DECEMBER: Today in Food History

See FOOD FESTIVALS for December Food & Beverage Festivals

DECEMBER IS:

• National Egg Nog Month
• National Fruit Cake Month
• Pear Month: Many fruits are out of season during the winter months. Pears are available fresh during this time.
   

WEEKS AND VARIABLE DATE EVENTS

• Winter Solstice: Winter begins in the Northern Hemisphere, Summer begins in the Southern Hemisphere.
  (Dec 21 or 22: Dec 21, 2013; Dec 21, 2014, Dec 22, 2015)
  "Now commences the long winter evening around the farmer's hearth, when the thoughts of the indwellers travel far abroad, and men are by nature and necessity charitable and liberal to all creatures. Now is the happy resistance to cold, when the farmer reaps his reward, and thinks of his preparedness for winter…"
  Henry David Thoreau, 'A Winter Walk'
• California Kiwifruit Day (Dec 21, 2013)
• Belgium: Foire aux Noix (Nuts Fair) Dec 14, 2013
  (2nd Saturday in Dec)
   
• Cookie Cutter Week: Dec 1-7, 2013 (1st week in Dec)
• National Handwashing Awareness Week
  (Dec 1-7, 2013)
• Saturnalia: (Dec 17-23) Ancient Roman festival honoring Saturn, the god of agriculture and harvest.
• UK: National Tree Week (Nov 23-Dec 1, 2013)