Wednesday, April 1, 2026Daily Trivia Questions are below TODAY’S FOOD QUOTE“The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year.”
Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens)
FOOD HOLIDAYS - TODAY IS:• April Fools’ Day (All Fools’ Day) • National Sourdough Bread Day (Sourdough Facts)
(How to Make Sourdough | Sourdough Baking Tips)
TODAY IN FOOD HISTORY1582 France adopted the new Gregorian calendar. Prior to that, the new year was celebrated on April 1. (The new year actually started on March 25, which fell during Holy Week - so the celebrations were delayed until the first day of April). One explanation of the origin of ‘April Fools Day’ is that those who failed to accept the new start of the year on January 1 became the object of practical jokes. (Pope Gregory XIII introduced the new Gregorian Calendar in 1582. It is possible that Charles IX of France may have changed the start of the New Year to January in 1564). 1755 Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin was born. A French politician and author of the 8 volume Physiologie du goût, ou Méditation de gastronomie transcendante, ouvrage théorique, historique et à l'ordre du jour ("The Physiology of Taste, or Meditation on Transcendent Gastronomy, a Work Theoretical, Historical, and Programmed") published in 1825. It treats dining as an art form and contains many delightful and witty observations on the pleasures of the table. 1864 Travelers Life & Accident Insurance Company was founded. 1891 Wrigley Co. is founded in Chicago, Illinois by William Wrigley, Jr., selling soap and giving away baking powder as a premium. The baking powder was more popular, so he switched to selling baking powder, giving chewing gum as a premium with each can. The gum became more popular than the baking powder so he went into the chewing gum business.
(Chewing Gum Trivia and Facts) 1893 The first dishwashing machine became an award winning success at the 1893 Columbian Exposition, which used Josephine Garis Cochran’s hand operated, mechanical dishwashers in its kitchens. (She patented her original version on December 28, 1886.) Her company eventually evolved into KitchenAid. 1911 Seaman Asahel Knapp died. An American agriculturist, he began the system which evolved into the U.S. Cooperative Extension Service. 1918 In Canada, Alberta and Saskatchewan declare total prohibition of alcoholic beverages. 1932 Actor Gordon Jump was born. The 'Maytag Repairman' in commercials, also Arthur Carlson on 'WKRP in Cincinnati' 1950 “If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake" by Eileen Barton was number one on the music charts. 1957 The BBC aired a spoof TV documentary about spaghetti crops in Switzerland, showing women carefully plucking strands of spaghetti from a tree and laying them in the sun to dry. Many viewers called in asking where they could purchase their own spaghetti trees.
(Spaghetti Recipes --- Spaghetti Quotes) 1960 Tiros I, the first weather observation satellite was launched from Cape Kennedy. 1976 Jimmy Buffet's 'Margaritaville' was released. 1976 Carl Peter Henrik Dam died. Dam was a Danish biochemist who discovered vitamin K in 1939.
(Vitamin Facts & Trivia) 1983 Hooters restaurants was incorporated in Clearwater, Florida. (see also Oct 4, 1983) 1994 Ray Geiger died (born Sept 18, 1910). Editor of the Farmers' Almanac from 1934-1993, and editor of American Farm & Home Almanac from 1964-1990. 1996 The Taco Bell fast food chain played an April Food joke on the American public by claiming to have bought the Liberty Bell to help pay down the national debt. 1999 The first minimum wage goes into effect in Britain, £3.60 an hour for adults and £3.00 an hour for those under 22 years old. 1999 In April 1999, Restaurant Nora in Washington DC became America's first certified organic restaurant. This means that 95% or more of everything that you eat at the restaurant has been produced by certified organic growers and farmers. 2015 California Governor Jerry Brown ordered statewide mandatory water restrictions for the first time in history. The order requires cities and towns to cut water usage by 25%, due to a drought emergency and extremely low snowpack level in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** March 13-April 12, 2026 Knott's Boysenberry Festival
Buena Park, California March 19-29, 2026 50th Annual Collier Fair
Naples, Florida April 1-4, 2026 - 35th Taste of Vail - Vail, Colorado April 2-4, 2026 - Annual Llano River Chuck Wagon Cook-Off - Llano, Texas April 2-6, 2026 Annual Tater Day - Benton, Kentucky April 2-12, 2026 - Clay County Agricultural Fair
Green Cove Springs, Florida (SEE ALL FOOD FESTIVALS and OTHER FOOD EVENTS)
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** FOOD TRIVIA QUIZ (new DAILY questions)1) All of the following events took place in the same year. What year is it?
· Lean Cuisine frozen dinners were introduced.
· The Yukon Gold potato was introduced.
· The USDA announced that ketchup could be counted as a vegetable in the school lunch program.
· The FDA approved the artificial sweetener Aspartame (NutraSweet) for tabletop use.
· Jell-O Gelatin Pops were introduced. 2) This cheese is named after a village that was once outside of Milan, but is now really a suburb of the city. The cheese dates back to the 9th century, with the blue/green mold (more green than blue) developing accidentally sometime around the 11th century. Before then it was similar to a cheese called Panerone made in Lombardy. It is considered one of the best in the world of its kind. The London Stock Exchange is nicknamed after this cheese due to the greenish marble used in its interior. 3) This moist, cake-like fragrant Swedish rye bread is made with molasses (or brown sugar), and flavored with orange zest and fennel, caraway or anise. Frequently it is made with a combination of several types of rye flour from dark to light. Its sweet flavor and moist texture is sometimes enhanced with the addition of golden raisins. Click Here for Today’s Quiz Answers
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** Read an article about Chef James and the FoodReference.com website published in the Winona Daily News, Minneapolis StarTribune, and numerous other newspapers: Click here for the Article
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** Dedication
This website is dedicated to:
· Gladys Ehler, my mother, who taught me patience and how to make Sauerbraten (it is still my favorite)
· Edward Ehler, my father, who taught me a love of books and history.
· Barbara Saba, my sister, who taught me how to dance.
· Cpl. Thomas E. Saba, my nephew. Died in action on Feb. 7, 2007 in Iraq. He was 30 yrs. young. Chef James
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