On August 20th, National Chocolate Pecan Pie Day lets you have your chocolate and pie, too! (National Pecan Pie Day is observed each year on July 12th if chocolate isn’t your flavor, but we don’t know anyone like that.)
Just like the original, chocolate pecan pie goes well with ice cream. Another southern delight, this treat features crisp pecans. Pecan pies fall under the sugar pie category which gives them a gooey, almost caramel center. Depending on the recipe, different sugars make the sweet batter for the pie. Both brown and white sugars can be used, but so can molasses. Corn syrup is a common ingredient as well. Even honey is used.
There is one ingredient that pops up from time to time that shouldn’t surprise some cooks. Some recipes call for a little bit of bourbon, rum or whiskey. Since these spirits hail from the southern parts of North America, seasoning with them is a natural method.
While pecan pies include eggs in the recipe as a binder, it’s interesting to note another sugar pie that was made when eggs were out of season. The pie is called a sugar cream pie. Though we can’t imagine there being a season for eggs, birds lay more eggs in spring and summer than they do in the fall and winter. Chickens rely on the sun to know when to lay eggs. When the days are shorter, they lay fewer eggs. In the winter, they may lay no eggs at all.
So, on small farms when the hens stopped laying, a sugar cream pie offered an alternative since no eggs are required to make it. Both chocolate pecan pie and sugar cream are delicious!
HOW TO OBSERVE #ChocolatePecanPieDay
There are so many ways to celebrate the day. Whether you visit your favorite bakery and pick up a pie or bake it yourself, be sure to share with friends and family. Experiment with a new recipe or bake up an old favorite. We even have some recipes for you to try.
On August 2nd, National Ice Cream Sandwich Day encourages us to cool off with one of our favorite frozen treats. Whether it’s vanilla, strawberry or Neopolitan between two chocolate wafers, the dessert sure will hit the spot on a hot summer day.
The original ice cream sandwich sold for a penny in 1900 from a pushcart in the Bowery neighborhood of New York. Newspapers never identified the name of the vendor in articles that appeared across the country. However, the ice cream sandwiched between milk biscuits became a hit. Soon, pushcarts popped up around the city and country during the summer months selling the portable treats. Early pictures show beachgoers at Atlantic City getting their ice cream sandwichs for 1¢ each.
Once ice cream sandwiches became popular, recipes for home cooks filled the papers. The sandwich layers included everything from angel food and sponge cake to shortbread cookies. Restaurants offered the ice cream sandwich as a decadent dessert for travelers. By 1940, grocers sold sandwiches made with crispy wafers.
One account claims the modern ice cream sandwich with the chocolate wafer was invented in 1945 by Jerry Newberg. The ice cream maker sold his creation at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, PA. At the time, the storied location was home to the Pittsburgh Pirates and Steelers.
If the chocolate brownie wafer doesn’t appeal to you, don’t hesitate to mix it up. All variety of cookies make excellent sandwich parts. Change up the ice cream, too. Around the world, ice cream sandwiches go by a variety of names including the Monaco Bar, Giant Sandwich, Maxibon, Cream Between, Vanilla Slice, and many more.
No one should ever need an excuse to eat a brownie in the morning, but if you do, August is National Brownies At Brunch Month!
We’re not sure where the original brownie came from, but we like to celebrate brownies, a few times a year. Chewy, fudgy, chocolatey, what’s not to love? One legend has it that Bertha Palmer, a Chicago socialite, who in 1893 asked a pastry chef to prepare an appropriate dessert for ladies attending the World’s Columbian Exposition.
Specifically, she wanted something like a cake that was small enough to include in boxed lunches. The result was the “Palmer House Brownie.” By 1907, the brownie was well-established, appearing in Lowney’s Cookbook as the “Bangor Brownie.” Maine food educator Mildred Brown Schrumpf claimed that the brownie was invented by Bangor housewives. The largest brownie ever made was cooked up in 2001 at the Hudson Valley Chocolate Festival in Suffern, New York. It weighed 3,000 lbs.
Brownies are surprisingly low in calories. Although loaded with sugar, brownies also can be prepared as low-sugar brownies. The experts recommend you cut back the sugar intake by 25 – 50% without seriously compromising the texture. Brownies are rich in carbs. Carbs provide energy. If you’re active, a helping of carbs first thing in the morning can be an excellent thing. Brownies are also relatively low in saturated fat, associated with the bad kind of cholesterol. However, brownies don’t offer much in the way of protein, though eggs are part of the mix. If you want to increase protein in your brownies, you can mix in some nuts, protein powder or peanut butter into your batter. Walnuts are the most popular protein added to brownies.
Enjoy them in moderation, for brunch, or any time of day. Want more Brownies…
National Penuche Fudge Day on July 22nd recognizes the creamy candy with an Italian name. If you like maple flavor, this nut-filled fudge is for you!
Penuche (pə-ˈnō-chə) is pronounced pe-new-chee. The Italian form of the word is panucci. The fudge-like candy includes the following ingredients: brown sugar, butter, vanilla, and milk. Lighter in color than traditional fudge, penuche tastes like maple thanks to the brown sugar. If you are looking to celebrate, many shops in New England sell this fudge. There they will add pecans and other nuts, especially if making a candy form of penuche. Southerners call it brown sugar fudge candy.
Of course, the day provides an opportunity to test recipes, too. Add walnuts or pecans for a nutty texture to any recipe. However, if you prefer the creamier version, nuts are always purely optional. Cook the sugar mixture in a heavy saucepan. Making good candy or fudge is no time to go cheap. No matter what recipe you use, keep stirring and watch the temperature. Always use a candy thermometer. Fudge is finicky and will seize up on you.
Whether you taste a homemade bite, store-bought, or your first bite, be sure to savor it. Don’t forget to share!
Dish or cone? That’s all we need to know. National Ice Cream Day on the 3rd Sunday in July offers up every flavor on the menu to honor the day! The holiday also lands in the middle of National Ice Cream Month.
Thousands of years ago, people in the Persian Empire put snow in a bowl, poured concentrated grape-juice over it, and ate it as a treat. Even when the weather was hot, they would savor this sweet treat. Their trick? They placed snow in underground chambers known as yakchal where the temperatures kept the snow from melting. The Persians also hiked to the mountain tops by their summer capital to gather snowfall.
The Chinese, under the Tang Dynasty around 697 AD, took to freezing dairy with salt and ice. However, the results aren’t exactly the ice cream we enjoy today. Frozen treats and beverages later, culinary folks point to Naples, Italy as the birthplace of the first ice cream. They give credit to Antonio Latini. He was born in 1642 and created a milk-based sorbet.
In the United States, the Quaker colonists earn the nod for bringing their ice recipes over with them. They opened the first ice cream shops, including shops in New York and other cities during the colonial era.
U.S. Ice Cream Facts
Ben Franklin, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson enjoyed ice cream.
1813 -First Lady Dolley Madison served ice cream at the Inaugural Ball.
1832 – African American confectioner, Augustus Jackson, created multiple ice cream recipes as well as a superior technique to manufacture ice cream.
1843 – Philadelphian, Nancy Johnson, received the first U.S. patent for a small-scale hand-cranked ice cream freezer.
1920 – Harry Burt puts the first ice cream trucks on the streets.
An astonishing fact regarding Thomas Jefferson – his recipe for Old Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream is believed to be the oldest recipe for ice cream in the USA. The recipe below is provided by the Library of Congress. The transcript is word for word for ease of following along.
Thomas Jefferson’s Old Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe
The Original Thomas Jefferson Ice Cream Recipe
Ice cream.
2 bottles of good cream. 6 yolks of eggs. 1/2 lb. sugar mix the yolks & sugar put the cream on a fire in a casse -role, first putting in a stick of Vanilla. when near boiling take it off & pour it gently into the mixture of eggs & sugar. stir it well. put it on the fire again stirring it thoroughly with a spoon to prevent it’s sticking to the casse–role. when near boiling take it off and strain it thro’ a towel.
put it in the Sabottiere then set it in ice an hour before it is to be served. put into the ice a handful of salt. put ice all around the Sabottiere i.e. a layer of ice a layer of salt for three layers.
put salt on the coverlid of the Sabotiere & cover the whole with ice. leave it still half a quarter of an hour. then turn the Sabottiere in the ice 10 minutes open it to loosen with a spatula the ice from the inner sides of the Sabotiere. shut it & replace it in the ice. open it from time to time to de- -tach the ice from the sides.
when well taken (prise) stir it well with the Spatula. put it in moulds, justling it well down on the knee. then put the mould into the same bucket of ice. leave it there to the moment of serving it. to withdraw it, immerse the mould in warm water, turning it well till it will come out & turn it into a plate.
Enjoy National Ice Cream Day by sharing some with your family and friends! Experiment with different flavors or go to your favorite ice cream shop. Give them a shout out, too! Post on social media using #NationalIceCreamDay.
