I always find it fun and interesting to celebrate or observe national food holidays.
Out of all twelve months, October seems to be the most flavorful having the most nationally observed food days. Out of 31 days, October has 36 food days. Yes, you heard me right. Some days in October are claiming two foods!
So why wonder what you’re going to make for dinner tonight?
Have fun and experiment with different ingredients by incorporating the food of the day. What are those foods you ask? Well, to start, October 1st is ‘World Vegetarian Day’ and if veggies don’t thrill you, October 1st is also homemade cookie day.
October 3rd is National Caramel Custard Day and October 5th is National Apple Betty Day. You know, like apple pie, except instead of pie crust the apples are placed in a baking dish and covered with streusel topping.
October 14th is Chocolate covered insects day, although you probably won’t find that one being celebrated in the US and October 16th is World Food Day, so I encourage you to think about someone less fortunate, even if it’s dropping off a few nonperishable items at your local food bank.
October 18th is chocolate cupcake day and October 21st is National pumpkin cheesecake day as well as caramel apple day……. Is your mouth watering yet?
October 22nd is National Nut Day and October 26th is both Pretzel and Pumpkin Day. We all know that pumpkins are great for carving out jack o’ lanterns but did you know that pumpkin is very good for you and contains high amounts of vitamin A which may lower your risk for certain cancers and heart disease? This winter squash is extremely versatile working well in sweet or savory dishes.
October 30th is Buy a Donut Day and October 31st is Candy Apple Day.
I encourage you to flavor your October with some of the fall food staples! And to get you started I’m helping you to celebrate October 21st with my Pumpkin bread with salted pepinas recipe!
Remember, food is fun, so play with the ingredients and make it your own! As always feel free to hit me up on twitter @EliseTDC with any of your culinary questions! Have a FOOD weekend!
Pumpkin Bread with Salted Pepitas
by Elise the Diva Chef
Ingredients:
3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 whole eggs, beaten
16 oz. canned unsweetened pumpkin
3.5 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. salt
2tsp. baking soda
1tsp baking powder
3.5 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
2/3 cup of water
Package of salted pepitas
Procedure:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt 2 Tbsp. of butter and, butter and flour (2) 9×5 loaf pans. In a bowl, stir together sugar and oil. Lightly beat eggs in bowl and add to sugar and oil. Stir in pumpkin and mix until well blended. In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients and blend thoroughly. Mix dry ingredients and water into pumpkin mix alternating until all incorporated and batter is smooth. Divide batter between two loaf pans and sprinkle the top with the salted pepitas. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean from the middle. Let stand for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and set on a cooling rack to cool.
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