Celebrate EVERY Day - Let’s Party

On FEBRUARY 18, grab a glass and uncork a bottle of your favorite vino; it’s NATIONAL DRINK WINE DAY!

(As if we really needed a special day to do this!) Benjamin Franklin said, “Wine makes daily living easier, less hurried, with fewer tensions and more tolerance.” If that isn’t reason enough, scientific research has revealed that there are also health benefits to drinking wine (in moderation, of course). Wine, especially white wine, is full of antioxidants that fight off harmful free radicals. It reduces the risk of many types of cancer. The resveratrol in red wine is particularly beneficial in fighting cancer cells, lowering cholesterol, and for its anti-aging properties. Wine has been demonstrated to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. It’s known to boost immunity, increase bone density, and improve cognitive function as well. All in all, wine can make you healthier, happier, and help you to live longer. Cheers! 

In case you miss out on National Drink Wine Day, there are also other wine days to observe. There’s National Wine Day on May 25, as well as National Red Wine Day, National Moscato Day and National Rosé Day. For those who prefer a more sparkling experience, there’s National Prosecco Day, National Bubbly Day, and even National Mimosa Day. We also have a National Sangria Day to enjoy the fruity Spanish wine punch, and National Mulled Wine Day for a warm and spicy treat. And don’t forget National Wine and Cheese Day, because a perfect pairing should be celebrated too. We sure do love our wine! 

You don’t need to wait for Cinco de Mayo for a Mexican-style celebration. NATIONAL MARGARITA DAY falls on FEBRUARY 22 and just two days later, on FEBRURY 24 is NATIONAL TORTILLA CHIP DAY. Since they go hand in hand like wine and cheese or peanut butter and jelly, we think it’s appropriate to celebrate them together on both days! The margarita, traditionally made with tequila, triple sec, and lime juice and served in a glass with a salted rim, is the most common tequila-based cocktail served in the United States. While the cocktail’s origins are murky, we do know that the margarita appeared on the bar scene sometime around 1938 and was essentially a reinvention of the standard Mexican tequila, salt, and lime shot combination. Mixologists today have gotten creative by using other juices, infused tequilas, sugars, and more exotic salt and spice blends to enhance the presentation and the flavor of the cocktail, but there’s no question the margarita’s popularity is still going strong today. 

The tortilla chip seems to have a less mysterious origin. While tortilla chips, known as tostados, have always been considered a Mexican food, they were first mass-produced in Los Angeles in the late 1940s. Rebecca Webb Carranza was credited for making the triangle-shaped chips popular. The chips were made from the misshaped and discarded tortillas that were rejected from the automated tortilla maker used in the deli and tortilla factory she operated with her husband. Carranza noticed that when the discarded tortillas were cut into triangle shapes and fried, they became a popular snack. The savvy businesswoman sold the chips for a dime a bag at the El Zarape Tortilla Factory. In 1994, Carranza received the Golden Tortilla Award for her contribution to the Mexican food industry. Serve them up with salsa and a margarita and you’ve got a party in the making! You’ll find recipes for both margaritas and tortillas on the EIL website, if you need help getting the fiesta started at home. 

MARDI GRAS, also known as FAT TUESDAY or SHROVE TUESDAY, is FEBRUARY 16 this year. Always celebrated the day before Ash Wednesday, it marks the transition from a period of festivals and feasts (Carnival) to a time of fasting and reflection (Lent).

Mardi Gras has its origins in an ancient Roman festival honoring the deities Lupercalia and Saturnalia which took place in mid-February. When Christians arrived in Rome, they incorporated the festival into their Lenten preparations. For centuries, it was a solemn feast that prepared Christians for the season of Lent and used up valuable meat and supplies from which they would abstain in the weeks of religious fasting leading up to the Holy Day of Easter. Traditions surrounding the day have certainly changed through the ages and now it is known as a day of reveling and excess. 

The French pulled out the stops for this last day of Carnival, with lavish food, elaborate costumes, colorful masks, and parades, all meant to sustain the body and spirit through the long season of Lent. During the 16th century, their ancestors celebrated Boeuf Gras (fatted calf) where a bull decorated with flowers was paraded through the city, followed down the streets by colorfully dressed attendants and bands playing unusual instruments. Thanks to French explorers, elements of that tradition made their way to the United States via New Orleans, the city that unquestionably wears the country’s crown for Carnival and Mardi Gras celebrations. In 1699, the French arrived at the mouth of the river near present day Louisiana on Shrove Tuesday and named it Pointe du Mardi Gras. Since they established Fort Louis de la Mobile in what is now modern-day Mobile, Alabama lays claim to the first Mardi Gras celebration on American soil in 1703. When Nouvelle Orleans was established in 1788, Mardi Gras celebrations reportedly began immediately. Mardi Gras was declared an official holiday by Louisiana in 1875. Laissez les bons temps rouler! 

In the United Kingdom and in many churches here, Shrove Tuesday is also known as PANCAKE DAY. Pancake dinners are often held at the churches, because pancakes loaded with butter and syrup with a side of bacon or sausage are the make a perfect meal when the next six weeks include abstaining from fats, eggs, and sweets. In Russia, they celebrate the entire week during Shrovetide as Pancake Week. Yum! There’s traditionally a pancake dinner held at the St. Simons Casino Building, but that may not be possible this year. If it is, we’ll be sure to let you know, so keep up with our social media accounts and website calendar. If there is no community pancake dinner, you can continue the tradition at home. Add your own fun twists by making the pancakes into shapes. To go all out, create a “pancake bar” with chocolate chips, fruit, sprinkles, whipped cream, and flavored syrups. Have fun with it; it’s Mardi Gras! 

For the Polish community and in cities with significant Polish populations, Fat Tuesday is observed as the sweet holiday of PACZKI DAY. First let’s start with the pronunciation: it’s PUNCH-kee or POONCH-key or POOCH-key. A paczki is traditionally a round Polish pastry filled with fruit or jelly and coated in sugar. It’s essentially a fatter version of a donut. Since people would be fasting during Lent, they needed to empty the pantry and making paczki was an ideal way to use up the contents of the larder. More modern paczki are filled with custard or cream and sometimes glazed. This Polish tradition of indulging in fried dough filled with sweet centers dates back to the Middle Ages. Like Mardi Gras, there’s music and entertainment, with the day borrowing many of the French traditions. If you’ve never had a paczki, now is the time to try one! Sometimes our local grocery story bakeries carry paczki in the days leading up to Fat Tuesday. It’s worth a phone call. If you’re brave, there are numerous recipes online.