I love food. I love gatherings. I really love food-centered gatherings.

I’m the person who plans Thanksgiving meals at the end of September. I coordinate Hanukkah dinner, arrange Fourth of July barbecues and had a Super Bowl party menu on the fridge weeks before the country knew who was playing.

This year, my roommates and I ordered Chinese food to ring in the Year of the Dragon, baked homemade molten chocolate-centered red velvet cupcakes on Valentine’s Day and will surely find something to dye green for St. Patrick’s Day next month.

But festive days can sometimes feel too few and far between. Enter foodimentary.com, a website that chronicles daily food holidays. There seems to be one for everything: National Dill Pickle Day (Nov. 14), Pineapple Upside Down Cake Day (April 20), Frog Leg Day (Feb. 29) and Submarine-Hoagie-Hero-Grinder Day (Oct. 9).

Celebrating food holidays, whether mainstream or obscure, is fun and delicious way to break out of cycled through meal routines.

After all, we’re college students. We don’t have the time or energy to come up with a new meal every day. Sometimes we get creative, sure, but the fallbacks – pasta with jarred sauce, a Wollaston’s sub or a frozen pizza – simplify a hectic night.

This week happens to be National Pancake Week, placing it in my top two favorite weeks of the year, behind the food-packed winter holidays oozing with leftovers. Pancakes for dinner is a given, but finding a night when all my roommates are home will be the challenge – we might just have to flip flapjacks twice.

Breakfast is hands-down my favorite meal, regardless of whether it’s eaten at 8 a.m. or 5 p.m. The variety of pancakes alone could keep me fed for life: classic plain, my mom’s sweet brown sugar, soft banana, rich chocolate chip, The Pour House’s pumpkin pie or buttermilk jacks topped with fresh whipped cream and tart strawberries – the list goes on. As I write this, I almost wish there wasn’t a Crock-Pot stuffed with chicken and potatoes for dinner simmering away.

But not only are there weeks dedicated to food, there are entire months as well. In March, college students and journalists across the country will turn a cold – and alert – shoulder to Caffeine Awareness Month. But it’s also Peanut Month, so if you don’t want to give up caffeine, go nuts on nuts.

All this being said, I don’t really need a holiday or a month to celebrate with featured food. I can plan an elaborate meal for any day of the week and will find a reason for its existence while it roasts in the oven. Taco Tuesdays are a favorite and taste just as delicious on Thursdays. Sunday night dinners can be held on Monday if a friend is called into work.

My love for food stems from a childhood spent watching Emeril and the rest of the Food Network clan. My mom couldn’t stand “AHHH Real Monsters,” “Ren and Stimpy” and “The Angry Beavers,” so I spent my days passionately screaming “Bam!” at the TV. Now my dad won’t give into the digital cable package with the Cooking Channel – go figure.

My acquired food knowledge means I can craft a menu as fast as I tie my shoes. Not sure what that says about my shoe-tying abilities, but the point is:  Every night is worthy of a themed menu.

We use holidays to pull together our closest friends, throw on an awards show or sporting event (Baseball season is around the corner!) and laugh, gab, trash talk and catch up between bites.

So, for now, if a full month of peanut-participation is too much, March 1 is National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day. National Water Day raises awareness about tainted water, March 22. And break out the waffle maker for breakfast for dinner again on March 25, International Waffle Day.

A little later, Roxy’s Grilled Cheese Truck, Cheeseboy in the Prudential Center and the Grille at Stetson East are sure to have incredibly long lines for National Grilled Cheese Day, April 12.

As for this week, just pass the syrup, please.

– Sarah Moomaw can be reached at [email protected].