This Monday, we take the time off to honor those brave men and women who have given their lives to protect our country. Memorial Day is often confused for Veteran’s Day, which we celebrate on November 11th. The main difference between the two holidays is that Veteran’s Day is meant to honor ALL veterans while Memorial Day focuses on those veteran’s who have died while serving in the military.

The origin of this holiday, however, remains unclear. After the Civil War, Americans began to celebrate fallen soldiers by erecting monuments and ceremonies honoring the dead were held throughout the nation.

After the World War I, Memorial Day was used to honor those who died in all American wars.

The red field poppy scatters its seeds when the ground its in is disturbed. Because of this, it was one of the first plants to emerge from the war torn battlefields of World War I. It also allowed the plant to become a modern-day symbol for Memorial Day, which is why many people pin red poppies to their lapels.

This Memorial Day is the perfect opportunity for you to try one of our delicious Qcandy recipes. Since, most likely, it’ll be warm wherever you celebrate, why not cool down with some delicious homemade peppermint ice-cream, covered by our famous Peppermint Candy Bits?

Here is what you’ll need:

* 3/4 cup Peppermint Candy Bits                                                 
* 1 & 1/2 cups of heavy cream
* 1 & 1/2 cups of milk
* 2/3 cups sugar
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
* 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
* 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
* Additional candy bits for topping
* Ice-cream maker

Instructions:

1. Place candy bits in food processor and pulse until the candy is powdered
2. Whisk together the cream, sugar, milk, vanilla, peppermint extract and salt
3. Add crushed candy and whisk until mostly combined
4. Pour into your ice-cream maker and proceed as normal
5. Serve immediately with candy bits as a topping

Let us know how you enjoyed the recipe! Don’t forget to keep up with our blog for more recipes!