Oyster Season and Wine Harvesting Begins!!!! It's National Cherry Popover Day

Foodies love September. So much is going on this month to ease our tastebuds away from the airy, cool tastes of summer and towards the richness of Autumn's bounty. As the number of daylight hours wane and temperatures drop, the grapes will soon be harvested for wine; they are normally picked between late August to early October but the season can run much longer depending up weather conditions. September usually brings about a few new wines to try; it might be fun to pair a unfamiliar wine with some of this month's food holidays.


Here's a sampling of what we have to celebrate as September is...(cue Alton Brown's 'Good Eats' music):


National Biscuit Month
National Chicken Month
National Honey Month
National Mushroom Month
National Organic Harvest Month
National Papaya Month
National Potato Month
National Rice Month


There are so many flavors to celebrate and talk about and so many recipes to try in the upcoming days. Exciting for this writer...this first day of the month begins Oyster season. Remember the (ongoing) scene in 'Forest Gump' about shrimp? The same can be applied to oysters. Oysters can be eaten on the half shell, raw, smoked, boiled, baked, fried, roasted, stewed, canned, pickled, steamed, broiled or used in a variety of drinks. Oysters, especially 'wild', are excellent sources of several minerals including iron, zinc and selenium, which are often low in the modern diet. They are also an excellent source of Vitamin B12. According to the folks at nutritiondata.com, oysters are considered the healthiest when eaten raw on the half shell. While this writer loves them raw with a squeeze of lemon, she's crazy about them just about any way she can get them.


However, let's talk about today's particular food holiday. National Cherry Popover Day. Did you know that cherry pits were found in several Stone Age caves in Europe?  Cherries have been around for ages and bakers couldn't be more happy!  Speaking of baking...do you know what a popover is?  Well, it's not in that can-thingie that you whack on the counter, fold in a triangle and stuff in the oven.  That's called a turnover.  A popover is simply a thin batter, very much like Yorkshire Pudding, poured into a popover tin (smaller holes and deeper than a cupcake tin) which rises to form a hollow shell when baked. Shaped like a mushroom when it's out of the pan, it's a wonderful treat. Click here for an interesting cherry popover recipe. 


This talk of food has made this writer hungry; the time has come to go in search of something-cherry or oyster for lunch.  Then it's off to the library this evening to do some research on honey.


Until tomorrow,


Happiness is a bowl of cherries and a book of poetry under a shade tree. ~Astrid Alauda