Celebrate Every Day

Welcome to November 3, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate taking your turn in the kitchen and truly great sandwiches.

It’s not often that National Day celebrations go so perfectly together but today just happens to be one of them. It’s National Men Make Dinner Day and one of my favorites, National Sandwich Day. Guys, you seriously lucked out with this one, because making a delicious sandwich could not be easier. It is rumored that John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich came up with the meal as a way to keep his game of cards going without missing a beat. If you want to impress your family, make your creation a main event with something from the grill, artisanal bread and a delicious stack of fixings. Think Dagwood Bumstead style from the 1930s cartoon Blonde. And yes, there are restaurants that serve a Dagwood sandwich in honor of his mile high, kitchen sink approach. Go ahead guys give me your go to recipe for impressive sandwiches.

On National Sandwich Day, celebrate the perfect answer to the age old question, what’s for dinner?

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.

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Welcome to November 2, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate getting a grip and a spicy history.

Okay, I’ll admit it: “I’m Stressed!” So I’m not sure why I have to celebrate National Stress Awareness Day? Why can’t this day fall on National Chocolate Day? I’m sure we’re all aware that stress is the number one indicator of how long or how short your life will be. Today it’s time to take a serious look at what’s been eating you. Like seriously! Take a walk, have a bath, call a friend, get a massage or simply take a breath. It’s that important to get a game plan for how you will outwit stress in your life. What’s your favorite way to destress Marlo?

While a lot of foods fall in and out of favor, it appears that deviled eggs have a long history of success. Even the Ancient Romans liked boiled eggs with spicy sauce as the opening act of their meal. And while 13th century Spaniards began smashing the yolks as a filling, the term deviling didn’t appear until the 18th century. This is when a little heat became associated with the devil. Today, no potluck or gathering would be complete without deviled eggs. New twists on this classic hor d’oeuvre can be made by adding smoked paprika or even avocado and lime to the filling. On National Deviled Egg Day, don’t be afraid to celebrate your spicy side with a devil may care level of heat.

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.

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Welcome to November 1, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate home cooked meals for your pet and picking your poison.

You love your pet and wanna do what’s best for them. So why not cook them a healthy meal? Whether you have a dog, cat, bird, lizard or goat try making them something special in your own kitchen. Okay, granted a goat will eat anything but if you’re up for a culinary adventure here are a few ingredients to avoid: chocolate, onions, avocados, garlic, salt, yeast dough, tomato leaves and stems, and milk-based foods. That’s a short list of course and you’ll wanna do some research. On National Cook For Your Pets Day, you may discover a whole new way to pamper those family members we love to spoil.

Agatha Christie is the queen of the Whodunit. Of the nearly 80 murder mysteries she wrote, about half of them involve death by poisoning. Christie had an extensive knowledge of drugs and poisons because of her time spent working in a hospital pharmacy during World War I. She watched carefully as pharmacists and nurses administered medicine to patients, and she learned what dosages were safe, along with what could kill someone. Luckily for the world, Agatha used her knowledge for good and wrote some of the most successful novels of all time. In fact, she has only been outsold by the Bible and Shakespeare’s works. On National Authors’ Day, celebrate your favorite storyteller by cracking open a good page turner.

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.

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Welcome to October 31, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate magical history and all things spooky.

During the Golden Age of Magic, there was only one magician more famous than Harry Houdini. Adelaide Herrmann. Her husband had a very popular magic show and when he died in 1896, she kept it going. Adelaide became wildly successful in her own right, performing for the next 25 years. Her signature trick was the bullet catch, in which someone would fire a gun at her and she would appear to catch it with her hands…or teeth. One time she even faced down a firing squad and caught all the slugs coming her way—or so the illusion would have everyone believe. On National Magic Day, celebrate the sleights-of-hand that still keep us guessing.

Halloween dates back thousands of years to ancient Ireland, when folks celebrated the end of the Summer harvest. They believed that on this night, the gates between the worlds of the living and the dead would open. In order to scare off any fairies or evil spirits, people dressed in costumes. Centuries later, the custom of going door to door began, but no one shouted trick or treat. Instead people sang hymns on behalf of the dead for which they were given soul cakes. They carried hollowed out turnips with candles inside to represent the souls of the dead. Now that sounds spooky! Get your masks on, boys and ghouls, today is Halloween, the spookiest day of the year.

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.

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Welcome to October 30, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate culinary adventures and a season of sweets.

No matter how crazy or inventive recipes from today’s top chefs seem to be, they’d have a hard time rivaling anything in the Libro de arte coquinaria. This 15th-Century cookbook was compiled by the chef of an Italian cardinal and is housed in the Library of Congress. So what makes this particular book so special? Well, for starters, it is the first known cookbook to list both ingredients and instructions. And it’s also full of wild recipes like “How to Dress a Peacock With All Its Feathers, So That When Cooked, It Appears to Be Alive and Spews Fire From Its Beak.” That’s literally the title of the recipe. Try to top that, Food Network. During National Cookbook Month, take a walk on the wild side and try a new adventure.

Candy corn was invented in the 1800s and originally called Chicken Corn. At the time, most Americans were farmers and candy shaped like vegetables were all the rage. During World War II, sugar had to be rationed, so the makers of candy corn cut back production and limited sales to the Fall. Trick or treating became popular around the same time, so candy corn became synonymous with Halloween. These days you can find all kinds of varieties including pumpkin spice and caramel apple. If you’re a fan then indulge your sweet tooth on National Candy Corn Day. And if not celebrate the fact that it’s only around a short while.

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.

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Welcome to October 29, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate the breakfast of champion thinkers and a good rap for felines.

You may not think of oatmeal as the breakfast of champions, but here’s what one inventor had to say about it, “There is no doubt that some plant food, such as oatmeal, is more economical than meat, and superior to it in regard to both mechanical and mental performance…it produces an amount of good difficult to estimate.” Nikola Tesla. On National Oatmeal Day, all I have to say to that is “I’ll have what he’s having.” Do you guys eat oatmeal?

A lot of attention is paid to the hard working dog and by comparison cats seem a lot lazier. But thousands of years ago, cats emerged from the wild to play a useful role as mice catchers. This led to increased crop yields and slowed down the spread of diseases. It’s no wonder that cats were revered by the ancient Egyptians and even mummified cats to do their job in the afterlife. When the Egyptian dynasty collapsed, cats found an even better job in the laps of the rich in Far Eastern India and Japan. There, Siamese and Burmese cats were seen as a luxury and not a mere farm hand. On National Cat Day we celebrate their place in our hearts as expert nappers and internet influencers.

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.

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Welcome to October 28, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate a Freaky Friday and a chocolate lover’s dream.

In 1815, a massive volcanic eruption spread ash around the entire globe. The following year was dubbed The Year Without a Summer. The skies were dreary and dark, and temperatures were far below normal. In the midst of this, a legendary novel was born. Lord Byron invited Mary Shelley and her fiance to his home in Switzerland, where the friends huddled around a fireplace and read from a book of scary stories. In this eerie setting, Byron came up with the idea that each guest should write their own ghost story to share with the group at the end of their stay. And that is how Mary’s Frankenstein was born. On National Frankenstein Friday host your own eerie happy hour or read the original classic, if you dare!

People have been cultivating cacao trees for at least three thousand years, with the earliest use of the seeds dating back to 1100 BCE. These beans are intensely bitter and must be fermented to develop their flavor. Next they are dried, cleaned and roasted to produce cacao nibs which are ground into a paste. But you probably won’t enjoy the taste at this point until the mass is liquified and mixed with other things. From here chocolate takes on many forms from white to dark depending on the amount of cocoa solids and other ingredients. No matter which kind you love best, indulge your sweet side on National Chocolate Day.

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.

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Welcome to October 27, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate breaking an unlucky streak and a beverage that is best served cold.

It appears that the myth surrounding black cats as bad luck is relatively new. This bad wrap is associated with the Puritanical view of witches and their supernatural pets. Starting in the 12th century, folks believed that a witch could transform into a black cat nine times. This is probably where their reputation for having multiple lives began too. But well before that, the ebony coated feline was a sign of good luck. From Ancient Egypt to Old England, Scotland and Japan, black cats were thought of as a symbol of good fortune. They were even given as a wedding present for hundreds of years. On National Black Cat Day, break with superstition and find yourself some good feline fortune.

America’s love affair with beer started even before the United States was a country. In 1612, Dutch traders Adrian Block and Hans Christiansen established a brewery on what would become Manhattan Island. At the time, the area was called New Amsterdam and was a fur trading outpost. The winter that year was especially cold and icy, which made the workers very grumpy. To boost morale amongst their men, Block and his partner started brewing beer, which worked like a charm. While beer is consumed all over the world, here in the States we love it served icy cold. On National American Beer Day celebrate the season of chill by cracking open a cold one.

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.

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Welcome to October 26, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate our favorite Fall flavor and the workhorse of the Old West.

There's no doubt that pumpkins are one of our favorite symbols of Fall. With pumpkin spice lattes brewing, this cheerful ingredient finds its way into everything from candles to pet shampoo. The squash is native to North America with the oldest pumpkin seeds dating back to 7000 BCE in Mexico. The word originates from the Greek pepon, which means large melon. And our fascination for these large melons grows even bigger when they reach record sizes. A man from Anoka, MN just broke the World Record with his 2,560 pound pumpkin. On National Pumpkin Day celebrate your favorite Fall symbol from the lowly latte to the Great Pumpkin himself.

One of the great unsung heroes of the Old West was the mule. These animals are a hybrid of a female horse and a male donkey, and they inherited the best traits from each of their parents. Mules are athletic and intelligent. They also have greater range of vision, are more sure footed and even tempered than either the horse or donkey. All of these traits added up to one perfect animal for helping settlers expand across America. Mules could carry heavy loads, walk longer distances, and navigate rugged terrain and they were the perfect pack animal and companion for cowboys. On National Mule Day, tip your hat to the animal that helped tame the West.

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.

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Welcome to October 25, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate creepy dolls and greasy spoons.

For Chucky fans, it’s time to get your popcorn, your beverage of choice and hit play! I’m talking of course about Chucky, the Notorious Killer Doll movies. Some people dress up as Chucky and collect his merchandise, while others read up on the behind the scene facts on the many Chucky fan pages. The creepy horror flick staple of the 1980s has a full name - Charles Lee Ray, which is a mash up of three real life and notorious killers. Can you guess who they are? On Chucky, The Notorious Killer Doll Day, test your movie trivia knowledge or stay sane like the rest of us and watch a good comedy.

The name may not sound very nice, but there’s something great about a greasy spoon. I don’t mean a utensil you need to wash, I’m talking about a good old fashioned diner. Since the 1920s, diners have been an American favorite, and there’s no better place to get a quick meal, especially late at night. The best thing on the menu is probably fried, so just for today, go ahead and gobble down a plate of fries, onion rings, or fried chicken. Even the healthiest person has a soft spot for some greasy food now and again. On National Greasy Foods Day, celebrate this excuse for sidling up to the counter at your favorite local diner and taking the plunge.

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.

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