Food microminiholidayettes abound on August 3

Why, you may wonder, do we open up this post with the logo for the Food Network TV show Chopped?

Well, as it happens, August 3 is

• National Watermelon Day;
• National Mustard Day -- a microminiholidayette founded by the Mustard Museum, a must-see attraction should you be forced to pass through Middleton, Wisconsin (a town near Madison); and
• Grab Some Nuts Day (an observance that we devoutly hope pertains to nuts that grow on trees).

Add one more random foodstuff (seaweed, maybe, or some sort of hideous-looking mushroom) and you'd have the sort of unseemly combination that the "chefs" always seem to find in their baskets on Chopped. Still, we know people who like to watch the program and who swear that these often horrifying combinations can and do result in dishes that are actually edible.

Celebrate any of these microminiholidayettes as you see fit on Saturday, but The Blog of Days is not responsible for any attempts you may make to combine these products.

Jay North as TV's
Dennis the Menace

Today, August 2, meanwhile, is Pie Day in Braham, Minnesota. Hopefully none of these homemade pies will try and combine watermelon, mustard and nuts.

A couple of very prominent octogenarians have birthdays on August 3. Former Buffalo Bills Coach Marv Levy, a Chicago native, turns 88 (he was born August 3, 1925). Singer Tony Bennett is exactly one year younger: He was born on August 3, 1926. And he's still touring.

Martin Sheen will be 73 on Saturday. Martha Stewart turns 72 on Saturday (she wouldn't try and combine nuts, watermelon and mustard, would she?) and Jay North, TV's Dennis the Menace, turns 62 on Saturday.