Thread:61Storm/@comment-29709319-20181110010804/@comment-29709319-20190326014940

National Themes For March 26: National Spinach Day, National Nougat Day, Epilepsy Awareness Day (Purple Day), and National American Diabetes Association Alert Day.

🌿National Spinach Day! Not only are there so many delicious ways that you can enjoy spinach, but it is also incredibly good for you! An annual plant, spinach is native to central and southwestern Asia. Thought to have originated in ancient Persia, Arab traders carried spinach into India, and then it was introduced into ancient China where it was known as “Persian vegetable. The earliest available record of the spinach plant was found in Chinese, saying that the spinach plant was introduced into China via Nepal. During her reign as queen of France, Catherine de Medici was well known to have enjoyed spinach so much that it was served at every meal. To this day, dishes made with spinach are known as “Florentine” reflecting Catherine’s birth in Florence. Spinach is: Eaten raw or cooked and is available fresh, frozen or canned. It is one of the best sources of iron. An excellent source of calcium, folic acid, fiber, protein, calcium and vitamins A, C and K. It is loaded with cancer-fighting antioxidants. And believed to help improve cardiovascular and gastrointestinal health. Types of spinach: 🍂Savoy: dark green color with curly leaves; usually sold in fresh bunches. 🍂Flat or Smooth Leaf: broad, smooth leaves;  mostly grown for canned and frozen spinach as well as soups, baby food and processed foods. 🍂Semi-savoy: a hybrid variety with crinkly leaves: is sold fresh and processed. The United States is the world’s second-largest producer of spinach. California, Arizona and New Jersey are the top spinach producing states in the United States.

🍫National Nougat Day! This food holiday is in celebration of a soft and chewy or sometimes hard and crunchy candy. Break open the center of certain candy bars and you will find a nougat center. Made by whipping egg whites together and adding honey or sugar, roasted nuts and sometimes candied fruit, some say nougat has been a sweet treat since ancient Rome. Enjoyed both as a candy all on its own or paired with chocolate or other flavorings. Recipes can range from the more traditional nougat made with almonds and honey to those with hints of citrus. In Italy, it is called torrone. In Spain, a nougat is called turrón. The United States has a version made with corn syrup called divinity. There are three basics kinds of nougats: 🍂White nougat is made with beaten egg whites and honey. 🍂Brown nougat is made without egg whites and has a firmer, often crunchy texture. 🍂Viennese or German nougat is chocolate and nut praline. In the United States, the “nougat” used as an ingredient in many modern candy bars is different from the traditional recipes. Now it is made of a mixture of sucrose and corn syrup aerated with a whipping agent such as egg white or hydrolyzed soy protein or gelatin. It is the preferred and often used ingredient of large candy companies because it is inexpensive to make and used as a filler. Varieties of nougat are found in: 3 Musketeers, Mars, Snickers, Milky Way, Zero, Salted Nut Rolls, Reese’s Fast Break, Reese’s Whipps, Baby Ruth, and others.

🍁Epilepsy Awareness Day! The day has become known as “Purple Day” as people are encouraged to wear the color to increase awareness of Epilepsy. According to the World Health Organization, nearly 50 million people around the world live with epilepsy. While it is not contagious, and in many cases, there is no known cause for the condition, sometimes the reason is due to disease or injury such as stroke or infection. It is a treatable condition, but it can be confusing especially for children. In some parts of the world, treatment may be difficult to get. Purple Day was started in 2008 by Cassidy Megan of Nova Scotia, Canada to encourage awareness of epilepsy and to cast away some of the myths that cloud the general public’s view of the condition. While other awareness days had been observed in the past, Purple Day and its founder have begun to get a bit of a following and awareness is spreading around the globe.

❤️National American Diabetes Association Alert Day. This day is a one-day “wake-up call” to inform the American public about the seriousness of diabetes and encourages all to take the diabetes risk test and learn about your family’s history of diabetes. The American Diabetes Association created Alert Day as part of its awareness programs in 1986. It has been a part of their growing diabetes education and prevention efforts in the United States ever since. For more information: http://www.diabetes.org/in-my-community/programs/alert-day/ http://ndep.nih.gov/partners-community-organization/diabetes-alert-day/index.aspx

Popeye can have my spinach! 3 Musketeers, Snickers, Baby Ruth, are three of my favorite nougat suppliers. I have my purple on for those who are affected by Epilepsy. I'm alert to Diabetes, my hubby deals with it every day.

Squishy hugs!🐶🐶💕🌷💕