March is a very lively month. We can celebrate all month long. It’s a month for major holidays and food!
We begin to see the first signs of Spring and the added daylight hours when Daylight Savings Time begins. March can be seen as a month of new beginnings. Mother Nature has been known to begin showing off her colors in lively blooms, especially those lovely daffodils, the crocus, irises and then the tulips who round out the end of the month.
The Ides of March (March 15) became notorious as the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar, which made it a turning point in Roman history. Originally the Ides were supposed to be determined by the full moon, reflecting the lunar origin of the Roman calendar. It has long been associated with misfortune and doom. Later it was further immortalized in the tragedy Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare.
We’ve celebrated that lively day of St. Pats and look forward to the egg hunting at end of the month. Through the entire month though, we can eat our way towards all that Easter candy by celebrating March 18 as National Sloppy Joe Day. We all know there are plenty of variations out there, but your basic Sloppy Joe sauce has a few main ingredients: tomato, brown sugar, ketchup, and Worcestershire sauce. After that, the options are endless. What are your options?
It’s not clear, exactly, when Sloppy Joes came into being. Sandwiches like Sloppy Joes have been a staple of Midwest cooking since the early 20th century. And some think it may have come from there. Others believe it may have been invented in a bar in Cuba, in 1917. Apparently Earnest Hemmingway loved the sandwich so much there, he convinced a friend in Key West to rename his bar “Sloppy Joe’s” and start selling the sandwiches. Either way, the sandwich became a sensation, and American institution.
March 21 brings us California Strawberry Day and French Bread Day. California Strawberry Day kicks off the strawberry season in California. The celebration takes place annually on March 21st, the first full day of spring. It’s an ideal time to rejuvenate our taste buds and get excited about fresh fruit dishes. Strawberries are often thought of as the flavor of “paradise speckled with a bit of sunshine and whimsy.”
Let us also not forget that there are few things more tantalizing than slice of French bread. Its length and its crisp crust define it. Known as a baguette to the French, French law eventually established what is and what not a baguette is. In 1920, a labor law prevented bakers from starting their day before 4 a.m. When the law limited their day, the bakers knew their product so well they adjusted by re-shaping their loaves of bread. The long, narrow loaves baked more quickly and evenly. As a result, patrons found the new loaves more convenient for slicing and storing.
Because they ‘must’ be eaten fresh, French people typically purchase baguettes twice a day: one in the morning on their way to work, and one in the evening on the way home. It is estimated by the Observatoire du Pain (The French Bread Observatory) that “French people consume 320 baguettes every second of each day!”
In fact, access to bread is so vital that, “until 2014, Paris lawmakers prohibited certain community bakeries from closing for summer holidays at the same time, lest the entire neighborhood be tragically without bread! National French Bread Day is a great opportunity to indulge in a classic comfort food at its finest, while also learning a little bit about French culture.”
Fortunately we have March 22 as National Goof Off Day so we can prepare ourselves for even more eating and gives everyone the opportunity to have a little extra fun. Monica (Moeller) Dufour of Davidson, MI founded National Goof Off Day. According to official records, the first celebration took place in 1976. We propose letting any goofy idea pop into your head for a day to relax and enjoy. So we suggest all stop, take a break, and find something different! So if you see us sleeping or our feet up on the desk, we are only honoring a fundamental holiday.
Then we eat on down to March 28th. This delightful day recognizes a decadent and delicious dessert on National Black Forest Cake Day. Black Forest cake is the English name for the German dessert Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte, meaning “Black Forest cherry torte.” The cake is named after the specialty liquor (Schwarzwalder Kirschwasser) of the region of the Black Forest (Schwarzwald) mountain range in southwestern Germany.
Bakers layer chocolate cake with whipped cream and cherries between each layer. Then decorate the outside with whipped cream, maraschino cherries, and chocolate shavings. Some traditional recipes call for sour cherries between the layers and a Kirschwasser (a clear liquor distilled from tart cherries) to be added. In the U.S. bakers don’t use alcohol. In Germany, liqueur is a mandatory ingredient. Otherwise, the cake can’t legally be sold under the Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte name.
If you’re full by now, Easter could vey well be a challenge for you. So why do we have Easter eggs at Easter? Eggs represent new life and rebirth, and it’s thought that this ancient custom became a part of Easter celebrations. In the medieval period, eating eggs was forbidden during Lent (the 40 days before Easter) so on Easter Sunday, tucking into an egg was a real treat!
According to some sources, the Easter bunny first arrived in America in the 1700s with German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania and transported their tradition of an egg-laying hare called “Osterhase” or “Oschter Haws.” Their children made nests in which this creature could lay its colored eggs.
Less we forget the other baskets of delightful treats. German immigrants originated the edible Easter egg, which was first made of sugar and pastry in the 1800s. By the late 1800s, U.S. candy makers were offering both hollow and filled chocolate eggs and eggs of unique flavors.
16 billion jelly beans are made exclusively for Easter! “That is enough jelly beans to fill a plastic egg the size of a nine story building! 90 million chocolate bunnies are made for Easter every year. 76% of Americans prefer to bite off the ears first, while 5% eat the feet first, and 4% eat the tail first.”
So is April a month for dieting???