February Food Holidays and where to celebrate them in Flagstaff

The month of love is also the month of chocolate, fresh berries, canned food, American pies, cherries, fiber, fondue, grapefruit, hot breakfasts, snack food, and potato and sweet potato lovers. Bet you didn’t know all that was packed into February, did ya? But that’s not all. Here’s a look at food holidays this month and where to celebrate them in Flagstaff.

February 3: National Carrot Cake Day
Indulge in this kinda healthy (well, there’s real carrots in there) cake at the Wildflower Bread Company (Butler and Lone Tree). Their delish version has pineapple, walnuts, raisins and delectable cream cheese frosting in addition to the carrots and spice cakey goodness.

February 9: Pizza Pie Day
New Jersey Pizza’s (2224 E. Cedar, #6) pies are mouthwatering joy. It may take them a while to serve them or deliver them but dang if they’re not so worth that wait. Be sure to order up a pie with their homemade mozzarella cheese. Heaven!

February 14: National Creme-Filled Chocolates Day
Besides it being Valentine’s Day, when you will feel compelled to eat chocolate anyway, head to Brookside Chocolates (in the Old Town Shops downtown) to get your chocolate lovers heart crème-filled delights.

February 16: National Almond Day
Get your almond on at the Golden Dragon (2730 E Lakin Dr at Steves Blvd). They make a mean Almond Chicken lunch special with roasted almonds (of course), celery, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots and chicken sautéed in a brown sauce. Plus you get an egg roll, soup and rice with that lunch special.

February 18: Drink Wine Day
Okay, if you insist. Go on a wine tasting tour of Flagstaff downtown with stops at Brix (413 N San Francisco), Cuvee 928 (6 W. Aspen), and The Wine Loft (17 N San Francisco). Check out the new Vino Loco location (22 E Birch Ave) for a take home bottle of your fav Arizona-grown wines while you’re at it. (And bring along a designated driver.)

February 22: National Margarita Day
Hard to believe this one’s not in May near Cinco de Mayo, but who’s complaining. Celebrate this most delicious of beverages at the daily happy hour at Criollo (16 N San Francisco) for some of the best margs in town at a bargain price!

February 23: Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day
Sure it’s not people food but the fine folks at the Our Dog Wash Pet Treat Bakery (1800 E. Route 66) have lots of doggy biscuit appreciation everyday. (And did you know they give a free wash when you adopt a dog at the Humane Society here in town?)

February 24: National Tortilla Chip Day
Chipotle (111 S Plaza Way, at Milton) makes their chips in house daily with a sprinkle of kosher salt and lemon and lime juice, as if you needed another reason to go there.

February 27: National Strawberry Day
Who says strawberries are for desserts and breakfast food only? Taverna Greek Grill (2420 S Woodlands Village Blvd) has a Fruit & Berry salad that has our friend the strawberry along with romaine, green leaf and spring mix lettuce, candied walnuts, cranberries and gorgonzola all tossed in a fat free raspberry vinaigrette dressing.

Check out even more food holidays at thenibble.com.
*This article was written for Flagstaff Live, also by me.*