Happy World Nutella Day!

Happy World Nutella Day, y'all!  Okay, so I'm pretty sure that two girls just decided to declare it Nutella Day so that they wouldn't feel guilty about chucking their New Year's resolutions and digging into a big ol' jar of Nutella with a spoon, but who am I to judge?  I enjoy random holidays almost as much as I enjoy random roadside attractions, so I figured I might as well get on board with this one.  Now if you don't know what Nutella is, my condolences to you.  It's basically a gift from God in the form of a creamy chocolatey hazelnutty spread.  And if you live in Europe you might just be as lucky as my friend Nancy and have it served to you for breakfast.  (I think we're all still jealous, nine years later, that her Señora in Spain gave her Nutella on tiny toasts for breakfast every day while the rest of us were left with boring old jam.)  Now there are plenty of ways to eat Nutella.  Some people go to a lot of work searching for recipes that incorporate Nutella.  Some people eat it straight from the jar with a spoon.  Myself, I prefer the Animal Cracker Method which is exactly what you think it is.


I did a little Googling, and here are some fun facts that I found about Nutella:

• The amount of Nutella produced worldwide in one day is equivalent to nearly three times the weight of the Statue of Liberty.
• More than 70 million hazelnuts are used worldwide each day in the production of Nutella.
• The number of jars sold annually, if lined up, would wrap around the moon four times.
• The amount of Nutella produced in a day could provide every person in San Diego with one jar.
• Nutella's 40th anniversary celebration is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest breakfast, having hosted 27,854 people at the AufShalke Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, on May 29, 2005.
• Nutella was first manufactured in loaves, which then could be sliced and spread on bread to make sandwiches.
• Nutella is marketed to over 75 countries and word on the street is that sales of Nutella outnumber the sales of all brands of peanut butter combined.

In my Nutella research today, I discovered that Nutella is made in Canada by the good people at Ferrero.  So, it seems appropriate that I leave you with a photo of my good friend Colleen and me enjoying Nutella crepes in Montreal last summer.  Enjoy!