December 11: UNICEF Birthday
Around the world on December 11, people celebrate UNICEF’s Birthday, commemorating the day it was created in 1946. UNICEF, or the United Nations Children’s Fund, was initially organized by the UN to provide emergency food and healthcare to children and mothers in countries devastated by World War II. In 1950, UNICEF’s mission was expanded to confront the long-term needs of women and children, especially in developing countries. In 1953, the organization became an established component of the UN system. Now — with a presence in 192 countries and territories — the agency has helped save more children’s lives than any other humanitarian organization, by providing healthcare and immunizations, clean water and sanitation, nutrition, education, emergency relief, and more. Along with saving children’s lives, UNICEF defends the rights of children. The humanitarian organization believes children have the following rights:
grow up in a safe and inclusive environment.
survive and thrive
learn
fulfill their potential
UNICEF relies entirely on contributions from governments and private donors. In 2022, total contributions to UNICEF were $9.3 billion. The public sector contributed the largest share: $6.5 billion from government, inter-governmental and inter-organizational partners, as well as Global Programme Partnerships. The organization consists of government representatives appointed by the UN Economic and Social Council, generally for 3-year terms. The members on the executive board establish policies, approve programs, and oversee administrative and financial plans.
UNICEF has and continues to contribute greatly to humanitarian causes around the world. Among the top UNICEF achievements in 2022, were:
356.3 million children under 5 benefited from UNICEF anti-malnutrition programs
77.9 million children were vaccinated against measles
UNICEF continued to lead COVAX, the largest vaccine operation in history, delivering 877.8 million COVID-19 vaccine doses
37.9 million otherwise-out-of-school children and adolescents (49% girls) were able to access education
Community-based mental health and psychosocial support services more than doubled to 25.2 from 12 million in 2021
Disability-inclusive programs reached over 4.5 million children in 142 countries
For its contribution to humanity, UNICEF has received outstanding recognition for its work, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1965, the Indira Gandhi Prize in 1989, and the Princess of Asturias Award in 2006.
December 12: Gingerbread House Day
Today we celebrate gingerbread houses, which are fun to both build and eat. Gingerbread is a broad category of baked goods baked and flavored with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and gingers. Molasses, sugar, and honey are also used to sweeten the gingerbread. Gingerbread foods can range from something resembling a ginger snap to a very moist and soft loaf cake. Experts agree that ginger has been seasoning foodstuffs and drinks since antiquity. Gingerbread was first baked in Europe at the end of the 11th century when returning crusaders brought back spicy bread from the Middle East. Ginger was not only tasty; it had properties that helped preserve the bread.
Gingerbread was also considered a form of popular art in Europe. Creating gingerbread figurines dates back to the 15th century; baking human-shaped cookies back to the 16th century. Molds often displayed actual happenings, portraying new rulers, their children, spouses, and parties. Substantial mold collections are held at the Ethnographic Museum in Toruń, Poland, and the Bread Museum in Ulm, Germany.
In many European countries, gingerbread bakers were a distinct component of the bakers’ guild. Gingerbread baking developed into an acknowledged profession. In the 17th century, only professional gingerbread bakers were permitted to bake gingerbread, except at Christmas and Easter. In Europe, gingerbreadsshaped like hearts, stars, soldiers, trumpets, swords, pistols and animals were sold in special shops and seasonal markets. Today, in Germany, the Christmas markets still sell decorated gingerbread before Christmas.
It was in Germany that the tradition of making gingerbread houses started in the early 1800s. A good deal of the enthusiasm came from the well-known Grimm’s fairy tale Hansel and Gretel. German bakers began baking ornamented fairy-tale houses made from gingerbread. They custom was brought over to America by German immigrants and became popular during the Christmas season. Gingerbread houses are made and enjoyed by cooks with any level of culinary or artistic skill, from professional bakers to small children, who are often assisted by their parents or other adults (with any luck). Lebkuchenhaus or Pfefferkuchenhaus are the German terms for a gingerbread house.
Gingerbread house contests are often held around this time of year. The Hudson Valley Gingerbread Competition took place at the Mohonk Mountain House in National Gingerbread House Competition, for example, on December 10 in New Paltz, NY. Results will be on view this week (check here). The gingerbread town in Bergen, Norway and Gingertown (click here) in Washington, DC, are 2 more examples.
December 13: National Cocoa Day
National Cocoa Day celebrates hot cocoa. The day fittingly takes place in December, since the drink is often associated with cold weather. Although the terms “hot chocolate” and “hot cocoa” are often used interchangeably, there technically is a difference between the two — one often overlooked in stores that mislabel them, most often with hot cocoa labeled as hot chocolate. The difference lies in the ingredients: hot chocolate contains cocoa butter, hot cocoa does not. Hot cocoa uses cocoa powder that is made by removing cocoa butter from ground cocoa beans. A paste called chocolate liquor is created through the fermentation, drying, roasting, and grinding process of cocoa beans. Through another method, they separate cocoa butter, leaving cocoa powder. We use this cocoa powder to make hot cocoa. The result has very little fat and calories. Hot chocolate is made from bar chocolate, which has cocoa powder, sugar, and cocoa butter in it. These differences give both their distinct flavor and texture. Hot cocoa is thinner and more chocolatey, but less rich. The richness in hot chocolate comes from the higher fat content in the cocoa butter.
The Mayans get credit for the first chocolate beverage, around 500 BC, although some experts believe chocolate drinks predate even them. The Mayans ground cocoa seeds into a paste and mixed it with ingredients such as water, chili peppers, and cornmeal and drank it cold. By 1,400 CE, a cocoa beverage called xocōlātl was important to the Aztecs, an acquired taste since sugar wasn’t then known in the Americas. In the following century, the recently arrived Spaniards began drinking it, also served cold and was flavored and with vanilla and spices. Hernán Cortés brought cocoa beans and chocolate drink making equipment back with him to Spain in 1528. Xocōlātl became popular — and expensive — drink for the upper class since cocoa beans still only grew in the Americas. It’s believed that cocoa was first served hot the late 16th century.
In 1828, the first cocoa powder producing machine was developed. It separated cocoa butter from cocoa seeds, leaving purer chocolate powder behind, making the powder easier to stir into milk and water, giving it a consistency similar to today’s instant cocoa powder. Also at this time, solid chocolate began being made, when low amounts of cocoa powder was mixed with cocoa butter, leading to the creation of hot chocolate.
Today, hot cocoa is made with hot milk or water, and cocoa powder, which is sweetened with sugar or left unsweetened. Instant hot cocoa powder often contains powdered milk, sugar, and cocoa, which is mixed with water. When not the instant kind, hot cocoa can be made by mixing cocoa powder, sugar, and cream, at the bottom of a cup to make a paste. Hot water is then added to give a smooth consistency, and often topped with marshmallows, whipped cream, or a piece of chocolate.
Hot cocoa has numerous health benefits. Cocoa contains many antioxidants, which fight cancer and heart disease. It also has flavonoids: healthy for blood vessels, protecting them from free radical damage. Cocoa may also help with digestion. Centuries past, hot cocoa was used as medicine for things such as fever and liver disease. However, some recipes have lots of sugar, which negates health benefits.
The 3 prominent varieties of cocoa plants are Forastero, Trinitario, and Criollo. Forastero contributes to up to 90% of the world’s cocoa production. Trinitario originated from Trinidad and is a hybrid variety of cocoa. Criollo, mostly cultivated in Venezuela, is prone to diseases and less common. Trinitario ranks highest in quality and, when compared to the other 2, produces higher yields due to its disease-resistant nature.
December 14: National Bouillabaisse Day
The French are known for many great recipes. Their food inspires travel to France for a taste of authentic dishes. Bouillabaisse tops the list of must-have cuisine while visiting France.
The tasty stew originates in the port city of Marseille. Bouillabaisse comes from the word bolhir—"to boil” — and abaissar — “to reduce heat or simmer.” Why? Because, in making it, broth is first boiled, and then different types of fish are added, and the heat reduced to a simmer. Strong opinions bounce around the proper ingredients for an authentic bouillabaisse. One is the type of fish. Typically, cooks use red rascasse, sea robin, or European conger. Also up for debate is the type of wine (red or white). Feelings run high on both subjects. There’s also an argument about the soup’s origins. Did a Greek goddess create the stew? Or does the credit belong to coastal fishermen who threw the ingredients together from unsold bony rockfish? Much like the history of National Bouillabaisse Day, this stew’s history is also lost to time.
By the 19th century, the dish was being served in restaurants and hotels, and being eaten by members of the upper class. By this time, fish stock had replaced the boiling water, and saffron was added. Bouillabaisse spread to Paris, and then around the world, and was adapted to local tastes and ingredients.
A traditional bouillabaisse starts with a Provencal soup base, which includes herbs and spices available in Provence, including garlic, tomatoes, fennel, thyme, bay, saffron, olive oil, onions, and of course, the fish. It may also have dried orange peel and a hit of wine in it. The fish depends on what is locally available at the time. Could be rockfish, Grondin, Red Gurnard, Greater Weever, and sea urchins. Of course, traditional bouillabaisse isn’t the only way the soup can be made. There are a variety of other recipes. There’s New England stye, with lobster and mussel, Cajun style, and Italian style bouillabaisse.
December 15: Cat Herders Day
“It’s like herding cats!?” Often that’s the cry when someone’s working to organize or control something uncontrollable. It is unclear exactly when this idiom started being used. It may have been inspired by Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979), and seems to have begun being used in the 1980s by the information technology industry. A popular early phrase was “Managing senior programmers is like herding cats.” Herding cats even became the subject of a popular 2000 Super Bowl commercial for EDS (and you can watch it by clicking here).
At work or in life in general, you may feel like you have one thing in line and then something else goes wrong. Just as if you had a bunch of cats in front of you. Sometimes you may get one or a few of them to stand where you want ‘em, but eventually one will run off, and you’ll have to stop everything and go get it. While you’re doing that, another one scoots off in another direction. It isn’t easy herding cats. The creators of this holiday explained it by saying, “If you can say that your job, or even your life, is like trying to herd cats, then this day is for you, with our sympathy.” As far as we know, there’s no one out there who’s actually a professional cat herder. If there were, this day would actually be for those folks. Instead, this is a day for everyone who has to face the frustration of trying to manage the unmanageable, anyone whose day-to-day life involves insurmountable tasks.
So, who belongs to this lucky cat herding group who spend their lives on horseback searching the barren lands for cats to round up? Originally it referred to project managers of one kind or another, corporate staff, that sort of thing. But the concept has broadened to include anyone who feels they might be under appreciated. Care workers, house moms and dads, factory workers, taxi drivers, office staff with piles of folders, or call-center folk with targets to hit, Kendal committee members, or someone just trying to get packages in the mail for the holidays. If you’re a member of this unfortunate group it’s time to count yourself lucky, because December 15, all day, every year, belongs entirely to you. And the cats.
December 16: National Chocolate-Covered Anything Day
Since December 13 was National Cocoa Day, when we make the distinction between cocoa and chocolate, it seems only right to give chocolate a chance to shine, as well. Hence National Chocolate-Covered Anything Day. From the conventional to the bizarre, anything can be covered with chocolate on Chocolate Covered Anything Day. The day provides the perfect excuse to eat chocolate, whether dark, milk, or white. Any number of food items can be dipped in chocolate, or chocolate can be poured or drizzled on the food. A chocolate fountain can also be used to spread chocolate. And there’s always fondue.
Some foods known to be covered with chocolate include fruits such as strawberries, bananas, pineapple, and mandarin oranges; snack foods like pretzels, nuts, and potato chips; breakfast foods like bacon and waffles; vegetables like jalapenos and onions; and desserts like marshmallows, cookies, Rice Krispies Treats, and Twinkies. People have even been known to cover ants and scorpions with chocolate. Before covering a food, the chocolate may first be melted on the stove or in the microwave. Way back when, it’s said the Aztecs dyed hot chocolate red and flavored it with chili peppers, but can you dip an entire chili pepper in chocolate? Up to you. National Chocolate-covered Anything Day doesn’t have constraints. There are no rules. It’s all fair game. Mostly.
December 17: National Maple Syrup Day
Maple syrup is used on breakfast foods like pancakes, waffles, and French toast, and can be added to many dishes as a sweetener. It can even be poured on top of ice cream for dessert. Today, you can use a little more of it than usual. After all, it’s National Maple Syrup Day.
Maple syrup is made from the sap of sugar maple trees (also known as rock maples or hard maples). Maple syrup is a North American product. Canada produces most of it; in the US, VT is the top producer, followed by NY.
The origins of the production of maple syrup can be traced back thousands of years to the northeastern region of the continent. There, it was first produced from the abundant maple tree population by indigenous peoples. While it is uncertain how and why exactly the extraction process first began, it is inarguable that maple sap became a key ingredient in a variety of dishes. By the 1720s, colonists learned the technique, which became known as sugaring. After the late-winter thaw allowed the sap to begin flowing through the maple trees, they would gash the trunks and guide the sap into troughs, then be boiled it over fires. Using maple as a sweetener was done in part to save money, since cane sugar from the West Indies was more expensive. This especially was the case after 1764, when the Sugar Act placed high duties on imported sugar. Following the American Revolution, the production of maple syrup boomed, and becoming a primary source of sweetening. Besides being used as a syrup, it was used to make candy and molasses and was even used in beer and wine.
Sugaring these days is a popular social ritual, particularly in New England. Professional and amateur sugarers collect sap from a group of maple trees called a sugar bush, and take it back to a sugarhouse (aka sugar shack, sugar shanty, or cabane à sucre) to be boiled down. It takes about 35 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup. Sap harvests and demonstrations are often held. Some of the sap is often boiled down at the demonstrations, with free samples being given out.
Today, the maple syrup is consumed across the globe. And production chains have even sprung up in countries like Japan and South Korea. Canada now produces the vast majority of the world’s maple syrup supply with its total exports valued at more than $270 million.
If you’re going to celebrate National Maple Syrup Day, then you’re probably going to want to entertain friends and family with some maple syrup trivia. We say, go for it! And just to help you out, here are basic facts:
One liter of maple syrup requires about 40-liters of maple sap
A maple tree has to be at least 40-years old before it can be tapped
Only 3 of 13 Canadian maple tree species are used for maple syrup
2/3 of the world’s maple syrup is produced in Quebec, Canada
Stored properly, maple syrup that’s been opened can last several years
A lot of syrup that is used today is no longer pure maple syrup and is often made with other sweeteners. It must be labeled as such and is often known as pancake syrup. So check before you buy!