It's National Potato Day

National Potato Day is celebrated on August 19th every year to honor the favorite food of many people ― potatoes.  Whether they are roasted, fried, boiled, or mashed, potatoes are the perfect side for any dish and everyone's favorite comfort food.  This fan-favorite root vegetable is a significant part of cuisines across the world and is enough to make people feel full.

Today, let's be grateful and appreciate potatoes, a vegetable that has been a part of people's meals for centuries with the first potato crops planted dating back to 5000-8000 BC in Peru and Bolivia.  It spread all over the world from there and is now a staple in several cuisines across the globe.  The versatility of potatoes allows them to be cooked in different ways and paired with almost anything.  They can be used not only as a side, but also as a key ingredient in pancakes, bread, soup, and even drinks.

Potatoes have been the primary source of sustenance for many populations over the years.  It is also so full of nutrients that people can live off only potatoes for months.  In fact, between 1845 and 1849 a plague in the potato crops left some of the population of Ireland without potatoes for 4 years, and millions lost their lives due to starvation.

French fries are one of the most popular ways to prepare potatoes.  In one year the average American eats 30 pounds of French fries.  French fries arrived in the United States in 1784 when James Hemings, Thomas Jefferson's slave, traveled to France with Jefferson so he could learn how to cook them the French way.  After returning to the United States, Hemings used to cook French fried potatoes for Jefferson's guests.  When the recipe was shared in a cookook in 1817, they quickly became a hit that spread through the country.

A majority of Americans also consider potatoes to be among their favorite comfort food, but fried isn't the only way Americans like their potatoes.  They also have them mashed or baked.  Most people like to slather their spuds with butter.

On National Potato Day you can really go all out and eat potatoes for every meal.  You can use regular potatoes or sweet potatoes for any of these:  (1) hash browns ~ maybe alongside eggs, bacon, or avocado; (2) potato pancakes are also a good option for your first meal of the day; (3) tater tots; (4) potato chips; (5) chips and dip; (6) French fries.

Our Circle@Crown Cafe will be serving a variety of potatoes today, so you may want to pick more than one kind.  See you there?

Added later:  Since today is also TWOsday, I've decided to have at least TWO kinds of potatoes.  Hmm, which variety am I in the mood for right now?

Let's eat blueberry muffins tomorrow

July 11th is National Blueberry Muffin Day in the United States.  Hmm, I should also sing that "Muffin Man" song that I wrote about back in February, HERE.

Friends forever

I just learned that today is National Best Friends Day.

The first Friday in February

Since 2002, the first Friday of February has been designated as National Wear Red Day in the United States.  Men and women are encouraged to wear red as a symbol of their support of women’s heart health.  I plan to wear a bright red shirt.  Will you join me?

Do you recycle?

Recycling helps us keep the environment clean and preserves our natural resources.  America Recycles Day began in 1999.  What should we recycle?  I posted about it HERE, where I reminded myself which numbers on plastic can be recycled.  Numbers #1-5 and #7 are accepted, but not #6.

Celebrate books and reading

I'm always surprised to discover the many "National Day" things we have on our calendars.  Today, for example, is National Read a Book Day.  I know about this one because we have an event scheduled here at the Crown Center to celebrate it.  Yes, we'll meet in the library, where the books are, but how does one celebrate reading?

"Chat about your favorite author or discover new ones," they say.

Should I take the Anna Quindlen memoir I'm reading?  Should I pull a book off my shelves that's a favorite?  Should I take the book I got from the library yesterday (that I haven't even started reading)?  Is this even a show-and-tell event?  I have no idea, but I plan to go after lunch and find out.  Since we will meet in the library, which is tiny, obviously whoever planned it doesn't expect a big crowd.  We shall see.

Update:  See the "Read A Book" banner behind Drenda, Marie, and Mary at the meeting.  The nine of us who came had a great time discussing books, sharing our favorites, and finding out about each other.

Ice cream ~ celebrate!

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice Cream Month and the third Sunday of the month as National Ice Cream Day.  That means this year's National Ice Cream Day will be Sunday, July 21st.  My friend Donna and I celebrated today, a wee bit early because I'll be in Montana on Sunday, celebrating with my friend Joan on her 80th birthday.  The blackberry cheesecake ice cream Donna dished out was delicious.  Thanks, Donna!

National Black Cat Day ~ for Clawdia

Oh, no!!!  I almost missed National Black Cat Day!  This Caturday post celebrates my very favorite black cat ... CLAWDIA ... yay!

National Procrastination Week

Oh, you can't read the small sign?  It says:  "I was going to make
a display for National Procrastination Week (March 1-7) but..."
(Yes, I do realize March 1-7 was more than six months ago.)

National Readathon Day ~ my report

I did it.  I had my own little readathon day, and got little read between the hours of 12:00 noon and 4:00 pm.  Here's why.

Having slept late, I didn't get online until nearly noon.  When I checked email, I saw that my friend Donna had suggested:  "Shall we read in the library?"  I hadn't thought of that, but what a great idea!  So I looked for an illustration of reading, found this colorful elephant, printed off three copies with the words shown below, and got ready to go downstairs to our library here in the Crown Center.

National Readathon Day

Today, take part in National Readathon Day

by reading in the Crown Center Library

between 12:00 noon and 4:00 pm to help

"create, promote and sustain a lifelong love of reading."

When I reached the library, Donna wasn't there, and she wasn't hearing her cell phone when I called.  So there I was in the library, trying to read

Amy Tan's The Valley of Amazement (2013), while hearing two Chinese women conversing loudly in the nearby laundry room.  (Appropriate, I thought, since that novel is set in Shanghai.)  I was alone until a man came in and went to the shelves holding the books in Russian.  He found a book and left.  Later, a Chinese man I've seen there before sat down at his usual table to read.  Either he doesn't speak English or doesn't want to talk, but for awhile I had another reader in the small library with me.  Then a Chinese woman came in and said, "Good to see you again!"  I didn't remember her name, but I'd seen her before.  It turned out that she didn't remember my name, either, but she wanted to talk:

"Do you have time to hear my story?"

I figured I wasn't getting much reading done, so okay.  I went over and sat in the chair beside her, as she told her story in broken English and much pantomiming.  The best I could tell, May was born in Burma, her father was Chinese, they were refugees in China, returned to Burma, and she lived 29 years in India where she married an Indian man.  When she left, I returned to my book.

After two hours in the library, however, I had managed to read only 17 pages.  I picked up my phone and my book and left, first to check on Donna (whose phone was in the other room and turned down low) and then back to my apartment where I could actually read.  I put aside Amy Tan's novel and went back to reading Convictions: How I Learned What Matters Most by Marcus J. Borg, 2014.  It was his last book.  He died on Wednesday the 21st.  It's easier to read where it's quiet.