National Fudge Day with kids!

Yummy!  

Fudge History
Before 1886, the origin and history of fudge is unclear, but Fudge is thought to be an American invention. Most believe the first batch was a result of a accidental “fudged” batch of caramels, hence the name “fudge”.

In 1886, fudge was sold at a local Baltimore grocery store for 40 cents a pound. This is the first known sale of fudge. A letter, found in the archives of Vasser College, written by Emelyn Battersby Hartridge reveals that Emelyn wrote that her schoolmate's cousin made fudge in 1886 in Baltimore and sold it for 40 cents a pound.

In 1888, Miss Hartridge asked for the fudge recipe, and made 30 pounds of fudge for the Vassar Senior Auction. The recipe was very popular at the school from that point forward. Fudge became a new confection after word spread to other women's colleges of the tasty delight. Later, Smith and Wellesley schools each developed their own recipe for fudge.

Click HERE to visit a site that has provided more history and also the original and a few modified versions of fudge throughout the years !

For lots more recipes of all types of fudge click HERE to go to the kids-cooking-activities.com site

Here is a simple Fudge recipe from Kraft:

National Candied Orange Peel Day!

Yes you guessed it, another funny food day!  Now, just what is a candied orange peel? And, is it edible? Yes, it's edible.  Candied fruit or crystallized fruit has been around since the 14th century.  Whole fruit, smaller pieces of fruit, or pieces of peel, are placed in heated sugar syrup, which absorbs the moisture from within the fruit and eventually preserves it.  Here is a recipe for you to try:

Sweet Candied Orange and Lemon Peel

Ingredients

• 6 lemon peels, cut into 1/4 inch strips
• 4 orange peels, cut into 1/4 inch strips
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup white sugar for decoration

Directions

1. Place lemon and orange peel in large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil for 20 minutes, drain and set aside.
2. In medium saucepan, combine 2 cups sugar and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil and cook until mixture reaches thread stage, 230 degrees F (108 degrees C) on candy thermometer, or small amount dropped in cold water forms a soft thread. Stir in peel, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Drain.
3. Roll peel pieces, a few at a time, in remaining sugar. Let dry on wire rack several hours. Store in airtight container. 

National Zucchini Bread Day!

We found this recipe last year when we were searching for baking ideas for Blueberries.  Now that we know there is actually a day dedicated to Zucchini Bread we wanted to share it with you!

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups white sugar
• 2 cups shredded zucchini
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pint fresh blueberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 4 mini-loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar. Fold in the zucchini. Beat in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Gently fold in the blueberries. Transfer to the prepared mini-loaf pans. Add Crumb Topping if want
3. Bake 50 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center of a loaf comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

Crumb Topping:
1 Stick of Softened Butter
2/3 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
mix altogether with hand and sprinkle all over the top of the loaves before baking

Apple Picking & Apple Betty Day with kids!

Today is Apple Betty Day!  To download and save our favorite Apple Betty recipe click HERE.  We have planned to take the kids Apple Picking and also having this yummy dessert as their snack!  There are actually almost a dozen long Apple themed holidays celebrated throughout the year, including National Apple Month!  Originally founded in 1904 as National Apple Week, it was expanded in 1996 to a three-month promotional window from September through November.  Here are a list of other apple days you might want to know:

 Apple Holidays At-A-Glance

    * January 1: Apple Gifting Day *

    * May 13: National Apple Pie Day *

    * June 6: National Applesauce Cake Day *

    * July 5: National Apple Turnover Day *

    * September 17: National Apple Dumpling Day *

    * September 30: National Hot Mulled Cider Day *

    * October 5: National Apple Betty Day *

    * October 21: Caramel Apple Day *

    * October 31: National Candy Apple Day *

    * December 1: Eat A Red Apple Day *

    * December 3: National Apple Pie Day *

We will come back to this blog post and post our pictures!  Here are some educational tips on Apples:

Picking tips:

Hot Mulled Apple Cider Day with kids!

We are having a very damp and rainy day here in the northeast and what a perfect day for Mulled Cider Day to fall on.  This is such a comfort drink that makes everyone feel good as it helps to counter a damp day like today.  This is so easy for the kids to make.  One of the activities that we love to do on rainy days like today is to take a walk in the rain which we will be doing today.  Coming home to such a comforting smell that will permeate the air from the warm cider and excitement that the kids feel to drink some during the Fall months is wonderful. 

There are so many version of this drink for children or adults only.  Fun and Facts is adding something new!  We are now personally our recipes and saving them in Printable recipe formats for you to share and download!  Click HERE for a Free 4x6 copy of our favor Hot Mulled Apple Cider Recipe of our favorite version.  You can download this and print out or save online in your own recipe box.