Celebrate Every Day

Welcome to September 22nd, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate living history and small heroes with hairy feet. If you have made it to 100 years old, congratulations! Today we celebrate you on National Centenarian's Day. In the United States alone, there are estimated to be nearly 72,000 centenarians. The youngest of those were born after the end of World War I and the signing of...

Welcome to September 21st, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate being spicy and the geeks who’ve got our backs. If you're a fan of chai tea, then you may have been drinking it all year long, but for those who celebrate the change in seasons, chai is the perfect spicy pick me up for cooler weather. The word ‘chai’ means ‘tea’ in Hindi, but the original drink didn’t contain tea at a...

Welcome to September 20th, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate playing with your food and glorified leftovers. In the 1950s, the popularity of pizza in the U.S. skyrocketed and so did the demand for mozzarella cheese. Baker Cheese Company in St. Cloud, Wisconsin shifted from making cheddar to mozzarella in order to cash in on the craze. The gamble paid off big when this family ow...

Welcome to September 19th, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate scurvy sea dogs and cutting a rug. Ahoy, me hearties! Batten down the hatches for one of the best days of the year. It’s Talk Like A Pirate Day, when you can unleash your inner buccaneer and pretend you’re a wiley old sea dog. Why say, “okay” when you can say “Aye Aye” instead? And why let Johnny Depp have all the fun...

Welcome to September 18th, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate legends in the sky and on the ground. When Chuck Yeager enlisted into the United States Army he knew nothing about airplanes, and had little interest in finding out more. He learned that the Army Air Forces were looking for pilots and the position paid far better than his own at the time. Yeager applied for and got th...

Welcome to September 17th, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate the flavor of Fall and the rise of a swashbuckling sandwich. As soon as the air turns crisp, we look forward to a new season of apples. To savor the season, we celebrate the flavor of Fall with apple dumplings. There are many variations from Bavaria to England, and while they all include apples and some kind of dough,...

Welcome to September 16th, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate an all American fruit and dough reinvented. If you’re a fan of tropical fruits then you’ll know that their origins lie in faraway lands. Which is why it may surprise you to learn that pawpaw originated here in the United States. This fruit is often confused with papaya, though their color, taste and texture are quite...

Welcome to September 15th, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate a seasonal topper and wagging your pasta tongue. As Summertime turns to Fall, most of us swap out our closets for cold weather clothes. If you are among the fashion forward, this means pulling out your felt hats. Not so long ago people wouldn’t dare to be seen without a hat on in public. More than a fashion statement,...

Welcome to September 14th, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate a classic snack and a hero by another name. Back to school means packing school lunch and every parent knows that peanut butter is “brain food.” But PB&Js don’t always make the grade and that’s when it’s time for a good old standby: Ants On A Log. Celery sticks are sturdy and when they’re loaded with peanut butter and...

Welcome to September 13th, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate trading places and how our nation got its uncle. If you remember the movie Freaky Friday then you already know this cautionary tale for parents and kids: the grass is not always greener. If parents could step into the life of their children they would discover that it’s not all it’s cracked up to be, and vice versa. W...

Welcome to September 12th, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate chocolate medicine and a real game changer. In the late 1800s milkshakes were served in pharmacies as a tonic or medicine. These sturdy eggnog type drinks were spiked with whiskey and other ingredients that were thought to be medicinal. By the 1900s, a more wholesome drink was offered with either chocolate, vanilla or...

Welcome to September 11th, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we remember the events from two decades ago that affected us all in some way. Sometimes events can bring us together in the spirit of hope. Anyone who remembers 911 can recall the intense emotions of an event that united us in tragedy. As we reflect on that day from a distance now, we pay our respects to the fallen, along with the...

Welcome to September 10th, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate the joy of music and a dinner flashback. While you may not be a fan of classical music, I bet you’ve heard of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. Ode to Joy is considered to be the composer’s greatest work. What makes this symphony so special is that it was composed when Beethoven was deaf. When the 9th Symphony debuted in 1824...

Welcome to September 9th, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate a serious schnitzel and a presidential bear. If the name Wienerschnitzel makes you think of hotdogs, you’re not alone. But true Wiener Schnitzel is an Austrian dish that comes with a few strict rules. In Vienna this dish is made with veal by law and the name “Wiener” is German for Viennese cutlet. A schnitzel is the me...

Welcome to September 8th, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate fascinating fungus and the 27th letter. The largest organism on Earth isn’t an animal. It isn’t a tree, either. Surprisingly, it’s a fungus called the honey mushroom that grows in Oregon’s Malheur National Forest. The mushroom has a system that covers nearly 2000 acres, both above and below ground. It’s also estimated...

Welcome to September 7th, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate learning how the sausage is made and a top down love for beer. While American cuisine boasts an array of international flavors, today we celebrate an Italian favorite. The Latin word “salumen” means a mixture of salted meats. Salami is a generic term used to describe any encased meat product, but in Italy this typicall...

Welcome to September 6th, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate taking a virtual trip and a job well done. One of the easiest ways to travel the world is to crack open a good book. Take a trip to Middle Earth, fight dragons and save the world from impending doom. Or hop a train at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters to enroll in a school for witches and wizards. And if romance is more...

Welcome to September 5th, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate small miracles and the simply sublime. Bees work very hard to make honey. In fact, a hive can produce up to 100 pounds of the sweet stuff each year. To put that in perspective, it takes approximately 768 bees who fly over 55,000 miles to visit 2 million flowers just to make a single pound of honey. And thank goodness t...

Welcome to September 4th, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate the call of the wild and one kid who changed the newspaper industry. Did you know that tiger stripes are as unique as human fingerprints? Or that otters hold hands while they sleep to keep from drifting apart in the water? The natural world is a curious place, full of fascinating animals that most of us will never see...

Welcome to September 3rd, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate poor man’s rabbit and team spirit. We all know that nicknames have a way of sticking with us. Take the name “Welsh Rarebit” for example. This basic dish of toasted bread with cheese sauce contains no actual rabbit and was originally called caws pobi in 16th Century Wales. The countrymen loved it so much that a joke spr...

Welcome to September 2nd, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate topping things off and the heart strings that tie us all together. The image of the bowler derby immediately calls to mind British gentlemen walking around London with an umbrella at their side. But this chapeau was conceived for the countryside. Edward Cook, a British politician, wanted a hat that was well suited for...

Welcome to September 1st, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate burnt ends and new beginnings. While fans of barbecue have their personal favorite when it comes to style, Kansas City has one of the most distinctive takes on barbecue. Yes, there are ribs and pulled pork, but Kansas City is known for its burnt ends. This favorite is a cut from the tip of a smoked brisket. The outside...

Welcome to August 31st, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate cupid’s little helpers and snacks that go the distance. Before online dating sites, the art of matchmaking was devised by a few brave souls who were willing to fire cupid’s arrows. The comic and tragic results of the professional matchmaker are portrayed by Will Smith in the movie Hitch, though occasionally, things work...

Welcome to August 30th, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate finding our happy place and dessert on a stick. Someone once said, “Happiness is a day at the beach.” That pretty much sums it up! The beach can be the very best place to get away from it all, with the smell of the salty air, the sand crunching between your toes and the sound of waves crashing into the shore. Just thinki...

Welcome to August 29th, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate odds and ends and all the ways we love lemon. Alan Davidson calls the origin of chop suey a prime example of culinary mythology. It is believed that the name means “assorted pieces” and this name fits the hodge podge of myths surrounding its creation. Though the Chinese don’t claim the dish, they are usually at the heart...