Daily Holidays - February 26

[Sherman A1]

World Pistachio Day Hard to believe, but it wasn’t until 1976 that Americans harvested the first commercial crop of pistachios. They had been enjoying the nut since about the 1800s, but it was not until the 1930s that the love for pistachios really took off.

What may have made the little tree nut so admired, though, is the invention of pistachio ice cream in the 1940s by James W. Parkinson of Philadelphia.

Today, California produces 300 million pounds of pistachios, which is about 98 percent of the domestic crop. Other world producers include Turkey, Syria, Italy and Greece.

Remember getting that red dye all over your fingers back in the day when pistachios were dyed crimson? Hard to imagine now but the apparent reason for the colouring was to hide flaws on the shell and to make them stand out in vending machines! http://www.worldpistachioday.com

National Chili Day While many food historians agree that chili con carne is an American dish with Mexican roots, Mexicans are said to indignantly deny any association with the dish.

Enthusiasts of chili say one possible though far-fetched starting point comes from Sister Mary of Agreda, a Spanish nun in the early 1600s who never left her convent yet had out-of-body experiences in which her spirit was transported across the Atlantic to preach Christianity to the Indians. After one of the return trips, her spirit wrote down the first recipe for chili con carne: chili peppers, venison, onions, and tomatoes.

Another yarn goes that Canary Islanders who made their way to San Antonio as early as 1723, used local peppers and wild onions combined with various meats to create early chili combinations. http://www.nationalchiliday.com/chili-history.html#.VO7Xmik-CCk

National Personal Chef's Day No, kids and husbands, it’s not the same thing as Mothers Day!

The United States Personal Chef Association (USPCA) proudly offers you your chance to serenade the single-minded, single-handed, solo pan handler and knife brandisher in your life.
They say most chefs could start a fight in an empty room so give yours some love on Personal Chef Day. The chances are you’re their only fan and also their only critic on a daily basis. Has the relationship become stale? Why not enliven it in the obvious fashion- by cooking them a meal and telling them not to hold back their opinions. Then, as a few pieces of your finest china go whizzing past your ear you can feel happy that you’ve allowed your go-it-alone gastronaut to let off steam. https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/personal-chef-day/

For Pete's Sake Day Oh, for Pete’s sake! Not another pointless holiday?

For Pete’s Sake Day celebrates one example of a ‘minced oath’, where an offensive word or phrase is substituted by something more acceptable in society. Other examples include ‘For crying out loud!’, and ‘Sugar!’. Such euphemisms have been used for centuries whenever people hit thumbs with hammers, burn hands on hot plates, or sit on sharp things while in polite company. Why has Pete been singled out for special attention?

In the case of this particular minced oath, Pete is likely to refer to St Peter. However, if there’s a Pete in your life, why not do something for his sake? It doesn’t have to be much – making him a cup of tea or a nice sandwich would be good! https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/for-petes-sake-day/

http://www.famousbirthdays.com/february26.html

[Crewleader]

1. Happy Birthday Jackie Gleason

You've been missed!


Some Morning Smiles...













Have A Great Thursday!

[Sherman A1]

4. Great!!!!

Love'em!

[hobbit709]

2. I'm holding out until tomorrow.

[bigwillq]

3. I wish I had a personal chef.

[betsuni]

5. Chili Day

From Raymond Sokolov's "Fading Feast":

"The dish obviously did not originate entirely among English-speaking Texas ranchers. The influence of Mexico, within sight across the river from Terlingua, shows itself in the part-Spanish, part-Nahuatl name. 'Chili' is a descendant of the Aztec term for capsicum peppers. And it simply must be the case that modern chili arose through the contact of nineteenth-century white immigrants with native Indians and Mexicans. This of course is where all of the so-called Tex-Mex foods began. Chili is merely the most popular among them, mixing the Mexican tradition of sauces flavored with chili (and with other spices typical of Mexican food) with the European notion of a beef stew based on chunks of browned meat."

The European notion of a beef stew based on chunks of browned meat is also the origin of the Japanese version of curry and nikujaga.

[femmocrat]

6. Happy Birthday to Fats Domino!

http://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/fats-domino.html

Remembering Johnny Cash: http://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/johnny-cash.html

[jmondine]

7. They left out Tex Avery

One of the greatest cartoon directors ever