​Everyone likes to enjoy the holidays in their own special ways, but one holiday stands out more than the rest. Festivus, a holiday that seems as a joke but in all reality is a popular holiday growing through the masses in the United States. Let’s dig deeper into the past to find the origins of this plain, yet popular holiday.

History of Festivus
Ironically, Festivus has a very odd and amusing start. It was conceived by author and editor Daniel O’Keefe and was celebrated as early back as 1966 by him and his family. But, how did Festivus become so popular if it was just a family tradition? To find that out, we must move forward in time to an episode of the famous television show Seinfeld. While the holiday is extremely popular among people today, the first time Festivus was mentioned in American culture was in the episode of Seinfeld called “The Strike”, but there’s more to the name of Festivus than just a referenced television episode, right? Indeed there is, because the word “festive” is derived from the Latin word “Festivus”. Sound familiar? It should. Festivus is an adjective meaning “excellent, jovial, and lively” which in turn derives from Festus, which means “joyous; holiday; feast day”. Plus, it brings one to think, maybe Festivus is to prove that we as humans don’t need material objects to be happy on a holiday, but all we really need is excellent company, jovial attitudes, and lively music to make the holidays the best we could have.
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How To Celebrate Festivus
Now, to celebrate Festivus it is actually quite simple to remember and even simpler to do. Festivus is celebrated as a holiday by those seeking to find an alternative to the commercialism and pressures that the Christmas holiday shopping can cause. While the holiday of Festivus is easy to celebrate and easily remembered how to celebrate, there are a few things we need for the holiday. In the episode of Seinfeld, they use an aluminum pole in place of a Christmas tree. The O’Keefe family’s tradition was to put a clock in a bag and nail it to the wall. Next is the dinner, which usually just consists of turkey, or in some cases to match the colors of the Seinfeld episode, meatloaf on a bed of lettuce. Afterwards is the Airing of Grievances, where each person at the table stands up one at a time and tells the others what they dislike about them and then how the world has disappointed them that year. Finally, comes the Feats of Strength which is celebrated immediately following the Festivus dinner, The head of the household selects one person at the Festivus celebration and challenges them to a wrestling match, and as Festivus tradition states, the Festivus holiday is not over until the head of the household is pinned by their opponent.

​It’s worth laying on a spread to celebrate Date Nut Bread Day – but the question is whether to choose butter or cream cheese! Nobody seems to know for sure who decided that this delicious fruity bread should get its own day, despite evidence that the holiday has been celebrated for years. Published recipes for the bread “date” back to the 1920s, but fruited breads were also known in earlier centuries and many different parts of the world.

A date nut bread eating championship was held in New York in 2006, with the winner eating 29 sandwiches in just 8 minutes. However, a less nutty way to celebrate the date is by baking some bread and serving it up to friends or relations for breakfast or afternoon tea. Although the bread tastes slightly sweet, it goes well with a cheese filling for a different taste sensation.

Why not try it for yourself?

Date Nut Bread

1 ½ cups pitted dates, coarsely chopped
¾ cup boiling/ very hot water
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
¾ tsp. freshly ground nutmeg (or cinnamon)
¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup light brown sugar
¼ cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts), plus 5-8 pecan halves reserved

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease (or spray with a non-stick vegetable spray) a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.

Place dates in a medium-sized bowl, or large liquid measuring cup, boiling water. Let stand at least 20 minutes. Drain before use.
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In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg; set aside.

In a large bowl of an electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), cream butter and sugars. Add egg, then vanilla. Gradually incorporate the flour mixture and blend until just combined. Stir in drained dates and nuts.

Transfer the batter into the prepared pan. Top with reserved nuts in a preferred pattern. Bake 45 to 50 minutes, until an inserted toothpick in the center comes out almost clean.

Place on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes, then remove the bread from the pan and cool completely. Makes one 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf.

​There are plenty of different holidays out in the world that we all know about, from Christmas to Saint Patrick’s Day. But there are some that we don’t know much about, or don’t know at all. Re-gifting Day is one of those lesser known holidays, unless we work in an office. So, for those of us who don’t know what it is about, let’s dive right into the history of this holiday and see how it came to be!

The History of Re-gifting Day
Re-gifting day was mostly seen as an office holiday before October 24th 2008, which was the day that the state of Colorado declared December 18th as “National Re-gifting Day”. The origin of the holiday came from office workers who were given gifts that they didn’t really want, but didn’t want to throw away, so they re-gifted their present to someone who would want it and make good use of it.

Re-gifting, for us that don’t know its meaning is the act of taking a gift that has been received and giving it to somebody else, sometimes in the guise of a new gift. The term “Re-gifting” was popularized by an episode of Seinfeld, specifically the episode titled “The Label Maker” even though the practice of it pre-dates the term quite substantially. Re-gifting can sometimes be seen as a cruel practice. Why? Because re-gifting a gift that was given to you can be seen as a blatant disregard from the compassion that someone has shown you by either purchasing or creating the gift for you in particular.

How To Celebrate Re-gifting Day
To celebrate this day, all you have to do is give away a gift that you received and have not yet opened to someone else! For example, gifts that you may not want might be as follows: A coffee cup from an unsavory office co-worker, a television you already own, a bookshelf you do not have room for, or even a car that you cannot afford to keep.
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Re-gifting Day is all about giving others gifts that you don’t have any use for, and making sure that almost anyone can have a good holiday spirit for the day. Many people in the world do not have the luxuries that some of us do, say you receive a puffer coat but you already have one in your size, you can go find a homeless person or a person who cannot afford a puffer coat or winter jacket and re-gift it to them!

​What kind if games do you most enjoy, board games, card games, or maybe video games? Whatever game is you favorite, this is the day to play it and have some fun for a change! After all, what better a break could you take from the stresses of everyday life than to partake in Games Day? As generation upon would generation of people the world over would agree, playing games is a great way to just kick back, relax and have some fun with your family of friends.

The History of Games Day
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Games Day was created by the British game production and retail company, Games Workshop, which started out producing more traditional games such as backgammon, and later moved on to fantasy universe games, such as Warhammer. This day of carefree whimsical frivolity was created rather abruptly in 1975 when another games convention that got cancelled, and the gap thereby created needed to be filled. The very first of these soon to become extremely popular events took place in London on December 20, 1975. In a very short period of time, these events really took the UK’s gaming community by storm and brought many people together, which did a great deal to build up the nation’s gaming scene. Of course, this style of convention quickly sprung up and became enormously popular in the US as well, and acts as a fantastic showcase both for gamers and their skills and the gaming industry.

How to Celebrate Games Day

When was the last time you sat down with your friends or family for an evening of carefree fun? If you can’t even really remember, that means it is time to do just that, and Games Day is the perfect occasion. Invite as many people you like, and then conduct a poll on Facebook or some other way to find out what kind of games the people invited enjoy the most, and use the results of this poll as your guide to choosing the right game or games to keep your guests entertained all evening and well into the night. If you have enough time, why not divide the night into several parts, each dedicated to a different type of game, so everyone taking part has the chance to challenge themselves on different levels and in different ways. You would not want anyone to go home feeling down because their Mario kept on getting killed in the exact same spot over and over, right? Remember that every person is different, and will therefore be good at something else—the same person who can’t maneuver an Xbox controller to save his or her life may well be astoundingly good at Scrabble, etc. In short, make sure there’s something for everyone at your Ga,es Day party. If you should want to make things even more interesting, you could try organizing a vintage version of Games Day and have several of your guests bring over a 1985 Nintendo or an older version of Trivial Pursuit.
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And don’t forget about one of the most important things at every party: food. Nothing could be more dangerous to the atmosphere of your party than people getting “hangry” and frustrated. So don’t forget to stock up on snacks and soft drinks or beer, and maybe or a pizza or two. Or three.

​Oatmeal Muffins, a combination of food that make oatmeal jealous of itself. To find the history of this delectable breakfast, we must delve deep into the oven for the tasty past of the day that is Oatmeal Muffin Day!

History of Oatmeal Muffin Day
While muffins have been a staple for quite a few centuries, starting with English style muffins which are yeast raised and cooked on a griddle, and have been dated back to the 10th or 11th century in Wales. American style muffins are known as quick bread muffins, which are made in individual molds. Quick bread muffins were not developed until close to the end of the 18th century, where pearlash, a refined form of potash, was discovered.

In the very first American Cookbook titled American Cookery, author Amelia Simmons published recipes using pearlash, and in 1792 we exported eight thousand tons to Europe. Baking powder was not developed commercially available until 1857. Quick bread muffins really need to be baked in molds because they are created with a batter instead of a dough. While there is not much history for the Oatmeal Muffin, there are plenty of recipes for it that all vary ingredients.

How to celebrate Oatmeal Muffin Day
Celebrating Oatmeal Muffin Day is easy, if you follow the recipe above, you can make a batch of Oatmeal Muffins for the whole family to enjoy in the mornings with some coffee and hot cocoa.

Ready to get baking? Here’s a recipe for you to knock out for a fresh hot treat to start your morning!

• One Cup of milk


• One Cup of Quick Cooking Oats


• One Egg


• 1/4 Cup of vegetable oil


• One cup of all-purpose flour


• 1/4 cup of white sugar


• Two teaspoons of baking powder


• 1/2 teaspoon of salt



• Now for the instructions!
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• Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit


• Grease muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners


• In a small bowl, combine the milk and oats; let soak for 15 minutes


• In a separate bowl, beat together the egg and oil; then slowly stir in the oatmeal mixture.


• In a third bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir flour mixture into wet ingredients, just until combined.


• Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups until the cups are 2/3 of the way full.



• Bake in preheated oven for twenty to twenty five minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

​Bake Cookies Day occurs in the middle of the holiday season, and is a great excuse to bake some delicious cookies to help you get through the cold, winter days! Why not try some cinnamon flavored cookies (such as the snicker doodle) to get your kitchen smelling of winter festivities? Or there’s always the classic ‘sugar cookie’ with brightly colored royal icing, silver candy balls and sprinkles, cut into a myriad of seasonal shapes.

Bake Cookies Day is your excuse to indulge in the art (and eating) of cookies of every stripe and measure, especially those that remind you of the season.

History of Bake Cookies Day
Cookies arrived in America in the 17th century, although the word arrived much later with the Dutch in its original form of “koekje”, meaning “little cake”. This was soon shortened to “cooky” or “cookie”, although cookies themselves seem to date back as far as 7th century Persia! Since then they’ve become a global phenomena that come in more varieties, flavors, and styles than you can possibly imagine.

From fruit filled cookies to the simple but delectable sugar cookie (Yep, got a sugar cookie fixation, tis the season!), these “little cakes” are simply the most amazing thing to come out of an oven since bread· Every year people get together to celebrate Bake Cookies Day by baking dozens of cookies for charity drives, orphanages, and generally bringing joy to family and friends everywhere.

How to Celebrate Bake Cookies Day
The most obvious way of celebrating is to bake up a batch or seven of your favorite cookies· Whether it’s one dozen or 12 Bake Cookies Day is the day to get everything together and fill your house with the joy of the holidays.

Now, if you’re looking to do more, than you can organize a charity bake-off where people pay a small fee to come in and sample all the cookies and vote on them, and the prize goes to a charity of the winners choice· Nobody hates cookies, so at the end of the day you’re sure to have a successful event· For those who don’t know how to bake cookies, allow me to introduce you to my favorite… Sugar cookies!

Sugar Cookie Recipe
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
½ t almond extract
1 egg
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 t baking soda
1 t cream of tartar

Mix together the powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, almond extract, and egg in a large bowl· Stir in the rest once this is blended· Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours· Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F, divide the dough in half, roll out to a ¼” thick sheet· Apply cookie cutters to get desired shape, and bake for 7-8 minutes until the edges are light brown.

Done.

That’s it.
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Enjoy!

​Oh, hey! Did you know that maple syrup had its own holiday? No? Neither did we! So, before we delve into the history of and the most popular thing to put on pancakes, waffles, French toast and more, let us take a moment to thank the maple trees for the sap that becomes the sweet syrup we know and love today! That’s the whole focus of Maple Syrup Day!

The History of Maple Syrup Day
Maple Syrup Day was created to celebrate the amber substance we have all come to know and love. While the maple syrup that we all know today is almost always manufactured in Canada, but even the United States has its own maple syrup production area, and that area is in Vermont. Maple syrup is a syrup that’s usually made from the xylem sap of a sugar maple, red maple, or black maple tree, although it can be made from other species of maple. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before the winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring.

Maple trees are tapped by drilling holes into their trunks and collecting the exuded sap, which is processed by heating to evaporate much of the water, leaving the concentrated syrup. In earlier times, maple syrup was first collected and used by the indigenous people of North America and according to aboriginal oral traditions, as well as archaeological evidence, maple tree sap was being processed into syrup long before the Europeans arrived in the region. Legends exist of when maple syrup was first created, one of the more popular legends tells of how maple sap was used in place of water to cook venison served to the chief of the tribe. Skip ahead to the future and you have the Canadian province of Quebec, which is by far the largest producer of maple syrup, contributing to more than seventy five percent of the world’s output.

How to Celebrate Maple Syrup Day
Now to celebrate this day, you just have to find ways to indulge in this rich, tree-blood based syrupy delight!

Option One: Make a breakfast that would go well with real maple syrup. For example, pancakes, waffles, French toast, and crepes would all be an excellent choice to start off our Maple Syrup Day celebration.

Option Two: Make a PBMS or a Peanut Butter and Maple Syrup sandwich. Instead of jelly, we will use maple syrup in its place.
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Option Three: We could even use the maple syrup as a glaze for ham during the holidays, a side dipping sauce for sushi, or even a topping for vegetables if we so felt like it.

​"Chocolate, a candy loved by both children and adults alike. But how much can it go on? What edible creations can molten chocolate create? Where in the world are certain chocolate dishes made a favorite staple? Well, in order to find the answers to all those questions, we must do a time hop into the past, for this is the search of the history of Chocolate Covered Everything Day!

History of Chocolate Covered Everything Day
We all know and love the dark and sweet bricks called chocolate, we even melt it down and put on our ice cream! When was this delectable treat created? The history of chocolate begins in Mesoamerica. Fermented beverages made from chocolate date back to 1900 BC. The Aztecs believed that cacao seeds were the gift of Quetzalcoatl, the god of wisdom, and the seeds once had so much value that they were used as a form of currency. After chocolate’s arrival in Europe from oversea expeditions in the sixteenth century, sugar was added to it and it became popular throughout all of Europe, first among the ruling classes of the European societies, and then among the common people. Jose de Acosta, a Spanish missionary who lived in Peru and then Mexico in the later 16th century, described its use more generally.

“Loathsome to such as are not acquainted with it, having a scum or froth that is very unpleasant taste. Yet it is a drink very much esteemed among the Indians, wherewith they feast noble men who pass through their country. The Spaniards, both men and women that are accustomed to the country are very greedy of this Chocolate. They say they make diverse sorts of it, some hot, some cold, and some temperate, and put therein much of that “chili”; yea, they make paste thereof, the which they say is good for the stomach and against the catarrh”
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How to celebrate Chocolate Covered Everything Day
To celebrate the day where we coat everything we can in chocolate, we go out and find an affordable mini chocolate fountain, and then we buy whatever we like to go with our chocolate, take it home and set it up, and then enjoy the chocolate covered foods in the comfort of our own home, enjoying it any time we want! We can also celebrate by buying chocolate syrup, heating it up in a bowl and have a bowl of ice cream with a hot chocolate syrup topping."

​Lurking in the murky depths of many people’s wardrobes is a colorful, brash and (in most cases) highly embarrassing novelty Christmas jumper which, were it not for Ugly Christmas Sweater Day, would probably never see the light of day· When for Ugly Christmas Sweater Day comes along, it’s time to stop being ashamed of the contents of your (likely gifted) wardrobe and start busting out the ugly· There is such a thing as ‘so awful you can’t really hate it’ (the nether-regions of Netflix has multiple movies that fit this criteria), and Ugly Christmas Sweaters fit the bill in your wardrobe.

History of Ugly Christmas Sweater Day
Launched in 2011, this annual celebration, which is growing in popularity every year among adults and children, is not simply an excuse to parade humiliatingly-unfashionable seasonal knitwear featuring Rudolph, Christmas puddings and Frosty the Snowman; it is a light-hearted and enjoyable fundraising event with a serious aim in aid of Save the Children.

Since then it has been used as an important event to help drive charity funds for organizations that help children around the world deal with illnesses that shouldn’t be anything more than a minor inconvenience· The firm belief that children shouldn’t die from easily treated diseases is what brings this holiday to the fore· It’s often speculated that we subject ourselves to a minor harmless ailment, the sight of these hideous sweaters, to help save the children from medically similar situations.

How to Celebrate Ugly Christmas Sweater Day
In schools, colleges and offices Christmas jumpers are donned to raise money for the global charity that works to combat premature death among children from easily preventable diseases such as diarrhea, malaria and pneumonia, and whose mission is clinically summed-up in the slogan ‘No Child Born to Die’.

So if you want to celebrate Ugly Christmas Sweater Day, then dig into your wardrobe, and organize a day among your friends and co-workers to assault the eyes of everyone around you with the garish and uncomfortable designs of your Christmas Sweater.

One thing you can do is organize an ‘Ugly Sweater’ auction, where everyone brings their worst sweaters, and people bid to have them take them off· Anything to stop the assault on their eyes· For the trolls in the audience, you can have it be counterbid by people seeking to have the sweaters remain and continue to torment friends and co-workers for the day· As the ultimate finale to this event, you can take all the sweaters that have been auctioned ‘off’ their wearers, and burn them in effigy to these awful emblems of the holidays· The proceeds obviously go to a worthy charity.
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Alternately, we have to admit that there is something to the ‘ugly sweater chic’, and if you happen to know a group of people with the skills to produce a sweater, you can organize an actual auction· Have people bring their own holiday designs and auction them off in a silent auction, and donate the proceeds to a charity of your choice.

​In the chill of December, there’s one warming treat that is especially popular across the world to keep the cold away. Roasted chestnuts are often seen this time of year being cooked by street vendors, and the earthy, spicy scent is more than enough to get anyone into the Christmas spirit.

On the 14th of December, it’s time to honor the humble chestnut. Or specifically, mark the time-honored tradition of roasting chestnuts round about the season of good cheer.

The History of Roast Chestnuts Day
Roast Chestnut’s day is a relatively new day in the calendar, but the practice of roasting chestnuts has been around for donkey’s years. Although it’s hard to pinpoint exactly when they started to become so popular, historians pencil the 16th century in as being a turning point, when the nuts would be sold by street vendors to anyone wanting a quick and warming snack. It has also long been a tradition in Portugal to eat them roasted on Saint Martin’s Day, and in Tuscany on Saint Simon’s Day.

When chestnuts are carefully roasted, the natural sweetness of the nut is revealed. This makes them an ideal snack if you want something to stave off a sweet tooth that also happens to be quite nutritious, chestnuts being comparatively low in calories and being a good source of fiber. They are also very rich in vitamin C, which may come as a surprise to you. Although they are technically nuts, they taste very unlike other nuts – the sweet, earthy taste is certainly worth a try if you’ve never had one before – and Roast Chestnuts Day is the perfect time to try that first one.

Chestnuts are often roasted on a grill, which helps to remove their bitter, shiny skins, but you can make them at home using your conventional kitchen oven. All you need to do is cut a cross into each nut, put them on a roasting tin and bake them until the skins open. They are eaten after peeling away that tough, shiny skin.

How to Celebrate Roast Chestnuts Day
It’s so, so easy to make roast chestnuts, so why not roast up a batch for yourself on the 14th December? Have them as a snack on their own, add them to stuffing or pair them with roasted beef.

And you’ll be able to find them in most supermarkets during the festive season, so you won’t have to go foraging for them in the woods!