{"id":10017,"date":"2026-03-25T00:09:59","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T04:09:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/?p=10017"},"modified":"2026-03-25T00:09:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T04:09:59","slug":"waffle-day-proper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/waffle-day-proper\/","title":{"rendered":"Waffle Day, Proper"},"content":{"rendered":"

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I’m generally not one for proclaimed holidays like National Ice Cream Day (July 19) or National Pizza Day (February 9)\u2013\u2013days that trade associations make up to drum up interest in their products. (Insert official disclaimer here: You will indeed find us celebrating Independent Bookstore Day (April 25) with a full weekend-long event at our shop next month. After all, I do own an independent bookstore, of sorts!) There is also a National Waffle Day in the United States, too. It falls on August 24, which is the date, in 1869, when the first U.S. patent was issued for a waffle iron.<\/p>\n

And that’s an interesting story, I suppose. But there is a Waffle Day of much older origin and, truth be told, with a backstory that is infinitely more interesting. It originates in Sweden, and it has to do with the fact that today, the 25th of March, is Lady Day: The Feast of the Annunciation. This old celebration of the Church marks\u00a0the visitation of the archangel Gabriel to Mary. Gabriel came to deliver the startling news to Mary that she was to bear a child, a son, and that that child would be the light of the world, the son of God.<\/p>\n

So yes, a bit of startling news not just for Mary but also perhaps for us: it may feel (it does to me, anyway) like the year is still new, and yet here we are now, nine months to the nativity, nine months to Christmas.<\/p>\n

But let’s get back to the waffles. A bit of linguistic confusion in Sweden has made this\u2013\u2013for centuries now, with no relation to the day an American patent was issued in 1869\u2013\u2013a day to enjoy waffles. This is the kind of Waffle Day story I can get behind and so I, of course, heartily endorse this particular culinary tradition.<\/p>\n

So, now, let’s get to the Swedish linguistic confusion. The name Lady Day <\/em>comes out of the tradition of calling Mary \u201cOur Lady\u201d (as in Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Guadalupe, etc). In\u00a0Sweden, the day is called\u00a0V\u00e5rfrudagen<\/em>, which follows the same logic, translating essentially to \u201cOur Lady Day.\u201d<\/p>\n

V\u00e5rfrudagen<\/em>, in some Swedish dialects, is awfully close in both spelling and pronunciation to\u00a0V\u00e5ffeldagen<\/em>. And while the former translates to \u201cOur Lady Day,\u201d the latter translates to \u201cWaffle Day.\u201d It is this bit of linguistic confusion that has had Swedes, for centuries now, eating waffles on the Feast of the Annunciation. It\u2019s a tradition that has spilled over to wherever Swedes have left their mark, this annual excuse to eat waffles at any time of day on V\u00e5rfrudagen\u2013\u2013breakfast, lunch, or dinner. We will be joining their ranks today, and we encourage you to do the same. And while we here in the States are partial to butter and maple syrup atop our waffles, the waffles in Sweden today are typically served with whipped cream and lingonberries or cloudberries. There are also savory waffle dishes, and one of our favorites: waffles with ice cream. If you partake today, and I think you should, we encourage you to enjoy yours as you wish. There is no right or wrong way.<\/p>\n

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EASTER & SPRINGTIDE DELIGHTS AWAIT!<\/strong>
\nShop with us online for traditional wooden bunnies from Germany’s Erzgebirge woodworkers, beautiful pysanky from Ukraine, German splintwood baskets and wood wool Easter grass (none of the plastic stuff!), German papier mache eggs to fill with treats, and as far as the sweets in your basket, how about sweet and sour Swedish candies, licorice (some chocolate covered) and fruitful gummies from Denmark, and marzipan piglets from Germany? CLICK HERE<\/strong><\/a> to shop. Lake Worth and South Florida locals: I’m not sure if we’ll be open again before Easter, but we’ll gladly open for you by appointment, or place your order online and come by for pick up this Saturday (March 28): We won’t be open, exactly, but we’re hosting a letterpress printing birthday party at the shop and you may pick up your order while the party is going on. Interested in having your own gathering at the shop? Let us know<\/strong><\/a>. You can have a pasta making party, or a letterpress party, or a bookbinding party. My kind of party!<\/p>\n

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Image: \u201cHet Vertrouwelijk Onderhoud\u201d by Adriaen van Ostade. Oil on panel, 1672 <\/em>[Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons<\/em>].<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m generally not one for proclaimed holidays like National Ice Cream Day (July 19) or National Pizza Day (February 9)\u2013\u2013days that trade associations make up to drum up interest in their products. (Insert official disclaimer here: You will indeed find us celebrating Independent Bookstore Day (April 25) with a full weekend-long event at our shop […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[71,72],"tags":[227,226,228],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10017"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10017"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10024,"href":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10017\/revisions\/10024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.conviviobookworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}