Apples Strudel Day- June 17

June 17 is the day of apple strudel, a pie invented in Austria, whose name in German is 'apfelstrudel'. As the name of the cake indicates, it is made of a coarse dough with apples in it. The dough is rolled up with crushed apples, nesting and raisins, baked in the oven and crispy, and served with powdered sugar and cream. 

The oldest strudel recipes are from 1696, in handwritten cookbooks in the Vienna City Library (formerly Wiener Studtbiilotk).

The German word strudel means a vortex, which describes exactly how the layers of pastry wrap the filling. 

The character Strudel @ - reminiscent of the way the dough is rolled. At home you can make a strudel easyily, using layers of filo dough filled with cooked apples. 

How to celebrate the Apple Strudel Day? 

Eat a hot apple strudel, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side, hear Mozart (an Austrian composer) and sing a yodel.

 June 17 is also Iceland's National Day

Iceland Day - June 17

Iceland National Day is an annual holiday in honor of the founding of the Republic of Iceland celebrated on June 17, 1944.

This date also marks the end of the centenary of Danish rule in Iceland.

Iceland is an island nation in the North Atlantic Ocean, located between Greenland, Norway and Scotland, northwest of the Faroe Islands.

Iceland is among the least densely populated countries in the world. Its area is 103,000 square kilometers, but its population is only about 358,780 people, half of whom live in the capital Reykjavik.

The holiday date was chosen to also celebrate the birthday of Jón Sigurðsson, a central figure in Icelandic culture and leader of the 19th century Icelandic independence movement.

Iceland National Day celebrations

Icelanders celebrate the national day in processions in urban areas, with traditional clothing, against the backdrop of Icelandic folk music and waving Icelandic flags. After the official ceremonies that include speeches of course, the joyous celebrations begin, with lots of music, food and drink and great joy.

Women dressed in traditional Icelandic attire in the capital Reykjavik (Source)

In honor of Iceland's National Day, here are some interesting facts about it:

Iceland has a good football team, which qualified for the international finals of Euro 2016 and reached the quarterfinals. In the summer of 2017, she qualified for the 2018 World Cup. The current ranking of the Icelandic national team in FIFA's ranking list is 40th in the world, as of April 4, 2019. This is a good achievement for a country with so few people. Icelanders also have a unique sport Called "Glíma" - a type of wrestling that originated in Viking.

The national bird of Iceland is the puffin, a sea parrot, which obtains its food mainly by diving into the sea. Papin has a large beak that turns red or orange during the breeding season, and at the end of the season it sheds it and is left with a more modest beak. In Iceland it is customary to eat the sea parrot and its eggs.

Image by Mario Liebherr from Pixabay

The official language of Iceland is Icelandic, which evolved from Old Norse, the language of the Vikings.

Iceland has no family names. They use patrons, the name of the father and then add the name of the son or daughter. Sometimes they use matrons (the mother's name). All first names they give to their children must be approved by a national naming committee that does not usually approve foreign names.

Iceland is the first country in the world to have served as a declared (and gay in general) lesbian prime minister. Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir served as Prime Minister of Iceland from 2009 to 2013.

The summer days in Iceland are very long and the light lasts until midnight. In winter, the Northern Lights appear in Iceland, the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) illuminate the sky in colors ranging from green to red and blue.

Many tourists come to Iceland to see its wildlife: huge glaciers and waterfalls (like Dettifoss Falls), volcanoes and geysers. In recent years, tourism has also developed in Iceland during the winter season, and tourists come to the hot baths and snowmobile rides on the glaciers.

Dettifoss Falls, the most powerful waterfalls in Europe (Source)

Iceland has also been producing good pop and rock music since the 1980s. Among the artists who have received international recognition coming from Iceland are the singer Bjork, the rock band Sigur Rós, the band Múm, the singer Emilíana Torrini and the band Of Monsters and Men.

June 17 is also Apples Strudel Day

Bloomsday - June 16th

Bloomsday (originally in English: Bloomsday, Bloom's Day, and in Irish: Lá Bloom) is a special day celebrated every year on June 16, in honor of Irish writer James Joyce's book, "Ulysses", which takes place entirely on one clear day, in June 16, 1904, in the city of Dublin, Ireland.

Bloom Day is named after the book's protagonist, Leopold Bloom.

June 16, 1904 was a special date for the writer Joyce. On this day he first met Nora Barnacle, a simple uneducated maid, and fell in love with her. They lived together until Joyce's death at age 59. They only married in 1931, when Joyce was 49 years old.

The Bloomsday celebrations began in 1954, 50 years after that day in 1904. A group of artists and creators in Dublin, including writer Brian O'Nolan and artist John Ryan, along with Joyce's cousin, decided to honor Joyce's memory at the ceremony And on a pilgrimage to the book sites following Leopold Bloom. They named the event Bloomsday, after Bloom.

Among the sites they visited were the Martello Tower on Sandikov Beach, Davy Byrne's Pub and Bloom's home at 7 Eccles Street.

Bloomsday celebrations have become a tradition in Dublin, and many cities around the world have joined the celebration in memory of James Joyce.

Coincidentally, Joyce's brother, Stanislaus, died on this day in 1955.

How to celebrate Bloomsday?

If you visit Dublin on June 16, you will see people walking around in the clothes of the period in which the book took place, 1904. The Joyce Center in Dublin offers tours of routes that recreate part of the book's plot. Restaurants offer a special breakfast that day in the spirit of the "Calypso" episode, in which Leopold Bloom prepares breakfast from pork kidneys. Other activities on this day are academic conferences, plays and public readings from the book "Ulysses".

Pictured: The door of Leopold Bloom's imaginary home, 7 Eccles Street in Dublin. The house was demolished in favor of the construction of a new residential building and the door is displayed today in the center of Joyce, Dublin.

In the photo: the cover of the book Ulysses, a reconstruction of the first edition from 1922 (Source)

  June 16 is also Fresh Vegetables Day

Fresh Vegetables Day- 16 June

Fresh vegetables are an important component of our diet, and studies show that to maintain a healthy and long-lasting lifestyle, eat at least 5 servings of fresh vegetables a day in five colors: green, red, orange, white and purple.

The vegetables are rich in vitamins, minerals and fiber and therefore protect our bodies from disease. June 16 is the day of fresh vegetables, the day when we recommend a change and start enriching our meals with fresh vegetables around the clock.

 

The fresh vegetable day is celebrated at the beginning of the summer, when the vegetables are the most delicious and abundant. No matter how, in salad, whole, chic or whatever way you like, be sure to eat plenty of fresh vegetables to keep you healthy.

Vegetables animations

June 16 is also Bloomsday in Ireland

Nature Photography Day- 15 June

Nature Photography Day was created by the Society of Nature Photographers in North America in 2006 to promote the beauty of nature photography and to promote the preservation and protection of plants, wildlife and landscapes around the world. 

Since then, people around the world have discovered many ways to observe and enjoy the Nature Photography day. If you want to celebrate the day, why not leave the city and look for beautiful places in nature, with flowers and landscapes. Also within the city you can find places with a piece of nature easily, flowers, sea, birds, trees, grass, parks and more. You can also go up to the roof of a tall building and photograph the landscape. Nature photography can be uploaded to the Flickr site, where there are groups of photographers that can be joined to receive feedback and feedback from other people, or to Facebook where you can get a lot of likes and more.

Nature photograph in the city

The sea- a view from the train

Photograper: Yoel Yaron

June 15 is also World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day- June 15

Abuse of older people is a serious issue for which awareness is very important.

The UN has declared that June 15 each year will be a day to raise awareness of the phenomenon of elder abuse and neglect, to prevent such incidents from happening.

Unfortunately, around 1 in 6 adults experience some form of abuse. Abuse rates may be higher for older people living in nursing homes, by caregivers, than in the community. Elder abuse can take various forms such as physical, psychological or emotional abuse, sexual and financial. It can also be the result of intentional or unintentional neglect.

Elder abuse can lead to serious physical injuries and long-term psychological consequences.

Elder abuse is expected to increase as life expectancy increases in many countries and the elderly population increases.

The global population of people aged 60 and over will double, from 900 million in 2015 to about 2 billion in 2050.

How to mark World Elder Abuse Awareness Day?

There are several ways you can help mark this day and raise awareness of the sad phenomenon. You can volunteer in the frameworks for the elderly in your community.

Many seniors in the community live in solitude, and volunteering for an hour a week, talking over a cup of coffee or going on a short walk can contribute a lot to them and help them, and even find out if they are experiencing any distress like abuse or neglect.

Share the information about this day on social media, so that everyone is aware of the phenomenon and its importance, because it can happen to any adult, even to someone close to you and dear to you!

The people in the picture have nothing to do with the phenomenon

June 15 is also Nature Photography Day

World Blood Donor Day - June 14

Every year on June 14, countries around the world celebrate World Blood Donor Day.

The event, founded in 2004, is designed to raise awareness of the need for safe blood for its use and its blockages, and to thank blood donors for their life-saving contributions.

World Blood Donor Day is one of eight official public health campaigns marked by the World Health Organization (WHO), along with World Health Day, World Tuberculosis Day, World Vaccination Week, World Malaria Day, World Tobacco Day, World Jaundice Day and World AIDS Day.

A blood donation is the taking of blood from a person to use it or its products until it is given to another person who needs it, through a blood transfusion. Blood transfusions help save millions of people every year. They help patients suffering from life-threatening conditions to live longer and a higher quality of life, and support complex medical and surgical procedures. They also play a vital and life-saving role in maternity care. They help lower death rates due to severe bleeding during and after childbirth.

In the blood donation process, a donor of 450 ml of blood + 3 test tubes is taken from the donor to check the type of blood and that the blood is not infected with AIDS, jaundice or syphilis.

In the process of blood transfusion, the blood or its components are transferred to the person who needs an increase in blood volume.

Many countries do not have a sufficient supply of safe blood, and blood services face the challenge of obtaining safe blood to use a sufficient amount. Adequate supply can only be guaranteed through regular donations by blood donors who do not receive payment. The goal of the World Health Organization is for all countries to receive all their blood supply from donors by 2020. In 2014, 60 countries had their own blood supply based on 99-100% volunteer blood donations, and in 73 countries are still largely dependent on donations Of family members.

World Blood Donor Day is celebrated every year on June 14, the birth date of Karl Landsteiner in 1868. Karl Landsteiner was a biologist and physician who developed the modern method of blood classification in 1900 of the ABO, based on identifying the presence of collapse factors in the name. In 1937 he discovered the factor RH (a protein component that if present in the blood the blood type is a plus and if not then a minus). He was born in Austria as a Jew but converted to Christianity at the age of 22. In 1930 he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for developing the ABO blood classification method and in 1937 he received a prize for discovering the RH factor.

Why should you donate blood?

Already in ancient times bloodshed was a common medical treatment and was considered beneficial to health.

Today it is known that blood donation encourages the bone marrow to produce new blood cells at an increased rate, to compensate for the deficiencies caused by the blood donation. During the renewal of deficiencies the body creates cells that aim to provide the body with protection against viruses and bacteria, so a regular donation maintains a more resilient immune system. It has been found that people who donate blood regularly live on average five years longer than those who do not donate, because their immune system is stronger.

A person who donates blood regularly to stay alive after massive blood loss is higher than a non-donor, because his body is already "trained" in blood loss situations and knows how to fill in the gaps faster.

It was found that people who donated blood at least once a year showed better results in blood sugar tests. It has also been found that blood donation reduces the risk of heart disease.

National Kitchen Klutzes of America Day- June 13

June 13 is the day  that dedicated annualy to those of us who find it difficult to function in the kitchen (as cooks, not as eaters). For people who have left hands and utter incompetence when it comes to cooking, baking and food preparation.

When I look at my friends Facebook and Instagram pages, I see endless images of culinary creations. Impressive cakes, cupcakes, patties, pasta, bread and all the dishes in the world, of course, with very complicated receipes. It seems that everyone around knows how to cook and bake like a world-class chef. They are so successful and talented.

The date June 13 is dedicated to those transparent people, those who have nothing to be proud about. This is the day to remember that there are people among us who always spill too much salt or forget to spice, their cake will always rise and then get thin as plywood, they always put too much or too little water, always will burn them in the stew. So now embrace them and cherish them and tell them that it's OK not to know how to cook, and if they don't like to do it, they don't have to prove anything to anyone.