Hello again people! I hope your day or night is going absolutely wonderful.

Here its cold, snowy and very windy. Old Man Winter is quite active this year, I do wish he would quiet down for a while. But enough about that old man, I’m here to bring you todays list of celebrations. How have you liked it so far? Interesting and sometimes funny, I say. I often wonder how some of these holidays started. Someone was bored one day?

Today is kind of a quiet day for celebrations, must be working up to the big one in a two and half weeks. Yikes! Let’s see what I’ve found for today.

Christmas Card Day ~~ (Via Wikipedia) The first Christmas cards were commissioned by Sir Henry Cole and illustrated by John Callcott Horsley in London on the 1st of May 1843. The central picture showed three generations of a family raising a toast to the card’s recipient: on either side were scenes of charity, with food and clothing being given to the poor.  Allegedly the image of the family drinking wine together proved controversial, but the idea was shrewd: Cole had helped introduce the Penny Post three years earlier. Two batches totaling 2,050 cards were printed and sold that year for a shilling each.

Today is the day to celebrate Christmas cards and to get that list out and start addressing those envelopes. Go ahead and send out your Christmas cards folks.

Today sending Christmas Cards by snail mail seems to be another lost art. With ecards and technology a lot of people find it easier to just send cards through the internet. I think that loses so much of the holiday season. People need to slow down and savor things in life. So if any of you out there want a Christmas card by snail mail from chilly, beautiful Southern Alberta, just drop me an email and I’ll send you an old fashioned Christmas Card. I’m serious people.

National Pastry Day ~~ I don’t know who or why this holiday was created, but my guess would be because it’s close to Christmas. What better way to celebrate the season than by baking and eating a delicious pastry.

To make this a fun-filled occasion pastry chefs from all over the world put up their best creative culinary skills to create a signature pastry. Can you imagine all the smells and tastes? Oh wow, this is my kind of day!

According to Wikipedia pastry has been around for a very long time.

“The European tradition of pastry-making is often traced back to the short crust era of flaky doughs that were in use throughout the Mediterranean in ancient times. In the ancient Mediterranean, the Romans, Greeks and Phoenicians all had filo-style pastries in their culinary traditions. There is also strong evidence that Egyptians produced pastry-like confections. They had professional bakers that surely had the skills to do so, and they also had needed materials like flour, oil, and honey.”

So go ahead and have a pastry to celebrate, but remember, moderation in all things is the key.

Computer Science Education Week (Dec. 9-15) ~~ Computer Science Education Week, is an international event designated by the U.S. House of Representatives to recognize the transformative role of computing and the need to bolster computer science at all educational levels. This happening is  held in recognition of the birthday of computing pioneer Admiral Grace Murray Hopper (December 9, 1906). They have their own website and I’ve added a link, just click on the name.

Weary Willy Day ~~ Emmett “Weary Willie” Kelly was born on December 9, 1898. Ever since he was a little kid, he’d dreamed of joining the circus. In 1933, Emmett Kelly became the clown Weary Willie. He died of a heart attack in 1979, but he is remembered today on Weary Willie Day every year. Weary Willie was a sad-face clown who carried around a sack-on-a-stick. (The character was inspired by hobos of the Depression era.) This clown would come out to sweep up the three rings after other circus acts, and he would try unsuccessfully to sweep up the pool of light of a spotlight. To honor his memory and his talent, go make someone smile, put on some really big pants, paint your clown face up, but mostly enjoy life, no matter how hard it gets sometimes.

National Egg Nog Month ~~ I think we can all figure out why this month is National Egg Nog month. What other month is Egg Nog consumed in such big quantities? I never developed a taste for it myself. Also I’m allergic to milk, so I opt out of drinking it.

Eggnog, or egg nog, is a sweetened dairy-based beverage traditionally made with milk and/or cream, sugar, and whipped eggs (which gives it a frothy texture). Brandy, rum, whisky, bourbon, vodka, or a combination of liquors is often added. The finished serving is often garnished with a sprinkling of ground cinnamon, nutmeg, or pumpkin spice.

According to Wikipedia:

The origins and the ingredients used to make the original eggnog drink are debated. Eggnog may have originated in East Anglia, England; or it may have simply developed from posset, a medieval European beverage made with hot milk.  The “nog” part of its name may stem from the word noggin, a Middle English term for a small, carved wooden mug used to serve alcohol. However, the British drink was also called an Egg Flip (from the practice of “flipping” (rapidly pouring) the mixture between two pitchers to mix it). Another story is that the term derived from egg and grog, a common Colonial term used for the drink made with rum. Eventually, that term was shortened to egg’n’grog, then eggnog.

Whatever the history lots of people drink it during the holiday season, it’s traditional.

 

Lager Beer Week (Dec 9-15) ~~ Yup, all you lager beer lovers will be happy to know this week is Lager Beer Week. Now I have to admit, I don’t drink beer of any kind. Gasp! Yes I know its a terrible admission. I just could never handle the taste of beer, but since becoming a diabetic it’s a moot point as I shouldn’t drink anyway.

(Via Wikipedia) Lager (German: storage) is a type of beer that is fermented and conditioned at low temperatures. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially available style of beer in the world. Bock, Pilsner and Märzen are all styles of lager. There are also dark lagers, such as Dunkel and Schwarzbier. The term Lager is a cognate of ligrs, Gothic for “place of lying (down)”.

Lift a mug full of Lager beer in celebration this week and party on!

 

So that’s it for today, see you tomorrow! May light and love be yours always.