December 25: National Pumpkin Pie Day
National Pumpkin Pie Day celebrates the humble pumpkin pie, a national favorite in the US. The main season for eating pumpkin pie begins with the fall harvest and Halloween, travels on to Thanksgiving, and ends with Christmas, on what just happens to be National Pumpkin Pie Day. It is unclear why the holiday takes place when it does, but perhaps it’s just to give everyone one last chance to enjoy pumpkin pie before the new year.
People worldwide think of the pumpkin as a gourd used for savory dishes such as soups or pasta. But pumpkin is also delicious when doctored up to be eaten as a dessert. Pumpkin pie consists of a pumpkin filling that is a sweet, orange-to-brown pumpkin-based custard, made with fresh or canned pumpkin or a packaged pumpkin pie filling. It is commonly flavored with spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. Packaged pumpkin filling usually already has these spices in it. Pumpkin pie shells tend to be flaky, and usually don't have a top crust.
Pumpkins are native to the Americas. They were brought back to Europe by explorers in the 16th century and began to be cultivated there. Some of the Pilgrims who came to America in 1620 may have already been familiar with pumpkins, but if not, some form of pumpkin food was served at the harvest celebration the following year, and they would have learned of them then.
There were many types of early pumpkin pies. In a 1653 French cookbook, pumpkin pie was made by boiling pumpkin in milk and straining it, and then placing it in a crust. In 1670, Hannah Wooley’s Gentlewoman’s Companion called for alternating layers of apple and pumpkin, sweet marjoram, spiced rosemary, and thyme. An early New England recipe used no crust but instead used a hollowed-out pumpkin as a base. It had spiced sweetened milk and was cooked in a fire. Amelia Simmons’ American Cookery, first printed in 1796, had a pumpkin pie recipe similar to the popular custard version of today. It was called pompkin pudding.
The popularity of pumpkin pie rose in the early 18th century, coinciding with the rise in the celebration of Thanksgiving. The holiday and the pie were well-received in New England, but pumpkin pie was mainly a localized food until after the Civil War. As the debate over slavery heated up in the mid-19th century, many abolitionists from New England wrote about and referenced the food in books and other types of media. After President Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving as an official national holiday in 1863, many southerners saw both the holiday and the foods associated with it, such as pumpkin pie, as being forced on them. Southern leaders did not embrace Thanksgiving until after Reconstruction. As the holiday took hold country-wide, enjoyment of pumpkin pie spread with it.
Pumpkin pie has inspired countless pumpkin-pie flavored foods, including candy, beer, ice cream, and more. Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte has especially been popular in recent years. Today we celebrate the pumpkin pie, as well as those foods that are flavored like it.
December 26: National Candy Cane Day
Popular during the holiday season, the candy cane receives its due today: National Candy Cane Day. The cane-shaped hard candy is usually peppermint flavored. Known far and wide as white with red stripes — or is it red with white stripes? — it can actually be found in a variety of flavors and colors.
A lot of folklore surrounds candy cane. Some say it was invented by priests in the 1400s, and was originally straight and solid-white in color. A popular legend claims that a choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral in Cologne, Germany, bent straight sugar sticks into the shape of shepherd's staffs, and handed them out to children at living nativity services on Christmas Eve in 1670. There is a belief that candy canes then spread from Germany to the rest of Europe, where they were handed out at other nativity plays, leading to their association with Christmas. Another story says that in 1847 a German-Swedish immigrant named August Imgard of Wooster, Ohio, asked a candy maker to add a crook to the canes to justify giving candy to children during worship services, to remind them of the shepherds who visited the baby Jesus. Imgard is also sometimes credited as being the first to put candy canes on trees.
Despite all the legends, here is what’s known for sure about candy canes. The first recorded evidence of stick candy dates to 1837. A recipe for straight peppermint candy sticks dates to 1844, and candy canes are mentioned in a book in 1866. Their earliest verified association with Christmas is 1874, and they’ve been hung on trees since at least 1882. Candy canes with red stripes first came about in the early 1900s. Postcards before that time show only white colored candy canes. First made by hand, patent machines for making candy canes date to the early 1900s.
There are actually a number of benefits associated with candy canes. Made from water, peppermint oil, and sugar, they can serve as a mood booster, as well as aiding digestion and helping with bad breath. Plus, of course, they come with their own handle.
December 27: Make Cut Out Snowflakes Day
You can’t have a white Christmas without snow, and that means snowflakes. In our earliest school years, a favorite activity — one that many families shared as a holiday project, too — was cutting out snowflakes. The end result was paper snowflakes of myriad design (and probably a host of tiny paper shards all over the floor).
What most people don’t recognize about this seemingly simple art is that it is actually an ancient one: the traditional Japanese art-form of Origami — which began in the 17th century — and, specifically, a variation known as Kirigami. The difference is in the cutting. Both snowflake and Kirigami start the same way, involving the intricate folding of a piece of paper into a desired shape. That’s also where it ends. In Kirigami, once you create your folding, you then unfold it and place carefully make cuts in the desired place. In snowflake cutting, you typically cut the piece while it is still folded, and then unfold it to reveal the desired shape.
Make Cut-Out Snowflakes Day encourages us to set out to create snowflakes that will persist long after the last crystal of ice has melted into water as the seasons change. There’s no denying that the unique design of each snowflake is beautiful. One can create either a single piece, or fold the paper in accordion style and create a string of elaborately cut snowflakes.
Whether it is detailed or basic, Make Cut Out Snowflake Day is a timeless tradition that a lot of us have grown up with. It is a fantastic way to channel your creativity and remember what it felt like to work with scissors and art supplies as a kid. It’s a great way to entertain visiting grandchildren, too. Just lay a sheet down under their workplace. At the end, just gather up the sheet, then hold it over the trash — and dump. And once you and your family have completed your snowflake projects, you can write your name on them or color them in for a unique and personalized touch. Then all you need to do is hang them from the ceiling or on a window — or wherever else you like — as a blizzard of snowflakes.
December 28: National Download Day
Brace yourselves! Today is all about apps. You know, those helpful — often maddening —computer “applications” that provide a specific function — from games to finance. Why the focus on December 28? Seems that at holiday time oodles of Americans get oodles of smartphones as gifts — and immediately start downloading old and reliable, as well as new, apps to “broaden their horizons.” According to surveys, 73% of new-phone folks planned to download apps on this day; 67% of them planned to download mobile games. In all, 87% of all smartphone users download more than 3 apps a year — most downloaded between Christmas and New Year’s Day. So Happy Download Day!
An “app” is short for “software application,” which is a type of computer program. Today an app usually refers to those used on mobile devices, but it initially referred to those on desktop computers, as well. Apps became common on cell phones after phones were equipped with internet capability, touchscreens, and processing chips. They gained prominence with the release of Apple’s iPhone in 2007. The Apple OS 2.0, released in 2008, had about 500 apps. The American Dialect Society made “app” their word of the year in 2010, and the popularity of apps continued to increase from there on out. Today there are about 2 million apps on the Android and Apple platforms, and thousands of new apps come out every day. Apps have changed how we live, transforming both work and leisure.
There are 3 types of apps: web apps, native apps, and hybrid apps. Web apps use mobile web browsers instead of being located directly on mobile devices. Native apps have a special source code, are geared for a specific mobile platform, and are thus used only on certain devices. Hybrid apps have characteristics of both of the other two types of apps.
Early apps focused on organization assistance, such as email, calendar, and contact databases. Apps today are commonly used for communication; to access music, films, and books; for travel, assisting with finding food and transportation; to play games; and to help with organization and other tasks at job. They are usually downloaded from a distribution platform — an app store — operated by the owner of the mobile operating system they are used on, such as App Store (iOS) for Apple or Google Play Store for Android. There are independent app stores as well, such as Cydia, GetJar, and F-Droid. Some apps are free, while others must be paid for.
All kinds of apps from various app stores are downloaded today on National Download Day! Have a ball! And Happy Apping!
December 29: Tick Tock Day
Well — look fast — there goes 2023! Unfortunately, the clock is ticking, the hours are racing by. The past increases, the future recedes. Possibilities decrease, regrets mount. Tick . . . Tock . . . Tick . . . Tock . . . This is the sound of the year slowly slipping away. Every moment not spent living life to the fullest is another moment that is gone forever, impossible to reclaim. Yow!
Tick Tock Day reminds you that the year is almost at an end — and there are things still left to be doing! It enables you to start the following year with a clear head. Maybe you’ve wanted to clean up your home, or you’ve got to figure out your plans for New Year’s Day. Whatever the task, Tick Tock Day is a reminder that there are only two more days left of the year, so get to it! Do you really want to carry your clutter and disorganization into another calendar year? (If your answer is, “Yeah, sure, why not?” skip to December 30. Fair’s fair.) There is something quite therapeutic about having a couple of ultra-productive days before January hits.
Thomas Roy an American film, television, and voiceover actor was the creator of Tick Tock Day together with his wife Ruth Roy. The couple has also come up with over 80 other special days, all on the “Chase’s Calendar of Events.”
December 30: Bacon Day
Bacon mania has swept the US and Canada since the late 1990s, where there’s been a great increase in the amount of bacon being eaten and in the amount of new bacon recipes, as well. The high sodium and nitrate content of bacon that lower its health benefits has not seemed to slow down the bacon craze much. Admittedly, there are very few things in this world that don’t taste better when paired with a bit of bacon. Whether it’s chocolate-covered bacon from the candy shop, bacon cheeseburgers, bacon-wrapped tater tots, or even bacon-flavored chapstick (yeah, it’s a thing), it’s hard to deny that bacon is a delicious tasty treat that has truly gotten its fingers into almost everything!
So, what’s the story of bacon? Bacon is a popular treat cut from the meat of a pig. In the US, bacon refers to meat from the belly of the pig, known as the pork belly. Bacon from the loin is called Canadian bacon. To make bacon, the pork is cured using salt, then dried, boiled, or smoked. The smoking of bacon is often done with hickory, mesquite, or maple wood, and flavors such as brown sugar or maple may be added. More often than not, bacon is pan-fried. It’s popular as a breakfast food, in sandwiches like the BLT or club sandwich, as a complement to salads, and in wrapping other foods.
The origins of Bacon stretch back into the middle ages, with the name of this delicious meat originating in Middle English from the word Bacoun. Following it back, it can be found in France as Bako, Germany as Bakko, and even in old Teutonic as Backe. All of these words mean “back,” and what does that reveal about bacon? That’s right. It’s made from the back of the pig! Although it wasn’t always just the back meat that was referred to as Bacon. At one time the word referenced any kind of preserved pork, however that usage fell out of practice in the 17th Century.
With a long and delicious history, making bacon has been a popular method of preserving meat and adding a certain flavor to it by soaking it in a specialized brine. In fact, there were even certain breeds of pigs that were specially bred for their copious back meat, including breeds such as Yorkshire and Tamworth.
December 31: Make Up Your Mind Day
Make Up Your Mind Day just goes to show that there really is a day for everything. This one is aimed at those who may be just a little (or a lot) indecisive. This is the one day when choices must be made. No excuses, no procrastination, no ands, ifs or buts — this day is your chance to stop putting things off and get things done. And what a better day to do this than New Year’s Eve, when you’re standing on the brink of a whole New Year and perhaps wondering what you could do to make it your own?
While it may seem a little scary at first, especially to those unaccustomed to being decisive, the ultimate goal is to take control of your life by making a decision and sticking with it. It’s celebrated by being brave and taking chances, and by learning something new about yourself along the way.
On December 31 every year, people across the US observe Make Up Your Mind Day, deciding on some important resolutions for the coming year. It is an important day to encourage people to review their goals, achievements, and progress, and then come up with better strategies for achieving them in the new year. By formally making a set of resolutions on this day, people are more likely to stay committed to them throughout the year.
In the 1700s, English cleric John Wesley founded the Covenant Renewal Service, which was held every year on New Year’s Eve. People sang hymns and prayed instead of the traditional frolicking celebrations that were held during New Year’s Eve. This tradition is still followed by many Baptist and African American Protestant churches. In recent times, instead of making any major spiritual promises to God, people make small — sometimes large — life decisions on New Year’s Eve. A recent research study reported that out of the 45% of Americans that make resolutions, only 8% do not renege. So start, ya know, making up your mind!
And thus ends the Res Web section known as “Special Observances.” We done run the gamut from the ridiculous to the sublime. And exhausted the subject (along with the writer). What next?! If you have suggestions, send them to kohresweb@gmail.com. Always interested in new input — with no promise to act upon it. But, hey, ya never know.