No matter how you say it, celebrate it today! It’s National Caramel Day. This sweet confection and ice cream topping dates back to the crystallization of sugar by Arabs several centuries ago.

Some say that the history of caramel goes back more than a thousand years back to the year 1000 A.D. when the sweet treat was discovered. The name at the time was rather literal, calling it the “kurat al milh”, which means “sweet ball of salt”.

This original version would have been the crunchy type of caramel that was made by crystallizing sugar in boiling water, which is something more like what is known as crunchy toffee today.

Caramel and other treats were enjoyed in the mid-1600s in the Americas, where people were known to have been making hard candies in kettles. Later, caramel developed into a candy that was made not only with sugar, but also included cream or milk, making it a much softer and chewy treat.

By 1886, Lancaster Caramel Company was started by none other than Milton S. Hershey, who would eventually go on to start the Hershey Company, which is one of the most famous American chocolate and candy companies today.

Read more here from the awesome website, DaysOfTheYear.com https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/caramel-day/

and we can’t forget about Deep Dish Pizza Day! https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/deep-dish-pizza-day/

Today’s winner? Rhonda from Fredericktown – congratulations!

Thanks for listening!
– Joe and Dylan