking process.
Proper dinner etiquette for eating corn says it is appropriate to hold the cob at each end with your fingers.
HOW TO OBSERVE
Get the butter and the salt shaker ready, gather up some friends, start your grill and enjoy some corn on the cob! For those with hankering for corn off the cob, use #CornOnTheCobDay on social media and tell the world!
National Fresh Celery Month in April provides an opportunity to experiment with recipes and challenge the way we use the vegetable in our cooking
Take celery beyond peanut butter sticks and cocktails. When combined with the right ingredients, celery can be a stunning addition to a dish. The beauty of celery is it adds a punch of crunch, a hint of vibrant color and subtle flavor without being overpowering.
While we may like filling the celery’s convenient groove with peanut butter, there are other excellent fillers. Try seasoned cream cheese, chicken salad or hummus.
Sliced celery dressed with light vinaigrette and grapes and walnuts make an excellent small salad. Don’t forget the celery leaves. Toss them into your salads, too! For another salad spin, try goat cheese and chives with red onion.
There’s a reason peanut butter and celery go together. It’s not just an afternoon snack. Celery compliments many soups and does only have to go into a vegetable medley. Yes, peanut butter is another way to soup it up.
When it comes to the main dish, celery compliments nearly any protein and that includes non-animal proteins. Whether you’re cooking with chicken, beef or beans, celery will boost texture and flavor. Try a new recipe every week during National Fresh Celery Month, and discover how celery can benefit your cooking.
On March 26th each year, National Spinach Day reminds us of the health benefits packed into this leafy green vegetable. Not only are there so many delicious ways that you can enjoy spinach, but it is also incredibly good for you!
An annual plant, spinach grows natively in central and southwestern Asia. Thought to have originated in ancient Persia, Arab traders carried spinach into India and then later introduced into ancient China. There it was known as “Persian vegetable.” The earliest available record of the spinach plant was found in Chinese, saying that the spinach plant was introduced into China via Nepal.
During her reign as queen of France, Catherine de Medici enjoyed spinach so much, it was served at every meal. To this day, dishes made with spinach are known as “Florentine” reflecting Catherine’s birth in Florence.
Spinach is:
eaten raw or cooked and is available fresh, frozen or canned.
one of the best sources of iron.
an excellent source of calcium, folic acid, fiber, protein, calcium and vitamins A, C and K.
loaded with cancer-fighting antioxidants
believed to help improve cardiovascular and gastrointestinal health.
Types of spinach:
Savoy: dark green color with curly leaves; usually sold in fresh bunches. Flat or Smooth Leaf: broad, smooth leaves; mostly grown for canned and frozen spinach as well as soups, baby food and processed foods. Semi-savoy: a hybrid variety with crinkly leaves: is sold fresh and processed.
Following China, the United States produces the world’s second-largest crop of spinach.
California, Arizona, and New Jersey are the top spinach-producing states in the United States.
HOW TO OBSERVE #NationalSpinachDay
Many of us enjoy spinach that celebrating is easy! Shake up your vegetable routine and mix up your greens. Experiment with some spinach.
Fresh spinach salad
Spinach pizza
Spinach dip
Cream spinach
Spinach lasagna
Add spinach to scrambled eggs
You can also plant some spinach in your spring garden. Not only will you reap the benefits of a lush green salad, but spinach doesn’t require much space.
Spinach grows in pots on a sunny balcony or in a small garden space.
Use fertile soil.
Plant in cool weather.
Keep moisture levels consistent.
Harvest and enjoy!
You can plant again in the fall. Double the bounty!
Share your favorite ways to add spinach to your meals. Use #NationalSpinachDay to post on social media.
Get chopping in March with National Celery Month! This vegetable adds crunch to salads while adding lots of flavor to casseroles and soups.
Celery is a fibrous vegetable that grows into a leafy stalk. While many enjoy it fresh, celery also goes well into a cooked meal. Per serving, the crunchy vegetable has 16 calories. It’s a good source of fiber, potassium, and vitamins A and C. Add it to snacks to benefit from its anti-inflammatory qualities.
However, celery is not a superfood. They are the perfect complement to a healthy diet. While it is not glorified as a superfood, celery does class up the plate. Seasoned right, celery can stand out with a flavor all its own.
Meanwhile, back in your kitchen, your celery sticks scream for something else. Add some peanut butter or avocado. Mix chopped celery into a pasta dish or stir-fry. Stir chopped celery into onions and potatoes for a delicious soup.
While all these items are cooking, chop up a few extra sticks and store them in an airtight container, and place them in the refrigerator. They will keep crisp for at least two days. The celery will lose quality after that, but you can still enjoy them or use them in soups or other recipes.
Get a charge out of National Battery Day! Observed each year on February 18th, the day serves to appreciate the convenience batteries provide to our everyday lives.
Today we would be hard-pressed to find someone in the United States who doesn’t derive a benefit from a battery. Even those who live “off the grid” have battery-operated devices such as a flashlight, radio, or watch.
A battery changes chemical energy into electricity by bringing the different chemicals together in a specific order. When correctly ordered, the electrons will travel from one substance to another, creating an electrical current.
National Battery Day commemorates the anniversary of Alessandro Volta’s birth on February 17, 1745.
Long Road of the Battery
While battery manufacturing for everyday personal use developed in the last 50-60 years, archaeologists found evidence of a device that may have been used to electroplate gold onto silver, much like a battery would. In 1936, during the construction of a new railway near Baghdad, a Parthian tomb was found. Archaeologist Wilhelm Konig found a clay jar containing a copper cylinder encasing an iron rod. Konig suggested the find to be approximately 2,000 years old.
Benjamin Franklin first coined the term “battery” in 1748 to describe an array of charged glass plates.
1800
In 1800, Italian scientist Alessandro Volta layered silver, cloth, or paper soaked in salt or acid and zinc into what he called “voltaic piles.” The voltaic piles generated a limited electrical current. Volta proceeded to publish his work, and we get the word “volt” from his name to describe electric potential.
William Cruickshank, an English chemist, designed a battery for mass production in 1802.
Corrosion in batteries has always been an issue, but until John Daniell came along, it was much worse. Daniel, a chemist, receives credit for developing a way to reduce corrosion when storing batteries. In 1820 he invented the Daniell Cell, which incorporated mercury, reducing the corrosion.
1896
Over time, various scientists and inventors developed gradual improvements to the battery. Then in 1896, the National Carbon Company (later known as the Eveready Battery Company) manufactured the first commercially available battery called the Columbia. Two years later, National Carbon Company introduced the first D sized battery for the first flashlight.
The 1900s and beyond
Until 1957, watches needed to be wound routinely to keep time. Then in 1957, the Hamilton Watch Company introduced the first battery-operated watch.
Today batteries are available for numerous purposes. In our modern age, portable electricity isn’t something we think about every day because it is so easily accessible. We charge the batteries on our phones by using the batteries in our cars as we travel down the road. We even have portable chargers that can charge our batteries where ever we are. The variety of batteries change every day. Solar batteries recharge daily and store power in cells. They come in numerous sizes, too.
HOW TO OBSERVE #NationalBatteryDay
How many batteries do you rely on in your life? From your car to your smoke detectors, batteries are everywhere. Count the items in your home that use batteries. How often do you buy them? Do you have a battery charger? Our phones, watches, hearing aids, all use batteries. Medical devices rely on them to keep people alive. They monitor our children as they sleep, and they serve as back up systems for our security and safety. Batteries operate wheelchairs and keep lights bright for photography. In an emergency, batteries keep the phones going and point us in the right direction.
