January 15th to 21st National Food Holidays

Week three of the new year is already upon us!  I hope you're enjoying this blog and finding some fun recipes to try.  Don't forget to post your pictures on my Facebook Page and share the fun you've been having.  Also watch for an additional new segment around the middle of each month where I'll be sharing Food Network's 2017 "A Year of Cupcakes."  This month's cupcake is Champagne-Vanilla Cupcakes.

This week's Food Holidays are:

January 15th -- Strawberry Ice Cream Day

January 16th -- National Fig Newton Day

January 17th -- Hot Buttered Rum Day

January 18th -- Peking Duck Day

January 19th -- National Popcorn Day

January 20th -- National Buttercrunch Day

January 21st -- New England Clam Chowder Day

January 15th:  Strawberry Ice Cream Day

Now's the time to pull out those frozen strawberries that you put in the freezer last summer, make some strawberry ice cream, and taste a little bit of summer on a cold winter day.  One of my favorite memories was my grandfather making strawberry ice cream every Christmas.  They lived in upstate New York and were dairy farmers, so he used fresh cream from their cows, rock salt, and ice from the frozen Boquet River to make the ice cream in an old fashioned ice cream maker that you cranked by hand. 

Here's an easy ice cream recipe that uses sweetened condensed milk and that can be done without an ice cream maker.  Combine one 14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk and a tablespoon of vanilla in a bowl.  Add one cup of pureed strawberries.  Beat 2 cups (1 pint) of heavy cream until whipped (don't use non-dairy whipped cream).  Fold the whipped cream into the strawberry mixture.  Pour into a 9x5 loaf pan or other 2-quart container.  Cover.  Freeze at least 6 hours, until firm.

January 16th:  National Fig Newton Day

Do you remember the epic conversation between Penny & Sheldon on "The Big Bang Theory" when Penny asks Sheldon if Fig Newtons were named after Isaac Newton, and Sheldon launches into an explanation of how Fig Newtons were named?  Well, here's the story:

The Fig Newton was named after the town of Newton, Massachusetts; it was the custom of the original manufacturer, Kennedy Biscuit Works of Cambridgeport (now Cambridge, Massachusetts), to name cookies after towns in the Boston area. Kennedy Biscuit Works became a part of the company we now know as Nabisco. 

Fig Newton cookies are basically a butter cookie made with whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose white flour and filled with pureed figs.  Here's a basic recipe to try:

Place a cup of dried figs (remove stems) in a bowl, cover with hot water, and soak for 10 minutes.  Remove the soaked figs with a slotted spoon and place in a food processor or blender with 1 tablespoon of honey and 1 tablespoon of the soaking liquid.  Puree until smooth and spreadable.

Ingredients for Cookie Dough:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup of  sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour

Preheat your oven to 350°F.  Cream together the butter and sugar until smooth.  Add the egg and vanilla and mix until incorporated.  Add the flour and mix until a dough forms.              

Divide the dough and roll each between two pieces of parchment paper making a 12x4 inch rectangle.  The dough should be about a 1/4 of an inch thick.  Spread the fig mixture on one half of each rectangle - spreading up the 12-inch side and leaving a 1/4-1/2 inch border.   

 

Fold the dough over on top of itself and gently press the dough together at the edges.  Cut each log into 10 cookies and transfer to a silpat or parchment-lined baking sheet.  Bake 15-20 minutes, or until golden.

January 17th:  Hot Buttered Rum Day

Hot buttered rum is one of the most famous types of toddies and was a favorite in Colonial America.  It was traditionally made of dark rum that was distilled from molasses.

Hot buttered rum toddies are very easy to make.  Put 1 small slice of unsalted butter, softened, in the bottom of an Irish coffee or glass mug with 1 teaspoon of light brown sugar and 1 pinch each of allspice, ground cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Muttle the butter, sugar & spices in the bottom of the mug.  Add 2 to 3 ounces of dark rum.  Add an equal amount of boiling water.  Stir well.  Garnish with a cinnamon stick.

If you want to keep some rum toddy "batter" on hand to make your toddies, mix 1 stick of unsalted butter, 1 cup of light brown sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg and a pinch of ground cloves. Cream these ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate, covered.  To make your toddy, put 2 tablespoons of the mixture in your glass mug and add 2 to 3 ounces of dark rum and an equal part of boiling water.  Stir well and garnish as desired.

January 18th:  Peking Duck Day

Oh, my!  What a daunting recipe to undertake -- Peking Duck!  I think I need Julia Child's help!  But instead, I'm going to suggest the following idea I found.

Go to the grocery store and:

1.  Purchase an already-roasted duck.  Check in the frozen food section for fully cooked, frozen duck.

2.  Purchase frozen crepes or make your own crepes.

3.  Grab a few bunches of scallions from the produce section and a jar of hoisin sauce from the Asian food aisle.

Once your home:

1.         Heat the duck in the oven per the package directions.

2.         Slice the scallions into sticks.

3.         Heat up the crepes in the microwave or prepare them from scratch.

4.         Remove the duck from the oven and slice.

5.         To assemble:  take a crepe; add some duck, scallions, and hoisin sauce; wrap and eat.

January 19th:  National Popcorn Day

One of my favorite memories is the popcorn balls that my mother & grandmother used to make for Christmas.  Here's the Karo Corn Syrup recipe that they used:

Ingredients:

3 quarts (*12 cups) popped popcorn

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup Karo® Light OR Dark Corn Syrup (dark corn syrup will yield a darker caramel color)

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

*1/4 of a cup of unpopped popcorn yields 8 cups of popped popcorn.  Pop 1/2 of a cup of unpopped popcorn (which = 16 cups) and use12 cups for the recipe and 4 cups for snacking.

1.  Spray a large roasting pan with cooking spray; add popcorn and place in a 300°F oven until warm.  (Popcorn can also be warmed in a large microwave safe bowl for 1 to 2 minutes on HIGH (100%) power.)

2.  Combine sugar, corn syrup, butter and salt in a heavy 2-quart saucepan. Stirring constantly, bring to boil over medium heat. Continue stirring and boil 2 minutes.

3.  Remove syrup mixture from heat; stir in vanilla and baking soda. Pour syrup mixture over warm popcorn stirring to coat well. Cover hands with two plastic bags, spray bags lightly with cooking spray. Working quickly shape twelve 3-inch popcorn balls.

4.  Cool completely. Wrap individually in plastic wrap.

January 20th:  National Buttercrunch Day

I love what I call toffee, but as I learned earlier this month, it's really buttercrunch -- and yes, there's one brand, in particular, that I love!  I like to break up those buttercrunch bars and put them into chocolate chip cookie recipes.  I like to take them and crush them up and mix them into ice cream.  Here's an even simpler recipe than the toffee recipe that I highlighted on National English Toffee Day.

Ingredients:

3/4 of a cup of brown sugar (packed)

1/2 a cup of butter

1 cup of chopped walnuts

1/2 a cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:  Butter a 9x9x2 pan and spread the chopped nuts in pan. Heat sugar and butter in medium size saucepan until boiling. Lower heat to medium. Boil over medium heat for 7 minutes. Spread the toffee mixture over  the nuts in the pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips over hot mixture Place a cookie sheet over pan to melt chocolate chips. Cut into squares while hot, then refrigerate until hard.

January 21st:  New England Clam Chowder Day

New England Clam Chowder became popular in the 18th century and was popular in the New England states.  It is a milk based chowder, unlike it's cousin Manhattan Clam Chowder that is tomato based.

Here's a basic recipe:

Ingredients

• 4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 quarts milk
• 3 cans (6-1/2 ounces each) chopped clams, undrained
• 2 to 3 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground sage
• 1 teaspoon ground thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• Minced fresh parsley

Directions

1.  Place potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and cook for 10-15 minutes or until tender. 

2.  Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, saute onions in butter until tender. Add flour; stir until smooth. Gradually stir in milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.

3.  Drain potatoes; add to Dutch oven. Add clams and remaining ingredients; heat through. Yield: 10-12 servings (3 quarts).