Today is National TV Dinner Day. Did you know that the TV dinner was the brainchild of Gerald Thomas, a C.A. Swanson & Sons executive, who needed to figure out what to do with about 270 tons of left over Thanksgiving turkey? With an idea that combined the divided trays from airline meals with his leftovers, Mr. Thomas produced 5000 tv dinners featuring turkey, corn bread dressing and gravy, buttered peas and sweet potatoes, at a cost of 98 cents, and sold in a box resembling a TV. That year, Swanson’s sold over 10 million tv dinners and in 1955 added a fried chicken dinner (see picture above). While the company stopped calling these meals, “TV dinners” by 1962, it didn’t change that we still refer to them as TV Dinners. These complete meals remains popular to this day and even have dedicated websites like The Single Man’s Guide to TV Dinners, that cover, recommend and rate today’s huge variety of frozen meals.

In my British food magazines, I’ve often seen the word “spatchcock.” Clearly it means something akin to butterflying a bird, but somehow different. Spatchcock used in the UK is a verb, an adjective and sometimes a noun. nakedwhiz.com has done sizeable research into the origin of the word, spatchcock. Quoting Alan Davidson’s Oxford Companion to Food, “Spatchcock, a culinary term, met in cookery books of the 18th and 19th centuries, and revived towards the end of the 20th century, which is said to be of Irish origin. The theory is that the word is an abbreviation of ‘dispatch cock’, a phrase used to indicate a summary way of gilling a bird after splitting it open down the back and spreading the two halves out flat.”

Interestingly enough, The Washington Post covered this subject and, quoting Anne Willan, founder of the French cooking school La Varenne, there is a difference:

“To butterfly is to cut a single slit more or less through the middle of a usually boneless piece of meat, poultry, fish, even a vegetable, so it can be opened up in the manner of butterfly wings,” she says. “It may be cooked flat or stuffed and reshaped. To spatchcock is much more specific, applied only to poultry as far as I know, and almost always to small birds — quail, pigeon, small chickens.”

According to a Washington UPI report, Smithsonian Archaeologist, Linda Perry, who’s also a chili pepper specialist, found evidence to suggest that 1400 years ago, Native Oaxacan farmers were eating foods like corn, beans, squash, chilis, agave, tropical fruits and avocados, even chopping them “…to create a primitive form of salsa.” Perry also said that the chili pepper was first domesticated 6000 years ago and that “Archaeologists have always felt chili peppers were very important…”

Today is National Coq au Vin Day. How would we in New Orleans interpret this dish? How about like this: Coq au vin blanc layered with crispy pancetta, wedged between Belgian waffles split and spread with herbed Boursin cheese, sauced generously and on the side, a serving of rosemary-infused Steen’s cane syrup. Yea babe, salty, sweet, crunchy, soft and oh so good.

Today is National Cheese Fondue Day and so a little dippy history…

Believed to have begun in Switzerland, the French word fondue means to melt or to blend. Frugality required finding a way to make stale cheese digestible. As a consequence, the stale cheese was melted in an earthenware pot called a “caquelon.” Local wines and seasonings were added and even stale bread tasted delicious once it was swirled in the creamy cheese sauce. When dipping into cheese fondue, swirl the fork around, making sure to dig to the bottom of the pot for the best flavor. The golden crust left at the bottom of the pot, called “la croute” or “la religeuse,” is a delicacy for many fondue fanatics. Eating it also helps clean the pot.

Try this: CHEESE FONDUE and ACCOMPANIMENTS TO CHEESE FONDUE.

This is a shot of one of the six St. Joseph’s Day altars I attended today. St. Joseph’s Day is a big deal here in New Orleans, owing to the large Italian-Catholic population that originally settled here in the 1800’s and continues to thrive to this day. The Creole peoples of New Orleans are also serious celebrants of St. Joseph’s Day. The picture above shows one of the private altars built in a personal residence (this one is in Arabi, near Chalmette) versus a Church. Going to the St. Joseph’s altars is intensely spiritual and the food served is amazing - a meatless Lenten feast including pasta and “red gravy,” fish, artichockes, cooked vegetable dishes, special cookies, cakes, and more. See that gal in the red whose back is to us? That’s New Orleans’ own restauant/food book author and writer, Poppy Z. Brite. She’s an avid St. Joseph’s Day celebrant too. She not only attended nine altars, she helped prepare food for her neighborhood Church altar…and it was delicious.

Someone in their infinite wisdom declared today National Ice Cream and Violins Day. What the two have to do with each other is a mystery, but it’s certainly worth a giggle. In New Orleans, locals are getting the scoop on some delicious locally made ice cream in familiar flavors - Chocolate City anyone?

Today marks the end of Ramadan and the beginning og the celebration called Id al-Fitr. On this day families gather to eat, renew and give thanks to the Creator. One the first foods eaten on this day is the date, often thought of as the world’s oldest food, from the oldest food-producing plant.

Angel Food cakes are delicious and light - perfect for right now. Angel food cake is made with a lot of egg whites, no shortening and no leavening agents. Historically speaking, there are a number of theories regarding the cakes origin. One theory holds that angel food is a spin on Sponge Cake. Another theory holds that because a large number of cake molds came from southeastern Pennsylvania, the angel food cake originated there. Finally, according to one web site, “Some historians think that the first angel food cakes were probably baked by African-American slaves from the South because making this cake required a strong beating arm and lots of labor to whip the air into the whites. Angel food cakes are also a traditional African-American favorite for post-funeral feasting.”

In any event, today is National Angel Food Cake Day and this recipe rocks!
ANGEL FOOD CAKE WITH A FRESH LEMON CURD

According to foodreference.com, today is National Hot Cross Bun Day, which is a bit unusual given that hot cross buns are normally an Easter food. Ah well. Originally called “cross buns” and eaten on Good Friday, today’s buns are yeast-raised pastry flavored with spices, currants and diced candied fruit peel, then topped with a glaze and cross slashed before being proofed and baked. Delicious.

No harm in practicing for Easter - it’s only 7months away… HOT CROSS BUNS