To all of you in America – Happy Thanksgiving. What a wonderful food day…
Category Archives: Holidays
April Fool’s Day in France: Poisson d’Avril
In France, April 1st is a day of fun and pranks, much like April Fools. French festivities are known as Poisson d’Avril (April fish), where you are supposed to go around taping paper fish on the backs of friends and acquaintances. However, it is also a day for chocolate fish! These on the right are from Jean-Paul Hévin. The blog Paris Breakfasts has an extensive photo-essay of the wonderful fish-shaped tricks and treats in Paris this April 1st.
Filed under Holidays, World Eats
Zeppole Update
Bennison’s Bakery
1000 Davis St.
Evanston, IL
I got THE LAST zeppole today at Bennison’s Bakery in Evanston. You can see it at right on my poor webcam (real digicam is broken). A zeppole basically consists of a filled, fried donut-type pastry. For $2, Bennison’s zeppole was huge, fried and awesome. Their zeppole are filled with the same cream filing as their cannolis. There were strawberry and cherry topped varieties but this cherry one was the last straggler.
All About St. Joseph’s Day Food (especially Zeppole!)
Following my post on St. Paddy’s day eats, I have to mention St. Joseph’s Day, a holiday in Italy 
which is accompanied by a delicious treat called the Zeppole. A zeppole is a fried donut-like pastry that is filled with jam or cream and topped with powdered sugar. They are traditionally made especially for St. Joseph’s Day. About.com has a simple recipe, as well as an extensive history of the humble zeppole.
St. Joseph’s Day (March 19) is one of the biggest holidays in Sicily (and some other parts of Southern Italy). Joseph is the patron saint of Sicily since people say that in the middle ages peasants prayed to him and he ended a drought. Now, in remembrance of this feat, some Sicilians create altars full of food and plenty in honor of the day. Fava beans, the crop St. Joseph saved, are popular, as are citrus fruits, which happen to be prolific in Sicily. The tradition has spread to places with large Sicilian immigrant populations, especially New Orleans. There is a lot of interesting history of Louisiana altars (like the one at right) at the Houston Institute for Culture.
This year, I found a list of places with “St. Joseph Tables” in Chicagoland in the Sun Times. I imagine it would be a cool experience to go to one.
Filed under Holidays, World Eats
The history of Corned Beef and Cabbage
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, here’s a little post about the quintessential St. Patty’s food – corned beef. So…What’s the deal with it? I always though it was an actual Irish dish, but, it turns out it is really more of an Irish-American creation. According to Wikipedia, while cabbage has long been a traditional Irish food, beef was substituted in America as a cheaper alternative to bacon, which was traditionally served in Ireland. The ‘corned’ in corned beef actually is an antiquated way to say “brined.” The dish itself dates back to 1621! If you really want to go for it, here’s a corned beef recipe from Food Network.
Corned Beef and Cabbage by Craig Dugas
Filed under Holidays, World Eats
Swedish Pepparkakor for St. Lucia’s Day
It’s St. Lucia day, the kickoff to the holiday season in Sweden, If you’re feeling festive in Chicago, you can get some fresh-baked Pepparkakor at one of the best Swedish bakeries in Chicago, the aptly-named Swedish Bakery (5348 N Clark St # 1, Chicago, IL 60640).
Pepparkakor by ProBonoBaker
Eating The World 