On March 23rd, it is a National Day just for the chip and dip! National Chip And Dip Day celebrates a perfect combination loved by many across the country. Chips and dip are the quick and easy party dish that also makes for great parties. We enjoy them for just about any occasion. From watching the game to hunkering down for a big storm, chips and dips are the way to go. Just no double-dipping, please!
Only a few days earlier on March 14, we celebrate Potato Chip Day, and now we add a partner, the dip. And people have been dipping their food for centuries. Hummus-like recipes date back to the 13th century. These are some of the first “dip” recipes found.
Potato chips are not the only mode of celebrating the day. There are tortilla chips, corn chips, pretzel chips, and even popcorn chips to name a few. After you have chosen your chips, there are dozens of dips to partner with them. There are a variety of dips usually made with sour cream, cheeses, salsas, and seasonings. The combinations are endless. Don’t hesitate to mix up your favorite or try something new!
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Invite some family and friends over and have a chip and dip party! Be sure to share your favorite recipes, too. Use #NationalChipAndDipDay to post on social media.
There are cookie holidays and then there is National Lacy Oatmeal Cookie Day. Each year on March 18th, this holiday celebrates a delicate cookie made from oats.
Some people may refer to this day as National Oatmeal Cookie Day (which is celebrated on April 30th). The difference between the two is that lacy oatmeal cookies are wafer-thin and typically accompany a scoop of ice cream or sorbet.
In the early 1900s, oatmeal became a major ingredient in the American diet. Before that, Americans relied on other grains. Originating in England, oatmeal cookies have been around since the 1800s. However, it is believed that they were created after the oatcake. Soldiers used to carry oatcakes with them for a quick boost of energy during battle. Most research found that the first recorded oatmeal raisin cookie recipe was written by Fannie Merritt Farmer in 1896.Considered a health food, the cookies quickly became popular. By the early 1900s, a recipe for the delicious treats appeared on containers of Quaker Oats.
Oatmeal cookies are an excellent source of iron and fiber
Bakers use many different recipes for the lacy oatmeal cookies. Additionally, home bakers bake with a variety of oats including old fashioned oats, quick-cooking oats, oat bran or oat flour. For a healthier cookie, add finely chopped or ground fruits (such as raisins) or nuts and use a sugar substitute. You can also decorate your lacy oatmeal cookies with icing drizzled on top of the cookie.
Lacy oatmeal cookies make pretty decorations on top of cakes and other baked goods, too. They also make excellent gifts. Make some for a friend or neighbor.
Use #LacyOatmealCookieDay to post on social media.
National Potato Chip Day on March 14th celebrates America’s #1 snack food. Millions will enjoy their favorite chip this holiday. It’s a good thing there are so many to choose from, too!
Saratoga Chips
On August 24, 1853, an unhappy restaurant customer kept sending his potatoes back to the kitchen, complaining they were thick and soggy. Chef George Crum decided to slice the potatoes as thin as possible, frying them until crisp and added extra salt. To the chef’s surprise, the customer loved them. The crispy potatoes soon became a regular item on the restaurant’s menu under the name of “Saratoga Chips.”
Other explanations point for the existence of the potato chip point to recipes in Shilling Cookery for the People by Alexis Soyer (1845) or Mary Randolph’s The Virginia House-Wife (1824). While many references between these dates sliced potatoes and fried them in grease, uncertainty remains whether the potatoes were fried to a crisp.
However, by the late 1870s, menus across the country used the term “Saratoga Chips” on train cars, hotel restaurants, and street carts. The name carried into grocers when bakeries made the chips in larger batches. They shipped them by wagon to the restaurants and grocers by the barrel. The grocers sold them to private families by the pound. Folks were instructed to bake the chips in a hot oven for a few minutes, and the chips would be as crisp as if fried that same day.
Classic Potato Chips
The Dayton, Ohio-based Mike-sell’s Potato Chip Company, founded in 1910, calls itself the “oldest potato chip company in the United States.” New England-based Tri-Sum Potato Chips, originally established in 1908 as the Leominster Potato Chip Company, in Leominster, Massachusetts, claims to be America’s first potato chip manufacturer.
In the 20th century, potato chips spread beyond chef-cooked restaurant fare and began to be mass-produced for home consumption. Flavored chips were introduced in the 1950s. Potato Chip revenues are over $15 billion a year worldwide!
HOW TO OBSERVE #NationalPotatoChipDay
While we enjoy potato chips as a simple snack, they also provide a great ingredient in recipes, too. Favorite recipes include chocolate-dipped chips and crushed chips dusted over fish. Share with us how you enjoy your favorite chip recipes! Or just grab a bag of potato chips to enjoy and use #NationalPotatoChipDay to post on social media.
December 23rd is reserved for National Pfeffernusse Day, a German spice cookie. Very popular around the holidays, pfeffernusse are fluffy cookies made with ground nuts and spices and covered in powdered sugar.
The exact origin of the cookie is unknown. However, the Dutch believe that pfeffernusse (or pepernoten) are linked to the feast of Sinterklaas, which is celebrated on December 5 in the Netherlands and December 6 in Germany and Belgium. This holiday is when children receive gifts from St. Nicholas, who is partially the inspiration for the Santa Claus tradition.
Over time, many bakers have created their own pfeffernusse recipes. Traditional methods included various nuts such as almonds and walnuts. Some modern recipes exclude nuts altogether along with the black pepper, retaining only cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and cardamom as flavorings. Bakers also use molasses and honey to sweeten the cookie.
Break out your favorite pfeffernusse recipe and start baking. This is one holiday tradition that will bring back memories for many of you. Not only will you be able to savor the delicious spicy-sweet cookies, but you can also pass down the tradition to another generation. Once you have a good stack of them baked and cooled, package them up as sweet gifts for loved ones. They will appreciate the cookies and your thoughtfulness.
Do you have recipes to share? Be sure to use #NationalPfeffernusseDay to post on social media.
Gingerbread House Day is observed annually on December 12.
A favorite food of an Armenian monk, Gregory of Nicopolis, brought gingerbread to Europe around 992 AD and taught French Christians to bake it. Gingerbread was often used in religious ceremonies and was baked to be sturdy as it was often molded into images of saints.
We can thank the Brothers’ Grimm for the idea of a gingerbread house through their tale of Hansel and Gretel. It didn’t take long for the German gingerbread guilds to pick up the idea and put it to a more festive use making snowy cottages made from the spicy-sweet treat.
