An annual three-day event, the Gilroy Garlic Festival is one of the best-known food festivals in the United States, drawing visitors from across the nation. The small city of Gilroy is located about 30 miles southeast of San Jose California. Gilroy is home to about 60,000 people, and the surrounding area is a major producer of garlic in the U.S.
The festival is Gilroy’s top fundraiser; it is staffed by volunteers and raises money for nonprofit groups, including clubs and schools. The festival is held annually on the last full weekend in July. (Due to Covid-19 there was no event this year.)
During the festival, the town goes crazy over garlic. Tourists can eat at the Garlic City Café, stay at the Garlic Farm motel, purchase garlic tchotchkes at the Garlic World and Garlic Shoppe gift emporiums, and even ride inside huge, spinning garlic bulbs at the Garlic Twirl amusement park. In short, people eat it up; In 2017, the Gilroy Garlic Festival was recognized by the Guinness Book as the best-attended garlic festival in the world.
Christopher Ranch, headquartered in Gilroy, is the top producer of garlic in both California and the US, producing 50% of the nation’s garlic.
Gilroy may be the self-proclaimed “garlic capital”, but as of May 2017, China was the top producer of garlic in the world, with a total of over 20 million tons. By comparison, India came in second with a “mere” 1.25 million tons. South Korea was third, producing .35 million tons that year.
Ham and cheese is one of those classic combinations that always goes well together. Naturally, we sandwiched these two together into a pie shell to make this amazing breakfast recipe for Ham and Cheese Quiche.
- 1 refrigerated pie crust (from a 14.1-ounce package)
- 2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
- 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
- 1 1/2 cups diced cooked ham
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups half-and-half
- Preheat oven to 350º. Place pie crust in a 9-inch deep dish pie plate and flute edges.
- In a medium bowl, combine Swiss and Cheddar cheeses; mix well. Place half the cheese mixture in the pie shell, then top it with the ham and remaining cheese.
- In a small bowl, whisk eggs and half-and-half; pour evenly over top.
- Bake 50 to 55 minutes, or until center is set. Cool 10 minutes before serving.
1941 – Art Garfunkel, American musician
National Men Make Dinner Day on the first Thursday in November places the man of the house in charge of the kitchen and the evening’s meal.
Some men like to cook and do so on a regular basis. To those men, kudos to you! You can submit your favorite recipe on the National Men Make Dinner website.
This day was created for the men who do not know their way around the kitchen and are not familiar with cooking appliances, as well as for the women in their lives who need a break.
Men need to be aware that there is a list of rules that must be followed, some of which include:
- The main meal must include a minimum of 4 ingredients and require at least one cooking utensil other than a fork.
- The man goes shopping for all the necessary ingredients.
- Clean up as you go.
- Aprons are optional.
For a list of complete rules, see the above-mentioned website.
NATIONAL MEN MAKE DINNER DAY HISTORY
Sandy Sharkey created National Men Make Dinner Day in 2001.
