Happy Kiwi Fruit Day and Winter Solstice!

Blogger of the Day: Agnès at Interprétations Culinaires

The Winter Solstice is my favorite Winter holiday...from this point the days get longer and we get closer to shorts, tees, beaches and ice cream!  ;)

Until then it's still sniffle weather so pack in as much vitamin C as you can get! Kiwi fruits have superhigh levels of it...just one 2-inch kiwi gives you 85% of your daily vitamin C (plus a bounty more) and it's only 42 calories! You can eat them with or without the skin, sliced into salads and sandwiches, topped onto yogurt, swirled into smoothies...you can even dehydrate them into chips. Play with them and see what you get!

Agnès transforms kiwi fruit into her amazingly creative "Gâteau Capoeira"...that's French for Capoeira Cake, which she made and decorated for her Capoeira martial arts group. You can decorate it any way you like or just top it with beautiful green kiwi slices. It's sweet and rich and soulcheeringly yumful! Agnès is based in Paris so many of her recipes are in French (definitely worth translating) but she's also got a generous section of recipes in English. Crazygorgeous, so flavorful and many of them are deliciously simple!  :)

Gâteau Capoeira ~ Mango Kiwi Cake

Mango Fried Rice

Winter Lasagna

Brocco-Chickpea-Peanut Spaghetti

Spinach Takoyaki

Lotus Root Edamame Mushroom Burgers

Mabo Nasu ~ Asian Eggplant Stir Fry

Edamame Gyoza

Coconut Flour Madeleines

Chocolate Macadamia Cookies

Choco-Chai Donuts

Mango Mousse

❄ Winter Solstice trivia...
• The word solstice comes from the Latin words for "sun" and "to stand still.”
• At the Winter Solstice, the Sun reaches its southernmost point in the sky.
• In the Northern Hemisphere, this occurs around December 21 or 22.
• This is the shortest day of the year, in which we experience the least amount of daylight in 24 hours.
• The Earth is still holding some Summer heat so the Solstice isn't necessarily the coldest time in Winter.
• Find your exact Solstice timepoint here.
Source

❄ Solstice-related holidays include...
• Alban Arthan, a Druidic tradition involving mistletoe and swordplay!
• Yule celebrations, where symbolic logs are lit throughout Scandinavia and Northern Europe...make a wish!
• Christmas, which may be celebrated with Midnight Mass or midnight milk & cookies for Santa or both!
Source

❄ Solstice celebrations and Winter festivals are revving up everywhere!  :)

Do you have a favorite kiwi fruit recipe? Do you celebrate the Winter Solstice? What's the wildest Winter celebration you've ever been to?  :)

Celebrate some more with our 2014 Daily Food Holiday and Featured Blogger Series!