AARP Eye Center
NATIONAL CORN FRITTERS DAY
National Corn Fritters Day on July 16th encourages us to fry up a batch of these crispy, flavorful bites of corn and batter! Make them with fresh corn and the celebration will be even better!
These bright crispy morsels make great additions to summer barbecues and backyard gatherings. The main ingredients include corn, meal, egg, milk, and butter. While they may have originated in the south, corn fritters can easily be changed up with peppers, onions, or herbs to give them regional and seasonal flair.
When paired with other vegetables and a pan-fried fish filet, corn fritters added to a lightly toasted bun create a unique fish sandwich. Don’t look at corn fritters as just a side dish, but a functional part of a complete meal.
Make your fritters small, and they become appetizers. When there’s a bumper crop of sweet corn, be sure to freeze some for a taste of summer during the winter. These corn fritters will brighten up a gloomy, cold day.
HOW TO OBSERVE NationalCornFrittersDay
Head to your local Southern-style restaurant or grab your frying pan to whip up some homemade fritters! Here are a grilled corn fritter and a fresh sweet corn fritter recipe for you to try. Post on social media using NationalCornFrittersDay.
NATIONAL FRITTERS DAY HISTORY
We were unable to identify the creator of National Corn Fritters Day.
NATIONAL PECAN PIE DAY
Pecan pie is a pie of pecan nuts mixed with a filling of eggs, butter, and sugar (typically corn syrup).[1] Variations may include white or brown sugar, cane syrup, sugar syrup, molasses, maple syrup, or honey. It is popularly served at holiday meals in the United States and is considered a specialty of Southern U.S. origin. Most pecan pie recipes include salt and vanilla as flavorings. Chocolate and bourbon whiskey are other popular additions to the recipe.Pecan pie is often serveId with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, or hard sauce.
Name: Pecan Pie Prep: 15 minutes Cook: 60 minutes Total Prep: 75 minutes Servings: 6-8 Ingredients: 1 cup brown sugar 1 1/4 cup corn syrup 4 eggs, beaten 4 tablespoons butter 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 1/2 cup pecans Instructions:
- Bake:
Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes tent the pie loosely with aluminum foil to prevent the crust and pecans from getting too browned. Bake for another 35 to 45 minutes until the filling has set. The pie should be a bit wiggly in the center.
- Remove from oven and let cool completely:
Note that the pie will be puffed up a bit when you first take it out of the oven. It will settle as it cools.
NATIONAL PECAN PIE DAY Grab a slice on July 12th and celebrate National Pecan Pie Day! Mix up the ingredients using primarily corn syrup, pecan nuts, salt, and vanilla. Occasionally, recipes vary by including sugar syrup and molasses or maple syrup.
NATIONAL SUGAR COOKIE DAY
Observed each year on July 9th, National Sugar Cookie Day honors the ever-popular and delicious sugar cookie.
A holiday favorite and very easy to make, sugar cookies disappear quickly once they come out of the oven. Most sugar cookies include sugar, flour, butter, eggs, vanilla, and either baking powder or baking soda. While most people have the ingredients on hand at all times, some of the ingredients should be fresh for the best outcome. Children enjoy baking and decorating anytime someone makes a batch of sugar cookies.
The sugar cookie is believed to have originated in the mid-1700s in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. German Protestant settlers created a round, crumbly and buttery cookie that came to be known as the Nazareth Cookie.
Today, sugar cookie making and decorating has become an art form for kids and adults alike. Starting with the shape of the cookie, the dough is formed with either a cookie cutter or other methods of cutting and shaping the dough. Once the cookie is baked, the cookie artist adds colored frosting or icing. Sprinkles, edible glitter, colored sugars, and additional details may be added. Some cookies receive so much detail, it’s almost a shame to eat them.
HOW TO OBSERVE NationalSugarCookieDay
- While making some delicious and beautiful sugar cookies, marvel at the skill of bakers who have mastered the skill. Learn some of their tips and tricks, or share your own. We even have a delicious sugar cookie recipe for you to try. For more recipes, be sure to visit the National Day Calendar® recipe pages or share one of your own. Don’t forget to give a shout-out to your favorite baker and let them know you appreciate their delicious cookies. Post on social media using NationalSugarCookieDay.
NATIONAL SUGAR COOKIE DAY HISTORY
National Day Calendar is researching the origins of this cookie holiday. However, the calendar is full of cookie celebrations! Won’t you check them out?
National Kitten Day
This is dedicated to all of the cat lovers out there on the Front Porch!
Kittens! Who doesn’t love tiny, adorable kittens? …their big heads, giant eyes, tiny pink paws and noses, and the adorable mews they make…. We can’t resist their cute and furry charms. Surprisingly Americans seem to like cats and kittens best: According to the American Humane Society, 95.6 million cats were owned, while 83.3 million households owned a dog. There is certainly nothing wrong with dogs, but a tiny kitten is irresistible! So join us on July 10, as we celebrate National Kitten Day!
The day aims to remind us that while kittens are well equipped to find their way into our hearts, many don’t find homes. They’re abandoned at shelters, on the side of the road or wild and feral. Spaying and neutering our pets, including our cats, is vital to their health and keeping the stray population down.
Another goal of awareness campaigns like this one is to encourage adoptions. Instead of purchasing a kitten from a pet store, adopt from a shelter. Many kittens are born in shelters. While their ages may vary, all kittens do become cats.
Adoption Tips
Follow the shelter’s guidelines and keep these tips in mind when adopting:
- There’s an application process. Read through it and understand it. The guidelines are for the safety of the animals, the employees, and you.
- Ask questions. It’s important there’s an understanding between you and the shelter. Most shelters have volunteers and paid employees. However, they work on a very tight budget. Please don’t expect any special accommodations.
- A good shelter will place the interests of the animal first. They want the cat to have a successful placement. Some animals have anxiety while others get along with anyone and every type of animal.
- Consider the size of your home and where you live – an apartment or house.
- Who lives with you? That includes people and pets – does everyone get along and does anyone have allergies?
- How much time do you have for a pet?
- So you’ve spotted the kitten for you. Be sure to make several visits to the shelter. Play with the kitten. Spend time grooming them. See how the kitten reacts to other cats. Learn the kitten’s behavior.
Maybe Fuzzy Bear has health issues or doesn’t get along with children. Perhaps another kitten gets along better with dogs. All these factors will be considered on your application.
HOW TO OBSERVE
NationalKittenDay
Play with your kitten or bring her a new toy. Share a selfie with your kitten. Visit a shelter and volunteer your time. If you are considering getting a kitten, adopt instead of purchasing one. Use #NationalKittenDay to share your story.
NATIONAL KITTEN DAY HISTORY
Colleen Paige, Pet & Family Lifestyle Expert, Author, and Animal Advocate, founded National Kitten Day to encourage adoption and celebrate the joy kittens bring to our lives.
NATIONAL PAUL BUNYAN DAY
On June 28th, we remember fondly the tales of the big blue ox and a mighty lumberjack. It is National Paul Bunyan Day!
Described as a giant and a lumberjack of unusual skill, Paul Bunyan is one of the most famous North American folklore heroes. In the tales, Paul Bunyan was almost always accompanied by his companion, Babe the Blue Ox.
Was He Real?
First appearing in print in 1906, in a story published by Northern Michigan journalist James MacGillivray, Bunyan’s character originated in folktales circulated among lumberjacks in the Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada. One account states that the tales began during the Papineau Rebellion of 1837. In 1914, William Laughhead reworked the stories for a logging company’s advertising campaign. The campaign breathed new life into the growing legendary character of Paul Bunyan. It was the 1922 edition of Laughead’s tales that inspired many others and soon the character’s plaid shirt and far-fetched characteristics spread across all of the United States and Canada.
Statue of Paul Bunyan in Akeley, MN.
I visited there in the Mid 1950's with my sister and folks.
The Folklore
While folklore surrounds the lumberjack, Paul Bunyan is one character that has an origin story. One Paul Bunyan legend claims it took five storks to carry him as a newborn. As he grew a little older, when he clapped his hands and laughed, windows shook and shattered. The story continues that he sawed off the legs of his parents’ bed in the middle of the night when he was only seven months old. Folklore also credits Bunyan with forming the Grand Canyon as he and Babe the Blue Ox walked through, dragging his ax behind him. Another myth suggests Bunyan created the Great Lakes so Babe had a watering hole.
Read one or several of the Paul Bunyan tales. Share your adventures as you find the various statues dedicated to this folklore hero. Use #NationalPaulBunyanDay to share on social media.
HISTORY OF NATIONAL PAUL BUNYAN DAY
National Day Calendar is researching the origin of this larger than life celebration.
NATIONAL PRALINES DAY
On June 24th, National Pralines Day honors a confection made from nuts (whether in whole pieces or ground) and sugar syrup. Pralines may also refer to any chocolate cookie containing the ground powder of nuts.
Around the world, candy makers create their pralines a little differently.
- Belgian Pralines – contain a hard chocolate shell with a softer, sometimes liquid, filling.
- French Pralines – a combination of almonds and caramelized sugar.
- American Pralines – contain milk or cream and are softer and creamier, resembling fudge.
At the Chateau of Vaux-le-Vicomte during the 17th century, French sugar industrialist, Marshal du Plessis-Praslin (1598-1675), originally inspired the early pralines. These first pralines were whole almonds, individually coated in caramelized sugar.
The powder made by grinding up sugar-coated nuts is called pralin. This is an ingredient in many types of cakes, pastries and ice creams. When this powder is mixed with chocolate, it becomes praliné in French, which gave birth to what is known in French as chocolat praliné.
The French settlers brought their recipe into Louisiana, an area of the United States where both sugar cane and pecan trees were plentiful. During the 19th century, New Orleans chefs substituted pecans for almonds, added cream to thicken the confection, and thus creating what is known throughout the Southern United States as the praline.
NATIONAL CHOCOLATE ICECREAM DAY JUNE 7, 2021
Vanilla is considered the most popular flavor of ice cream, but ever since the Italians froze hot chocolate in 1692, chocolate has been a close contender. The celebratory day itself was likely started by an ice cream manufacturer to encourage greater sales of the delightful dessert, but the question remains whether there was really any need to encourage people to eat more chocolate ice cream.
@DaveMcK wrote:NATIONAL CHOCOLATE ICECREAM DAY JUNE 7, 2021
Vanilla is considered the most popular flavor of ice cream, but ever since the Italians froze hot chocolate in 1692, chocolate has been a close contender. The celebratory day itself was likely started by an ice cream manufacturer to encourage greater sales of the delightful dessert, but the question remains whether there was really any need to encourage people to eat more chocolate ice cream.
💥 Lol @DaveMcK my hips do not need anymore chocolate 🤣😂 💥
Good morning America... As I get ready to head out to pay my respects on this Memorial Day, I have one simple request for all Americans.. I simply ask that Americans live their lives in a way that preserves Freedom and Honors the sacrifice that my Fallen Brothers and Sisters have made to preserve it for you.. For if you let Freedom die, your children will forever live in bondage and the sacrifice our Fallen have made will have been for nothing...
May God bless you all and stay safe..
We seem to have ended up with some duplicate photos today.
T.c
WHY IS THE POPPY A SYMBOL OF MEMORIAL DAY?
In the war-torn battlefields of Europe, the common red field poppy (Papaver rhoeas) was one of the first plants to reappear. Its seeds scattered in the wind and sat dormant in the ground, only germinating when the ground was disturbed—as it was by the very brutal fighting of World War 1.
John McCrae, a Canadian soldier and physician, witnessed the war first hand and was inspired to write the now-famous poem “In Flanders Fields” in 1915. (See below for the poem.) He saw the poppies scattered throughout the battlefield surrounding his artillery position in Belgium.
The Poppy Lady
In November 1918, days before the official end of the war, an American professor named Moina Michael wrote her own poem, “We Shall Keep the Faith,” which was inspired by McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields.” In her poem (also shown below), she mentioned wearing the “poppy red” to honor the dead, and with that, the tradition of adorning one’s clothing with a single red poppy in remembrance of those killed in the Great War was born. Moina herself came to be known—and honored—as “The Poppy Lady.”
The Symbol Spreads Abroad
The wearing of the poppy was traditionally done on Memorial Day in the United States, but the symbolism has evolved to encompass all veterans living and deceased, so poppies may be worn on Veterans Day as well. Not long after the custom began, it was adopted by other Allied nations, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, where it is still popular today. In these countries, the poppy is worn on Remembrance Day (November 11).
Today, poppies are not only a symbol of loss of life, but also of recovery and new life, especially in support of the servicemen who survived the war but suffered from physical and psychological injuries long after it ended.
Remembering our forthcoming Military Holidays!
National Wine Day today May 25th 2021 brings to mind my favorite Wisconsin Winery which is the Wollersheim Winery & Distillery.
Wollersheim Winery is located on a scenic hillside across the Wisconsin River from Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin. Created in the 1840s, Wollersheim Winery has developed into a leader in the Midwestern wine industry, winning numerous awards throughout its storied history. I hope everyone has an enjoyable National Wine Day with a glass or two of your favorite wine.
Happy National Dog Rescue Day was yesterday! Love this pup SO **bleep** much !! Our daughter Janice with her husband Dean and their rescued puppy Kona.
BIRD DAY
We honor our feathered friends on several holidays called Bird Day in the United States. The day celebrates birds of all kinds across North America.
With over 2,000 species of birds in North America, birdwatchers and nature lovers alike will appreciate the beauty and variety of these winged friends offer. From songbirds to waterfowl and domesticated birds, they come in every color of plumage and wingspan.
During the spring, migrating birds move to their summer nesting grounds. It’s an excellent time for those new to birdwatching to learn to identify birds by species. Enthusiasts also know that birds will migrate through backyards and stop for a rest, a bite to eat, and a drink if the right habitat is provided. They stand prepared by their windows with binoculars and watch as new visitors arrive daily. Whether it’s an oriole, a tree swallow, the ruby-throated hummingbird, or an American Finch, you’ll want to make sure you’ve prepared food, natural habitat and water sources for your guests.
However, it’s not just the passersby that get birdists excited. It’s the long term residents and those of the greater outdoors. Year after year they watch robins collect their nesting material or chickadees caring for their brood. They wander through nature preserves seeking a glimpse of a varied thrush or a prairie warbler. When they do, they are often graced with a privileged view of a bald eagle soaring above them.
"I downloaded AARP Perks to assist in staying connected and never missing out on a discount!" -LeeshaD341679
