Holidays

Happy National Welsh Rarebit Day!

Though perhaps not as haute cuisine as the name might imply, this typically British snack is much more than the sum of its parts, adding beer and spices to the bare-boned but classic cheese-and-toast combo. With the added kick of mustard powder, cayenne, Guinness and Worcestershire sauce, one New York Times writer praised this recipe as "one of the best late-night snacks I know."

For those of you perplexed by its name, Welsh rarebit is derived from the term "Welsh rabbit." In18th century Europe, meat was an expensive luxury and rabbit was the cheapest variety available – and the Welsh were thought too poor to afford even that. Many quipped that they substituted cheese instead, hence the creation of the title as a jab to Britain's neighbors.

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Happy National Blueberry Popsicle Day!

Blueberries best burst with their juicy-sweet flavor from late May to early October -- so get your fix this next month before they're beyond their prime season!

We rounded up the most puckering, lively blueberry popsicle flavor combinations on the web for your enjoyment. Stock up on fresh blueberries from the market while they're at their plumpest peak and create a summery stash of fresh fruit popsicles for your freezer today!

• Blueberry-lemon popsicles
• Creamy blueberry popsicles with yoghurt
• Banana-blueberry swirl popsicles
• Blueberry popsicles with watermelon and lemonade
• Blueberry-peach tequila popsicles
• Blueberry-strawberry popsicles

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Happy National Cherry Popover Day!

Typically taking the form of a fluffy, hollow muffin-sized bread, popovers rely upon liquid-heavy base ingredients (milk, eggs, butter and flour) to create the intensive steam that leavens the batter into its fluffy texture. Baked in muffin pans or specialized, deeper popover pans, the baked goods take their name from the batter's ability to expand and "popover" the edges of the molds.

While today's food holiday focuses on cherry-flavored popovers, they can be flavored with anything from herbs and spices to cheese or fruit. For a quick and easy recipe -- which uses a pan for added simplicity, like the photograph pictured above -- check out Real Simple's Dried Cherry Popover recipe -- it will even adapt to a popover pan if you'd like individual servings.

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Happy Eat Outside Day!

There's nothing like a refreshing picnic on a lazy summer night, with the joys of nibbling on freshly prepared seasonal dishes. But in case you've tired of the same old egg sandwiches, dill potato salads, macaroni mayonnaise salads and antiquated community potluck fare, look no further! We've come up with a list of lively and refreshing options to turn outdoor dining into a veritable movable feast...

• Cheese Straws
• Chili-Dressed Sweet Potato and Black Bean Salad
• BLT Salad with Basil Mayo Dressing
• Pearl Couscous Salad with Olives and Tomatoes
• Asparagus Pasta Salad
• Yoghurt and Herb Two-Potato Salad
• 'Wichcraft's Roasted Turkey, Avocado, Bacon, Onion Relish, Aioli Sandwiches on Ciabatta
• Prosciutto, Mozzarella, Tomato and Basil Paninis
• Crispy Pancetta, Burrata and Tomato Sandwiches
• Grapefruit Yoghurt Cake
• Julienne's Chewy Graham Cracker Bars
• Blueberry Boy Bait

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Happy Chop Suey Day!

Chinese restaurants in the United States outnumber McDonald's, KFC and Burger King combined -- and while no one will argue with their prominence, authenticity is usually up for debate. Though chop suey's a typical menu mainstay at most Chinese restaurants across the U.S., many consumers of the mishmash would be surprised to hear that, like General Tso's chicken, it's a dish of American origin and doesn't even exist in China.

This Chinese-American creation dates back to the mid-19th century and owes its creation to one of three groups: Chinese immigrants in San Francisco, the chefs of visiting ambassador Li Hung Chang, or the numerous Chinese laborers flocking to work the U.S. transcontinental railroad. Much like its background, its ingredients fluctuate, but typically combine chopped meat and various vegetables (namely bean sprouts, celery, onion and mushrooms) atop rice with a soy sauce glaze.

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Happy Banana Lover's Day!

American's best-selling fruit, bananas are perennial fruits, harvested year-round -- which accounts for their international popularity. Most successfully grown in humid, tropical climates, bananas are plucked when they're green, as a rare variety of fruits that ripens best off the bush. Although the regular Cavendish banana (pictured here) is the one you're most likely to encounter at your grocery store, other exotic varieties range from the Blue Java banana, reputedly to taste like ice cream, to a strawberry-scented Orinoco banana, to the plantain, or the "cooking banana" used prominently in Latin American cuisine.

Banana lovers are surely lusting after the glorious edible display pictured above, in which Flickr photographer transformed the banana's outer casing into a vessel for a delicious chocolate-y treat. How do you best enjoy your bananas? Share your favorite banana concoctions in the comments!

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Happy Whiskey Sour Day!

Perhaps the most famous of the sour cocktails -- which at their essence combine liquor with sugar and lemon juice -- whiskey sour is a classic cocktail dating back to 1862, when it first appeared in print in Jerry Thomas's Bartenders Guide. Although such retro drinks were once considered passé, as bartenders across the country revisit the classic sips, the whiskey sour is quickly coming back into style -- the Cocktail Chronicles argue, "While the drink is like a stale Sinatra song, constantly buzzing in the air of a million old dives, the whiskey sour still has a lot to its credit: It's quite easy to make, and it's a reliable fallback for those times when you're in the mood for a drink but can't think of anything else to mix, or when the only things in the house are whiskey, lemons and sugar."

Although these days most bars use commercially prepared sour mixes, you'll find extra fresh tartness by concocting the drink from scratch. Follow the directions below for the original whiskey sour recipe, borrowed from the original Bartenders Guide:

Using a small bar glass, dissolve one heaping teaspoonful of powdered sugar in a drop of seltzer water. Add the juice of half a lemon and a wine glass full of rye or bourbon whiskey and shake all ingredients together with shaved ice. Strain into a claret glass and ornament with fresh berries.

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Happy National Peach Pie Day!

There's nothing more American than pie -- or anything as timeless as these rustic peach pies by blogger Brown Eyed Baker, who praises their imperfect appearance for their comfort qualities: "Rustic is a great adjective for any type of food that looks a little disheveled but that keeps taunting you to take another bite until you have polished off waaaay more than your fair share."

Try out this cinnamon-and-nutmeg-scented peach pie recipe here but beware -- this sort of edible perfection, rustic as it may look, takes practice.

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Happy National Sponge Cake Day!

Appropriately named for their fluffiness, sponge cakes achieve their namesake airy texture from eggs, specifically egg whites mixed into egg yolk and sugar, paired with a variety of flavorings ranging from lemon zest to ground almonds. Although the first sponge cake recipes date back to 1615 England, it wasn't until the 18th century that they gained vast popularity, as the use of yeast as a leavening agent dwindled with the rise of beaten eggs instead.

The cakes are extremely versatile and can serve as the perfect canvas for just about any flavor palate. We've suggested a few below for inspiration:

• Grappa-soaked mini sponge cakes (pictured at left)
• Strawberry-lemon sponge cake
• Chai sponge cake
• Chocolate sponge cake
• Strawberry cream sponge cake
• Sponge cake with pear marmalade
• Lime syrup sponge cake

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Happy National Spumoni Day!

Often simplified into the concept of varying layers of ice cream, the traditional Italian version of spumoni typically involves a frozen molded dessert that sandwiches a layer of rum-flavored whipped cream mixed with nuts and fruit in between two layers of ice cream. Although the ice cream flavors and the whipped cream contents vary, spumoni traditionally involves a flavor trio of chocolate, cherry and pistachio -- and for its variegated colors and flavors, it is thought to have inspired Neopolitan ice cream.

Prominent in American neighborhoods of Italian immigrants, spumoni is thought to have originated in Naples. For its red (cherry) and green (pistachio) color scheme, it is often regarded as a seasonal treat, though can often be found year-round.

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