Steff Deschenes has already eaten her way through tempting food holidays such as National Waffle Day (March 26), National Potato Chip Day (March 14) and National “Have a Brownie” Day (Feb. 10). She chronicles these celebratory meals on her Almanac of Eats blog.
Deschenes has been writing about these daily food holidays for almost four months, and she’s already garnered more than 8,000 page views a month and numerous food company sponsors. She intends to keep blogging daily through the end of the year.
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“I never thought the blog would get as many hits as it’s getting,” said Deschenes, who splits her time between Lewiston and Portland. “That’s the shocking thing.”
Her journey began with National Bloody Mary Day and ends with National Champagne Day.
But it’s not all cocktails and cake – this blog comes with a twist. Deschenes is a vegetarian, which makes holidays such as Turkey Neck Soup Day (March 30), Glazed Ham Day (April 15) and National Surf & Turf Day (Feb. 29) a bit of a challenge.
“This idea seems totally ridiculous and undoable,” she said. “But I like ridiculous and undoable.”
To accommodate the meat-based holidays, Steff substitutes vegetarian meat analogs such as Tofurky in place of real turkey necks.
“Glazed Ham Day wasn’t my favorite day as a vegetarian,” Deschenes said. “It’s not a day you go into enthusiastically.”
How did she cope?
“I veganized a glazed ham sandwich recipe,” Deschenes said. “It’s a lot easier to veganize recipes than people realize.”
In addition to national sponsors, Deschenes has found local companies to supply her with holiday-appropriate eats. She’s been talking with Holy Donut about providing her with a vegan doughnut on one of the upcoming doughnut holidays, and with Otto Pizza about supplying her with pizza on an appropriate day. Ahimsa Custom Cakes plans to make her a vegan cake for one of the cake holidays.
“Three hundred and sixty-five days doesn’t seem like a lot until you do a project like this,” Deschenes said. “Right now my eyes are on Champagne Day, because that’s the end.”
Staff Writer Avery Yale Kamila can be contacted at 791-6297 or at: akamila@pressherald.com
Twitter: AveryYaleKamila
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