Thread:61Storm/@comment-29709319-20181110010804/@comment-29709319-20181123014129

November 23rd: National Cashew Day, National Eat a Cranberry Day, National Espresso Day, National Day of Listening, National Native American Heritage Day, Black Friday, Buy Nothing Day, Flossing Day, Maize Day, and You’re Welcomegiving Day.

🥜National Cashew Day! The cashew nut is a seed harvested from the cashew tree. Northeastern Brazil was the original native home to the cashew tree. However, it is now widely grown in tropical climates for its cashew apples and nuts. With leaves arranged spirally and a leathery texture, the evergreen cashew tree grows as tall as 32 feet high and often has an irregularly shaped trunk. The flowers are small, starting out pale green then turning reddish with each one having five slender, acute petals. The largest cashew tree in the world covers about 81,000 sq. ft. and is located in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. The cashew tree has a fruit called the “cashew apple”. Its fragile skin makes it unsuitable for transport. Latin Americans make a fruit drink from the cashew apple. The Cashew causes fewer allergic reactions than other nuts or peanuts. Although native to northeast Brazil, the Portuguese took the cashew plant to Goa, India, between 1560 and 1565. From Goa, it spread throughout Southeast Asia and eventually Africa. We often see peanuts, pecans, walnuts and other nuts sold in the shell. Due to the toxic nature of the cashew nut’s shell, this is not possible. Speaking of the shell, the Cashew is not a true nut. They do not develop a hard wall around the seed like a hazelnut or walnut does. Cashews instead have a lining around the seed that is filled with a caustic fluid. Cashews are an excellent source of antioxidants. Cashews are a source of dietary trace minerals: copper, manganese, magnesium and phosphorous. Cashew oil is a dark yellow oil for cooking or salad dressing pressed from cashew nuts. Many parts of the plant are used for medicinal purposes.

🍁National Eat a Cranberry Day! The word cranberry comes from “craneberry”; first named by the early European settlers in America who felt the expanding flower, stem, calyx and petals resembled the neck, head and bill of a crane. Found in acidic bogs throughout the cooler regions of the northern hemisphere, cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs, or trailing vines, that grow up to 7 feet long and 8 inches high. Their stems are slender and wiry, and they have small evergreen leaves. The cranberry flowers are dark pink with very distinct reflexed petals, leaving the style and stamens fully exposed and pointing forward. The fruit of the cranberry plant is a berry that is larger than the leaves and is initially white but when ripe, turns a deep red. Cranberries have an acidic taste that can overwhelm their sweetness. They are a major commercial crop in certain American states; Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin. Wisconsin is the leading producer of cranberries, with over half of U.S. production. Cranberries are mostly processed into products such as juice, sauce, jam or sweetened dried cranberries. Raw cranberries have been marketed as a “superfruit” due to their nutrient content and antioxidant qualities. There are three to four species of cranberry, classified in two sections. White cranberry juice is made from regular cranberries that have been harvested after the fruits are mature, but before they have attained their characteristic dark red color. Cranberry wine is made in some of the cranberry-growing regions of the United States. Laboratory studies indicate that extracts containing cranberry may have anti-aging effects.

☕️National Espresso Day! The word espresso in Italian means ‘quick in time’. Before the advent of the espresso machine, espresso was simply a coffee expressly made for the person ordering it and made with recently roasted beans which were freshly ground before brewing and freshly brewed before serving. In the late 1800s, this was common practice in cafés and restaurants. In 1901, the first successful espresso machine was invented by Italian inventor Luigi Bezzera. The newer technologies produced a smaller, more concentrated cup more quickly than more traditional coffee brewing methods. This thicker, more intense brew creates a creamy foam on top called the crema. The richer flavors and aromas of an espresso create delicious lattes, mochas, cappuccinos, macchiato and many cafe’ creations.

👂National Day of Listening is a program created by StoryCorps. David Isay is the founder of StoryCorps. In 2008, the non-profit organization, StoryCorps, launched the National Day of Listening as a way to encourage families to set aside the day after Thanksgiving as a time to share and record the history of their family, friends and community.

🏕🐎National Native American Heritage Day is a day to celebrate and recognize the contributions, culture, tradition and heritage of Native American societies. Riding horseback from state to state in 1914, Red Fox James, a Blackfoot Indian, sought endorsement from 24 states in support of a national day recognizing and honoring Native Americans. He presented these endorsements to the White House the following year. While no national day was proclaimed, the state of New York declared the second Saturday in May as American Indian Day. In 1986, the 99th Congress passed a joint resolution authorizing the President to proclaim the week of November 23-30, 1986 as American Indian Week. President Ronald Reagan declared the first American Indian week that year and each year following of his presidency. President George H.W. Bush continued the proclamations until 1990 when he approved a joint resolution to declare November as National American Indian Heritage Month. This tradition has continued annually. In 2008 the Native American Heritage Day Act was enacted by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama.

🖤Black Friday! In the United States, the day after Thanksgiving has become known as Black Friday and is considered the official kick-off for holiday shopping. Retailers across the country slash prices, offer doorbuster deals on popular big-ticket items and often open in the wee hours of the morning to extend early bird specials. Dedicated and thrifty shoppers line up outside the stores to be the first to grab that special deal or this season’s popular and hard-to-find gift. The origin of Black Friday is derived from the enormous amount of sales retailers report which can often bring their profits into the black. Black in accounting is used to describe a business making a profit as opposed to being in the red denoting losses.

🛏Buy Nothing Day! This day is part of a movement against consumerism, urging the world to change their purchasing habits, to consume and produce less. Buy Nothing Day originated in Canada in September of 1992 as a way to protest the frenzy of Black Friday shopping. In 1997 artist Ted Dave founded Buy Nothing Day, and it was moved to the Friday after Thanksgiving to correspond with one of the most popular shopping days in the United States, Black Friday.

⛏😮National Flossing Day puts the focus on how important it is to care for your teeth. The American Dental Association recommends flossing at least once a day to achieve the best results for oral health. Daily flossing removes plaque from areas between your teeth where a toothbrush is ineffective. Plaque can turn into calculus or tarter so it is important to floss daily. Flossing is also an important step in the prevention of gum disease and cavities. National Flossing Day was started in the year 2000 by the National Flossing Council.

🌽Maize Day is a day set aside for all Americans regardless of ethnicity, naturalized citizens, descendants of the first peoples of the Americas or descendants of immigrants to celebrate the traditional role of corn in these cultures. Unlike other food and plant life, corn was common across the Americas. It was a central food source used by all the nations and an important part of their everyday diet. It is also a day to celebrate the traditional crops and foods of Native Americans. There are many varieties of maize. Some varieties are used to make corn flour, others are best eaten on the cob and still others are perfect for popping. National Maize Day was started by artist Corinne Lightweaver in 2004.

👍You’re Welcomegiving Day! Conventionally when someone thanks us for a kindness or service, we respond by saying, “You’re Welcome.” So, it was inevitable that someone would suggest the day after Thanksgiving we should begin to celebrate You’re Welomegiving Day. Richard Ankli from Ann Arbor, Michigan, creator of the unreasonable holiday Sourest Day and the rhyming May Ray Day, designated You’re Welcomegiving Day in 1977 as a way to create a four-day weekend.

Cashews one of my favorites. Now all they need is chocolate cover them or honey roast them, although plain is good. I don't like plain cranberries or espresso's. One side of my family has a family tree book that they keep up to date. I'm glad the Native American month, they deserve so much more. I don't do Black Friday ever since I got caught in a red light special. No one around but me and one of my sister-in-laws, looking for clothes for her daughter, next thing I know red light it was like seagulls on the last piece of bread. Caught in the middle of the row and no way out. Then people wonder why shopping is not my thing. Yea, I bought nothing that day. Flossing is very important. I have to use a loop and thread the floss thread it and pull it between my gums and bridge work. It's a pain but it works. The sweet corn didn't do good this year. So it will be used sparingly this winter. I try to be polite and thank those who do a service. Thank you for reading!

I need noodles with my turkey too.

Sending thanksgiving hugs!🐶💕🍂💕🦃