NEW YEAR’S EVE DAY

 Every year on December 31st, people around the world celebrate New Year’s Eve, the last day of the year. It’s a day to say “goodbye” to the old and “hello” to the new.

Also known as Old Year’s Day or Saint Sylvester’s Day, New Year’s Eve is one of the most exciting holidays of the year. Some countries, such as the Philippines and Latvia, celebrate New Year’s Eve as a public holiday. In Japan, it’s a government holiday. In other countries, many businesses let their employees off of work early so that they can partake in the many festivities.

There are many reasons this day is one of the biggest nights of the year. Not just because it’s a time of big parties and celebrations all around the world. New Year’s Eve can be a significant turning point in your life. It’s a time to reflect on the past year and all of the lessons you have learned. It can be a time you decide to start making better choices. If you have had a rough year, New Year’s Eve offers a feeling of relief. You can be thankful that the year is finally over

New Year’s is also a time to forgive past mistakes and form new habits. Many people make New Year’s resolutions. Although, only 8% of people actually accomplish them. Instead of making resolutions that you’re not going to keep anyway, it’s better to set three or four goals. Breaking down goals into actionable steps, and reviewing your progress daily helps to keep them. It’s also a good idea to find a friend or mentor that can hold you accountable.

HOW TO OBSERVE #NewYearsEve

As we count down the last hours and seconds of the old year, it is an excellent time to look back at the year and reminisce with friends and family.   

Many cities throughout the world go all-out to celebrate this exciting night. Fireworks, concerts, countdowns, and ball drops are usually among the many festivities. Some of the best cities to celebrate include New York City, Sydney, Bangkok, Dubai, Cape Town, London, and Las Vegas.

In Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries, it is a tradition to eat 12 grapes during the countdown to midnight, symbolizing hopes for the new year. Around the world, eating anything in the form of a circle or ring symbolizes coming full circle and is considered good luck

National Cream Puff Day is an annual food feast celebrated on January 2nd of every year. The celebration day is just for those who love eating French choux pastry balls filled with cream. It’s time to start the year with the delicious cream puff to add more joy to the celebration. Originally the French recipes are different from other region food items. Cream Puff is one such pastry item that is unique both in taste and look. So this is the perfect occasion to treat your sweet tooth with this choux à la crème or cream puffs. The National Cream Puff Day celebrates the unusual rich dessert pastries and those who love them.

History of National Cream Puff Day

The history, origin, founder, and the year at which the National Cream Puff Day has been celebrated are not known precisely. However, the cream puff custard has a long tradition. The cream puffs are found to be originated in France in the 1540s. It had existed when Catherine de Medici’s pastry chef created the baked the puffed shells for Henry II of France, Catherine’s husband. The cream puff is a choux pastry ball often filled with whipped cream, pastry cream, custard, or ice cream. It is also called profiterole or choux a la creme.

The choux pastry is a light pastry in which the dough is added to a high percentage of the boiled mixture of butter and water. It is then cooked at a high temperature in the oven until the dough mixture converts to be a smooth ball of dough with a hollow center. After cream puffs are taken out of the oven, they must be cut in half, or the pastry will deflate upon cooling. The choux paste must be piped through a pastry bag into small balls to make the cream puffs. When the ball is baked, you will have hollow puffs. The puffs can be decorated or left plain. It can be garnished with caramel, chocolate sauce, or a dusting of powdered sugar.

How to Celebrate National Cream Puff Day

The best way to celebrate National Cream Puff Day is to fill up your mouth with some delicious soft cream puffs. Learn to know more about the cream puffs and their making in detail. Get the ingredients and prepare them on your own for your family and friends. Fill it with custard or whipped cream and decorate it with all your favorite toppings. To make it simple, you can even buy cream puffs from the pastry shop and taste them. Share your Cream Puff Day celebration and your making photos on social media using the hashtag #CreamPuffDay.

NATIONAL CHOCOLATE COVERED CHERRY DAY

January 3rd spotlights National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day and a favorite during many holidays. Furthermore, the National Confectioners Association has been known to recognize this day as an annual event.  

Chocolate-covered cherry lovers know how impossible it is to eat just one of these candies. Candy makers combine these two favorite flavors into one delicious treat and it turns into something irresistible. They also often make the candy with a sweet liquid center and in some cases a liqueur filling.

Chocolate covered cherries are also chocolate cordials. They can be either store-bought or homemade. There are many recipes that mimic the flavor of this well-loved candy. Either way, they are known to many as a mid-winter pick-me-up. 

National Bird Day – January 5, 2022

Birds have always held special place in our hearts, which is why we celebrate them on National Bird Day every January 5! While birds are amazing, they’re also a massive animal group under particular threat. And the phrase “canary in the coal mine” was named after birds for a reason—they’re the barometers of our planet’s environmental health. The fact that so many bird species are under threat thanks to the illegal pet trade, disease, and habitat loss means it’s more important than ever to raise public awareness of the needs of birds. The survival of hundreds of species depends on it!

NATIONAL TECHNOLOGY DAY

National Technology Day on January 6th recognizes how technology changes the world and looks to the future of technology. Each year, from the wheel to smartphones, the day honors technological achievements that impact our daily lives.

Imagine the world without technology. In our daily lives, we can’t take a step without coming into contact with a form of it. Yet, the world is abuzz with technology!

Outside of the healthcare sector, tech jobs are among the strongest and fastest-growing divisions. And let’s face it, technology is at the center of most jobs these days. Some of the may places we encounter technology include:

• Agriculture 
• Healthcare 
• Education
• Entertainment
• Foodservice
• Security

We use technology to keep us organized, connected, healthy, and safe. Technology improves productivity and gives us insights into how the world works. 

Apps

One area of the tech world that continues to advance and affect our lives is apps (short for applications). With the advent of smartphones, apps are way more than just games or photo editing. So if you haven’t made any resolutions yet, resolve to check out these trending apps:

• AXEL – Files move or stream from one device straight to another. No stops along the way and no uploading. It removes the middlemen.
• Circle of 6 – When talking about personal safety, this is a tool you might consider having. It is designed to quickly and discreetly get help in dangerous situations. Pre-written messages are sent to designated recipients by simply tapping twice, GPS location included.
• Zombies, Run! – Exercise as a game. And zombies. It’s a zombie exercise game. If nothing else motivates you, maybe this will.

Communication

Another area where technology thrives is in the area of communications. We use various tools to communicate with people, and we use these tools a lot! Consider all the ways we convey a message in today’s world.

• Exploring technologies of the past. Which ones would you bring back if you could?
• Share your favorite technologies.
• Discuss how technology improves your life.
• Test out new technology.
• Share your ideas for new technology.

Use #TechnologyDay on social media. Talk to someone about your technology ideas or find a way to bring your vision forward.

NATIONAL TECHNOLOGY DAY HISTORY

AXEL, a technology-based company, headquartered out of Las Vegas, founded National Technology Day. The Registrar at National Day Calendar declared National Technology Day in 2016.

National Tempura Day

Batter and deep-fry a wide range of foods, from prawns to vegetables, and pair with Japanese staples like donburi or soba for...

Tempura is a deep-fried dish that the Japanese have made for centuries. When did it originate? Let us find out through the history of National Tempura Day!

Learn about National Tempura Day

On National Tempura Day, we are encouraged to enjoy any sort of dish that has been made with tempura batter. This is a Japanese fare, with most people tucking into delicious Tempura prawns on this date! However, there are many things you can deep-fry in this batter. Seafood and vegetables are the most popular, yet there’s nothing stopping you from having Tempura chicken. We are sure that there are plenty of unique concoctions you can come up with as well. Deep-fried Mars bars are popular, so what about a Tempura version?

Tempura is a traditional Japanese dish. It was introduced in the 16th century by the Portuguese that were living in Nagasaki at the time. They used fritter-cooking to achieve the light batter. The batter typically consists of soft wheat flour, for example, all-purpose flour, pastry flour, or cake flour, which is combined with iced water. Some people prefer to use sparkling water to keep the batter light.

A lot of people will also add spices, oil, starch, baking powder or baking soda, and/or eggs, especially the egg yolk. Traditionally, this batter is mixed in small batches. Chopsticks are used to mix the batter, and it is only mixed minimally, i.e. for a few seconds. Any lumps are left in the mixture, and this – along with the cold temperature – is how the crisp and unique fluffy tempura structure is created when cooking.

Cooked tempura pieces tend to be either salted and eaten as they are or they are presented with a dipping sauce. Tentsuyu sauce is the most common sauce to enjoy with this batter. A lot of people serve it with grated daikon, which is a mild-flavored winter radish, and they eat it straight after it has been fried. You will also find that tempura is typically found in udon soup or bowls of soba in Japan, typically in the form of a fritter, shiso leaf, or shrimp.

National Tempura Day

Learn about National Tempura Day

On National Tempura Day, we are encouraged to enjoy any sort of dish that has been made with tempura batter. This is a Japanese fare, with most people tucking into delicious Tempura prawns on this date! However, there are many things you can deep-fry in this batter. Seafood and vegetables are the most popular, yet there’s nothing stopping you from having Tempura chicken. We are sure that there are plenty of unique concoctions you can come up with as well. Deep-fried Mars bars are popular, so what about a Tempura version?

Tempura is a traditional Japanese dish. It was introduced in the 16th century by the Portuguese that were living in Nagasaki at the time. They used fritter-cooking to achieve the light batter. The batter typically consists of soft wheat flour, for example, all-purpose flour, pastry flour, or cake flour, which is combined with iced water. Some people prefer to use sparkling water to keep the batter light.

A lot of people will also add spices, oil, starch, baking powder or baking soda, and/or eggs, especially the egg yolk. Traditionally, this batter is mixed in small batches. Chopsticks are used to mix the batter, and it is only mixed minimally, i.e. for a few seconds. Any lumps are left in the mixture, and this – along with the cold temperature – is how the crisp and unique fluffy tempura structure is created when cooking.

Cooked tempura pieces tend to be either salted and eaten as they are or they are presented with a dipping sauce. Tentsuyu sauce is the most common sauce to enjoy with this batter. A lot of people serve it with grated daikon, which is a mild-flavored winter radish, and they eat it straight after it has been fried. You will also find that tempura is typically found in udon soup or bowls of soba in Japan, typically in the form of a fritter, shiso leaf, or shrimp.

It is also not uncommon for tempura to be used in combination with other foods. So, if you want to cook a tempura-inspired meal for National Tempura Day, there are plenty of main dishes for you to consider. As mentioned, you can add tempura to the top of udon soup. It is also typically served as part of a donburi dish, which is where vegetables and tempura shrimp are served over a bowl of steamed rice. You could also make a bowl of tempura soba, which is essentially tempura that is served on top of buckwheat noodles. Or, how about making your very own creation?

History of National Tempura Day

Tempura is made up of either seafood or vegetables that are battered, deep-fried, and enjoyed by millions of people across the nation. Portuguese Jesuit missionaries introduced the recipe for tempura to Japan during the sixteenth century (around 1549). It is believed that Portuguese Jesuit Tokugawa Isyasu, founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, loved tempura. Since the Genroku era (September 1688 – March 1704) tempura was originally a very popular food that was eaten at street vendors called yatai.

The idea that the word “tempura” may have been derived from the Portuguese noun tempero, meaning a condiment or seasoning of any kind, or from the verb temperar, meaning “to season” has not been substantiated. The term “tempura” is thought to have gained popularity in southern Japan; it became widely used to refer to any sort of food prepared using hot oil, including some already existing Japanese foods. Today, the word “tempura” is also commonly used to refer to satsuma age, a fried fish cake that is made without batter. In Bangladesh, the blossoms of pumpkins or marrows are often deep-fried with a gram of rice flour spice mix, creating a Bengali style tempura known as kumro ful bhaja.

How to celebrate National Tempura Day

Celebrating National Tempura Day is easy. You gather up the ingredients necessary to create a tempura, be it a homemade recipe or one you found online, and make the dish to serve it with family as a happy dinner meal. You could decide to have tempura prawns or starter or you could opt for a main dish that incorporates tempura, such as the ones we mentioned earlier.

NATIONAL ENGLISH TOFFEE DAY

On January 8th, National English Toffee Day celebrates a favored confection that’s been enjoyed across the country for generations. This sweet treat comes with some confusion concerning the difference between English toffee and just plain toffee. Despite the confusion, it’s an enjoyable confection no matter how you crack it. 

Some say that English toffee is a harder candy than the American version. Others say that it’s the other way around. Some say the Americans add nuts, but the toffee in the United Kingdom doesn’t have nuts. Either way, this hard, sometimes chewy candy is made by caramelizing sugar. The Heath bar is a type of candy bar made with an English toffee core. It is sometimes enrobed in chocolate and topped with nuts. 

There is one significant difference between British toffee and American toffee, however; the British make toffee with only brown sugar, not white. And while they typically do not add nuts, they will add a layer of chocolate. Don’t hesitate to try dark, milk or white chocolate with English toffee. All varieties add a different texture and flavor.

Use #EnglishToffeeDay to post on social media.

NATIONAL ENGLISH TOFFEE DAY HISTORY

The National Confectioners Association recognizes this sweet observance. However, National Day Calendar continues to pursue the founders of the day.

National Save the Eagles Day

Breeding season varies by latitude. In Florida, egg laying may begin in November whereas in Alaska, egg laying typically occurs in late April through May. In Minnesota, the breeding season typically runs from late-February to early March in the southern part of the state through April into early May in the north.

NATIONAL BAGEL DAY

Toast up your favorite flavor on National Bagel Day. On January 15th, don’t forget to pick your favorite schmear, too. Make it for breakfast, lunch, snack, or all of the above!

This kosher carbohydrate brings complex flavors to the deli and sandwich bar. In the United States, we love our crunch-on-the-outside-chewy-on-the-inside bread. So they’re a staple in our freezers and as a winter pick-me-up.

Bagel History

Polish-Jewish immigrants introduced the bagel to the United States. Throughout New York City and the surrounding boroughs, they grew thriving businesses. Of course, it didn’t take long for the bakers to organize. In 1907, they created the International Beigel Bakers’ Union. For decades, Bagel Bakers Local 338 held contracts with nearly all bagel bakeries for its workers in and around the city.

Until the 1960s, bakeries made bagels by hand. Then Daniel Thompson invented the bagel maker, and along came a heated debate of man versus the machine. Thereafter, the question of the better bagel dangled before customers. Was it the handcrafted beigel or the manufactured bagel? 

What is your favorite bagel and filling?

Mine is an onion bagel with seasoned cream cheese.