Today I’m going to be doing the second half of the year of fun food days. I’m working from a website called timeanddate.com. I’m going to mention some ideas for ways to celebrate days involving food from July to December, and then I’m going to choose my favorites to celebrate myself.
There are a lot of them in July that I just couldn’t resist mentioning. The 9th of July is Sugar Cookie Day. Bake some sugar cookies and decorate them, or make gingerbread men and ladies and decorate them. Maybe you can make some bags of sugar cookies to give as gifts for your friends. We love to do that in December. Let’s have fun with sugar cookies!
This one’s the best ever – the 10th of July is Teddy Bears’ Picnic Day. I grew up with the song Teddy Bears’ Picnic and the whole idea of taking all your teddy bears, putting them out on a blanket on the lawn, and having your little plastic tea cups filled with whatever kind of water was available in the garden. That was the tea. Sometimes there was juice, and we used to have all kinds of fun snacks. So, on Teddy Bears’ Picnic Day, you could have a teddy bears’ picnic with your little ones, or you could do a family picnic with the older ones, and just add a few teddy bears for inspiration, but make it a fun picnic.
Then July 15th is Gummy Worm Day. That is pretty self-explanatory; buy some gummy worms and eat them.
The 16th of July is Corn Fritters Day. I love both corn fritters and zucchini fritters, and combining them is also delicious. It’s easy to Google a recipe. We like to use creamy tinned sweetcorn, and you can grate your zucchini and add that to the normal fritter batter. We like to do it on birthdays, and in this case, you can do it on the 16th of July.
The 20th, which is my brother’s birthday, and also the day they landed on the moon, is Ice Cream Day. Grab some different kinds of ice cream and some toppings, and have ice cream sundaes. Make your own ice cream. Smear ice cream on each other’s faces.
The 21st of July is Junk Food Day. This would be all the kids’ favorite day. You can have burgers, pizza, tacos, or whatever takeout you like. Enjoy it on Junk Food Day.
The 29th of July is Lasagna Day, a great day to have beef lasagna, chicken lasagna, or butternut and zucchini lasagna; whatever you love.
Finally, the 30th of July is National Cheesecake Day. There’s baked cheesecake, and there’s unbaked cheesecake and they’re both amazing. You can blend together cream cheese, cream, lemon, and a few other things to make a delicious cheesecake. There’s a cheesecake recipe for a no-bake cheesecake on our blog for episode four – Nourishing and Easy Snacks for Moms. There’s also a video of us making it on our YouTube channel, which you can find at https://www.youtube.com/@FamilyFoodforMoms. Go and see that if you’d like to make a delicious, no-bake cheesecake.
In the month of August, the first one is the 3rd, which is Watermelon Day. Everybody loves watermelon, and it’s a super food. You can play a game by counting your pips – tinker, taylor, soldier, sailor, rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief was the one we always did. Grab some watermelon, slice it, and enjoy it outside.
The 14th of August is Creamsicle Day. Creamsicle is a brand of ice cream, but the term generally refers to something that’s got ice cream with frozen fruit juice around the outside, or mixed in, like a Popsicle. Anything that’s got both the fruit juice and the ice cream in it is amazing.
I couldn’t resist mentioning this one, even though it’s not related to food – Tell a Joke Day is on the 16th of August. Grab a joke book, or go on a joke website, and tell each other jokes over dinner.
Then on the 20th of August, there’s Chocolate Pecan Pie Day. Who comes up with these things? I’ve never experienced chocolate pecan pie, and it doesn’t seem like chocolate would go with the kind of texture and flavor of a pecan pie, so if you’d like, just do a plain one, or you could do a chocolate one.
The 21st is Spumoni Day. Spumoni is a delicious, layered Italian ice cream dessert, which originated in Naples. It has ice cream mixed with candied fruits and nuts, layered with whipped cream, and it’s served in slices. If you want to make it, you need chocolate, pistachio, and cherry ice cream, as well as some nuts, candied fruits, and whipped cream. You layer the ice cream mixed with the nuts and fruits and the whipped cream in a loaf pan or some other mold, and you leave it to set in the freezer.
The 31st of August is Eat Outside Day. You can sit in camping chairs under the trees, on a picnic blanket on the grass, or you can even use a fancy decorated table and chairs. Just enjoy your meal outdoors. Eat picnic style food, or just carry your food outside and eat on your laps.
Now let’s do the days in September. The 5th of September is Cheese Pizza Day, so you can’t have the pizzas without cheese, if there are any; you have to have cheese pizza. Order it for dinner, and don’t worry about cooking.
Chocolate Milkshake Day is on the 12th of September. When you’re having a thick shake, the best are the chocolate kinds. You get Oreo shakes, you get Bar One, and you get Nutella shakes – Nutella is the best chocolate milkshake flavour. On that day, we’ll go out for a milkshake together, or make them at home.
The 16th of September is Guacamole Day. You can have guacamole and salsa with whatever you like, whether it’s nachos, tacos, or anything else that you’d like to have that with.
The 20th of September is Punch Day. We love to have punch on New Year’s Eve. All you have to do is take a big salad bowl and put some juice and some fizzy sparkling water in it, maybe Sanpellegrino and some grape juice, and maybe lychee juice. You can put slices of orange, slices of lemon, berries, or grapes in it, anything that looks like it’ll go well. Then you use a big soup ladle, and you scoop out your cups of punch. Somehow the juices all taste so good together like that.
On the 30th of September is Hot Mulled Cider Day. I’ve never had cider, but lot of people like to ferment apple juice to make it at home, and you can add cinnamon sticks. It’s lovely to warm you in the winter time.
In October, the 1st is International Coffee Day. You should definitely enjoy a good coffee on that day! We like to do freshly ground coffee at home, but you can have kind of coffee that you love; go get one and enjoy it.
The 4th is Taco Day. Some people like hard corn tacos, while others like soft, thin wheat or corn tacos. Whatever you like, add some meat, some lettuce, and some tomato, and enjoy them.
The 7th of October is Frappe Day, so grab yourself a frappé made by blending instant coffee with milk and crushed ice. You could also do it at home in your blender, but I’m sure a takeaway one is the best, unless you’re a connoisseur.
The 8th is Pierogi Day. Pierogi is similar to a dumpling. It’s an Eastern European version, and they’re first boiled and then fried. In the United States, Polish people like to celebrate this day with pierogi.
The 18th of October is the Sweetest Day. This unofficial holiday was started in 1921 in Cleveland, Ohio to encourage women to treat their male partners with sweets, candy, and chocolate, so give him some chocolate.
Chocolate Cupcake Day is the 18th of October. That’s self-explanatory – just eat a chocolate cupcake.
And then the 24th of October is Bologna Day. You can have bologna sandwiches with any kind of deli meat, delicious cheese, and bread. Enjoy your favorites.
Then the 30th of October is Candy Corn Day. Candy corn was invented in the 1880s in Pennsylvania, and was produced under the name “Chicken Feed”, and sold in boxes with a picture of a rooster on it. “Something Worth Crowing For!” was the tagline.
The 2nd of November, is Deviled Eggs Day. I’ve never had the patience to make deviled eggs, but I’m sure they’re delicious. Boil the eggs, and then mix the yolks with mayo, herbs, and various other things to make them delicious.
Sandwich Day is on the 3rd of November. These days, sandwiches can be made in so many creative ways. We were watching a video on YouTube by a chef called, “Who makes the best sandwich in the world?”, and they used focaccia, and toasted it for sandwiches. They used wraps, as well as all kinds of bread; french bread, slices of bread, and toasted bread. You can be so creative with this, and use all kinds of different fillings as well. There are sweet fillings and savory fillings. You can even mix cheese or goats cheese with jam. You can use bacon, you can have various deli meats and cheeses. You can do soft cream cheese with tuna, or mayo plus vegetables. One of the sandwiches in the video had all these different slices of vegetables on it as well as the meat.
The 6th of November is Men Make Dinner Day – that sounds exciting!
The 7th of November is Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day. In Europe, you get these chocolates that have almonds inside. Sometimes there’s hard candy on the outside, and other times chocolate. It’s a tradition in Belgium where my sister-in-law lives to use these as gifts for the guests at a baby shower.
Vanilla Cupcake Day is on the 10th of November. We had a chocolate cupcake day, and this is the vanilla cupcake one.
Then the 14th of November is Pickle Day. Who loves pickles? You either love them or you hate them. Lacto-fermented pickles made on the countertop are so good for you.
Lastly, the 26th of November is Cake Day. There are all kinds of delicious cakes. You could buy one, go out for a slice, or bake one with your kids; just enjoy some cake.
Lastly, let’s do the days from December. The 1st of December is Eat a Red Apple Day. That’s a good practice – apples are crunchy and yummy.
Then the 2nd of December is Fritters Day. We’ve had a sweet corn fritters day, but the 2nd of December is for any fritters. Maybe you like pumpkin fritters or butternut fritters. In cultures like Indian Pakistan there are fritters called Pakoras, and they mix vegetables like onion or potatoes to put in them, and the batter is made of chickpea flour, and they deep fry them. Those are great street food.
11th of December is Noodle Ring Day. Have you heard of a noodle ring? This was popular in the mid-1900s. You can use any noodles that you have, and put them into a muffin tray. You cook the noodles, you put them in the muffin tray, and then you mix and add the other ingredients, which are eggs, breadcrumbs, and cheese. Then you bake them until the egg cooks and the cheese melts, and then you’ve got yummy little pasta cups.
The 12th of December is Gingerbread House Day, so that’s the day that’s best to make your gingerbread houses on. Build them with yummy gingerbread slabs and icing, and have fun decorating them.
The 16th of December is Chocolate Covered Anything Day. Cover some biscuits with chocolate, cover some strawberries, cover your kids, or whatever you feel like.
The 22nd of December is Date Nut Bread Day. I’ve never had date nut bread, but it’s quite popular in the Middle Eastern. You can buy that kind of thing in Europe.
The best day to have eggnog is Eggnog Day, which is the 24th of December, the day before Christmas.
Last of all, an unusual one, is the 30th of December, which is Bicarbonate of Soda Day. We don’t know the origins of this holiday, but there are lots of things that are delicious with baking soda. You can use it for quick baking. Irish soda bread is an obvious thing to make with it – you just mix up the flour and whatever other ingredients, and you add the baking soda. There’s no need to let it rise; you just pop it in the oven. You can make pancakes with baking soda. You can make a pizza base that’s got baking soda. You don’t need to let it rise, again, it’s a quick option. There are many delicious things that you can make with it.
I hope you have fun with some of these days! Choose which ones you want to celebrate.
