Today is a great food holiday. It is Italian Cannoli Day. A Cannolo is a true culinary delight. These wonderful cookies are filled with calories, and they are carb-rich. But, put aside your diet on this June 16 holiday. You don’t want to pass it by without enjoying a few cookies. A thousand or so years ago, this cannoli cookie was first created in Italy. A cookie this good cannot be kept secret for very long. It is popular around the world. Now you find them in Italian bakeries, Italian restaurants, delis, as well as the bakery department of your local grocery store.

Cannoli is not hard to make. They are tubular-shaped pastries. First, the dough is shaped and fried. Then, it is stuffed with a filling consisting of ricotta cheese and sugar. Depending upon what recipe you choose to use, you can include a wide variety of other ingredients to the filling, including chocolate chips, nuts, lemon or orange zest, and even bits of fruit. Finally, you can be creative when decorating the outside of the cannoli. Here are some ideas: dust them with powdered sugar, drizzle chocolate over them, or place pieces of fruit or a sprig of mint aside of the cannoli.

People enjoy cannoli any time of the year. Along with other Italian cookies, they are a “must-have” at weddings, funeral receptions, banquets, and any type of party or celebration. If you’re organizing the event, buy plenty of extras, as they go very fast.

One Big Cannolo: The largest cannolo ever was made on November 9, 2014, by the Lactalis American Group, Inc., at the Feast of Little Italy Italian Festival in Jupiter, Florida. It weighed 262.5 pounds.