Week 22 done of my US National Food challenge with 4 out of 7 accomplished!
November 5 – Donut Appreciation Day
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Yes, this is from the same pack of donuts I bought for the previous National Donut-type days, but I tried to glam it up by including some Cool Whip and a strawberry for garnish. Who doesn’t like strawberries and cream with chocolate? It was very yummy! |
November 6 – National Nachos Day
| Nachos made from scratch – unfortunately I didn’t pay any attention to the proportions of ingredients … as my mum used to say ‘until it looks right’! The sauce used some celery, garlic, diced tomatoes, black beans, and red jalapeno pepper. Adding in some ground beef (mince for the Australians out there) and using some gluten-free corn chips, grated cheddar cheese and some sour cream on top – it was probably the best nachos that I’ve ever made (including those made from the packet mixes!). |  |
November 7 – Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day
What is bittersweet chocolate? I probably should do some research to find out all the different types of chocolate around there …! Anyway, decided to keep this day as a rest day.
November 8 – National Cappuccino Day
Those of you following at home will know that no one in my family (apart from my mother-in-law) likes anything to do with coffee. Needless to say, this was another rest day for me.
November 9 – Cook Something Bold & Pungent Day
The idea of this day was to fill the house with ‘homey’ type flavours. Not sure about the pungent bit, but I don’t think the family would have appreciated a dish filled with onions, garlic and other ‘pungent’ flavours.
November 10 – National Vanilla Cupcake Day
| A few weeks ago I made chocolate cupcakes based on the recipe I obtained while watching ‘Good Eats’ with Alton Brown. In that same episode he made vanilla cupcakes, so what’s good for the chocolate version must be good enough for the vanilla version. So I used his recipe for vanilla cupcakes – I gotta tell you, these were AWESOME! Get his recipe here and try it for yourself. Go on – it will be worth your while! |  |
November 11 – National Sundae Day
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Good quality vanilla ice cream (with a peanut butter fudge swirl in it … just because!), combined with chocolate fudge syrup and garnished with leftover Halloween candy – M&M’s, mini marshmallows and Reece’s peanut butter cups. A real family pleaser! |
Coming up next week:
- November 12: Chicken Soup for the Soul Day / National Pizza with Everything Day (except Anchovies)
- November 13: National Indian Pudding Day
- November 14: National Pickle Day / National Guacamole Day
- November 15: National Raisin Bran Cereal Day / National Bundt Day
- November 16: National Fast Food Day
- November 17: National Baklava Day / Homemade Bread Day
- November 18: National Vichyssoise Day
Stay tuned to see which ones I choose to make/eat and how successful (or not) I am!
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