November » 2013 » semisweet&nuts

National Sundae Day

November 12: National Sundae Day!

We all know what a sundae is. We’ve all eaten sundaes. For this reason, I wasn’t planning into delving into a history lesson on The Sundae. But I recently discovered that the birthplace of the sundae is disputed. Each of these cities believe they were THE VERY FIRST to create the holy sundae: Two Rivers, Wisconsin; Plainfield, Illinois; Evanston, Illinois; New York City; New Orleans, Louisiana; Ithaca, New York; Cleveland, Ohio; and Buffalo, New York. To be honest, I don’t find this all to be too terribly interesting, except that I used to live in Evanston, IL!

From Wikipedia:

Evanston was one of the first locations to pass a blue law against selling ice cream sodas in 1890. “Some ingenious confectioners and drug store operators [in Evanston]… obeying the law, served ice cream with the syrup of your choice without the soda. Thereby complying with the law… This sodaless soda was the Sunday soda.” As sales of the dessert continued on Mondays, local leaders then objected to naming the dish after the Sabbath, so the spelling of the name was changed to sundae.

Ok, whoa there. ICE CREAM SODAS WERE ILLEGAL ON SUNDAYS? I know Evanston is historically a fuddy-duddy town (“early after its founding, because of its strong Methodist influence, and its attempt to impose moral rigor, Evanston was called ‘Heavenston'”), but I’m 100% positive that God really does NOT care if you consume ice cream sodas on His/Her day. If I were God, I would ENCOURAGE the consumption of ice cream products (and french fries) on my day.

I went with the humble, yet satisfying, McDonald’s sundae. Also: cheap! Can’t go wrong with a cheap, satisfying sundae! I usually ask for half fudge/half caramel (not double, half of each), but apparently this was too much for the cashier to handle this time.

It appears that Liz Lemon also enjoys a McDonald’s sundae.

Tomorrow: Chicken Soup for the Soul Day

National Vanilla Cupcake Day

November 10: National Vanilla Cupcake Day.

The only thing good about vanilla cupcake day was being able to eat vanilla frosting.

I feel like the more popular cupcakes get, the more I hate them. The fact that there are numerous shows about cupcakes on TV is idiotic. Do people feel dainty eating a cupcake? Is it supposed to be quaint? Someone please explain the appeal of cupcakes to me, because I obviously don’t get it.

I was going to say that the only thing about awesome National Vanilla Cupcake Day is that we’ve exhausted national cupcake days (since National Chocolate Cupcake Day was on October 18), BUT NO. National CUPCAKE Day is December 15. Sigh.

Tomorrow: National Sundae Day

Cook Something Bold & Pungent Day

November 9: Cook Something Bold & Pungent Day!

When you think of “bold” and “pungent” foods… what do you think of? I think of onions. I think of garlic. I think of blue cheese. What food item happily and deliciously combines onions, garlic and blue cheese? A PIZZA!

I love making pizza. It’s so easy, and the results are almost GUARANTEED to be delicious… if you use a pizza stone. Public Service Announcement: If you don’t have a pizza stone, get thee to a kitchen goods specialty store (or Kohl’s… no judgment here… that’s where mine is from.) ASAP! Except if you’re single… then don’t get yourself one because I’ll probably buy one for you when you get married (it’s become a signature gift of mine). Homemade pizza is the only pizza in my life now that we live in California. Californians do a lot of things right, but pizza is not one of them. Luckily, when armed with a pizza stone, you can make a better pizza than many pizzerias, anyway. Early on in my pizza-making days, Bryce declared that my pizza was “better than Pizza Hut!”. I initially took this to be a back-handed compliment, but learned that this was very high praise since Pizza Hut was Bryce’s favorite pizza place (Minnesotans, like Californians, also aren’t known for their pizza…).

Anyway, I wish you many better-than-Pizza-Hit pizzas!

Tomorrow: National Vanilla Cupcake Day.

National Harvey Wallbanger Day

November 8: National Harvey Wallbanger Day!

Everyone single person I talked to about Harvey Wallbanger Day was like… huh? What’s that?? Well, it’s a cocktail! A cocktail made popular in the early 1950s! It’s an International Bartenders Association (IBA) Official Cocktail! I didn’t know that was a thing, but IBA Official Cocktails are selected for “use in the annual World Cocktail Competition (WCC) in bar tending” (apparently that’s a thing), and “these mixed drinks are some of the most notable and frequently-made cocktails by professional bartenders around the world.”

Huh. That’s funny since I had to call four bars before finding one that had the liquor required to make one. Have you ever called a bar looking for a particular kind of booze? No? Probably a good thing.So, a Harvey Wallbanger is vodka and orange juice, with Galliano floated on top. All bars will have vodka and orange juice (duh), but most bars will not have Galliano (apparently). I was reallllly hoping to find one that did, because the idea of spending $20+ on anise (blehhh) flavored liquor was not appealing to me. So I started calling around. The first bar didn’t have it. The second bar I called had ran out the previous weekend “from making Wallbangers!” The third bar had no idea what I was talking about. The fourth bar (which happens to be my favorite bar in Palo Alto because it’s divey and you can throw peanut shells on the floor) had it. Hooray!

I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that this particular bar had it. I’m assuming that the typical person who orders a Harvey Wallbanger is a bit of an oldie. Maybe an old lady bar fly? Someone who likes a stiff, cheap drink. Someone who would go to Antonio’s Nut House at 5pm daily.

I ordered my drink and the bartender had no idea what I was talking about (I guess she does not compete at the annual IBA WCC … or at least doesn’t do well there). I reminded her of the ingredients and her memory was refreshed. When she reached for the Galliano, an old, grizzled man sitting at the bar exclaimed “GALLIANO!?!” and seemed rather impressed by my beverage. Which was strange but sort of… cool? I don’t know.

Will I order a Harvey Wallbanger again? Probably not. A little too licorice-y for my tastes. But this was probably one of my favorite challenges so far. I like when I get to learn something about whatever the food item is, and try something new. I was also a little disappointed that I didn’t like the cocktail more… it would have been a fun “signature” order. I feel like I need a signature drink! A drink that is my go-to. I love a good margarita, but that’s not a drink I’d order in a bar (because it likely would be made with gross sugary mix and not be good). If a caipirinha is on a drink menu, I will order it… but that’s not very often. A vodka with soda water is a classic sorority girl/gay man drink, but not particularly classy. A dirty martini is a good option, but I don’t like olives. I want a signature drink that is a classic. Do you have a signature cocktail??

Tomorrow: Cook Something Bold and Pungent Day.

Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day

November 7: Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day!

Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day is ALSO Bryce’s birthday! This is quite an appropriate pairing since Bryce loves dark chocolate. Like, the darkest chocolate available. I think it would be more cost effective for him to buy a block of baker’s chocolate instead of some fancy artisanal chocolate. Anyway! I couldn’t find any chocolate labeled “bittersweet chocolate with almonds”… it was either “bittersweet chocolate” or “dark chocolate with almonds”. I thought about buying the bittersweet chocolate and simultaneously chewing it with a few almonds, but decided to just buy the darkest chocolate with almonds available. That happened to be the INTENSE DARK.

Have you ever been to a SEA SALT SOIREE? It’s intense. You might even say intense dark. Speaking of SEA SALT SOIREES… who names chocolate bars? Are they the same people as the ones who name nail polish colors? I want that job.

Tomorrow: National Harvey Wallbanger Day.

National Nachos Day

November 6: National Nachos Day!

This was the first day of my QUEST that I really didn’t feel like eating the daily “assigned” food. This is sort of strange, since you’d think that NACHOS DAY would be a holy day, but since International Day of the Nacho was so recent, it wasn’t as special. I was also in the mood for something/anything other than Mexican/Tex-Mex. Bummer for me! Boo hoo! Anyway, I persevered and lived to see another day.

Tomorrow: Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day.

Doughnut Appreciation Day

November 5: Doughnut Appreciation Day!

Is there a difference between a doughnut and a donut? No, right? Because today I celebrated by going to Happy Donuts and I want to make sure I’m not disqualified.

I’m not really a donut person. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve had a donut in the past 3 or so years. It’s not that they’re bad, it’s just that I never think to eat them. There are so many other things I’d rather eat for breakfast. It’s sort of weird that donuts are breakfast food, right? It’s like, not even trying to masquerade as something remotely good for you. Unless glaze and sprinkles are fortified with essential vitamins and minerals!

One type of donut that I do love (though I haven’t had them in at least 20 years, so maybe I’ve changed my mind… but I doubt it) are homemade donuts. Or maybe camp-made donuts is a better name for them since the first time I had them was at summer camp (day camp… not sleep-away camp because I was a baby). ANYWAY, you get a package of that ready-made dough (the kind that comes in a tube and you peel away the paper and BAM it explodes dough out at you) and you roll little wads of dough in your hands and throw it in hot oil (safe for campers!) and then fish it out (even safer!) and put them in paper bags filled with sugar or cinnamon (or both!) and shake ‘em. And then eat them. So good. I think. Again, it’s been 20 years. Weird that I can say that and not be exaggerating.

Tomorrow: National Nachos Day. (Again?)

National Candy Day

November 4: National Candy Day

Guys, how is TODAY Candy Day? Why wasn’t it last week on Halloween? Everyone is sick of candy… no one cares to CELEBRATE candy today. Dumb.

Maybe I’m just crabby because I assumed people at work would bring in their Halloween candy leftovers. Correction: I assumed people at work would bring in their GOOD Halloween candy leftovers. You know, mini chocolate bars! NOT garbage candy. No one wants garbage candy.

Here’s some garbage candy I ate today to celebrate CANDY DAY. If you’ve never had Sugar Babies, one time is enough. I say that because once you eat them once, you’ll have them in your teeth for all eternity. Unrelated, doesn’t it look like little pieces of bacon on the package?

Tomorrow: Doughnut Appreciation Day

National Sandwich Day

November 3: National Sandwich Day!

Guys, I really, REALLY wish I could have eaten a Potbelly’s chicken salad sandwich (aka my favorite sandwich in the world) to celebrate today. Alas, there are no Potbelly’s in California. Ugh. So uncool. They (Potbelly’s) recently became a publicly traded company (I feel like I should own their stock!) and APPARENTLY it’s doing really well and blah blah blah I know nothing about the stock market but I feel like this should mean that they’ll expand their market soon??? I hope???

Since I couldn’t get Potbelly’s, I went with another favorite: a classic grilled cheese. Nothing fancy… just white bread and American cheese!

Simple and delicious! A toddler staple!

Tomorrow: National Candy Day

National Deviled Egg Day

November 2: National Deviled Egg Day!

I have a love/hate relationship with deviled eggs. I love the yolk, I hate the white. The yolk is yummy, mustard-y, mayo-y, salty deliciousness. The white is a rubbery, plastic-y, flavorless vesicle that holds the yummy, mustard-y, mayo-y, salty delicious. Egg white :: celery as egg yolk :: peanut butter.

When I was little and we were at a party with deviled eggs, I’d lick out all the yellow and hand my dad the white to eat. Okay, this still happens.