March 10

is

National Blueberry Popover Day

Five things you should know about

Blueberry Popovers

  1. Native Americans once called blueberries “star berries,” because the five points of blueberry blossoms make a star shape.
  2. They held blueberries in high esteem, believing that the “Great Sprit” created the berries to feed their hungry children during famine.
  3. Blueberry juice had medicinal value for Native Americans as well and was used to treat persistent coughs and other illnesses.
  4. American poet, Robert Frost, loved blueberries so he wrote a poem about them.
  5. Blueberries are one of the only natural foods that are truly blue in color.

On This Day in Food History…

1845 RIP John Chapman, ‘Johnny Appleseed’ ,an American pioneer and legend, he planted apple seeds in the Ohio River valley area (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois)

1867 Lillian D. Wald was born. She was a scientist and nurse, and among her activities, she helped initiate the enactment of pure food laws in the U.S.

1873 RIP John Torrey, he was the first professional botanist in the New World.

1914 At the National Gallery in London, a suffragette slashed Diego Velázquez’s ‘Rokeby Venus’ with a meat cleaver.