NATIONAL CHOCOLATE-COVERED NUT DAY

National Chocolate-Covered Nut Day on February 25th recognizes the delicious and crunchy snack drizzled, covered, dunked, or smothered in chocolate. The possibilities are endless with so many different types of nuts and chocolate combinations.

For thousands of years, nuts have been a staple of the human diet. The walnut was a favorite of the ancient Greeks and Romans, while Native Americans favored pecans.

Both chocolate and nuts can be good for you. Dark chocolate possesses a substantial amount of antioxidants, while the nuts contain essential fatty acids and linolenic acids. For the most part, the fats in nuts are unsaturated fats, including monounsaturated fats. Nuts also provide arginine, a substance that may help make the walls of the arteries more flexible and less prone to blockage from blood clot formation. Many nuts are good sources of vitamins E and B2 and are rich in protein, folate, fiber, and essential minerals, such as magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, copper, and selenium.

The first chocolate-covered peanut candy was Goobers, originally sold in 1925. The word “Goober” was a common slang word for peanut. 

One of the more recognized chocolate-covered nuts is the M & M. These chocolate-covered peanuts or chocolate-covered almonds have become a favorite of many. The peanut M & M was introduced in 1954. They were tan until 1960 when the colors red, yellow, and green were added to production.

Go Nuts!!!!

NATIONAL CHOCOLATE-COVERED NUT DAY HISTORY

While we continue to seek the origins of this day, we’re not withholding any reward. Chocolate, with or without nuts, is a staple snack in the National Day Calendar offices. That doesn’t mean we won’t stop looking for the founder of the day. It just means, it might be helpful if the answer was at the bottom of a bag of Brach’s chocolate-covered peanuts. 

HOW TO OBSERVE CHOCOLATE-COVERED NUT DAY

  • Eat a chocolate-covered nut.
  • Visit your favorite candy or chocolate shop and pick up some chocolate-covered nuts.
  • Make chocolate-covered nuts at home.
  • Give a gift of chocolate-covered nuts.
  • Have a taste test using different nuts and different chocolates.
  • Use #ChocolateCoveredNutDay to post on social media.

NATIONAL CHOCOLATE CAKE DAY

National Chocolate Cake Day celebrates the cake more people favor. And more often than not, we celebrate our special occasions like anniversaries, birthdays and weddings with cake. Why not enjoy chocolate cake on January 27th every year?

In America, chocolate was consumed primarily as a beverage until the 1830s or 40s. Chocolate cakes, as we think of them today, mostly did not exist then.  According to the Dover Post, the chocolate cake was born in 1765 when a doctor and a chocolate maker teamed up in an old mill.  They ground up cocoa beans between huge millstones to make a thick syrup. The liquid was poured into molds shaped like cakes, which were meant to be transformed into a beverage.  

A popular Philadelphia cookbook author, Eliza Leslie, published the earliest chocolate cake recipe in 1847 in The Lady’s Receipt Book.  Unlike chocolate cakes we know today, this recipe used chopped chocolate.  Other cooks of the time such as Sarah Tyson Rorer and Maria Parloa all made contributions to the development of the chocolate cake and were prolific authors of cookbooks.

The first boxed cake mix was created by a company called O. Duff and Sons in the late 1920s.  Betty Crocker released their first dry cake mixes in 1947.

Explore More…

HOW TO OBSERVE #ChocolateCakeDay

Obviously enjoy Chocolate Cake. Make your own or visit your favorite bakery. Share with family and friends. Use #ChocolateCakeDay to post on social media.

NATIONAL STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM DAY

Each year, National Strawberry Ice Cream Day on January 15th celebrates one of the choicest flavors of ice cream. All flavors of ice cream are recognized on July 1st. 

Strawberry ice cream is made by blending either strawberries or strawberry flavoring with eggs, cream, vanilla, and sugar. Food coloring is often used to give it the pink or light red hue.

During James Madison’s second inauguration in 1813, strawberry ice cream was served. It’s also one of the three flavors found in Neapolitan ice cream along with vanilla and chocolate. Other variations of strawberry ice cream include strawberry cheesecake ice cream and strawberry ripple ice cream. 

Explore more Ice Cream…

Explore more Strawberries…

HOW TO OBSERVE #StrawberryIceCreamDay

Holidays are best celebrated with someone else, so be sure to grab a bowl or two. Invite someone to join you while you enjoy a dish of strawberry ice cream. Strawberries tend to remind us of summer, too. So imagine the things you’ll do when the days are warmer.

We’ve even provided a few recipes to make and share. 

Strawberry Crunch Ice Cream Cake
Yummy Strawberry Shake
Strawberry Ice Cream Pie

Use #StrawberryIceCreamDay to post on social media.