National Food Holidays To End 2016 With A Bang

Just another excuse to eat your way through the end of the year.

With 2016 wrapping to a close and having limited plans apart from eating oneself into oblivion / a new pair of jeans...it's important that we, as the hungry Americans that we are take note on the end-of-the-year, food oriented, National celebrations that have won themselves their very own holiday. And with only two months ahead of us before starting that New Year diet resolution, why not celebrate the days that really matter? There's no excuse for not celebrating a holiday that gives you an excuse to celebrate food. Ya feel?

November 1: World Vegan Day

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This one is coming right around the corner, which is a very exciting day for many a vegetarian food blogger. While many will be celebrating wrapping their dinner tables in giant pieces of lettuce and massaging their kale, (which yes is a real thing that I've been meaning to try)...if you're like me and have absolutely no desire to acknowledge this one, why not celebrate with your own little spinoff- "reverse, reverse" with an old fashioned, "Let's sink our teeth into this meat" / "I'm so happy I'm not a Vegan" Day and pair some sausage with your hotdog, steak with your burger and red meat with your red meat.

November 3: National Men Make Dinner Day ALSO National Sandwich Day

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The Roman calendar Gods really screwed us on this one...but who doesn't love a good ol' double celebration? To all the hot mama's out there...I advise you to alert ladies book club with the good news before kicking your feet back and praying that the fact that this very special day for you has not fallen on National Sandwich Day. But either way, whatever he makes will be great. And you deserve it!

November 6: National Nachos Day

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OLÉ! This holiday in particular is meant to be celebrated amongst friends, Jalapeños, cheese and a mustache that's thick enough to store some of that gooey goodness.

November 8: National Shot Day

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...or as I like to call it, "How Has it Come To This??" Day. Nonetheless, a very fitting holiday for this year's election and a good reminder that however bad it may get...at least you have the free will to take a shot. I suggest a celebration that entails swallowing Vodka or Tequila, along with the cold hard truth that yes, it has come to this and not only that, but we put ourselves here with a shot or 6.

November 8: Cook Something Bold and Pungent Day

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Didn't think that National Shot Day falling on the election could get any better? Prove yourself wrong by celebrating this World Class holiday with something "Bold and Pungent." "What the heck am I supposed to cook for that and how will I find the time to between ripping shots and voting??" you may ask...and I don't have the answers but you better take advantage of it because this holiday only comes ONCE A YEAR.

November 12: National Pizza With the Works Except Anchovies Day

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This one is important!!! Especially if you're like me and always get pizza with the works but didn't even realize that anchovies were included into that order...which now leads me to ask, "Have I been eating anchovies on my pizza??" Regardless, I'm thankful for a holiday that will forever remind me to note the exclusion of anchovies in my pizza order. The holiday also falls on National Happy Hour Day. Yes, you've been blessed with an excuse for that pizza. Don't mess it up by not celebrating this very special day.

November 14: National Pickle Day

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Now this holiday is a bit more widely celebrated than some of the days that made this list. Some even celebrate this one for a WEEK. Take it or leave it. I don't know you and don't know what you're into but this is an ongoing pickle holiday that you can continuously celebrate, if you choose to.

November 16: National Fast Food Day

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Wait...you're telling me that this holiday only takes place once a year?? Maybe this one is good to keep in mind. Maybe not. Who am I to say. But take it with a grain of salt...or an ounce for those fries that are helping you celebrate National Fast Food Day!

November 17: National Homemade Bread Day

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Good luck with your homemade bread, ha. But more genuinely- good luck to you. I've heard that this is a bit difficult but definitely worth the end results, so keep on plugging away because some of us are far more likely to ask a neighbor for a slice of bread than we are to even begin think about the witchery that goes into making flour rise.

November 21: National Stuffing Day

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I might need a little help understanding this one- why would one cook stuffing days before Thanksgiving? Don't you put the un-cooked stuffing into the Turkey? Isn't stuffing the magical ingredient at Thanksgiving that keeps you coming back for more? And we're just going to leave it out, soggy and lonely, days before the holiday that it was practically invented for, risking getting sick of it before we're even meant to have eaten it? Na man.

November 25: National Parfait Day

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Okay, maybe this holiday was invented because we're so full from Thanksgiving that a nice little yogurt fruit parfait can help awaken us from that food-coma sleep that we're usually in for the next few days. But if you're celebrating this holiday and not ransacking the fridge in between a deep slumber...you're doing your country an injustice.

November 26: National Cake Day

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...made by the people that despise National Parfait Day, National Cake Day was created as a, "SCREW YOU!" of sorts; a "WE'LL EAT WHATEVER THE H3ll WE WANT AND IT MOST CERTAINLY WILL NOT BE A PARFAIT!!!"

November 28: French Toast Day

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Is French Toast even French? Doesn't matter. Pass me the butter.

November 29: National Throw Out Your Leftovers Day

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Ok. I will throw out my leftovers when I please. This is not a food holiday, rather an ANTI-food holiday and I don't know HOW it has made the list of National Food Holiday's. I'm already feeling guilty for celebrating a holiday that commemorates a day that some better know as a "Day of Mourning" for their slaughtered ancestors and now I have to accept the fact that innocent people all over the country are throwing away their golden goods because someone scribbled this down on a calendar? No sir, not me.

December 1: National Pie Day

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Aren't you glad you didn't celebrate National Throw Out Your Leftovers Day?! Awfully happy to be nibbling on that week-old but ever as so delicious Apple/French Silk/Pumpkin Pie, I bet. I'm with ya. And trust me. A week old pie is the least of anyone's worries. And again I say, do not celebrate a day that deprives you of what is rightfully yours.

December 4: National Cookie Day

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HA! SCREW YOU NATIONAL PARFAIT DAY AND NATIONAL THROW OUT YOUR LEFTOVERS DAY! WE'RE KICKING OFF DECEMBER WITH A BANG AND A TRAY OR TWO OF COOKIES! JUST WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE THE DAYS TO FOLLOW!

December 8: National Brownie Day

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"Why is it that we've saved all of our desert days until December?" asked little Annie. "Well, sweetie, it's because a very mean, hairy and scary monster created two horrific holidays at the end of November and this is our way of getting him back," said Mrs. little Annie.

December 11: National Noodle Ring Day

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If you don't know what a noodle ring is, you're not alone. Consider yourself lucky for not taking part in the mayonnaise and marshmallow infused pot-lucks of the world because this one is reeeeeaaaaaal nasty. What holds the noodles together? Spam? Glue? Lava?

December 11: National Have A Bagel Day

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I like this one because it makes me second guess ALL of the other holidays; if this is, "National Have a Bagel Day" and not just, "National Bagel Day"...does that mean that I'm not necessarily meant to eat the mentioned food on all of the other days, instead just celebrate them? I don't know WHAT I believe anymore but what I do know is that this is no ordinary, "National Bagel Day." This is "National HAVE A Bagel Day."

December 13: National Ice Cream Day

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I find it a little erroneous that National Ice Cream Day takes place in winter. Not July, when we can celebrate at the baseball field with the ice cream trucks; not August when we can use a little trip to the ice cream shop for a cute first-date and not September when we're enjoying the last hot days of summer with a delicious and creamy ice cream cone, but December, when we're trying to get to our car in a foot of snow, balancing our ice cream in one hand and windshield scraper in the other to chip off the frost from our vehicles before our fingers or toes get frostbite. No better time than a icy cold ice cream to celebrate National Ice Cream Day. Jerks.

December 16: National Chocolate-Covered Everything Day

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Now THIS is a holiday that I can celebrate. Don't let anyone tell you what pairs well and what does not pair well with chocolate today; this is YOUR day. There are NO rules on National Chocolate-Covered Everything Day. Cover your car; your soup and your face in chocolate because anything goes today and today is delicious.

December 20: National Sangria Day

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Celebrating National Sangria Day at the end of December feels a little dishonest and cowardly to me. Here we are with a vast array of warm and cozy drinks and we opt for a cold and sweet, tropical beverage? Is this some kind of sick joke? Don't get me wrong, I'm not one to pass up sangria; its sweet, refreshing and frankly, its delicious. But sangria in December? Why?

December 21: National Hamburger Day

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I could have sworn that I celebrated this in July or maybe August and now come to think of it...possibly once a month. I'm a little thrown off on this one and feel as though the December food holidays are just a big conspiracy but I'm gonna roll with it anyway.

December 24: National Eggnog Day

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Eggnog having a day all to itself, nonetheless falling on Christmas Eve makes me just want to swim in it. But the thing with this one is that not everyone celebrates the holidays the same and some may find it weird that we're all LA-DI-FRICKEN-DA excited for a jolly ol man in a red suit to squeeze down our chimney but we don't even mention an appreciation for that thick and kind of freaky but also delicious drink that we've had in the fridge for the past two weeks? Ex. "Well dear, we received a nice Christmas and New Year's Eve card from the Johnsons, but don't you think it's odd that they would send us a card and not even mention wishing us well on National Eggnog Day? Jerks" remarked a bitter Edward Stamper, speaking to his wife Sue, before applying sunscreen to his face in the dead of winter.

December 25: National Pumpkin Pie Day

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Like many of the food holidays this month, I'm a little thrown off that National Pumpkin Pie Day falls on Christmas. I take this day of the month more as a, "National Eat Everything In Sight Day" or "National Eat Because You're Sad that You Have To Wait Until Next Year For Christmas Day" But hey, pumpkin pie is pumpkin pie and I'm happy to eat it any day of the week- why the heck not?! ...including National Pumpkin Pie Day and National Pie Day because of course both are celebrated this month in spite of National Parfait Day and National Throw Away Your Leftovers Day.

December 31: National Champagne Day

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One of the more logical holidays to kiss 2016 goodbye and pat yourself on the back for living in a country that appreciates the finer things in life, like cooking something bold and pungent and avoiding anchovies at all costs.