It’s also Super Bowl Sunday, and if you care about one of the two teams, good luck.

I thought it would be fun to share some yummy recipes for Groundhog Day. This turned out to be a terrible idea. I’m not going to show you all the scary recipes I found, you can google Groundhog Day recipes if you want to be shocked.

There were horrible desserts that looked like they were made by angry three-year-olds. There were beef wellingtons and calzones in the shape of groundhogs. (Why?!) I even found a stew made with woodchuck (I suppose they thought calling it groundhog [they are the same animal] would be too disturbing.)

Other sites created Groundhog Day menus that involved pork dishes. Again, why? Are we celebrating Punxsutawney Phil, or are we eating him?

I did find two lovely recipes that I am willing to share. One is for a winter salad. After all, groundhogs are herbivores; shouldn’t we celebrate by eating what they would eat? The other is for a cute cookie that won’t scare small children (unlike others I found.)

Have a lovely Groundhog Day. It doesn’t really matter whether Phil sees his shadow or not. The fun is in the tradition. Why not add some delicious recipes? I’m sure all the groundhogs out there would appreciate it.

I like to eat clams, so I only complained a little (well, maybe more than a little.) To get out of the kitchen, I hid in my office and researched clams. That is where I learned about the giant clam. I’m happy my hubby is not cleaning one of these bad boys, but they are remarkable.

Fun Facts about Giant Clams:

• Giant clams can live 100 years or more
• They can grow to four feet in diameter and weigh more than 500 pounds
• Giant clams do not move. Once they fasten to the reef, they sit there for the rest of their life
• They live in the warm waters of the South Pacific and Indian Oceans
• Giant clams may be huge, but they survive thanks to algae. The algae live in their tissues and produce sugars and proteins that the clam consumes. In exchange, the algae get a safe home and access to sunlight when the clams open its shell
• The giant clams also have a siphon so they can filter plankton from the water
• Even though they are almost as tall as a human, they are not man-eaters. Rumors, aside, their shells close too slow to catch a swimmer

I hadn’t until I went looking for odd facts this morning. This one seemed really bizarre. In fact, I had a hard time believing it, so I researched further. It turns out the Queen doesn’t own all the swans, just the unmarked mute swans in open water in the UK. I have no idea how many swans that is, but I bet it’s a lot.

Mute swans are not actually mute, they re just quieter than other swans. They are white with orange bills. Apparently, the monarch can hunt these swans to eat them, but nobody does that anymore.

Nowadays, the only swans the Queen concerns herself with are the ones she owns on the Thames. The Warden of Swans and the Marker of the Swans (before 1993, these two positions were held by the Keeper of the Queen’s Swans) annually count, examine, and release the Queen’s swans on the Thames. This event is called the swan-upping ceremony.

The Worshipful Companies of Vintners and Dyers also own swans on the Thames (I assume these are marked swans.) They have a swan-upping ceremony at the same time as the Queen.

My goal was to learn something new today and share it with you. I hope I succeeded.