LEWISTON — It began with Bloody Marys and a plan.

Steff Deschenes launched her Almanac of Eats on Jan. 1. The goal: a year of eating — or, in the case of National Bloody Mary Day, drinking — in honor of the national food holiday of the day. She pairs a vegetarian-tweaked recipe with suggested music to cook by. A food-inspired quote and fun fact. A blog post. And a picture of herself with the celebrated dish.

And she does this every night.

That’s on top of her full-time job as sales coordinator at KICTeam in Auburn.

“There’s actually no sleeping,” said Deschenes.

With National Grape Popsicle and Roast Leg of Lamb days to celebrate in May, who has time for sleep?

For two years, Deschenes, 27, had already taken pictures of herself at dinnertime and posted them online daily, inspired by the notion of a “365 Project.”

She kept it simple. “This is me, this is what I’m eating,” she said. “The second year companies started to send me food. ‘Do you want to try our fake chicken?’ I sure do.”

The third year needed more purpose. Online fans asked about recipes. With the idea of maybe producing a cookbook, everything gelled. With two days to go before New Year’s 2012, photographer and friend Jeffrey Remick helped create the website.

Deschenes has mapped out the year, a cornucopia of national days: Coconut Cream Pie, Spumoni, Cheeseburgers, Shrimp Scampi, Escargot. Deschenes, a vegetarian since 2009, researches online then reworks each day’s recipe to avoid meat, and often eggs and dairy (water, vegetable oil and baking power in place of an egg, f’am instead of ham, cheese-free vegan cheese for traditional cheddar.)

“Lobster Newburg Day was one of my most painful,” she said.

She used a mushroom substitute to cringe-worthy results.

“I take video of myself eating it, too,” Deschenes said. “The Internet is full of haters.” She wants to remove any doubt that she actually puts spoon to mouth.

Once a week, Deschenes shoots a video recapping the week and posts it on YouTube, showing each night’s dish, with animated commentary. On a recent week, her bunny, Boone, made a cameo. Deschenes posed topless, discretely, eating a dip made with Teese cheese. And she bemoaned a 3-pound weight gain (“If you do the math, this project is going to make me gain, like 10 pounds. Woe are my hips.”) Her website recorded 7,000 hits in March.

In April, one-third of the food days are being sponsored by companies looking to get their names out. Deschenes said she only approaches sponsors after trying, and liking, their wares. Otherwise, all the ingredients come from Hannaford or Whole Foods. Meals run between $8 and $12.

“Vegan whip cream is like $6 or $7 a canister,” Deschenes said.

But, she figures, eating, and healthy eating, can be her vice. Not that there’s much time for any others. Weeknights, she wraps Almanac work at 11 p.m.

Deschenes has self-published one book before, a self-help guide called “The Ice Cream Theory.” (She jokes that she can’t escape food.) She believes her recipes could easily come together for a cookbook and a lesson on eating well for twenty-somethings.

It ends Monday, Dec. 31 with Champagne Day.

“I remember Bloody Mary Day like it was yesterday,” she said.

kskelton@sunjournal.com

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www.almanacofeats.com

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