August 21 – National Spumoni Day in the U.S.A.

Posted on August 21, 2019

Italian food! What would the world do without it?

Pizza and pasta and polenta and risotto...marinara and carbonara and alfredo and bolognese...focaccia and all sorts of other Italian breads and garlic breads...Ahh! I love it; don't you?

But how to end a delicious Italian meal?

A classic Italian dessert is gelato. This frozen treat is like ice cream, but it has a lot less butterfat. (About 4 - 8 % in gelato, about 14% in ice cream.) Gelato also has less air and water than most ice cream. Because of the low-fat content, gelato is served at a slightly less-cold temperature - and that means that the flavor is stronger; of course, the flavor isn't diluted with so much air and water, as well.

Gelato often comes in a BUNCH of different flavors.
Fruit flavors, obviously - everything from lemon and
raspberry to mango and pineapple.
But gelato can also be found in alcohol-infused
flavors, coffee flavors, chocolatey or vanilla-ish
flavors, and combo flavors with nuts or other
tasty tidbits (like caramels, marshmallows, cookie
chunks, coconut, etc.) stirred in.

BUT did you know that gelato can even come in
savory flavors? How about balsamic, basil and
tomato, olive oil and parmesan cheese?

Gelato has a more velvety texture than ice cream. It melts in your mouth more quickly (remember, it's served a bit less cold), and it isn't meant to be stored long term, so it's fresher, as well.

Another amazing thing about gelato is all the flavors! Today we celebrate molded gelato with multiple flavors! Spumoni is traditionally made with three flavors: cherry, pistachio, and either chocolate or vanilla. One or more flavors may contain bits of fruit and nuts - such as cherry bits in the cherry gelato, and chopped pistachio nuts in the pistachio gelato - or the desert may be topped with fruit and nuts. The traditional color combination is pink and green and brown (or pink, green, and off-white).

As soon as I started writing about Spumoni, I started wondering about another multiple-layers, multiple-colors frozen Italian treat: Neapolitan ice cream. Sure enough, according to my sources, Neapolitan (named for the Italian city of Naples) is considered a form of Spumoni. The ice cream found here in the U.S. has been tweaked to match up with typical American flavor preferences: strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla. 

Uh, no! I'm pretty typical "American," but I think I like the traditional Italian flavors of Spumoni way more!

Also on this date:

Birthday of Mohammed VI in Morocco 

Poet's Day

Anniversary of the eruption of Lake Nyos

Anniversary of the theft of the Mona Lisa

Anniversary of the Voyager 2 fly-by of Triton

Hawaii's statehood anniversary

Anniversary of a total solar eclipse

Anniversary of the First American Revolution

Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:

• August holidays
• August birthdays
• Historical anniversaries in August

And here are my Pinterest boards for:

• September holidays
• September birthdays
• Historical anniversaries in September

October 25, 2012 - World Pasta Day

The word “pasta” refers to the noodles used in Italian cuisine, but of course these days, Italian food is eaten the world over. And noodles—pasta by other names—make an important part of many different cuisines. Whether its ramen or spatzle, pho or reshte, noodles are especially important in Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Filipino, German, and Vietnamese cooking.

But let's get back to Italian pasta:

What is pasta made of?

Unleavened dough (that means dough that does NOT have yeast or baking powder, and so do not rise and expand) made from wheat flour and water.

(Pasta can be made from other grains, or can use eggs rather than water. Also, some pasta is flavored and colored with spinach, say, or tomatoes.)

What shapes does pasta come in?

Such a variety! The long, skinny noodles (spaghetti, linguini, or vermicelli) are most common, but people make and eat shells, tubes, spirals, bow-ties, wheels, and wide ribbons like fettuccine or even wider noodles like the ruffle-edged lasagna.

Plus more.

How is pasta made?

Most pasta is made through extrusion. The dough is forced through a die with a hole designed for the shape desired, making a long, continuous noodle that is cut to the desired size by rotating blades. Take a look!

Celebrate World Pasta Day!

Go to the grocery store and really look at the pastas and other noodles available to you. (Hint: Check out the Asian foods section and the refrigerated section as well as the pasta section.)

Try a kind of pasta (or three or four!) that you've never eaten before.

Try a noodle dish from a cuisine you have never sampled before. I really love pho (Vietnamese noodle soup) and kaese spatzle (German macaroni and cheese).

Try Halloween Pasta  or these kid-friendly recipes. 

Also on this date:

Artist Pablo Picasso's birthday 

Constitution Day in Lithuania 

July 29, 2012 - National Lasagna Day

Mmm...layers of lovely Italian yumminess!

Today is National Lasagna Day, and I'd love to say let's all eat lasagna, but I think it's a crazy time of year for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere to be baking lasagna—the time of year here in Southern California that can run maybe 105 degrees (but will probably be more like 85 or 90)—and lasagna needs to bake for a looooong time in the oven.

So, am I right? Crazy!

Here's my Lasagna Day plan:

• If I can, I will eat lasagna at a restaurant. Or I will heat up a nice frozen lasagna in the microwave, which (unlike the regular oven) doesn't accidentally ALSO heat up the house.

• Unless it's one of those freakishly cool July days, in which I might just make a pan of our family favorite lasagna. Simmer a pot of marinara sauce flavored with basil, oregano, onions, salt, pepper, celery, and mushrooms. Then layer cooked lasagna noodles, sauce, grated mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, and grated parmesan cheese. The top layer is just noodles, sauce, and the two grated cheeses (no ricotta). Bake for about an hour at 350 degrees.
  
  
  (If you prefer a meaty lasagna, try this recipe.) 

• 
  If it's REALLY hot, I'm going to forget the lasagna entirely and eat another layered Italian food: spumoni ice cream!

All-Recipes-dot-com has a lot of lasagna recipes to try. There are recipes featuring sausage, zucchini, chicken, spinach, seafood, meatballs, moose, and artichokes! The spicy chipotle lasagna sounds like a Southwest version, and some recipes feature heart health or low-carb to the genre.

Hold the presses!

While researching lasagna recipes, I discovered this delicious sounding no-bake version! Oh, man, this really does look good for a light summer supper! 

Also on this date:

Olsok in Norway 

(another post here)

Anniversary of the founding of the first newspaper west of the Alleghenies