List Of Food Months Updated January 2018

Many of us base our blog posts on Food Holiday's so here's an updated list of food months to help you prepare for the months ahead.  :)

Canada

• March - National Nutrition Month
• May - Food Allergy Awareness Month

United States

January

• Be Kind To Food Servers Month (by proclamation, State of Tennessee) 
• California Dried Plum Digestive Health Month (declared by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2009)
• Hot Tea Month
• National Soup Month
• Oatmeal Month

February

• National Potato Lover's Month
• National Hot Breakfast Month
• National Bird-Feeding Month
• North Carolina Sweet Potato Month
• National Snack Food Month
• National Cherry Month
• National Dounut Month
• National Canned food Month

March

• National Celery Month
• National Frozen Food Month
• National Peanut Month

April

• Fresh Florida Tomato Month
• National Food Month
• National Grilled Cheese Month
• National Pecan Month
• National Soft Pretzel Month
• National Soyfoods Month
• National Sushi Month

May

• National Strawberry Month

June

• Dairy Alternatives Month
• Dairy Month
• National Candy Month
• National Frozen Yogurt Month
• National Fruit and Vegetables Month
• National Ice Tea Month
• National Surimi Seafood Month
• National Turkey Lovers' Month
• Ohio Wine Month

July

• Berry Month
• Blueberry Month
• California Wild King Salmon Month
• Culinary Arts Month
• Grilling Month
• Horseradish Month (origin: National Horseradish Information Council)
• National Ice Cream Month
• Picnic Month

August

• Catfish Month
• Family Meals Month
• Get Acquainted with Kiwifruit Month
• National Dippin' Dots Month
• Panini Month
• Peach Month
• Sandwich Month

September

• Better Breakfast Month
• California Wine Month
• Food Safety Education Month
• National Bourbon Heritage Month
• National Chicken Month
• National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month
• National Honey Month
• National Italian Cheese Month 
• National Mushroom Month
• National Papaya Month
• National Potato Month
• National Rice Month
• National Whole Grains Month
• National Wild Rice Month

October

• Apple Month
• Celebrate Sun Dried Tomatoes Month
• Cranberry Month
• Eat Better, Eat Together Month
• Farm to School Month
• Go Hog Wild - Eat Country Ham Month
• Halloween Safety Month
• National Chili Month
• National Cookie Month
• National Pizza Month
• National Popcorn Poppin' Month
• National Seafood Month
• Pasta Month
• Pork Month
• Spinach Lovers Month
• Vegetarian Awareness Month
• Virginia Wine Month

November

• National Peanut Butter Lovers Month
• Sweet Potato Awareness Month
• National Candy Month

December

• National Egg Nog Month
• National Fruit Cake Month
• National Pear Month

Full Meal Southwest Corn Chip Dip

When it's cold and rainy outside I like to fix a pot of something hot and easy that I can munch on all throughout the day. Well this easy dump it in and simmer meal is just perfect for that.

I like to eat it with Corn Chips because they are a bit saltier than tortilla chips and have a bit more corn flavor too. So.... if you have those on hand try lightly browning them in the over then spoon over the thick dip on top. Eat till your hearts content. Yep that's how I like to eat them. Tips below.

It's No Fuss: Just brown your hamburger meat really small so it's easier to spoon in (sometimes I add a bit of ground spicy sausage). Drain the fat, drain the fat, drain the fat! did I say drain the fat? This is sooo important. Those chips will soap up every little bit if you don't and it will be yucky.

Now just dump it in: Yep that's all you have to do. Today I dumped in 1 can of southwest corn, 1 can of tomatoes and green chilis, 1 can pinto beans and a small block of velveeta cheese. Last but not least I added a fajita / taco season packet and simmered until all the moisture was gone.


It's perfect on the stove on low or in a crock-pot on low. You can dip and eat all day long on these Southwest flavors without getting tired of it. Now let me find my hot peppers and go snuggle in front of the tv and enjoy the best dip ever.

Remember this on Corn Chip Day / January 29

Here's My Mother's Starter Blueberry Sauce recipe

On my last post "Blueberry Sauce and it's Many Uses" I talked about my mothers Blueberry Sauce. So for this post I wanted to share her simple blueberry sauce recipe.

I said in my last post..."When I was a kid my Daddy had a beautiful blueberry garden with many different varieties of blueberry bushes and Mother had to find many ways to use up all the blueberries that the garden produced. She put them in everything from lemonade, sweet cobblers, swirled in streusel cakes and brownies, breads, flavored butters to sauces for meats. To this day; every time I see a blueberry I think of Mother and Daddy's hard work and all the versatile ways this beautiful fruit was used."
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Here's My Mothers Starter Blueberry Sauce Recipe

• 2 cups of blueberries
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• tsp lemon juice

~~~Combine all / stir/ bring to boil / turn down to medium low / simmer for 15 or 20 minutes. Simmering for longer makes a thicker sauce. It pops open the berries and they break down to a thicker sauce. Depending on what she was using the sauce for... she sometimes would put a touch of vanilla flavoring or almond flavoring in the sauce. I even saw her back off of the water some and use orange juice or coffee. If she was using Daddy's fresh blueberries from the garden... she would sometimes dust the berries with cornstarch. If she was making a sauce for meat, she would back off the sugar and use beef stock or chicken stock instead of water and add a few herbs to the simmer. 

Her sauce would always be deep dark and thick. I loved it! Pam
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photo resource: wikipedia / originally posted to Flickr as Goats Curd Cheese Cake - Giant Steps Winery AUD11 - photo by Julia

Blueberry Sauce and it's Many Uses

Blueberry sauce is a sauce prepared using blueberries as a primary ingredient. 

Welcome to my blog post everyone! Pam here~ Did you guys know that National Blueberry Pancake Day is celebrated on January 28th every year in the United States? Well that's exactly why I picked blueberry sauce to write about. When I was a kid my Daddy had a beautiful blueberry garden with many different varieties of blueberry bushes and Mother had to find many ways to use up all the blueberries that the garden produced. She put them in everything from lemonade, sweet cobblers, swirled in streusel cakes and brownies, breads, flavored butters to sauces for meats. To this day; every time I see a blueberry I think of Mother and Daddy's hard work and all the versatile ways this beautiful fruit was used. 

• Here's My Mother's Starter Blueberry Sauce Recipe

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Blueberry Sauce is typically prepared as a reduction, and used as a dessert sauce and savory sauce. It can also be used in the preparation of the blueberry Martini.

Preparation

Fresh or frozen blueberries, and sometimes wild blueberries are used. The sauce is prepared by mixing the ingredients using a food processor or blender and then heating them until the sauce reduces and thickens. It may be prepared to have a smooth or chunky texture. Straining the sauce using a sieve to remove particulate matter creates a smooth texture. It can be preserved by freezing for later use.

Savory

Savory blueberry sauces can be prepared without a sweetener, or with a small amount of sweetener, and additional ingredients used can include cider vinegar, chicken broth, lemon juice, salt, pepper and corn starch. The sauce is used to top various savory dishes such as roasted pork, chicken, lamb and duck. It is sometimes served on the side, rather than atop dishes. photo By Naotake Murayama

Sweet

Sweet blueberry sauce may be used as a dessert sauce. Blueberries and water provide the base for the sauce, but after that recipes vary. A sweetener such as sugar is typically used, and lemon juice, orange juice, butter and corn starch are sometimes added. A spiced version can be made using cloves, cinnamon and cardamom. Sweet blueberry sauce can be used in or to top desserts such as cheesecake, cake, and ice cream, and on breakfast dishes such as pancakes, waffles and French toast. It can also be used to create a blueberry fool.

• A fool is an English dessert. Traditionally, fruit fool is made by folding pureed stewed fruit into sweet custard.

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Other uses

Blueberry sauce can be used in the preparation of the blueberry Martini cocktail.

 Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License /wikipedia

photo licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic

• SHOP BLUEBERRIES at Amazon

Corn Chip Day is on it's Way

National Corn Chip Day is on it's way everyone. This Food Holidays is celebrated on January 29th each and every year in the United States. 

Now this holiday is always celebrated by eating corn chips with a variety of dips / but don't confuse this holiday with National Chip and Dip Day. National Chip and Dip Day occurs in the United States annually on March 23. Tostitos-brand tortilla chips, a major U.S. brand, observed the day in 2015 by providing coupons for free dip for interested customers named "Chip". ha!

Now.... just so you know. There is a difference between corn chips and tortilla chips. We always get them confused because they are both a corn-based chip. A real corn chip is pictured above. We talk a little bit about the difference below.
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Corn-Based Chips:
Chips and salsa, typically served using tortilla or corn chips is a common type of chips and dip dish that gained significant popularity in the United States in the late 1980s. Chips and guacamole, also typically served with corn-based chips is another type, as well as chips and bean dip. Seven-layer dip and tortilla chips is another corn-based chip combination, as is chile con queso, an appetizer or side dish of melted cheese and chili pepper typically served in Tex-Mex restaurants as a sauce for nachos. 
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About the Corn Chip:

A corn chip is a snack food made from cornmeal fried in oil or baked, usually in the shape of a small noodle or scoop. Corn chips are thick, rigid and very crunchy. Corn chips have the strong aroma and flavor of roasted corn, and are often heavily seasoned with salt. 

In the US, Fritos is one of the oldest and most widely recognized brands of corn chips.

While corn chips and tortilla chips are both made from corn, the corn in tortilla chips is subjected to the nixtamalization process, resulting in a milder flavor and aroma, and a less rigid texture. Tortilla chips also tend to be larger, thinner, and less salty than corn chips.

Corn chips are usually eaten alone or with a chip dip. They are a common ingredient in homemade and commercial party mix. In the Southwestern US, a popular dish, Frito pie, is made with corn chips and chili. In some areas, it is popular to pour the chili into a bag of corn chips and eat the mixture directly from the bag.

resources: wikipedia / thefreedictionary /  Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License  /