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Celebrate the Panini! August 11, 2015 is the first ‘official, National Panini Day* The first U.S. reference to panini, a ‘pan warmed Italian sandwich’ dates to 1956 in an article about an Italian street fair. Panini’s are said to have originated in Lombardy, Italy, in response to the demand among Milanese office workers for a quick lunch without sacrifice in flavor and quality In the late 1970s & 1980s. Trendy U.S. restaurants, particularly in New York, began selling panini’s. In many English-speaking countries, a panino, from Italian, meaning “small bread, bread roll” is a grilled sandwich made from baked roll or any thing other than sliced bread. *A day proclaimed by Foodimentary, the interest source fore Food Holidays and celebrations since 2006 Today’s Food History 1858  Christiaan Eijkman was born. A Dutch physician who discovered that beriberi was caused by a poor diet (a lack of vitamin B1), which eventually led to the discovery of vitamins. 1874  Harry S.

Traditionally Greek salad  is made with pieces of tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, onion, Feta cheese (served in a single rectangular-shaped cutting put over the vegetables), and olives (usually Kalamata olives), typically seasoned with salt and oregano, and dressed with olive oil. GREEK CUISINE AND THE 19TH CENTURY INVASION OF THE TOMATO Amazingly, it’s the same dish that is also one of the most popular lunch options in the United States – the Greek Salad In  Greece  we call it  ‘Horiatiki’ , which means village or peasant salad – basically a combination of tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, green peppers, olives and feta cheese, dressed in olive oil and sprinkled with oregano. Please also note that an authentic Greek salad does not include lettuce. It is quite common for Greeks to eat seasonally. A Greek salad is primarily a summer dish, and since lettuce only grows in Greece during the winter months a traditional  ‘Horiatiki’  salad does not include lettuce. Before we take a c

1988  Uprising in Myanmar Begins The pro-democracy uprising began as a student protest in Burma’s capital city, Yangon. Hundreds and thousands protesters came out on the streets to protest against the one-party rule by General Ne Win. The protests lasted for over a month and were violently put down by the government. They ended after the State Peace and Development Council, a group of senior military officers took over the government in a coup and installed a military junta. The uprisings get their name from the date the protests began - August 8, 1988. 1974  Nixon Announces His Resignation The 37th President of the United States, Richard Nixon’s resignation came as a response to the Watergate Scandal. The scandal erupted after it was revealed that the Nixon government was involved in the cover-up of a break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Complex. The revelations prompted the Congress to initiate impeachment proceedings against Nixon. His r

On July 4, 1776, the thirteen colonies claimed their independence from England, an event which eventually led to the formation of the United States. Each year on July 4th, also known as Independence Day, Americans celebrate this historic event. Conflict between the colonies and England was already a year old when the colonies convened a Continental Congress in Philadelphia in the summer of 1776. In a June 7 session in the Pennsylvania State House (later Independence Hall), Richard Henry Lee of Virginia presented a resolution with the famous words: "Resolved: That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." Lee's words were the impetus for the drafting of a formal Declaration of Independence, although the resolution was not followed up on imm

Mother’s day is fast approaching both here and abroad.  We all take this “holiday” for granted.  It was not that long ago in the scope of things when the second Sunday in May was just that, the second Sunday in May. In the United Kingdom and Ireland Mother’s Day or Mothering Sunday is celebrated on the fourth Sunday in Lent  (the 40 day period leading up to Easter) in honor of Mary, the mother of Christ.  The history as well as the date are completely different than in the USA and other countries, even though customs are now similar. Mothering Sunday goes back to the time of early Christians in England.  Some believe that the ceremonies in honor of Roman mother goddess, Cybele were adopted by the early church to worship Virgin Mary.  Others say the Mother Church was substituted for Mother Goddess and according to a custom a person visited the church of his/her baptism (Mother Church) on this day. The origin of Mothering Sunday can also be traced to times when people in En