Page 28 - Food Network (January 2020)

in the know
America’s
W eiRdEs
Food Holidays
Almost every day is a holiday in the food world.
Check out some of the craziest.
y ou might think the holidays
are over, but according to the
Internet, they ’ve just begun:
January 12 is National Marzipan
Day, the 13th is National Peach
Melba Day and the 14th is National
Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day. The
rest of the month is booked with
other bizarre celebrations. How
did we wind up with so many
holidays? The insanity seems
to have started in the 1980s:
Between 1985 and 1986, one in
every three national laws passed
was for a commemorative day,
week or month. The House of
Representatives decided enough
was enough and voted in 1995 to
24 FOOD NETWORK MAGAZINE ● JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020
January 12
National Hot Tea Day
Conveniently, this falls during
National Hot Tea Month.
Iced tea gets its own day on June 10.
T
January 14
is National
Hot Pastrami
Sandwich Day!
May 11
Eat What
You Want Day
Former radio hosts Thomas and
Ruth Roy of Lebanon, PA, have created
about 90 holidays over the last three
to indulge for a day.
decades. This one encourages people
limit the proposals. A publication
called Chase’s Calendar of Events
then took over the job of anointing
food holidays, and the proclamations
just kept coming: up to a dozen September 13
a year. “When we include a new
one, we ask ourselves, ‘Is this just 9x13 Day
a flash in the pan or is this going Lincoln, NE, culinary enthusiast
to be continuous and meaningful Jacqueline Barnhardt created this
holiday to honor all the great foods
to people?’ ” says editor Holly
we make in 9-by-13 pans: lasagna,
McGuire. National Fried Chicken
sheet cakes, casseroles. She celebrates
and Waffles Day (August 8) recently with a potluck, of course.
made the cut, as did America’s
Oldest Brewery Day (April 18).
We combed through more than
500 pages of Chase’s listings to find
a holiday worth celebrating for
every month of 2020!