November 7 - Gluten-Free Diet Awareness Month

November is Gluten-Free Diet Awareness Month

At first glance, it seems as if it would be easy to avoid food items containing gluten. At second glance, you will find that gluten is in many, many food items you would not even imagine would have wheat (or rye or barley) in it. Twizzlers. Salad dressing.

People with celiac disease (celiac sprue) are put on a non-gluten diet. Some patients with other gastrointestinal diseases can benefit from that diet as well. A good number of autistic children are thought to benefit from a gluten-free diet.

I don't have a good deal of personal knowledge of being on a gluten-free diet. However, I have a friend who must be on one because of celiac disease. I know it is very difficult for her, especially if she is craving pasta or bread!

Throughout the month, I will try to find some interesting/useful sites for you to check out to learn more about the gluten-free diet. Here are two to get you started:

The Gluten-Free Girl has a great deal of recipes for you to check out. Thursday's post has some gluten-free Thanksgiving recipes and tips.

Glutenfreeda claims to have the largest collection of gluten-free recipes. Though I have not tried any of the recipes from this site, they look like gourmet food!

November 1 - Digital Scrapbooking Day

I've not yet ventured into the world of digital scrapbooking; I'm more of a paper and glue stick kind of girl. There is a lot of info out there (google it!), but I thought I'd show you two sites I've recently discovered.

Jessica Sprague offers courses on how to digitally scrapbook, and some free tutorials as well. I'll actually be participating in her upcoming course "Stories In Hand." It's not directly related to digital scrapbooking, but I'm sure looking forward to it.

Ali Edwards is a very creative designer who combines digital and traditional scrapbooking methods. I am so in love with her style! I've been doing a project based on her "Week In the Life" project and I'll (attempt to) do her "December Dailies" album this year.

Happy November 1st and happy scrapbooking!


Whoops! I forgot to show you the official site for Digital Scrapbooking Day. Here you go!

June 10 - Iced Tea Day

Today is Ball-point Pen Day! It is also Iced Tea Day. Drink some iced tea (sweet or not) while you write using a ball-point pen.

More on iced tea:
From Wikipedia
How to brew iced tea
History of iced tea and sweet tea

More on ball-point pens:
History of ball-point pens
How ball-point pens work

June 8 - Sunday Grab Bag

Today is:

Best Friend Day
Name Your Poison Day
Orphans' Train Memorial Day (June 8-9)
Race Unity Day
Shavuot
Upsy-Daisy Day
Write to Your Father Day

June 6 - National Yo-Yo Day

Happy Yo-yo Day!

I never really got the hang of the yo-yo. I could get it to go down, and maybe come back up once or twice, but that's pretty much it. Walking the Dog, Around the World...I ended up with a tangled mess every time.

Loads of info about yo-yos and National Yo-Yo Day here.
More on the history of the yo-yo.

Today is also:
National Donut Day (June 6-7)
D-Day
National Gardening Exercise Day

June 2 - Bubba Rocky Road Office Fudge Cobra Day

Wow, I have some great holidays to pick from today! This makes up for the lack of quality celebrations last week.

National Bubba Day
Everyone knows a Bubba. Be nice to Bubba today. The poor guy deserves a break.

Leave the Office Earlier Day
Well I can't personally condone this observation. Nor do I plan on participating. But if you go in for this kind of thing, today is the day to do it. Here's how. If you can't participate, send an e-card to someone who deserves to leave early.

Rocky Road Day
This is an easy one to celebrate. After leaving the office early, pick up some rocky road ice cream on the way home. Get an extra one for Bubba. If you're feeling fancy, make it yourself. Add mini-marshmallows, chopped nuts and chocolate chunks to your ice cream. Feeling extra-fancy? Make it from scratch.

Yell "Fudge" at the Cobras in North America Day
Another wacky holiday from the folks over at Wellcat.
Apparently North American cobras do not like fudge. At noon, go outside and yell, "FUDGE!" at them. Just do it. Don't ask why.

May 28 - Grab Bag

Today is:

Amnesty International Day
National Senior Health and Fitness Day
Slugs Return from Capistrano Day


Enjoy!

May 19 - Circus Day

Ah, the circus, the circus. I immediately think of a crowded tent, watching elephants and lion tamers and acrobats swinging overhead. I can nearly taste the popcorn and peanuts. As I think more about the circus, I think of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth. Then I think of Dr. Seuss. Or, more precisely, his book, If I Ran the Circus. Yes, the Circus McGurkus, with the 500 gallon tank of lemonade and Mr. Sneelock calmly smoking his pipe in the background.

On this day in 1884, the Ringling Brothers (Alf, Al, Charles, John, Otto, and later, Henry) wowed America with their first circus performance. But this was not the first circus in the world, not even the first in America.

Circuses and circus-like performers have been around since the days of ancient Rome. The more modern circus came about in the late 1700s. Philip Astley, of England, was famous for his fancy horse-riding tricks. He created the 42-foot ring that is the measurement used to this day. Also, to add novelty to his act, he later added what are now common circus sights: a clown, jugglers, tightrope walkers and more.

Later, in the early 1800s, these permanent shows were replaced by shows that took the circus on the road first with horse-drawn (or elephant) wagons, and later by train cars.

P. T. Barnum, who didn’t get into the circus business until late in his career, combined his freak-show/side-show spectacles with the more traditional circus acts and menageries.

Circuses are still on the road to this day, with the most modern type being the Cirque du Soleil.

Since Circus Day falls on a Monday this year, you may not be able to attend an actual performance. To celebrate, check out the links I've gathered for you. Check out the Super Circus TV show or color in some circus coloring pages.

Circuses, Circus history and further information:
Philip Astley
P. T. Barnum
The Barnum Museum
Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey
Circus World Museum
CircusWeb
The Circus in America
Cirque du Soleil

The Super Circus TV Show and other videos:
An episode from 1954
An episode from 1956
Mary Hartline, known as "Our Queen" on Super Circus
Circus Capers, an old b/w cartoon
Under the Big Top, a feature film from 1938

Old books about circuses and circus performers:
P. T. Barnum's autobiography
Circus Life and Circus Celebrities
Toby Tyler; or, Ten Weeks with a Circus
Sawdust & Spangles; Stories & Secrets of the Circus

Miscellaneous links:
Circus Circus, Las Vegas
Circus coloring pages
CircusFit
If I Ran the Circus
Circus, from Wikipedia

May 17 - Armed Forces Day

Armed Forces Day

Sorry, I don't have anything exciting or interesting to say today. I plan on playing with my Sea Monkeys today.

Today is also:
World Telecommunications and Information Society Day

May 14 - Underground American Day

Official Site

Here is a day to celebrate and honor those who live IN the earth, not ON it. If you don't know anyone like this, you can celebrate by:

• Eating a parsnip or a radish
• Bury some treasure
• Ride the subway

This holiday interested me because I was always interested in homes built underground or into a hill. As a child, I practically lived in my parents' unfinished basement. Additionally, I've had a long-term fascination with tunnels and secret passageways.

Fault lines are not the only things that lie below the surface in Los Angeles:
Lizard People Living Under Los Angeles?
The Pacific Electric Subway (Defunct)
San Fernando Tunnel, SPRR
Figueroa Street Tunnels

Below the surface in Chicago, Burlington, WI and Moose Jaw:
Chicago Pedway (partially underground)
Tunnels of Moose Jaw
Al Capone and the Burlington, WI Tunnels

Today is also:
National Night Shift Workers' Day
Donate a Day's Wages to Charity Day
Receptionists' Day

May 12 - Nutty Fudge Limerick Day

May 12 - Limerick Day
ALSO - National Nutty Fudge Day

I couldn't decide which holiday I wanted to celebrate today. I like funny poems. But I also like fudge with nuts. So I decided to combine my celebrations. I'll be making fudge (with nuts) and I'll pipe a limerick on top using frosting. Meanwhile, enjoy my limericks about nutty fudge!

There once was a man named Cutty
He wanted some fudge that was nutty
He tried making some
But it couldn't be done
It came out tasting like putty

There once was a man named Rudge
He liked to eat nutty fudge
His wife made him some
But she shouldn't have done
It came out looking like sludge
(OK, OK, I realize that is just a copy of the first poem...I'll try harder with the next one.)

There once was an old trial judge
Against his wife he held a grudge
His favorite treat
She wouldn't eat
That treat was some nutty fudge

On the face of Old Lady Crudge
Was a very large smudge of fudge
She tried and tried
and she cried and cried
but that smudge of fudge wouldn't budge.

Limerick Day was created to celebrate not only the familiar poetry style, but also the birthday of the man who popularized it - Edward Lear.

Here are some of his still enjoyable books:
The Owl and the Pussy-Cat
Complete Nonsense
Nonsense Books


Today is also:
Fibromyalgia Awareness Day

May 10 - Food Celebrations for May

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day. It is also Eat What You Want Day. So treat Mom to lunch and let her eat whatever she wants (health permitting, of course!).

May is National Salad Month. Unfortunately, I like to eat un-healthy salads. My favorite salad is something I call “Fried Chicken Salad.” I put some lettuce in a bowl. I add some cut up pieces of fried chicken (or baked, breaded chicken), shredded cheese, cut up hard boiled egg, sunflower seeds, and croutons, with a honey-mustard dressing.

Coincidentally, (is it really?) May is also National Vinegar Month. Make an oil and vinegar dressing for your salad! One of my favorite flavorings to cook with is balsamic vinegar. Along with oil, salt, and pepper, balsamic vinegar makes a great dressing or marinade. I like to marinate chicken with it, then broil or grill it. Yum.

Another salad-related celebration is Sweet Vidalia Onions Month. These onions are only grown in certain parts of Georgia, and they are harvested from late April through mid-June. You can find some more recipes here.

May is National Egg Month. In culinary school, I learned that a chef’s hat has 100 pleats in it. Supposedly, these represent the 100 ways any chef worth his sea salt should be able to cook eggs.

Searching online, I was unable to find an official, definitive list of the 100 ways, but here is a cookbook from 1892. It lists 100 ways to cook eggs, along with 100 ways to cook fish and also 100 desserts.

Since May is the month when most of the US starts to really have great outdoor cooking weather, I think it is appropriate that May is National Barbecue Month.

To me, barbecue (or barbeque, or bar-b-q....) is synonymous with grilling. I’m sure there are barbecue purists out there who will be happy to disagree. Personally, I don’t like barbecue sauce, although I love grilled food. There is nothing better than a slightly charred hot dog, bratwurst or polish sausage. Mmm…crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside. May is also National Hamburger Month. So throw a burger on that grill while you’re at it!

Monday is National Nutty Fudge Day. It also happens to be Limerick Day. If you can’t have nutty fudge, write a limerick about it instead.

The 15^th is National Chocolate Chip Day. I say have some chocolate chip cookies. Or you could add chocolate chips to some trail mix to celebrate.

May 16^th is National Pizza Party Day. If you can’t get your boss to sponsor a pizza party, then have your own. Order pizza in for dinner, or, better yet, make your own at home. Trust me, it’s easy.

On the 23^rd, we’ll be celebrating National Taffy Day. While I enjoy saltwater taffy, I’m not really sure why it needs its own holiday. If you can’t get your hands on saltwater taffy, pick up some Laffy Taffy at the grocery or drug store. Or, if you are feeling enterprising, you can make some yourself.

Today is also:
Astronomy Day
Birthmother's Day
National Train Day
Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive
World Fair Trade Day
World Lupus Day
World Migratory Bird Day

May 5 - Cinco de Mayo

May 5 - Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo is not the Mexican Independence Day. Nope. That's September 16th. Nor is it a popular holiday in Mexico. It is most widely celebrated in America.

And here in the US, Cinco de Mayo is a lot like St. Patrick's Day. More of a celebration of the culture, than of any significance the day itself holds. Most often, a drinking holiday.

The 5th of May came about like this: during the Mexican-American War, Mexico garnered a huge amount of debt. Benito Juarez wanted to delay paying off some debt for a while, to resume after two years. The French, English and Spanish didn't like this; they wanted their money. So they sent their troops to Mexico. The English and Spanish struck a deal with Mexico but France said, "No way." Thems fightin words. So they fought and Mexico's ragtag army surprisingly won. On the 5th of May, 1862.

My information came from the following sites (but don't accuse them if I am wrong - I'll take the blame):
Viva Cinco de Mayo
Mexonline
CLnet
National Geographic


Today is also:
Melanoma Monday
Totally Chipotle Day

March 18 - Awkward Moments Day

March 18 - Awkward Moments Day
Official Site?


Here are the top 10 awkward moments in pop culture for 2007.

For 2008, I expect to see the Gary Busey/Jennifer Garner fiasco at the top of the list.

March 16 - National Craft Month

March is National Craft Month
Official Sponsor

Un-official song: She's Crafty!

When I was young, I used to think it was dorky that my mom enjoyed arts & crafts. Now that I’m older, I think that arts & crafts are fun. Then again, I am a dork.

I enjoy many different crafts, and crafting in general, but my favorite hobbies are painting and crochet. Currently I trying to teach myself how to knit and hope to soon pick up on sewing. I am using Craft Month to finish up some projects that got set aside. One thing I like about my hobbies is that I can do them while watching television. This keeps me from eating while I watch television.

If you are one of those who still think that crafts are dorky, you need to check out Craftster, stat! On Craftster, you will find some of the most talented people sharing their projects and ideas. It ain’t yo momma’s crafts.

If you’re like me and Jo-Ann Fabrics or Michaels is one of your favorite stores, you may already have a favorite crafting site online. If you haven’t already, you need to check out Craft magazine and Anticraft.

Don't forget to look online for how-to videos. When I began knitting, I turned to YouTube for beginner lessons.

My favorite crochet website
My favorite cross stitch website
Amazing embroidery patterns
Best craft fair ever

Here is a sweater I crocheted for myself last year: