November Food Observances

by Kitchen Shaman | Nov 2, 2014 | Food Observances

November is upon us, with the deep onset of winter. This is the time my thoughts of cooking turn to stews and hearty potato dishes. Available produce includes hard winter squash, potatoes, onions, leeks, parsnips, and carrots. All these foods can be turned into bone-warming, spirit-lifting dishes for family and friends....

Oddly enough food observances for the month do not really reflect the available foodstuffs. But then, produce growers aren’t the ones who create these holidays.

October Food Observances

by Kitchen Shaman | Sep 30, 2014 | Food Observances

We are heading into October, which means colder weather and Halloween. Surprisingly, food observances for the month do not reflect the spooky aspects of October, with the exception of a National Candy Corn Day. Luckily you can celebrate things like Caramel Day and Dessert Day with a spooky theme, if you want. Of more important note to many of my readers (and the Spouse!) October is National Vegetarian Month and October 1st is National Vegetarian Day. And don't forget we are still celebrating the Apple.

Sweet, Sweet Peaches

by Kitchen Shaman | Aug 4, 2014 | Food Observances

millions of peaches Peaches are a favorite food of Americans. There is peach pie, peach cobbler, sweet peach tea, peach turnovers, peach compote, and peaches & cream pie.

Ever stop to think how this wonder fruit got to the shores of America? Peaches were long believed to be from Persia. The name for peaches around the world reflects this origin. Dig around a little deeper into the history of peaches and we find that peaches actually originated in Northwest China – at least according to scientific testing that backs up millennia-old Chinese folktales. read more