It’s time for the freshness of National Salad Month. Greens pop this time of year, and it’s easy to grow garden lettuce even in a small space. They fill the grocery with a variety of color, too.
Beyond the leafy part of the salad, the crisp vegetables, proteins, flavorful cheeses, herbs, berries, grains, and nuts make salads exciting and healthy. If we don’t over indulge in the cheese and fatty meats, it’s usually the dressing that causes our salad downfall.
Salads are an excellent way help get your 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day. We’ve provided tips to get the maximum salad-eating in this month!
Mix up the lettuce variety. Iceberg is what we’re most familiar with in the United States. Try spinach for a change of pace. Romaine makes excellent lettuce wraps. Butterhead comes in loose, crisp, rosettes.
Prepare salads for the work week. Fill the bottom of a Mason jar the salad dressing. Add the more solid fruits or veggies to next layer followed by any proteins and cheeses. Next, add the leafy greens. The items crunchy croutons, nuts or soft fruits and veggies should be added the day you eat the salad.
Serve salad with every meal, even breakfast. Fruit salad is a bright way to start the morning.
Celebrate all your favorite cocktails on March 24th. National Cocktail Day ushers in all the best ways to savor a beverage at the end of a long workday. Whether you like a fruity drink, blended or on the rocks, this day is for you. Mocktail, virgin, or the real thing, celebrate the lemon, lime, bitters, liquors, and liqueurs that make your favorite beverages the best in your bartender book.
It’s probably no surprise that nearly every month on the calendar celebrates a cocktail. The only exception is April, and since it’s National Alcohol Awareness Month, it makes sense to take that month off.
A cocktail contains a spirit or a mix of spirits. While a beer is not considered a cocktail, there are beer cocktails where beer is added to a distilled ingredient. The same applies to wine.
The other months pay homage to histories, ingredients, and the makers of some legendary cocktails. January begins the year dedicating a day to the Bloody Mary, and there’s also a day for her Canadian counterpart, the Bloody Caesar, in May. January also devotes an entire week to Mocktails. In February, you can celebrate the Margarita and Kahlua. March brings us International Whisk(e)y Day, among others. Skipping back to May, you can imbibe in both Palomas and Mimosas for your celebrations.
June and July compete for the most cocktail-related days. From Martinis and Bourbon in June to Pina Coladas and Daiquiris in July, the two months cover the spectrum. There are even a few bottles of wine in between. Not only do they celebrate specific cocktails but they also celebrate the places we enjoy them. National Dive Bar Day in July invites us to celebrate the places that serve our favorite cocktails, even if it’s an ice-cold beer.
The rest of the year covers all our chilled and heated cocktails. By December, we readily reminisce National Repeal Day and the Bartenders who keep that era and the skills alive.
We have only skimmed the surface of the cocktails celebrated on the calendar, so National Cocktail Day allows you to celebrate whichever one you like!
Explore cocktail ingredients or read a bartender’s manual.
Learn the finer elements of mixing cocktails and expand your home bar.
Visit a speakeasy or take a tour of your favorite distillery.
Host a cocktail tasting session. Create a classic menu with a professional bartender who provides history and describes the nuances behind the ingredients.
Attend a cocktail tasting party. You will learn more about how and why ingredients are combined the way they are.
Visit your local bar and pick your bartender’s brain. Some like to share their techniques. Ask them what their favorite cocktail is. And, be sure to tip them well for their advice and service.
Try making a mocktail. Especially on those weeknights when work is busy, and you need to keep up. Many of them infuse nutrients many of us are lacking. Keep these recipes on hand for your friends who are designated drivers, sober for life, supporting a friend, or for any reason.
As always, ANY TIME we are indulging in spirits and alcohol, DON’T drink and drive. Designate a sober driver. Call a taxi, Uber, Lyft, or friend.
When you celebrate, share your favorites by using #NationalCocktailDay on social media.
On February 1st, National Dark Chocolate Day reminds us to indulge a little. Many tout dark chocolate as the healthier chocolate. However, for some, it can be an acquired taste.
Also known as bittersweet chocolate, dark chocolate is different from milk chocolate. Candy makers add milk or butter to milk chocolate, giving it a creamier consistency. Dark chocolate includes no added milk or butter. Instead, the percentage of cocoa solids remaining in the chocolate determines how dark the chocolate is. The higher the ratio, the darker the chocolate. It may also have a slightly bitter taste.
Chocolate comes from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. We have been cultivating cacao for at least three millennia, and the plant grows in Mexico, Central America, and Northern South America. Our earliest known documentation of using cacao seeds dates to around 1100 BC.
Fermentation helps develop the flavor of the cacao seeds. Otherwise, the seeds are too bitter to eat. Once fermented, the beans are dried, cleaned, and roasted. After roasting, the shell is removed to produce cacao nibs. Processors then ground the cocoa nips into cocoa mass, pure chocolate in rough form. Next, they usually liquefy the cocoa mass and mold it with or without other ingredients. At this point in the process, it is called chocolate liquor. The chocolate liquor may then be processed into two components: cocoa solids and cocoa butter.
Besides being lower in calories and fat, dark chocolate has many other health benefits. It also serves as a decadent ingredient in many desserts and sauces.
Eat some dark chocolate. Bake with dark chocolate. Add dark chocolate to a savory dish. Share dark chocolate recipes. Host a dark chocolate tasting. Learn about the health benefits of dark chocolate. Use #NationalDarkChocolateDay on social media.
National Black Diamond Month is observed annually in January.
New Year, New Dreams! The New Year is a time to slow down. The majority of people are thinking, “What can I do better this year?” What about today? The Black Diamond Collection jewelry pieces are designed to remind us to be present, allowing us to incorporate meditation, peace and style into our daily routines.
While black diamonds are rare like thier gem grade whites they are not as rare as other diamonds of color. Diamonds of color are not imitation, simulated or created. Each natural diamond must possess specific elements to make thier color. Many are famous, The Hope Diamond is actually blue. Other colors include Champagne, Red, Green, Pink, and Yellow.
Diamonds are always a girls best friend, no matter their color. The same 4 C’s are just as important these colorful gems as they are in white diamonds. Many colors have a ranking system for color intensity as well.
Carole Shoshana, founder of the Black Diamond Collection, trained with a Grand Master of Feng Shui in Hong Kong for 16 years, and became a Grand Master herself upon his passing. The “Black Diamond Collection” was inspired by Carole’s spiritual journey through the sacred images of nature depicted in the philosophy of Shan Shui art. As an art form, Shan Shui evokes a sanctuary of peace, patience and harmony. Based on the teachings of the I Ching, Shan Shui captures the emotion and atmosphere of the mountains and waters, and Carole wanted to design a line of jewelry that also depicts the beauty she found in her personal journeys in the Far East. The black diamonds represent the reflecting stones she saw in the mountain streams as she walked with her Master and learned valuable lessons.
The Black Diamond Collection emerged from something called cracked ice, which is about finding breath and energy. Each part of the collection is symbolic of the wearer. The jewelry pieces are considered “portable energizers,” meaning that they provide support for wearers.
“My jewelry was inspired and designed to evoke and maintain those same meditative qualities in whomever wears it, to follow them throughout their day and to remind them of their dreams and desires,” says Carole. “Like all of my designs, every piece in my Black Diamond Collection works like a life compass, keeping the wearer on course toward personal happiness.”
On November 7th, National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day ushers in one of the more healthful ways to enjoy chocolate. Dark chocolate is chocolate liquor to which sugar, cocoa butter, and vanilla have been added. It has less sugar and more liquor than semisweet chocolate. However, the two of them may be interchangeable when baking.
Recent studies reveal health benefits from eating small quantities of Dark chocolate. The addition of almonds increases health benefits as well. Pairing the two of them gives us a delicious and healthy snack. Make them a part of your lunch or enjoy them as part of an afternoon snack.
In 1742, Eliza Smith included the only chocolate recipe in her cookbook, The Compleat Housewife, printed by William Parks. The simple recipe combined grated chocolate, orange flower water, and sugar. But, no almonds.
However, plenty of recipes include almonds and chocolate. You only need to know where to look. When combining chocolate and almonds, remember that both keep well, too. So, sharing during the holidays is easy. Make a little or a lot of a recipe to spread the holiday cheer when using dark chocolate with almonds.
BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE WITH ALMONDS DAY HISTORY
The National Confectioners Association sponsors Bittersweet Chocolate With Almonds Day.
HOW TO OBSERVE #BittersweetChocolateWithAlmondsDay
Chocolate and almonds can improve just about any day. Try one of the recipes below or one of your favorites to celebrate. Make enough to share or invite friends to get creative with chocolate recipes in your kitchen. Are you looking for other ways to add chocolate and almonds to your day? Here are some ideas to share:
Top your oatmeal with some chopped dark chocolate and almonds. It will add crunch and flavor.
Make up some granola for a mid-snack using chocolate and almonds.
Roll up some delicious energy bites with these two amazing ingredients and put them in the freezer for a quick and easy craving quencher.
Enjoy them separately! Add dark chocolate to your morning coffee, and top your salad with almonds. You might be missing the “with” but we won’t tell.
While you are celebrating, be sure to use #BittersweetChocolateWithAlmondsDay to post on social media.
