Day 195 - hugging deep fried snakes

What on earth do you do with polenta? I bought some on a whim once and it sat in a cupboard gathering dust. Thankfully it has a long shelf life. I've tried to make it into cornbread but it sucked the moisture from your mouth like a sponge. I tried it as a kind of mashed potato substitute but it was rather unpleasant. Today's celebrations required cornmeal in the recipe - bring on the slightly dusty polenta! Corn Fritter Day sounds like a day to celebrate one of those American recipes which everyone has heard of but nobody outside of the US knows what it is, root beer, grits, etc. As I deep fried last night I still had some oil on the go. The recipe was basically a batter with added cornmeal (polenta), sugar (why?) and sweet corn. The suggested cooking time was about 4 minutes. The first ones were 'caramelised' within 1 minute. It did say to use tablespoons of mixture but it would have taken all evening to cook so mine were more like ladle fulls.  After the first few I got the hang of it a bit more (i.e. I watched them this time) and the rest came out more golden than very deep brown. As it was also Fresh Spinach Day I wilted some to go on the side and we ate it with some chicken kebabs which we sat in the freezer. All in all I was quite pleased.  It made a difference to the usual carbs although being deep fried and containing sugar they probably aren't all that healthy. The kids were dubious but gave them a try. They weren't popular.

There were two animals to celebrate today as it was both World Snake Day and Guinea Pig Appreciation Day. Hopefully people weren't celebrating them   at the same time! One of my neighbours used to keep guinea pigs in her garden so I was hoping to celebrate by taking them some lettuce. I haven't heard from her yet and I can't just throw lettuce into somebody's garden. I always like the name in French - Cochon Dinde - as it means pig turkey. I'm unsure why they are named after either as they don't resemble pigs or turkeys. Weird. One of the reasons  to celebrate snake day is a bit like shark day, to dispell the fear that people have about them. It doesn't help when you read stories about snake owners being eaten by their pets though.  Personally I don't think they belong in people's houses but each to their own.

My favourite celebration today was Hug Your Children Day. Every day should be Hug Your Children Day but this day is special.  It was started ten years ago by a mother who lost her child and wanted other parents to always remember to make every moment count and ensure that their kids who they are safe and loved. I hope that ours feel that way, luckily they're all very cuddly children.