Modern Cocktail Garnishes For National Cocktail Day

March 24th is National Cocktail Day, a day we’re using to revisit cocktail garnishes. Many standard garnishes have been used since the advent of the particular cocktail—they’re what that first bartender used when he mixed the first Sazerac (America’s first cocktail) or Gin Fizz. We’ll look at them as well as modern cocktail garnishes. Citrus…
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The History Of Tamales & Modern Tamale Recipes For National Tamale Day

[1] You can have these tamales shipped to you: Beef Tenderloin, Ancho Chile Pork, and Chicken Tomatillo (photo © Mackenzie Limited). [2] The masa filling is wrapped in a corn husk or banana leaf. In a pinch, in the old days, even tree bark was used (photo © Broken Spanish | Los Angeles). [3] Open…
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What Are Bavarian Crêpes, For National Bavarian Crêpes Day

March 22nd is National Bavarian Crêpes Day. What are Bavarian crêpes? Called palatschinke in Bavaria (the singular is palacinka), these crêpes (some people call them pancakes, but see the next section) are typically made from wheat flour or buckwheat flour. You’ll also see them referred to as Balkan-style crêpes, Croatian crêpes, Hungarian crêpes, Serbian crêpes,…
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What Are Pineberries, Pineberry History & Strawberry Trivia

[1] A bowl of Pink-A-Boo variety pineberries (all photos © Wish Farms). [2] You can find them at stores nationwide. [3] Growing on the plant. [4] Pineberry and poppyseed salad dressing. Here’s the recipe. [5] Pineberry garnish on a vanilla butter cake. Here’s the recipe. [6] Top a bruschetta with goat cheese or ricotta. Here’s…
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Hard Tacos a.k.a. Crunchy Tacos For National Crunchy Taco Day

October 4th is National Taco Day. So why do we need a second holiday, March 21st*, National Crunchy Taco Day? To celebrate hard tacos a.k.a. crunchy tacos. They may merit their own holiday because in Mexico, tacos were traditionally made with soft corn tortillas. While today you can find tacos with flour tortillas, and with…
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