Out of shame for not realizing that February is National Hot Breakfast Month, I started looking into the convoluted mess that is national and international food-related holidays. There are so many different declarations of these holidays – personal, corporate, and civil – that it’s hard to keep track. There are contradictions and repeats galore: pancakes, for instance, have a national day, week, and month. Plus, there are ridiculous levels of specificity. You can celebrate National Donut Day AND National Cream-Filled Donut Day. Some holidays are tied to specific dates, some are movable feasts. But for the fun of it (and to give me something to tweet about throughout the year… “Did you know that today is…?”), I put together this list, based on the 2011 calendar.
JANUARY
National Hot Tea Month
National Oatmeal Month
28 – National Blueberry Pancake Day
30 – National Croissant Day
FEBRUARY
National Pancake Month
National Hot Breakfast Month
9 – National Bagels and Lox Day
19-25 – National Pancake Week
21 – National Sticky Bun Day
21 – National Biscuits and Gravy Day
MARCH
1 – National Pancake Day (as declared by IHOP) (usually connected to Shrove Tuesday)
7 – National Cereal Day
10 – National Blueberry Popover Day
12 – National Orange Juice Day
23 – National Toast Day
24 – International Waffle Day
APRIL
7 – National Coffee Cake Day
16 – National Eggs Benedict Day
MAY
National Egg Month
14 – National Buttermilk Biscuit Day
20 – National Quiche Lorraine Day
JUNE
National Dairy Month
first Friday – National Donut Day
JULY
11 – National Blueberry Muffin Day
26 – National Bagelfest
AUGUST
National Coffee Month
19 – National Potato Day
24 – National Waffle Day (so named to celebrate the first U.S. patent for the waffle iron)
SEPTEMBER
National Breakfast Month
National Potato Month
National Honey Month
Saturday before Labor Day – International Bacon Day
first week – National Waffle Week
second week – National Biscuits and Gravy Week
14 – National Cream-Filled Donut Day
26 – National Pancake Day (see also March 1)
29 – National Coffee Day
OCTOBER
National Sausage Month
13 – National Pumpkin Festival (close to the Circleville Pumpkin Show)
29 – National Oatmeal Day
NOVEMBER
5 – National Doughnut Day (see also early June)
23 – National Espresso Day
28 – National French Toast Day
DECEMBER
9 – National Pastry Day
17 – National Maple Syrup Day
