Deschenes - Eat the year : 366 fun and fabulous food holidays to celebrate every day

DISCLAIMER: This book does not hold ownership of, or rights associated with, any food or drink holidays displayed in this book. The presentation of trademarked brands in this book is not intended to imply any association with or endorsement by the trademark owners, and no association or endorsement should be inferred. This book is not authorized by the owners of the trademarks or products referred to in this book, and neither the Publisher nor the Author maintains any affiliations with them.

2014 by Steff Deschenes

Illustrations 2014 by Mike Lowery

Published by Running Press,

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2013958112

E-book ISBN 978-0-7624-5187-6

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Digit on the right indicates the number of this printing

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Edited by Jordana Tusman

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CONTENTS

At the end of 2011, I had gained a following of sorts. People had watched mea silly twentysomething with perpetually bad hairtake a photo of myself at dinner every night for two years and started to connect because I was a real person going through real events. They saw friends come and go from my life, traveled where I traveled, and I never tried to hide the days when I was sad, sick, or lonely. At the end of that yeararound December 29I began wondering if I should evolve my daily photoblogging project into something different.

I had been watching more and more folks post on social media about national food holidays, and thought it might be interesting to see if I could eat a food holiday every day. I pitched the idea to a couple friends, and, literally, forty-eight hours later (just an hour or so before the clock struck midnight on 2012), with their help, my food blog, Almanac of Eats, was born.

So my journey to eat the year began.

Now since youre reading this, Im sure youve realized that I successfully did eat a food holiday of some kind every day for one year. I fully acknowledge that I wasnt the first person to eat the national food holidays, and I know I wont be the last. (Actually, Im hoping this book inspires you to try it!) But Im particularly proud of the unique way in which I accomplished my own adventure to do so; not once did I compromise my vegetarian values. Also, the first year I celebrated the national food holidays over one-third of the year ended up being sponsored by companies who believed in what I had to saythe bottom line of which was, is, and always will be inclusivity.

Nobody tells you how to celebrate Christmas (if thats your holiday of choice in December), do they? For the most partif you remove the commercialism from itits one part tradition and one part instinct. Holidays are both very personal and a reflection of the person celebrating them. So it shouldnt be expected that everyone believes in, does, or practices the same thing. Though less serious, the same is true for food holidays. Know that I never have and never will push my personal or dietary beliefs on you or tell you how to celebrate any of the days. Some foodies believe their opinion is far too important than what it really is, and unfortunately they will try to tell you there is a right and wrong way to celebrate. Do not listen.

Food holidays are about capturing the essence of the daywhatever that means to you. Theyre about having fun, exploration, education, trying new things, and camaraderie. Embrace the days, make them uniquely your own, and do what feels right. And if youre feeling uninspired one day, but still want to partake, dont feel guilty getting something premade or celebrating a couple days late!

There are some things you should be armed with, though, before beginning your own feat to Eat the Year. You should know I did not make up any of these holidays. Through researching food holidays I simply culminated what I thought was the ultimate list based entirely on what the majority of people seem to be celebrating.

Also, I guarantee that between the time of my writing this introduction and you reading it, a new food holiday will have no doubt popped up, so forgive my inability to include it here! Also, the food calendar can be very frustrating. Trust me, I know! There are loads of repeated days, but thats because somewhere along the line people lobbied for those days to be recognized (perhaps without realizing it already existed). Which brings me to my last point.

People often ask how food holidays become food holidays, which are really just daily observances held in honor of a certain food (or drink). Usually theyre created (and then promoted) by food or health organizations, public relation firms, food bloggers, or through petition to a governmental body (sometimes local, sometimes national) for consideration. So the majority of these arent actually national holidays, but thats what theyve been coined as. You will see that there are actually a couple days that the president himself has proclaimed as legitimate national holidays, though I dont know why we dont get the day off for them!

Cheersand happy food holidays to come!

Steff

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