Late April Sunshine!
Hello Again Gleaners!
We’re so excited to see that the sun is shining and the sprouts are coming up! Let’s celebrate this beautiful time together with some more food holidays ! Make sure you also look out for our two specials this month on Every Kid Healthy Week (April 25th-29th) and Stop Food Waste Day (April 28th)!
April 17th is Cheese Ball Day!
We know when we say cheese balls you may be thinking about the puffed cheese snack that comes in bags next to the chips in the salty foods isle but we’re actually talking about the delicious semi-circle shaped mixes that include cheese, veggies and other additives that has become a staple type of dip! It’s so versatile that you can almost include just about any spice or ingredient that you could imagine! Make sure you give it a try with the recipes below!
April 18th is Animal Cracker Day!
There is finally a day to celebrate the simple snacks that contributed to our childhoods! (If you’ve never sung Animal Crackers in My Soup, you either haven’t heard it or you’re lying!) These delightful cookies were first made in England in the 1800s as slightly sweet biscuits shaped like animals and came to the United States in 1871 via York, Pennsylvania (A real hometown tradition!). It’s great to celebrate with store bought but you can also made simple recipes for animal crackers at home ! Give it a shot for this tasty holiday!
April 19th is Garlic Day!
Want to keep Vampires and Colds away? Garlic is the cure for both! Garlic has been shown to have antimicrobial and antiviral properties that boost the immune system and can help relieve cold symptoms among other beneficial effects that include regulating blood pressure and sugar, preventing heart disease and cancer, being a powerful anti-inflammatory, promoting detox and lowers cholesterol. It is one of the most commonly used herbs and it is definitely one of the most delicious.
Garlic comes in bulbs with cloves, single clove garlic, garlic scapes (the top green portions that can be used in recipes just like regular garlic but with less potent flavor!) and sprouted garlic!
Fun Fact: Queen Elizabeth II has banned garlic from use in the palace—can’t be a professional royal with garlic breath!
April 30th is Oatmeal Cookie and Raisin Day!
While there is nothing wrong with separating those two celebrations, why not combine them into delicious oatmeal raisin cookies and celebrate both days at the same time!?
Oatmeal raisin cookies are supposedly descended from Scottish and British oat cakes that soldiers would carry into battle as snacks to boost energy while raisin grapes were grown as early 2000 BCE in Persia and Egypt and have been used as healthy snacks and ingredients ever since. Hope you can bake all the delicious cookies and snack on some raisins today!
So. Many. Seasonal. Herbs!
Apples
Asparagus
Chives
Fiddleheads - this is a young, curled, edible piece of certain types of fern!
Lamb’s Quarters
Mint
Morels
Mushrooms
Nettles
Oregano
Parsnips
Pea Shoots- These are the leaves that grow on the pea plant! You can eat them and they taste much like the peas you’ll find in the plant’s pods!
Potatoes
Purslane
Ramps
Rosemary- Rosemary is a type of evergreen aromatic shrub in the mint family, native to Southern Europe. It’s used as an herb, a perfume additive and a symbol for remembrance!
Sage
Sorrel
Spinach
Sprouts
Tarragon- This leafy green herb is very aromatic with subtle licorice flavor which can be added to dressings, sauces, fish and chicken dishes.
Thyme
Tomatoes
Watercress