Food

February 9 – Pizza Day

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About the Holiday

Every day could be pizza day, but today’s holiday gives us a special reason to enjoy one of the world’s favorite foods! Since ancient times, people have been making pizzas of all kinds from flatbread to deep dish, but they all have one thing in common—they’re delicious! Here are just a few interesting facts about this most delectable of foods:

  • The very first pizzeria opened in Italy in 1738
  • The first pizzeria in America was opened in New York in 1895
  • Pepperoni is the most popular topping
  • Over 3 billion freshly made pizzas and 1 billion frozen pizzas are sold in the U.S. every year

The Princess and the Pizza

 By Mary Jane and Herm Auch

 

Paulina loves being a princess. But when her father, the king, gives up his throne, Paulina needs a job! Things don’t go so smoothly, however, so when she hears that Queen Zelda is looking for a bride for her son, Drupert, she springs into action. Armed with her best ball gown, a tiara, garlic for good luck, and herbs to mask the garlic smell, Paulina is off to Blom to win a prince and her old life back.

Twelve women show up to woo Prince Drupert, and Queen Zelda has plans to find him the perfect wife. She pits the women against each other in three competitions—the pea-under-the-mattress test, the glass slipper fitting, and a feast-preparation contest. Paulina easily passes the first two but is thwarted in the third by the shenanigans of the remaining contestants.

By the time Paulina reaches the table that holds the ingredients for the feasts, the only items left are tomatoes, cheese, and the makings of a dough. Paulina throws them together then decides to take a nap (after first removing the sleep-depriving pea from the bed). Rudely awakened from slumber and given a threat she can’t ignore, Paulina tosses her creation on the fire and sprinkles it with her garlic for good luck and the herbs to mask the smell.

The time for tasting arrives and Paulina presents her tray, hoping for the best. Although the concoction may look a mess, it smells scrumptious and with one taste Prince Drupert proclaims it the winner. And so in one fell swoop our intrepid heroine has invented pizza and won the heart of Prince Drupert. But the whole experience has given Paulina a better idea. She dumps Drupert and opens a Pizza Palace. And while she may not actually be royalty anymore, the townspeople are so thrilled they treat her like a queen. Life again is good, but could her father be falling for Queen Zelda?

Paulina is an appealing modern princess—she’s loaded with self-confidence, never gives up, and knows how to play the game. Kids will love recognizing the references to other favorite fairy tales, and the humorous illustrations of the unflappable Paulina will have them giggling with every page.

Ages: 4 and up

Holiday House, New York 2003 / ISBN 978-0823417988

Pizza Day Activity

CPB - Pizza Day Toppings

Create Your Pizza Game

Play this fun game to build your pizza ingredient by ingredient before the others!          For 2 – 8 players.

Supplies

Directions

February 7 – Popcorn Day

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CPB - Popcorn Astronauts

About the Holiday

While National Popcorn Day is often celebrated in January, some people believe that Superbowl Sunday is the perfect day to celebrate this tasty treat. I say why not celebrate it on both days! The history of popcorn goes back to the Aztecs and beyond. Early explorers of the 1500s wrote about native peoples roasting corn until it popped and described it as looking like a “white flower.” The natives ate it and strung it to use for decoration.

Most people now eat popcorn with salt and butter, but can you imagine having it with milk? Way before Corn Flakes and Cheerios came on the scene people ate it as cereal! And popcorn really became popular during the Great Depression, when it was one of the only inexpensive treats people could afford. Why not pop up a batch and snuggle in to read today’s reviewed  picture book. For more interesting Popcorn Facts visit www.popcorn.org.

The Popcorn Astronauts and Other Biteable Rhymes

Written by Deborah Ruddell | Illustrated by Joan Rankin

 

Deborah Ruddell’s rollicking poems celebrate the delicacies each season offers, and they are as fresh and surprising as that first luscious taste of strawberries after a cold winter. For National Popcorn Day, and Ruddell and Rankin offer a unique take on those fluffy nuggets which, like floating astronauts, are as light as air.

In these rhymes that are as fun to say as they are to hear, kids will meet a strawberry queen, a picky ogre, and peaches with “flannelpajamaty” skin. They will also learn the ingredients for an impromptu picnic and wonder what ingredient creates that indescribable taste of the smoothie supreme. And if you’d like to know how a poet orders a milkshake or if Dracula ever gets tired of his nightly routine, you’ll find the clever answers here.

Joan Rankin’s vivid illustrations enhance each poem with plenty of action, humor, and expressive characters to keep kids giggling and lingering over each page.

Ages 4 – 8

Simon & Schuster, New York, 2015 | ISBN 978-1442465558

Popcorn Day Activity

CPB - popcorn1

Popcorn Blast-Off Game

The popcorn is flying! Can you catch it? This is a fun game to celebrate this most delicious day! And if you keep the popcorn socks, it will make a great quick activity for those times when you want to get up and move but just don’t know what to do.

Supplies

  • 6 pairs of girls socks – white
  • A large bag of cotton ballsCPB - popcorn2
  • Towel or small blanket

Instructions

  1. Stuff the socks with a large handful of cotton balls (about 25)
  2. Knot the sock as you would a balloon and fold down the remaining sock
  3. Squish the sock to move the cotton balls until your sock looks like a piece of popcorn
  4. Players hold each end of the towel or side of the blanket so it sags
  5. Place popcorn in the middle of the towel or blanket
  6. On the count of 3, players pull tight on the towel or blanket
  7. Try to catch as many flying popcorn pieces in the towel or blanket as you can

 

February 4 – Homemade Soup Day

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About the Holiday

On a cold February day (or even a warm one if you live in a southern climate!), there’s nothing more satisfying than a steaming-hot bowl of your favorite soup! While there are many tasty canned soups, in honor of today you may want to try creating your own concoction. Why not check out recipes from your heritage, geographic location, or even your favorite book? Bon appétit!

Soup Day

By Melissa Iwai

 

This is the perfect book for a cold winter day that celebrates the warmth and deliciousness of soup! In author-illustrator Melissa Iwai’s delightful book, the white flakes are falling and the sidewalks are piled high with snow as a little girl and her mother make their way to the market to buy ingredients for their homemade soup. At the store they fill their basket with celery, potatoes, mushrooms, carrots, onions, and more.

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Copyright Melissa Iwai, courtesy of us.macmillan.com

Back at home the little girl and her mom chop the vegetables, put the ingredients in a pot, and simmer the soup until its steamy. While they wait they play games and read together. Later the girl and her mother add spices and alphabet pasta to the bubbling soup. When Daddy comes home they enjoy the delicious meal.

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-soup-day-cutting-veggies

Copyright Melissa Iwai, courtesy of us.macmillan.com

Smoothly integrated into the story are lessons in counting and shapes, which makes the book one that would be fun to replicate with older children—in fact there is a recipe for soup on the last page!

celebrate-picture-books-picture-book-review-soup-day-eating-soup

Copyright Melissa Iwai, courtesy of us.macmillan.com

Iwai’s bold, vivid images are tantalizing. As you turn through the pages you can almost taste the fresh vegetables and wish you could grab some of that produce for yourself. The sweet expressions of the girl and her mother show how much they enjoy spending time together making this special meal.

Ages 2 – 6

Henry Holt, Christy Ottaviano Books, New York, 2010 | ISBN 978-0805090048

Homemade Soup Day Activity

Make Silly Soup

 

You can create Silly Soup from anything but the kitchen sink in the kitchen sink! Just gather a bunch of fun “ingredients” and stir them together to make soup fit for a…monster? Ogre? Fairy? Your favorite stuffed animal? Who would you like to feed?

Note for Parents: This can be a fun way to teach your child about different foods and kitchen tools. Let your child see and smell different spices as they add them to their soup. Explain the different shapes of pasta. You can even teach about color by combining food colorings to see what happens. Add a science-based experiment by letting your child watch what happens to butter, sugar, or salt when they are placed in warm water.

When all the ingredients are added, use a variety of kitchen tools to stir it up! Show your child a big serving spoon, slotted spoon, whisk, spatula, ladle, teaspoons, and whatever other tool they may like to use.

*Remember, Silly Soup is just for making, not for eating!

Supplies

  • Big pot or bowl
  • Food coloring
  • Sprinkles
  • Glitter
  • Spices
  • Small pasta pieces
  • Butter
  • Sugar
  • Anything of your choice

Directions

  1. Add water to pot or bowl
  2. Add ingredients
  3. Stir
  4. Make up a story about who will eat your soup!

 Picture Book Review