While I was thumbing through my Twitter feed one day last week, I noticed that it was National Smore's Day. I'm always up for a culinary celebration, so I swung by the store to pick up some marshmallows and a chocolate bar. (I made the graham crackers from scratch using this Marta Stewart recipe - perfection!) As I was rolling out the cookies I realized if I hadn't been on Twitter that evening I would have let a perfect smore-making opportunity slip by. So I wondered what other food holidays there may be thoughout the year. Turns out there is an American food holiday every day!
Food holidays, as well as other special observance days, are actually designated by our government. Over the years there have been enough petitions and proclamations to have a designated food holiday for every day of the year, and some foods are actually observed more than once. You can find a complete list here, but I compiled a list of notable ones below—noting a drink, dessert, and savory dish for each month. Put a few on your google calendar so you don't miss out on a chance to celebrate your favorite foods.
January
- January 24 - National Peanut Butter Day
- January 27 - National Chocolate Cake Day
- January 31 - National Brandy Alexander Day
February
- February 6 - National Nutella Day
- February 9 - National Pizza Pie Day
- Februrary 22 - National Margarita Day
March
- March 3 - National Mulled Wine Day
- March 18 - National Oatmeal Cookie Day
- March 20 - National Ravioli Day
April
- April 8 - National Empanada Day
- April 13 - National Peach Cobbler Day
- April 19 - National Amaretto Day
May
- May 4 - National Homebrew Day(our brew specialist Emma no doubt has this on her calendar)
- May 14 - National Buttermilk Biscuit Day
- May 15 - National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day - my personal favorite
June
- June 11 - National German Chocolate Cake Day
- June 10 - National Iced Tea Day
- June 15 - National Lobster Day
July
- July 6 - National Fried Chicken Day
- July 10 - National Pina Colada Day
- July 12 - National Pecan Pie Day
August
- August 5 - National Waffle Day
- August 6 - National Root Beer Float Day
- August 10 - National S'mores Day
September
- September 1 - National Cherry Popover Day
- September 12 - National Chocolate Milkshake
- September 26 - National Pancake Day
October
- October 4 - National Vodka Day
- October 10 - National Angel Food Cake Day
- October 26 - National Pretzel Day
November
- November 8 - National Cappuccino Day
- November 26 - National Cake Day
- November 28 - National French Toast Day
December
- December 6 - National Gazpacho Day
- December 24 - National Egg Nog Day
- December 25 - National Pumpkin Pie Day
What's your favorite food holiday?
Related: It's National Doughnut (or Donut) Day! 10 Recipes to Celebrate
(Images: Chris Perez)
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I'm seriously baffled by the fact that National Gazpacho Day is in December.
That's funny, I always celebrated National Margarita Day on May 5th! lol
This year, National Nachos Day, Nov 6, falls on Election Day. Since I plan to be up till all hours watching the returns, I will need snacks. And now I know WHAT snacks.
Actually, there's a food holiday for every day of the year. I once checked out a cookbook from the library that provided recipes for all 365 days.
The date for gazpacho makes absolutely no sense, it should be like August 1. I also disagree with Pumpkin Pie- none of my families have ever served it for Christmas and I think it should be Thanksgiving or sometime that weekend. While there are clearly many National food days missing from this list, the most glaring omission to me is National Grilled Cheese Day on April 12. That day is sacred.
National French Toast Day, huh? Too bad I've never been a huge fan of french toast...
National vodka day is definitely going on the calendar.