May 17, 2021 – National Walnut Day| National Cherry Cobbler Day

Sure You Know That Walnuts Are Good For You, But We Bet You Never Guessed They Would Be Good For This!

Welcome to May 17th, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate a nutty cleaning hack and a sweet substitution. 

Walnuts are a baking staple. When paired with apples or maple flavor, they are truly divine. Think maple walnut ice cream. But there’s another use for walnuts that most people are unfamiliar with. Cleaning jet engines. In this process, known as abrasive cleaning, crushed up walnut shells are thrown into an idling engine. As they pass through the turbines, the shells rub off any debris that has built up on the blades. Sort of like using Comet to clean your tub. However, doing this too often can damage the blades, so it’s not done very frequently. Celebrate National Walnut Day with a muffin or maybe some brownies. But leave the jet engine cleaning to a mechanic.

They say that necessity is the mother of invention and in the case of cherry cobbler that need was for a pudding.  I’m talking about British settlers in the American colonies who were longing for a taste of their hometown favorite, suet pudding.  The problem was a lack of ingredients and the rudimentary ovens which most people had in the New World. But this episode of Dessert Impossible had a very happy ending.  Clever bakers opted for stewed cherries instead of suet and when topped with biscuit dough, the substitutions were quite delicious!    On National Cherry Cobbler Day, celebrate the ingenious results of making due with what you have on hand. 

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson.  Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.


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