Way too many choices today. It's cool weather today, even here near the swamp in Gainezville, FL. So I thought a couple of nice hot food items might be nice.
National Calzone Day
Calzones take the delicious toppings and cheese of a pizza and tuck it up tight in a warm garlicky, crusty package. Also known as calzoni in some parts of Italy, like the pizza, it originated in Naples. It looks much like a turnover. As varied as pizzas come these days, so does the calzone.
The loose translation of the word calzone from Italian to English is trouser legs. This translation may explain the purpose of what essentially is a pizza hand pie. However, carrying out the task of eating a calzone while walking on two legs is mighty improbably. Consider that they’re filled with a bounty of cheeses, meat, vegetables, and sauces!
Calzone dough is infused with garlic and butter to add flavor. Sauces made from scratch with Italian herbs and spices lend that old world flair to every calzone recipe. By the time the mozzarella, provolone or parmesan melts into the sausage, spinach or whatever choice ingredients, aromas fill the air. No wonder our mouths begin watering.
So take a seat, invite some friends, and enjoy the evening savoring a well-made calzone.
National Fried Clams Day
National Deep Fried Clams Day recognizes a popular seafood item enjoyed since the 1840s.
Fried claims have been on menus in restaurants since the 1840s. They were served alongside mutton, liver and veal cutlets up and down the Eastern Seaboard. And they have quite a history, too.
According to legend, Lawrence Henry “Chubby” Woodman from Essex, Massachusetts deep fried the first breaded versions of clams over 100 years ago. On July 3, 1916, in his small roadside restaurant, now Woodman’s of Essex, it is believed Chubby served his customers the first modern-day deep-fried clams.
It was later on that Thomas Soffron of Soffron Brothers Clam Co., based in Ipswich, Massachusetts, created clam strips, which are made from the foot of hard-shelled sea clams. Soffron sold these to Howard Johnson’s in an exclusive deal, and as the chain expanded, they became popular throughout the country.
Clams are low in cholesterol and fat without breading and oil. However, when fried, they absorb cooking fat and calories.
Fried clams to New England are what barbecue is to the South. ~David Leite ~August 29, 2007, New York Times ~In A ’64 T-Bird, Chasing a Date With a Clam
