February 1: Baked Alaska Day

Now, I've heard of Baked Alaskas, but I've never had one.  Obviously, I've never made one either.  So I looked around to figure out what exactly a Baked Alaska is.  Back in 2007, Jessie over at CakeSpy got curious about Baked Alaskas and put together this amazing round-up of information.  Wow! That is a dessert I will someday have to make - it looks so complicated and challenging that I feel I must conquer it!  I just have to decide if I make it in the oven like Martha Stewart does, or do I use a torch like Alton Brown does?  I'm leaning toward the oven, so I don't have to buy a torch.  I am tempted to make a Baked Alaska, then turn it into a Bombe Alaska.

By the way, this is a food that has a reverse- an alternative universe counterpart, if you will - the Frozen Florida.  That sounds like it could be a lot of fun to make, too.

January 15: Strawberry Ice Cream Day and Fresh Squeezed Juice Day

Again with the non-seasonal food!  On my hike today, I was completely bundled up and using the little pocket heaters to keep my fingers from going numb.  A couple of times, I found myself slurring while I was talking because my lips and cheeks had gone numb from the cold.

So ice cream has probably been the last thing on my mind today, but today is Strawberry Ice Cream Day.  I do love strawberry ice cream- just not when it's pretty much freezing outside.  Strawberry ice cream in the summer when it's in the 90s?  Yes please!  Whenever my dad would bring home neapolitan ice cream, the pink stripe would disappear first.

A friend of mine has an ice cream maker and loves it.  An ice cream maker doesn't really have a place in my life as I don't need any one-use appliances that I would only use a few times a year, but I am looking at getting the ice cream extension to the KitchenAid stand mixer.  Still, it won't get a lot of use so we'll see.


Fresh Squeezed Juice Day

If you prefer concentrated juice to fresh squeezed juice, please let me know. Well, flavor wise, as I suppose concentrated or purchased juices are definite time savers when compared to fresh squeezed juice.  But nothing beats fresh squeezed juice when it comes to flavor. 

Fresh squeezed lemonade ranks easily as my number one drink.  Adding crushed fresh strawberries just makes it even tastier.  My mom loves fresh squeezed passionfruit juice and will mix it with crushed blueberries.  Friends of mine have expressed preference for fresh squeezed grapefruit, orange, and tangerine juices.  Personally, I think it's a travesty to not eat tangerines, but when you think about it, the only fruits you can squeeze are citrus fruits.  Everything else you have to crush or puree.

January 13: Peach Melba Day

Maintaining this blog has been educational.  It makes me learn about foods I've never been exposed to or have never tried.  Today is a great example of that.  Until today, I've only heard of peach melbas but I didn't know what they were.  A quick internet search teaches me that peach melbas are peaches, raspberry sauce, and ice cream.  I also learned that peach melbas are named after opera singer, Nellie Melba, and that there is a whole bunch of foods named after people.  I didn't realize so many foods names after people existed and I've never heard of a majority of these foods.  Maybe that could be a side project one day - reading the biographies of people who have food named in honor of them.

Peach melbas sound easy to make and maybe one day I'll make one.  Again, though, I am confused: why this food on this day?  Oh, I understand that marketers get involved, but why on earth a day in January for a food that features traditionally summer food?  Peaches and raspberries are summer foods for me and I'm sitting here with an electric blanket- cold foods like ice cream are so not on my must eat list right now.  Maybe it's the longing for summer that pushes us to have food holidays that feature summer foods in winter.