January 18

How I Celebrated

I am not a coffee drinker, so I substituted for Samoan cocoa. 100% cacao. It is super tasty. I tried to froth some milk and make a cocoa latte, but I have no idea what milk froth is supposed to be like. It was good, but I couldn't make cool latte art like I saw in youtube videos so clearly I did something wrong. It is also Peking duck day, but everywhere we looked it was really expensive (and far). I mean, if all the close Chinese restaurants (walkable distance) served it, we might have considered it a bit harder. I was sure craving it though :/

Diet Helpers 

• Sugar Free

  Don't add sugar to your coffee.
  Also, many recipes call for sugar to season the duck. Here is one that uses honey instead of sugar if you are okay with that.



• Gluten Free

  Coffee is generally gluten free
  Substitute liquid aminos for your soy sauce (or another gluten free soy sauce) in Peking Duck (you will probably have to make your own) Here is a recipe to try.

• Vegetarian

  While coffee is a plant, ducks are not. Even ducks eat bugs and fish so that is double the not being vegetarian.

Recipes

• All recipes says that this is a short cut version of Peking Duck.
• One from The Cooking Channel
• And another from Food Network

Follow Molly's board January 18 Recipes on Pinterest.

History

Punchbowl
Because I had to figure out how I am going to make my own gourmet hot chocolate since I do not drink coffee, I had to see what the difference was between gourmet and regular coffee. For the most part, they said it was the kind of bean, because the gourmet ones are harder to produce. Also the processing including the roast. Makes sense. So I guess I just need some special imported chocolate (that I definitely have).
In China, we ate duck quite often. I don't know if it was peking duck, but it was always delicious.

Merchandise

Being a duck owner, I can tell you that you might want to rethink getting your own duck if that is how you want to make this day special. I have supposedly one of the more quiet breeds of ducks and it is NOT quiet. Having a house and a yard would also be helpful...
Follow Molly's board January 18 Merch on Pinterest.

Restaurants

• At Duck House in LA, they will carve the duck table side for you
• Here is a list from LA Weekly made for Peking Duck Day a few years ago
• Or if you actually make it out to China, try these places in Beijing
•  This is the Daily Meal's list of the best coffee shops in America

Other Things to Celebrate Today

• Oatmeal Month
• California Dried Plum Digestive Health Month (Prune Breakfast Month)
• Hot Tea Month
• National Soup Month
• Bread Baking Month
• Candy Month
• Egg Month
• Meat Month
• Wheat Bread Month
• Fat Free Living Month
• Be Kind to Food Servers Month
• Healthy Weight Week
• Hot Heads Chili Days
• Hunt for Happiness Week
• International Snowmobile Safety and Awareness Week
• International Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
• National Activity Professionals Week
• National Fresh Squeezed Juice Week
• National Handwriting Analysis Week
• No Name Calling Week
• Week of Christian Unity
• Civil Rights Day (MLK Day)
• National Crowd Feed Day
• National Day of Service
• National Sanctity of Human Life Day
• Robert E. Lee Day
• Thesaurus Day
• Winnie the Pooh Day