December 9, 2015 – NATIONAL PASTRY DAY – WEARY WILLIE DAY – INTERNATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION DAY

                                       NATIONAL PASTRY DAY

National Pastry Day is celebrated each year on December 9.  Pastry is a name given to a large variety of various baked goods which are typically made up of ingredients such as flour, sugar, milk, butter, shortening, baking powder and eggs.
Some people refer to the dough from which these baked products are made as “pastry”.   Pastry dough is rolled out very thin and then used as a base for different baked products.  A few of the more common pastry items include pies, tarts, quiches and pasties.

• Pastries can be traced as far back as the ancient Mediterranean where they had almost paper-thin, multi-layered baklava and filo.
• Pastry making began in Northern Europe after the Crusaders brought it back from the Mediterranean.
• French and Italian Renaissance chefs eventually perfected the puff and choux pastries while 17th and 18th century chefs brought new recipes to the table.  Included in the new recipes were; Napoleons, cream puffs and eclairs.

Culinary historians often consider French pastry chef Antonin Careme (1784 – 1833) to have been the original great master of pastry making in modern times.
There are many different types of pastry, most of which would fall into one of the following categories:

• Shortcrust pastry – simplest and most common.
• Sweetcrust pastry – similar to the shortcrust but sweeter.
• Flaky pastry – simple pastry that expands when cooked.
• Puff pastry – has many layers that cause it to “puff” when baked.
• Choux pastry – very light pastry that is often filled with cream or other filling.
• Phyllo pastry – paper-thin pastry dough that is used in many layers.

OBSERVE

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Enjoy one of the following “tried and true” pastry recipes:

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Apple TurnoversMinute Peach TartCream Cheese Kolacky

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Use #NationalPastryDay to post on social media.

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HISTORY

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Within our research, we were unable to find the creator of National Pastry Day, an “unofficial” national holiday.

Weary Willie Day – December 9

WEARY WILLIE DAY

Weary Willie Day is celebrated annually on December 9.

This holiday was named for the character made famous by Emmett Kelly, who was born on this day in 1898. This is a day to appreciate the art of clowning and the impact that it has had on our lives.
Weary Willie was a unique character to the art of clowning.  Kelly had developed Weary Willy at a time when the white faced, goofy clown was the norm, and selling the idea for a sad, down-on-his-luck clown did not fit the formula most circuses were looking for.  For the time being, Kelly put back on the the white face and the brightly colored costume.  
Times and attitudes changed when the country was in the depths of the Great Depression.  Down-trodden and world-weary was the face of the nation.  People could identify with Weary Willie like never before.  Weary Willie, his frowning, whisker-shadowed face and his dirty, torn and worn costume, went on to become an American icon.
OBSERVE
Wear some big shoes, pantomime or grab a bunch of people and pile into a tiny car.  Clown college could be just around the corner!  Use #WearyWillieDay to post on social media.
HISTORY
Within our research we were unable to find the creator of Weary Willie Day.  
 
ALSO ON TODAY’S NATIONAL DAY CALENDAR
Today is also International Anti-Corruption Day.  For more information on this day please see the National Day Calendar page for International Anti-Corruption Day.