National Mulled Wine Day on March 3rd warms us up with fruits, spices, and wine. In the lingering days of winter, a hot mug of mulled wine hits the spot and fills the home with pleasant aromas.
Mulled spirits are wine and liquors that have been heated and spiced. Mulled wine is usually made with red wine with various spices, fruits and sometimes slightly sweetened with honey. Popular blends include cinnamon, nutmeg, citrus, vanilla, anise, cloves, raisins or pears.
Wine was first recorded as spiced and heated in First Century Rome.
The combination of the heated spirits and spices are a warm welcome on a cold winter’s day and have long been considered a balm against illness during this time of year.
Since we live in Florida, this is a warm welcome for us in late fall. It makes a great treat for holiday parties. Put it on low in a crockpot for an easy way to serve for Thanksgiving or Christmas. This will make your home both smell and feel amazing for holiday family gatherings.
* Tip* For a non alcoholic beverage substitute apple cider and apple juice. Try honey crisp apples and juice too.
Ice cream and cake come together on February 1st in a celebration called National Baked Alaska Day.
An elaborate dessert that is also known as “Omelette Norvegienne,” Baked Alaska is made with hard ice cream on a base of sponge cake and covered in a shell of toasted meringue.
In the United States in 1867, an earnest debate erupted over the potential purchase of Alaska from Russia. Secretary of State William Seward agreed to a purchase price of $7 million, and Alaska became a United States territory in 1868. Those of the opinion that the purchase was a giant mistake referred to the purchase as “Seward’s Folly.”
Enter Charles Ranhofer, the chef at Delmonico’s Restaurant in New York City. He was notorious for naming new and renaming old dishes after famous people and events. Capitalizing on the heated controversy surrounding the purchase in the frozen north, Baked Alaska fit the bill. It was cold, nearly frozen, and quickly toasted in a hot oven before serving.
He served as the chef at Delmonico’s from 1862 to 1896. During his tenure, he also created Lobster Newburg, another famous dish honored with a national food holiday.
Cake and ice cream go so well together. What better way to enjoy it than with a topping of meringue? You can also take one of your favorite recipes and name it after an epic event in your life.
Use #NationalBakedAlaskaDay to post on social media.
Every year on January 31, National Hot Chocolate Day warms people up across the country. Try celebrating this, timeless cold-weather beverage.
Hot chocolate is a warm beverage made with ground chocolate, heated milk or water, and sugar. In America, we often use the terms hot chocolate and hot cocoa interchangeably. However, the two beverages are different. Try it with you favorite cookie or cake if you’re feeling really indulgent, and need a break from that New Years diet you started.
Cocoa vs Hot Chocolate
We make hot cocoa with cocoa powder, heated milk or water, and sugar. We’re able to do this thanks to a process developed by father and son chemists. The thicker, more flavorful beverage, we make hot chocolate from ground chocolate containing cocoa butter. It’s also called drinking chocolate. Hot chocolate has also been around longer than hot cocoa. In the early 1800s, Casparus van Houten Sr. developed a process to separate the cocoa solids from the butter. His son, Coenraad Johannes made those fats more soluble in water. Together their processes made cocoa powder possible.
But before then, everyone drank hot chocolate. This thicker, creamier beverage often offered medicinal benefits for stomach ailments during the 19th century. In the 17th and 18th centuries it was a rare treat. Especially in some European countries like Britian. Long before the beverage’s popularity in Victorian times, it served in ceremonial culture.
2000 years ago, the Mayans likely created the first chocolate beverage. A cocoa beverage was also an essential part of Aztec culture by 1400 AD. Europe popularized the drink after it was introduced from Mexico in the New World.
Hot chocolate can be enjoyed in a variety of combinations, topped with whipped cream or marshmallows. Sometimes a sprinkle of cinnamon or a dash of peppermint makes the chocolate extra special. In the United States, an instant form of hot chocolate is popular. It is made with hot water or milk and a packet containing mostly cocoa powder, sugar, and dry milk. People enjoy topping it with marshmallows or whipped cream.
There are health benefits to drinking hot chocolate. Cocoa contains significant amounts of antioxidants that may help prevent cancer. It has also been shown that the cocoa beans help with digestion. The flavonoids that are found in the cocoa also have a positive effect on arterial health.
My favorite fact about chocolate is the way it effects your brain. Did you know it signals the pleasure center of your brain? This is why you get that warm contentment feeling after chocolate. One more reason to look forward to those boxes of chocolates at Valentine’s Day. Of course you can always just order your own year round.
Enjoy a cup of hot chocolate. You can make it with dark or milk chocolate. While you’re at it, try experimenting, too. Add some cinnamon or other flavors to your chocolate. Of course, inviting a friend to join you is essential to the celebration, too. Try adding these toppings.
Whipped cream
Marshmallows
Sprinkles
Candied fruit
Take a photo and use #NationalHotChocolateDay to post on social media.
