From the New York Times
“The Widow Clicquot
Fate cursed or blessed her with the mantle of early widowhood. Her husband, a winemaker from whom she learned the craft, died when she was 27, leaving her a single mother — the veuve (widow) Clicquot. Officially, the cause of François Clicquot’s death was typhoid, which was then commonly treated by feeding the patient Champagne, believed to strengthen the body against what was known as malignant fever. “To think that a bottle of his own sparkling wine might have saved François!” Mazzeo writes, going on to speculate that it is also possible he killed himself because business wasn’t good.
I never understand how something becomes a day (or a month, for that matter -- November is National Pomegranate month. April is Grilled Cheese Month.) Washington’s Birthday and Lincoln’s Birthday suddenly became President’s Day? And who picked the date of Memorial Day? 
When I worked in a gourmet retail store as a teenager, I got a chance to try many delectable things. I sampled high quality chocolates imported from Europe, pistachios from Iran, 
Since Thanksgiving is all about so many heavy dishes, such as mashed potatoes, gratin and gravies, it's always nice to have a little bit of
green at the table.
January
is the traditional month for new diets. I get kind of amused reading
this week's Time magazine which chose 3 of the new diet books to
review. The first one disallows wine, salt, sugar and artificial
sweetener. The second forbids carbonated drinks, coffee, gassy foods
including cabbage. The third forbids dairy, white rice, and processed
foods. And the last one forbids volume. Eat anything you want but just
choose small portions.