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National Wine and Cheese Day 

Pair complimentary wine and cheeses to satisfy the palate, host a tasting event and see who can create the best combinations on Wine and Cheese Day.

There are some things in the world that were just meant to go together, like Chocolate and Peanut Butter, oil and vinegar, and of course wine and cheese! Since time out of mind wine and cheese have been paired together and served at all the most important of events among the highest class of people. Wine And Cheese Day celebrates this eternal bonding and the elegance it engenders.

Learn about National Wine and Cheese Day

National Wine and Cheese Day is a date that celebrates the ultimate pairing of cheese and wine. For a lot of people, there is nothing that goes together better than a great glass of wine and some premium quality cheese. A lot of wine-producing cultures pair regional wines with local cheeses, and so this is an art that is recognized in many parts around the world. Take the French Brie region as a prime example. This area is noted for their varieties of tannic wines. Beaujolais is produced in the area, and it is often served with local Brie. This is just one example of many.

Not only does National Wine and Cheese Day give you the chance to celebrate this tradition, but it also gives you the opportunity to expand your knowledge in terms of pairing different types of wine and cheese. There are so many different types of wine and cheese – it would be impossible to name them all! This means that there is always something new to learn when it comes to the art of pairing these two treats together. And, of course, while there are some general guidelines to follow in terms of determining what sort of cheese is going to go well with the wine you’re serving, you can also learn a lot by simply trying out different combinations.

History of Wine And Cheese Day

There is an interesting element to all of the pairings mentioned in the introduction, with the possible exception of chocolate and peanut butter. Pairings of food almost universally involve pairing an astringent food, like wine, with a fatty food like cheese. The reason isn’t just incidental, but in fact is one of the secrets of culinary science that’s used in creating truly delectable meals.

Astringent foods have a tendency to bind with the elements in saliva that lubricate and cause them to clump and lose their ability to lubricate. This tends to leave us with a puckered mouth and nobody loves that! Even worse, the more you consume astringent foods the drier they make your mouth! While we all agree that wine and tea are both delicious, no one wants a puckered mouth!

This is where the cheese comes in with its fatty texture and often pungent flavors. Each bite tends to coat our mouths just a little more making it lubricated with fat, often to the point of being slimy! We love the flavors, but the constant build up of flavor can often be overwhelming, and that’s when wine comes to the rescue!

Wine And Cheese Day celebrates this pairing of foods and the ways they interact to make each one even more enjoyable!

How to celebrate Wine And Cheese Day

The best way to celebrate Wine And Cheese Day is by hosting a wine and cheese tasting of your very own! Get together with your friends and plan out the evening with every variety of cheese you can imagine. Bring your Port Wines and your blushes, your champagnes and your reds and whites, and for each of them bring a parade of cheeses to be sampled. We’re not talking simple Sharp Cheddar but exotics like blue cheese and Limburger, Gorgonzola and Mizithra, all the wondrous cheese of the world!

Here are some tips to help you pair wine and cheese together effectively:

When in doubt, a firm and nutty cheese won’t let you down.

Cheeses and wines that come from the same place pair well together. Remember what we said about the French brie earlier?

Sparkling wines work beautifully with creamy, soft cheeses. This is because the wine has high carbonation and acidity, which acts as a palate-cleanser for the sticky and creamy cheeses, like Cremont, Camembert, Muenster, and Brie.

Sweeter wines and funky cheeses go together perfectly. Sweeter wines like Late Harvest dessert wines and Moscato go well with the blue-veined cheeses. This is because the sweetness from the wine helps to balance out the ‘funk’ in the cheese.

Aged cheeses and bold red wines go well together. Look for cheeses that have aged for at least a year when serving a bold red wine. This is because the cheese’s fat content will counteract the high-tannins in the wine. Cheeses you can serve include the likes of Provolone, Gouda, Manchego, and Cheddar.

Pair cheeses and wines that equal intensity. If you were to opt for a Cabernet Sauvignon and Gruyère, for example, the cheese would be overwhelmed by the bold and big flavors of the wine.

With these tips, you should be able to come up with some great wine and cheese pairings that you and your loved ones can enjoy. You could even get everyone to contribute a wine and cheese pairing each, and then you could see who has been able to come up with the best match. After all, there is nothing like a bit of friendly competition, right?

National Wine and Cheese Day 

Pair complimentary wine and cheeses to satisfy the palate, host a tasting event and see who can create the best combinations on Wine and Cheese Day.

There are some things in the world that were just meant to go together, like Chocolate and Peanut Butter, oil and vinegar, and of course wine and cheese! Since time out of mind wine and cheese have been paired together and served at all the most important of events among the highest class of people. Wine And Cheese Day celebrates this eternal bonding and the elegance it engenders.

Learn about National Wine and Cheese Day

National Wine and Cheese Day is a date that celebrates the ultimate pairing of cheese and wine. For a lot of people, there is nothing that goes together better than a great glass of wine and some premium quality cheese. A lot of wine-producing cultures pair regional wines with local cheeses, and so this is an art that is recognized in many parts around the world. Take the French Brie region as a prime example. This area is noted for their varieties of tannic wines. Beaujolais is produced in the area, and it is often served with local Brie. This is just one example of many.

Not only does National Wine and Cheese Day give you the chance to celebrate this tradition, but it also gives you the opportunity to expand your knowledge in terms of pairing different types of wine and cheese. There are so many different types of wine and cheese – it would be impossible to name them all! This means that there is always something new to learn when it comes to the art of pairing these two treats together. And, of course, while there are some general guidelines to follow in terms of determining what sort of cheese is going to go well with the wine you’re serving, you can also learn a lot by simply trying out different combinations.

History of Wine And Cheese Day

There is an interesting element to all of the pairings mentioned in the introduction, with the possible exception of chocolate and peanut butter. Pairings of food almost universally involve pairing an astringent food, like wine, with a fatty food like cheese. The reason isn’t just incidental, but in fact is one of the secrets of culinary science that’s used in creating truly delectable meals.

Astringent foods have a tendency to bind with the elements in saliva that lubricate and cause them to clump and lose their ability to lubricate. This tends to leave us with a puckered mouth and nobody loves that! Even worse, the more you consume astringent foods the drier they make your mouth! While we all agree that wine and tea are both delicious, no one wants a puckered mouth!

This is where the cheese comes in with its fatty texture and often pungent flavors. Each bite tends to coat our mouths just a little more making it lubricated with fat, often to the point of being slimy! We love the flavors, but the constant build up of flavor can often be overwhelming, and that’s when wine comes to the rescue!

Wine And Cheese Day celebrates this pairing of foods and the ways they interact to make each one even more enjoyable!

How to celebrate Wine And Cheese Day

The best way to celebrate Wine And Cheese Day is by hosting a wine and cheese tasting of your very own! Get together with your friends and plan out the evening with every variety of cheese you can imagine. Bring your Port Wines and your blushes, your champagnes and your reds and whites, and for each of them bring a parade of cheeses to be sampled. We’re not talking simple Sharp Cheddar but exotics like blue cheese and Limburger, Gorgonzola and Mizithra, all the wondrous cheese of the world!

Here are some tips to help you pair wine and cheese together effectively:

When in doubt, a firm and nutty cheese won’t let you down.

Cheeses and wines that come from the same place pair well together. Remember what we said about the French brie earlier?

Sparkling wines work beautifully with creamy, soft cheeses. This is because the wine has high carbonation and acidity, which acts as a palate-cleanser for the sticky and creamy cheeses, like Cremont, Camembert, Muenster, and Brie.

Sweeter wines and funky cheeses go together perfectly. Sweeter wines like Late Harvest dessert wines and Moscato go well with the blue-veined cheeses. This is because the sweetness from the wine helps to balance out the ‘funk’ in the cheese.

Aged cheeses and bold red wines go well together. Look for cheeses that have aged for at least a year when serving a bold red wine. This is because the cheese’s fat content will counteract the high-tannins in the wine. Cheeses you can serve include the likes of Provolone, Gouda, Manchego, and Cheddar.

Pair cheeses and wines that equal intensity. If you were to opt for a Cabernet Sauvignon and Gruyère, for example, the cheese would be overwhelmed by the bold and big flavors of the wine.

With these tips, you should be able to come up with some great wine and cheese pairings that you and your loved ones can enjoy. You could even get everyone to contribute a wine and cheese pairing each, and then you could see who has been able to come up with the best match. After all, there is nothing like a bit of friendly competition, right?

National Cinnamon Day

Celebrate and appreciate one of the world’s favorite ancient spices by getting excited about National Cinnamon Day. So grab a favorite cinnamon treat and read on to learn more about this delicious spice and the ways it has been part of human history for thousands of years!

History of National Cinnamon Day

Native to Ceylon, which is modern day Sri Lanka, cinnamon’s first recordings are from Chinese writings that date as far back as 2800 BC. Even today in the Cantonese language, cinnamon is still known as “kwai”. And in the Malay language, it goes by “kayumanis”, which means “sweet wood”. This is certainly an apt description of this spicy but uniquely sweet flavor.

During medieval times, doctors found that cinnamon worked well as a treatment for coughs, sore throats and hoarseness. It may also have been considered a status symbol and was often used as a special imported gift given to monarchs, royalty and other people of importance.

Cinnamon, along with other precious spices might seem rather innocuous now, but in the early days of their discovery, several wars were fought over the lands where cinnamon came from. The Portuguese, Dutch and British armies all sought to conquer Ceylon (modern day Sri Lanka) in an effort to obtain full access to their spices.

Today, sourcing cinnamon comes with much less angst and political struggle as, for most people, it’s easy to simply pop over to the local grocery store, health food store or spice shop to pick some up. Typically cinnamon can be found in two varieties, ground or whole. Ground cinnamon is used in many different recipes for baking and cooking, while whole cinnamon sticks are more often steeped into beverages or infused into flavoring syrups.

Of course, cinnamon is really the star of the show when it comes to the beloved pumpkin pie spice. Combined with allspice, nutmeg and clove, cinnamon is the base for this grouping of flavors that represents all things fall.

In honor of National Cinnamon Day, it’s time to get creative and enjoy cinnamon in a whole myriad of ways!

National Cinnamon Day Timeline

2000 BC Spices are exchanged along the Silk Road

A network of sea routes link East to West, from Japan all the way over to Europe, and cinnamon is one of the spices traded on this route.

65 AD Emperor Nero burns cinnamon

Nero is said to have burned a year’s worth of Rome’s supply of cinnamon at his wife’s funeral. 

14th Century Portuguese explorers find cinnamon

While traders brought the spice to the West, the place where it originates from is kept secret until the Portuguese discover it in Ceylon.

Early 1800s British take over Ceylon

Defeating the Dutch occupiers, the British take over the island country of Ceylon, gaining full access to cinnamon.

1930s Cinnamon candy is made

Produced by the Ferrara Pan Candy Company, Red Hots are made using the panned method of candy making.

How to Celebrate National Cinnamon Day

Get excited about cinnamon and enjoy National Cinnamon Day with some of these fun and clever ideas for celebrating:

Eat Something Cinnamon

From cinnamon candy to cinnamon rolls and everything in between, National Cinnamon Day is best celebrated by enjoying the flavors of this delicious spice. Whether it’s simply grabbing a pack of cinnamon gum from the local convenience store, or a cinnamon latte from a local coffee shop, this is the day to enjoy all things cinnamon!

In fact, while often associated with sweet things in the West, cinnamon is also often used in savory dishes in many cultures. From curries to mole sauces to barbecue rubs, cinnamon can be used in every meal of the day for breakfast lunch and dinner!

Try a cinnamon roll or a healthy bowl of oatmeal flavored with cinnamon for breakfast. Lunch could consist of a Hawaiian pizza topped with pineapple, ham and almond slivers, sprinkled with delicious cinnamon. And dinner? Well, a big vat of butter chicken, cinnamon green lentil soup or chicken shawarma would do nicely, thank you very much!

Learn the Health Benefits of Cinnamon

Cinnamon is more than just a yummy way to flavor foods and beverages! It is also a natural substance that offers a whole host of properties that may be beneficial to human health. There’s a reason that it was often offered as a gift to kings!

Consider some of these interesting benefits of including cinnamon as part of a healthy diet:

Cinnamon is full of antioxidants. Fighting off free radicals is the name of the game when it comes to preventing health problems such as cancer, heart disease and other issues.

Cinnamon has anti-inflammatory properties. Inflammation can be helpful in fighting off foreign bodies, but too much inflammation can cause huge health problems like arthritis, asthma, diabetes, cancer and so much more.

Cinnamon may help prevent heart disease. This unassuming spice has been linked as a way to reduce heart disease, which is the number one cause of death in the world today.

Cinnamon can help balance insulin. A serious problem today is insulin resistance which can cause type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Cinnamon can help to reduce the body’s resistance to the hormone insulin and help it do its job well.

Enjoy Baking with Cinnamon

Cinnamon brings a whole host of opportunities for cooking and baking in the kitchen at home. From cinnamon rolls to snickerdoodle cookies, from cinnamon donuts to cinnamon coffee cake, this spice really has it all!

Get creative by adding cinnamon sugar to honey and rolling it in phyllo dough for a pseudo-baklava taste. Or go a bit more traditional by baking an all-American apple pie that is, of course, spiced with cinnamon. Another enjoyable way to use cinnamon is to add it to a traditional loaf of quick bread, such as banana bread, pumpkin bread.

Savor a Cup of Cinnamon Tea

While many people think of cooking and baking with cinnamon, one of the best ways to enjoy this delicious spice is by steeping it into a hot beverage. Teas made from cinnamon can be not only tasty but can also offer a nice way to infuse some of the health benefits that were mentioned above.

So, in honor of National Cinnamon Day, perhaps consider trying out one of these delightful brands of cinnamon tea:

Harney & Sons Hot Cinnamon Spice Tea. This is the most popular flavor of this company’s tea that is sold throughout the world, its flavors are of cinnamon, orange peel and sweet cloves.

The Republic of Tea Cinnamon Plum Tea. This is a black tea that is blended with zingy cinnamon spice and offers the calm taste of ripe plums.

Bigelow Black Tea Cinnamon Stick. A classic version with a spicy kick, this black tea is just the right balance of sweet and spicy.

National Cinnamon Day FAQs

Can dogs have cinnamon?

Cinnamon is not toxic to dogs, but it could cause indigestion so it may be best to avoid giving cinnamon to a dog.

Is cinnamon good for you?

Yes! Cinnamon is a healthy spice that contains antioxidants and may be helpful in fighting against heart disease, insulin resistance, and might even protect against cancer.

Where does cinnamon come from?

Originating from trees in Sri Lanka, which is an island in the Indian Ocean, a lot of cinnamon is now grown in Indonesia.

How to make cinnamon sugar

Cinnamon sugar is easy! Just combine 2 tablespoons of cinnamon with ½ cup white sugar and combine.

Can cinnamon go bad?

Though cinnamon will not usually “go bad”, it can get old and lose some of its strength and flavor.

National Wine and Cheese Day 

Pair complimentary wine and cheeses to satisfy the palate, host a tasting event and see who can create the best combinations on Wine and Cheese Day.

There are some things in the world that were just meant to go together, like Chocolate and Peanut Butter, oil and vinegar, and of course wine and cheese! Since time out of mind wine and cheese have been paired together and served at all the most important of events among the highest class of people. Wine And Cheese Day celebrates this eternal bonding and the elegance it engenders.

Learn about National Wine and Cheese Day

National Wine and Cheese Day is a date that celebrates the ultimate pairing of cheese and wine. For a lot of people, there is nothing that goes together better than a great glass of wine and some premium quality cheese. A lot of wine-producing cultures pair regional wines with local cheeses, and so this is an art that is recognized in many parts around the world. Take the French Brie region as a prime example. This area is noted for their varieties of tannic wines. Beaujolais is produced in the area, and it is often served with local Brie. This is just one example of many.

Not only does National Wine and Cheese Day give you the chance to celebrate this tradition, but it also gives you the opportunity to expand your knowledge in terms of pairing different types of wine and cheese. There are so many different types of wine and cheese – it would be impossible to name them all! This means that there is always something new to learn when it comes to the art of pairing these two treats together. And, of course, while there are some general guidelines to follow in terms of determining what sort of cheese is going to go well with the wine you’re serving, you can also learn a lot by simply trying out different combinations.

History of Wine And Cheese Day

There is an interesting element to all of the pairings mentioned in the introduction, with the possible exception of chocolate and peanut butter. Pairings of food almost universally involve pairing an astringent food, like wine, with a fatty food like cheese. The reason isn’t just incidental, but in fact is one of the secrets of culinary science that’s used in creating truly delectable meals.

Astringent foods have a tendency to bind with the elements in saliva that lubricate and cause them to clump and lose their ability to lubricate. This tends to leave us with a puckered mouth and nobody loves that! Even worse, the more you consume astringent foods the drier they make your mouth! While we all agree that wine and tea are both delicious, no one wants a puckered mouth!

This is where the cheese comes in with its fatty texture and often pungent flavors. Each bite tends to coat our mouths just a little more making it lubricated with fat, often to the point of being slimy! We love the flavors, but the constant build up of flavor can often be overwhelming, and that’s when wine comes to the rescue!

Wine And Cheese Day celebrates this pairing of foods and the ways they interact to make each one even more enjoyable!

How to celebrate Wine And Cheese Day

The best way to celebrate Wine And Cheese Day is by hosting a wine and cheese tasting of your very own! Get together with your friends and plan out the evening with every variety of cheese you can imagine. Bring your Port Wines and your blushes, your champagnes and your reds and whites, and for each of them bring a parade of cheeses to be sampled. We’re not talking simple Sharp Cheddar but exotics like blue cheese and Limburger, Gorgonzola and Mizithra, all the wondrous cheese of the world!

Here are some tips to help you pair wine and cheese together effectively:

When in doubt, a firm and nutty cheese won’t let you down.

Cheeses and wines that come from the same place pair well together. Remember what we said about the French brie earlier?

Sparkling wines work beautifully with creamy, soft cheeses. This is because the wine has high carbonation and acidity, which acts as a palate-cleanser for the sticky and creamy cheeses, like Cremont, Camembert, Muenster, and Brie.

Sweeter wines and funky cheeses go together perfectly. Sweeter wines like Late Harvest dessert wines and Moscato go well with the blue-veined cheeses. This is because the sweetness from the wine helps to balance out the ‘funk’ in the cheese.

Aged cheeses and bold red wines go well together. Look for cheeses that have aged for at least a year when serving a bold red wine. This is because the cheese’s fat content will counteract the high-tannins in the wine. Cheeses you can serve include the likes of Provolone, Gouda, Manchego, and Cheddar.

Pair cheeses and wines that equal intensity. If you were to opt for a Cabernet Sauvignon and Gruyère, for example, the cheese would be overwhelmed by the bold and big flavors of the wine.

With these tips, you should be able to come up with some great wine and cheese pairings that you and your loved ones can enjoy. You could even get everyone to contribute a wine and cheese pairing each, and then you could see who has been able to come up with the best match. After all, there is nothing like a bit of friendly competition, right?

World Baking Day

Cookies, brownies, pies, bread…try out some new recipes, or revisit your old favorites to have a little fun in the kitchen and end up with tasty treats.

Crunchy cookies, chewy brownies, decadent tortes, cute cupcakes, crusty baked bread…baking is an art this world would just not be the same without. Do you even know anyone who could honestly say they don’t have deep, unconditional love for at least one of the above? We thought not! This World Baking Day, it’s time to dig out that rolling pin and prepare something delicious! Surprise a friend, coworker, neighbor or relative with a delicious sweet or savory treat to let them know how much you care, or just make something to enjoy in your own home. However you decide to celebrate this day, make it deliciously unforgettable!

History of World Baking Day

World Baking Day was created to spread the joy of baking all around the world, especially to those who perhaps don’t bake too often and are not particularly experienced at it. This day is meant to show people just how much fun it can be to make a cake or some cookies, and baking can be a great way to spend time with family and friends. Not to mention how much fun it is to eat what you’ve made once it’s done!

It’s incredible that we’ve managed to go so long without a World Baking Day. We discovered evidence that baking has existed for over 14,000 years, proving that we simply can’t live without it! In fact, the first bakers in Jordan created flatbreads, which they then wrapped around meat – potentially the first-ever sandwich in existence. Roman times saw the birth of the artisan baker. Lovers of all things decadent, Romans prized the pastry chef, and those that brought new baked goods to the worlds were ever-popular at feasts and banquets.

In the United Kingdom, by the Middle Ages, baking went commercial, with many trading regulations and rules governing how to bake and sell bread. But everyone’s got to eat, so anyone with an oven was baking bread to feed their families. The delicious, mouth-watering cakes we eat today started to emerge for the upper echelons of society from the middle ages onwards.

Technology also helped upgrade the ovens to help bring better-baked goods to the masses, especially in the nineteenth century. Food was easier to preserve, too, so many people could order in meats and milk from across the country rather than relying on their backyard cows or chickens. Cans also cultivated a new innovation for baking, as meats and veg could be canned and exported from places like Australia.

New baking innovations arrived during WWI and WWII. In America during the wars, baking thrived as people moved to the US, and rationing saw the need for increasingly crafty creations. In America, different flavors from across the world arrived, from Italian cannolis to Mexican Tres Leches. When people couldn’t find fat or eggs during the wars, Applesauce Cake was baked into existence, which is still made today and used as an alternative to eggs and fat in vegan baking.

The increase in prosperity after the war allowed baking to flourish into the foods we love today, all culminating in this event. Enjoy the chance to bake, eat, and be merry with friends and family during this day.

How to celebrate world Baking Day

You don’t have to be a pastry chef specializing in fancy tortes to celebrate this holiday. All you really need is a little flour, sugar and butter and a sense of adventure! One of the best things about baking is that there are thousands upon thousands of recipes to choose from, so everyone is sure to find something to suit their specific tastes. Are you a fan of all things chocolate? Why not make some brownies? Rocky Road Brownies, for example, combine the richness of chocolate with the crunchiness of walnuts and the softness of marshmallows. But perhaps the best news about brownies is that almost all brownie recipes can be made in just one bowl!

If you’re more of a health food buff, there’s no reason for you to feel left out—there are plenty of baked goods that are decidedly good for you, like apple-cinnamon bran muffins or date and oatmeal muffins, and many more. Do you have a rambunctious child who is curious about the world? Why not share the magic of baking with them by making some creatively decorated cookies? Chocolate cherry thumbprint cookies, for example, are both easy and fun to make. Sugar cookies are also very simple to make and lots of fun to decorate with colorful icings and sprinkles. Or are you a bit more experienced at baking? If so, there are also many torte recipes that you could hone your skills making. Apricot Almond Torte, for example, requires you to make your own marzipan. And who wouldn’t want to know how to make their own perfect marzipan?

Or are you a fan of baking but prefer savory to sweet? Why not bake that bread, or create those mouth-watering pies and pastries that we all love so much? Fill your creations with delicious savory treats, like cheese or meat. Vegan or vegetarian? Browse your favorite recipe books for inventions made with flour, salt, applesauce, and sunflower oil. If you’re a budding savory baker, crustless quiches are the perfect way of incorporating delectable fillings in a quick and easy way.

If you don’t have time to bake, you could visit a local bakery instead of buying yet another package of mass-produced, sugary cookies filled with preservatives but devoid of flavor. Nothing is quite as relaxing as sitting back with a cup of coffee or tea and perhaps a book, enjoying a piece of pie.

If you want to share the baking joy with your nearest and dearest, why not invite some friends over for a baking party? It’s the perfect excuse to share your cakes and cookies (or at least the recipes). You can ask them to bring round their favorite cookie cutters and recipe ideas and you can all whizz up a storm in your kitchen. Or you can order in from your local bakery, put on a cooking competition and binge-watch and eat at the same time.

However, you decide to celebrate this day, make sure you and your nearest and dearest enjoy this day and all of its sweetness to the fullest.

National Cinnamon Day

Celebrate and appreciate one of the world’s favorite ancient spices by getting excited about National Cinnamon Day. So grab a favorite cinnamon treat and read on to learn more about this delicious spice and the ways it has been part of human history for thousands of years!

History of National Cinnamon Day

Native to Ceylon, which is modern day Sri Lanka, cinnamon’s first recordings are from Chinese writings that date as far back as 2800 BC. Even today in the Cantonese language, cinnamon is still known as “kwai”. And in the Malay language, it goes by “kayumanis”, which means “sweet wood”. This is certainly an apt description of this spicy but uniquely sweet flavor.

During medieval times, doctors found that cinnamon worked well as a treatment for coughs, sore throats and hoarseness. It may also have been considered a status symbol and was often used as a special imported gift given to monarchs, royalty and other people of importance.

Cinnamon, along with other precious spices might seem rather innocuous now, but in the early days of their discovery, several wars were fought over the lands where cinnamon came from. The Portuguese, Dutch and British armies all sought to conquer Ceylon (modern day Sri Lanka) in an effort to obtain full access to their spices.

Today, sourcing cinnamon comes with much less angst and political struggle as, for most people, it’s easy to simply pop over to the local grocery store, health food store or spice shop to pick some up. Typically cinnamon can be found in two varieties, ground or whole. Ground cinnamon is used in many different recipes for baking and cooking, while whole cinnamon sticks are more often steeped into beverages or infused into flavoring syrups.

Of course, cinnamon is really the star of the show when it comes to the beloved pumpkin pie spice. Combined with allspice, nutmeg and clove, cinnamon is the base for this grouping of flavors that represents all things fall.

In honor of National Cinnamon Day, it’s time to get creative and enjoy cinnamon in a whole myriad of ways!

National Cinnamon Day Timeline

2000 BC Spices are exchanged along the Silk Road

A network of sea routes link East to West, from Japan all the way over to Europe, and cinnamon is one of the spices traded on this route.

65 AD Emperor Nero burns cinnamon

Nero is said to have burned a year’s worth of Rome’s supply of cinnamon at his wife’s funeral. 

14th Century Portuguese explorers find cinnamon

While traders brought the spice to the West, the place where it originates from is kept secret until the Portuguese discover it in Ceylon.

Early 1800s British take over Ceylon

Defeating the Dutch occupiers, the British take over the island country of Ceylon, gaining full access to cinnamon.

1930s Cinnamon candy is made

Produced by the Ferrara Pan Candy Company, Red Hots are made using the panned method of candy making.

How to Celebrate National Cinnamon Day

Get excited about cinnamon and enjoy National Cinnamon Day with some of these fun and clever ideas for celebrating:

Eat Something Cinnamon

From cinnamon candy to cinnamon rolls and everything in between, National Cinnamon Day is best celebrated by enjoying the flavors of this delicious spice. Whether it’s simply grabbing a pack of cinnamon gum from the local convenience store, or a cinnamon latte from a local coffee shop, this is the day to enjoy all things cinnamon!

In fact, while often associated with sweet things in the West, cinnamon is also often used in savory dishes in many cultures. From curries to mole sauces to barbecue rubs, cinnamon can be used in every meal of the day for breakfast lunch and dinner!

Try a cinnamon roll or a healthy bowl of oatmeal flavored with cinnamon for breakfast. Lunch could consist of a Hawaiian pizza topped with pineapple, ham and almond slivers, sprinkled with delicious cinnamon. And dinner? Well, a big vat of butter chicken, cinnamon green lentil soup or chicken shawarma would do nicely, thank you very much!

Learn the Health Benefits of Cinnamon

Cinnamon is more than just a yummy way to flavor foods and beverages! It is also a natural substance that offers a whole host of properties that may be beneficial to human health. There’s a reason that it was often offered as a gift to kings!

Consider some of these interesting benefits of including cinnamon as part of a healthy diet:

Cinnamon is full of antioxidants. Fighting off free radicals is the name of the game when it comes to preventing health problems such as cancer, heart disease and other issues.

Cinnamon has anti-inflammatory properties. Inflammation can be helpful in fighting off foreign bodies, but too much inflammation can cause huge health problems like arthritis, asthma, diabetes, cancer and so much more.

Cinnamon may help prevent heart disease. This unassuming spice has been linked as a way to reduce heart disease, which is the number one cause of death in the world today.

Cinnamon can help balance insulin. A serious problem today is insulin resistance which can cause type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Cinnamon can help to reduce the body’s resistance to the hormone insulin and help it do its job well.

Enjoy Baking with Cinnamon

Cinnamon brings a whole host of opportunities for cooking and baking in the kitchen at home. From cinnamon rolls to snickerdoodle cookies, from cinnamon donuts to cinnamon coffee cake, this spice really has it all!

Get creative by adding cinnamon sugar to honey and rolling it in phyllo dough for a pseudo-baklava taste. Or go a bit more traditional by baking an all-American apple pie that is, of course, spiced with cinnamon. Another enjoyable way to use cinnamon is to add it to a traditional loaf of quick bread, such as banana bread, pumpkin bread.

Savor a Cup of Cinnamon Tea

While many people think of cooking and baking with cinnamon, one of the best ways to enjoy this delicious spice is by steeping it into a hot beverage. Teas made from cinnamon can be not only tasty but can also offer a nice way to infuse some of the health benefits that were mentioned above.

So, in honor of National Cinnamon Day, perhaps consider trying out one of these delightful brands of cinnamon tea:

Harney & Sons Hot Cinnamon Spice Tea. This is the most popular flavor of this company’s tea that is sold throughout the world, its flavors are of cinnamon, orange peel and sweet cloves.

The Republic of Tea Cinnamon Plum Tea. This is a black tea that is blended with zingy cinnamon spice and offers the calm taste of ripe plums.

Bigelow Black Tea Cinnamon Stick. A classic version with a spicy kick, this black tea is just the right balance of sweet and spicy.

National Cinnamon Day FAQs

Can dogs have cinnamon?

Cinnamon is not toxic to dogs, but it could cause indigestion so it may be best to avoid giving cinnamon to a dog.

Is cinnamon good for you?

Yes! Cinnamon is a healthy spice that contains antioxidants and may be helpful in fighting against heart disease, insulin resistance, and might even protect against cancer.

Where does cinnamon come from?

Originating from trees in Sri Lanka, which is an island in the Indian Ocean, a lot of cinnamon is now grown in Indonesia.

How to make cinnamon sugar

Cinnamon sugar is easy! Just combine 2 tablespoons of cinnamon with ½ cup white sugar and combine.

Can cinnamon go bad?

Though cinnamon will not usually “go bad”, it can get old and lose some of its strength and flavor.

National Wine and Cheese Day 

Pair complimentary wine and cheeses to satisfy the palate, host a tasting event and see who can create the best combinations on Wine and Cheese Day.

There are some things in the world that were just meant to go together, like Chocolate and Peanut Butter, oil and vinegar, and of course wine and cheese! Since time out of mind wine and cheese have been paired together and served at all the most important of events among the highest class of people. Wine And Cheese Day celebrates this eternal bonding and the elegance it engenders.

Learn about National Wine and Cheese Day

National Wine and Cheese Day is a date that celebrates the ultimate pairing of cheese and wine. For a lot of people, there is nothing that goes together better than a great glass of wine and some premium quality cheese. A lot of wine-producing cultures pair regional wines with local cheeses, and so this is an art that is recognized in many parts around the world. Take the French Brie region as a prime example. This area is noted for their varieties of tannic wines. Beaujolais is produced in the area, and it is often served with local Brie. This is just one example of many.

Not only does National Wine and Cheese Day give you the chance to celebrate this tradition, but it also gives you the opportunity to expand your knowledge in terms of pairing different types of wine and cheese. There are so many different types of wine and cheese – it would be impossible to name them all! This means that there is always something new to learn when it comes to the art of pairing these two treats together. And, of course, while there are some general guidelines to follow in terms of determining what sort of cheese is going to go well with the wine you’re serving, you can also learn a lot by simply trying out different combinations.

History of Wine And Cheese Day

There is an interesting element to all of the pairings mentioned in the introduction, with the possible exception of chocolate and peanut butter. Pairings of food almost universally involve pairing an astringent food, like wine, with a fatty food like cheese. The reason isn’t just incidental, but in fact is one of the secrets of culinary science that’s used in creating truly delectable meals.

Astringent foods have a tendency to bind with the elements in saliva that lubricate and cause them to clump and lose their ability to lubricate. This tends to leave us with a puckered mouth and nobody loves that! Even worse, the more you consume astringent foods the drier they make your mouth! While we all agree that wine and tea are both delicious, no one wants a puckered mouth!

This is where the cheese comes in with its fatty texture and often pungent flavors. Each bite tends to coat our mouths just a little more making it lubricated with fat, often to the point of being slimy! We love the flavors, but the constant build up of flavor can often be overwhelming, and that’s when wine comes to the rescue!

Wine And Cheese Day celebrates this pairing of foods and the ways they interact to make each one even more enjoyable!

How to celebrate Wine And Cheese Day

The best way to celebrate Wine And Cheese Day is by hosting a wine and cheese tasting of your very own! Get together with your friends and plan out the evening with every variety of cheese you can imagine. Bring your Port Wines and your blushes, your champagnes and your reds and whites, and for each of them bring a parade of cheeses to be sampled. We’re not talking simple Sharp Cheddar but exotics like blue cheese and Limburger, Gorgonzola and Mizithra, all the wondrous cheese of the world!

Here are some tips to help you pair wine and cheese together effectively:

When in doubt, a firm and nutty cheese won’t let you down.

Cheeses and wines that come from the same place pair well together. Remember what we said about the French brie earlier?

Sparkling wines work beautifully with creamy, soft cheeses. This is because the wine has high carbonation and acidity, which acts as a palate-cleanser for the sticky and creamy cheeses, like Cremont, Camembert, Muenster, and Brie.

Sweeter wines and funky cheeses go together perfectly. Sweeter wines like Late Harvest dessert wines and Moscato go well with the blue-veined cheeses. This is because the sweetness from the wine helps to balance out the ‘funk’ in the cheese.

Aged cheeses and bold red wines go well together. Look for cheeses that have aged for at least a year when serving a bold red wine. This is because the cheese’s fat content will counteract the high-tannins in the wine. Cheeses you can serve include the likes of Provolone, Gouda, Manchego, and Cheddar.

Pair cheeses and wines that equal intensity. If you were to opt for a Cabernet Sauvignon and Gruyère, for example, the cheese would be overwhelmed by the bold and big flavors of the wine.

With these tips, you should be able to come up with some great wine and cheese pairings that you and your loved ones can enjoy. You could even get everyone to contribute a wine and cheese pairing each, and then you could see who has been able to come up with the best match. After all, there is nothing like a bit of friendly competition, right?

National Cheese Day 

Gather friends or family and host a cheese-tasting event. With everything from gouda to comté to brie, there’s sure to be something for everyone on Cheese Day.

While there are certainly some people who do not like cheese or cannot eat it for health reasons, most other people would agree that it is one of the best ingredients for food recipes that was ever invented!

After all, so many different types of cheese exist, and there are such a variety of ways that it can be enjoyed. From toasted cheese sandwiches to pizzas, to different kinds of pasta and sauces, cheese can be devoured in a multitude of ways.

For those who are big fans of cheese, this day gives the ideal opportunity to eat as much of it as desired.

It’s time to celebrate National Cheese Day!

History of National Cheese Day

National Cheese Day has been going on for quite some time now and it has a rich background of fun and, well, cheese. The day was first established in 1914, with the origins being traced to Monroe, Wisconsin in the United States.

For more than 100 years, this day has been celebrated biennially (every other year) and there are a ton of different festivities that go on during this event in Monroe, WI. These have been known to include a two-hour parade, traditional Swiss-Germanic music (waltzes and polkas), club stands, crafts, carnival rides, restaurants, and local food to enjoy. The event actually lasts for more than just National Cheese Day, but all weekend long where more than 100,000 people visit each time it is held. Check out the cheese days website for more information.

For those unfortunate folks who don’t have the pleasure of living near Monroe, do a little bit of digging online to see if there are any events that are going on in a local town instead.

National Cheese Day is all about learning more about cheese, celebrating cheese, eating cheese–and not feeling guilty about it! In addition, National Cheese Day is all about embracing this culinary delight, getting well educated about all things related to cheese, and trying out different recipes that incorporate this amazing ingredient.

What is not to like? Maybe it’s not for everyone, but National Cheese Day is certainly a day that meets with the approval of so many people all over the world!

How to Celebrate National Cheese Day

There are so many different ways that you can celebrate National Cheese Day. Try one of these or come up with other creative ideas:

Host a Cheese Tasting Party

One of the best ways is to have a cheese-tasting afternoon with family and friends. Have each person bring a different type of cheese and a different kind of wine. Then relax and have fun eating some good food and trying out some wine flavors that might be a new experience.

Hosting a cheese tasting party is fairly simple, but there may be a few details to pay attention to in order to get it just right. In addition to buying cheese and wine, there’s a bit of setup that will take it from average to awesome.

Add to the shopping list little bits such as olives, crusty bread, grapes, chutneys and berries. Put these all out on the table to compliment the taste of the cheese.

Make the place look just that much more lovely by adding a few vases full of fresh flowers. In addition, the tables will need some wooden cutting boards, a selection of knives, small serving plates, plus a collection of wine glasses.

Prepare ahead of time with a bit of knowledge about each cheese that will be served so that suggestions can be given for tasting combinations.

Visit a Cheesemonger or Cheese Shop

Another way to celebrate National Cheese Day is by visiting a cheesemonger or going to a professional cheese tasting experience. This is a great way to soak in all of the knowledge about cheese from those who know everything that there is to know. Get ready to try some interesting samples, asking the shop owner for a taste of the most unique cheeses on hand. Remind them that it’s National Cheese Day and maybe they’ll even offer a discount!

Eat a Cheese Based Meal

Of course, enjoying a cheese-based meal is a must on National Cheese Day. There are a lot of different ways that you can give a nod to National Cheese Day in this way. It could be something as simple as ordering an extra dose of cheese on a takeaway pizza.

Or, maybe it’s time to try and do something a little bit different in the world of cheese? Those who typically have parmesan on their spaghetti or mozzarella on their pizza, why not try substituting it for a different type of cheese?

Get a little bit creatie and spend some time looking for some unique and inspiring recipes for cheese dishes online, and attempt to recreate them at home.

Learn about Different Types of Cheese

There are so many different kinds and varieties of cheese available from cultures the world over. From the common and well-known ones, like brie and cheddar, to some of the lesser-known and more peculiar varieties, like burrata or lancashire cheese. In fact, it has been rumored that they even sell human milk cheese in New York!

Check out these different types of cheeses that are unique and interesting:

Olomouc Cheese from the Czech Republic. This cheese is a bit infamous due to the fact that it comes with such a strong (some would say stinky!) odor. Walk into any shop that sells it and it’s the first thing anyone can smell! Named after the city wherein Moravia where it originated, this is a ripened soft cheese that has been made for more than 600 years.

Drunken Goat Cheese from Spain. This is made by curing unpasteurized goat cheese in red wine for approximately 48-72 hours. It’s a semi-firm cheese that is also known as Murcia al Vino, indicating the type of goat it is made from.

Gjetost Cheese (“yay-toast”) from Norway. This unique cheese is made from a blend of cow’s milk and goat’s milk. It comes in a block and has a dark orange, almost brownish color that makes it look like chocolate. Plus, it’s a little sweet so it tastes a bit like caramel fudge–perfect with a cup of coffee!