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Chef James

“The duty of a good Cuisinier is to transmit to the next generation everything he has learned and experienced.”
 
Fernand Point, 1941

FEATURED FOR OCTOBER

• Updated: Over 9,000 Food Festivals

• Halloween Trivia, Articles & Recipes

• Pumpkin Trivia and Facts

• Grilling & Barbecue Articles & Recipes

• Sports & Tailgating Articles & Recipes

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FEATURED RECIPES & TIPS

· Original Frank's Redhot Wings

· Ultimate Party Wings

· More Chicken Wing Recipes

· More Appetizer Recipes·

· French Onion Dip

· Jack's Screaming Red Sauce

· Potato Salad Recipes

· Cole Slaw Recipes

· Chicken Salad Recipes

· Kickoff Kabobs

· Banana Bread Recipes

· Mushroom Appetizer Recipes

· Crunchy Snack Mixes

· Mustard and Mustard Sauces

· Salsa Recipes

· Baked and Stuffed Potato Recipes

· Mac & Cheese Recipes
 

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October Food Holidays:

For Details, History and more DAY, WEEK and MONTH Food Holiday designations, including LINKS to Holiday Origins and Additional Information:
SEE Detailed OCTOBER Food Calendar

OCTOBER is:

• Fair Trade Month
• Grain of the Month: Corn
• National Apple Month
• National Applejack Month
• National Caramel Month
• National Chili Month
• National Cookbook Month
• National Cookie Month
• National Country Ham Month
• National Cranberry Month
• National Dessert Month
• National Eat Better; Eat Together Month
• National Farm to School Month
• National Kitchen and Bath Month
• National Pasta Month
• National Pickled Peppers Month
• National Pizza Month
• National Popcorn Poppin' Month
• National Pork Month
• National Pretzel Month
• National Seafood Month
• National Spinach-Lovers' Month
• National Toilet Tank Repair Month
• New Zealand Cheese Month
• Non-GMO Month
• Squirrel Awareness Month
• Vegetarian Awareness Month

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DID YOU KNOW?

Apricot trees are hardy, drought resistant and long lived (100 years plus) but the fruit is highly perishable and for full-flavor must be tree ripened. Fresh ripe apricots are very soft and do not ship well. Less than 10% are sold fresh; most of the crop being canned, dried or used in preserves.

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Monday, October 26, 2026

Daily Trivia Questions are below

TODAY’S FOOD QUOTE

“The history of every nation is eventually written in the way in which it cares for its soil.”
President Franklin Delano Rossevelt (1936)
 

FOOD HOLIDAYS - TODAY IS:

• Mincemeat Pie Day (Mincemeat Day)
  (Mincemeat Trivia  --  Mincemeat Recipe)

• National Pumpkin Day (Pumpkin Trivia & Facts)
  (Pumpkin Recipes)

• Chicken Fried Steak Day
  [2011 Texas House Resolution 1419]

• National Mule Appreciation Day (see 1785 below)
  (Mule Trivia and Facts)

• UK: [UK Sausage Week] (Oct 26 - Nov 1, 2026). Celebrating the great British banger!
  (Tips for Making Sausage at Home)
 

TODAY IN FOOD HISTORY

1734 Thomas Henry was born (died June 18, 1816). An apothecary in Manchester, England, he was the first to produce artificially carbonated water for sale.

1785 The first jack (male donkey) arrived in the U.S. from Spain. King Charles III of Spain sent George Washington a male donkey as a gift.
(Donkey Trivia & Facts)

1825 The 363 mile long Erie Canal was officially opened. Connecting the Great Lakes to the Hudson River at Albany, It provided a water route from the Great Lakes to New York City and the Atlantic Ocean, and began the great canal building era in the U.S. (1825-1840).

1854 C. W. Post (Charles William) was born. He founded the Postum Cereal Co. in 1895 (renamed General Foods Corp. in 1922) to manufacture Postum cereal beverage; 1897 Grape Nuts, 1904 Post Toasties (originally called Elijah's Mana).
(Grape Nuts Trivia)

1918 Cesar Ritz died in Kussnacht, Switzerland. World renowned hotelier who managed various resort hotels, including the Grand Hotel in Monte Carlo where he met chef Auguste Escoffier. Ritz then managed the Savoy Hotel in London, with Escoffier as his chef. Eventually he opened The Ritz Hotel in Paris in 1898, and was part owner in many other hotels and restaurants, including the Carlton in London. His name became a synonym for luxury.

1949 The U.S. minimum wage was increased from 40 cents to 75 cents an hour.

1979 Ken Fraser caught the world record bluefin tuna fishing with Capt. Eric Samson aboard Lady and Misty out of Port Hood, Nova Scotia.  The bluefin tuna weighed 1,496 pounds.  (Bluefin Tuna Trivia)

2007 'Chef Tell' (Friedman Paul Erhardt) died of heart failure (born Nov 5, 1943).  A European trained chef, he was one of the earliest celebrity TV chefs. He made appearances on Saturday Night Live, numerous talk shows, the PBS show 'In the Kitchen With Chef Tell' and was the inspiration for the Muppet's 'Swedish Chef.' He was also a restaurant owner, cookbook author and culinary educator.

2015 Burger King opened its first restaurant in Mongolia, in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar.
(Burger King Trivia)
 

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A FEW FEATURED FOOD FESTIVALS
(See All 9,000 Food, Wine & Beer Festivals)

October 1-November 1, 2026  Arizona State Fair
Phoenix, Arizona

October 24-31, 2026 - 37th Annual Kenmare GooseFest - Kenmare, North Dakota

October 29-November 1, 2026  43rd Annual Spinach Festival - Crystal City, Texas

October 29-Nov 15, 2026  120th Edition of the State Fair of Louisiana - Shreveport, Louisiana

October 30-November 8, 2026  72nd Annual Florida Gateway Fair - Lake City, Florida

October 31, 2026  35th Annual Peanut Butter Festival
Brundidge, Alabama

October 31, 2026  Annual Georgia Sweet Potato Festival - Ocilla, Georgia

(SEE ALL FOOD FESTIVALS and OTHER FOOD EVENTS)
 

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FOOD TRIVIA QUIZ    (new DAILY questions)

1) All of the following events took place in the same year.  What year is it?
· Cornell University was chartered. An agricultural land grant university endowed by Ezra Cornell, one of the founders of Western Union Telegraph Co.
· The first U.S. patent (No. 51741) for a coffee percolator was issued.
· The Union Stock Yard & Transit Co. incorporated in Illinois to build and operate stock yards in Chicago.
· Prosper Montagne was born. One of the most renowned French chefs of all time. Creator of Larousse Gastronomique, a comprehensive encyclopedia of French gastronomy.

2) In old cookbooks, a name sometimes given to the cantaloupe. This tropical tree and its fruit is native to India, and is actually in the cashew family.

3) This water soluble vitamin is related to a tobacco alkaloid, and is used to treat pellagra.  Good sources are meat, poultry, fish, peanuts, and whole grain cereals.

4) This Lebanese specialty is composed of bulgur, parsley, mint, tomatoes, onions, olive oil and lemon juice.

5) This plant resembles 'wild' cabbage, and may be the ancestor to all of our modern common cabbage varieties.  With long ruffled leaves that resemble large parsley sprigs and hues that vary from lavender to chartreuse, it has a mild cabbage-like taste and delicate texture. Name this plant.

6) What are 'kippers'?
Click Here for Today’s Quiz Answers
 

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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
 

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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
 

TOP

DID YOU KNOW

A Mule is the sterile hybrid offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Mules have strong muscles like horses but they eat less, can work longer, and are gentler, like donkeys.

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A FOOD LIFE

"There are those who say that a life devoted to food -- cooking it, eating it, writing about it, even dreaming about it -- is a frivolous life, an indulgent life.  I would disagree.  If we do not care what we eat, we do not care for ourselves, and if we do not care for ourselves, how can we care for others?"
Fictional cookery writer Hilary Small, in episode 6, series 2 of 'Pie In the Sky'

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Click Here for
Food Emergency
Websites, Phone #s, E-mails, etc.

 

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Classic Fish and Seafood Recipes
 

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IN SEASON FOR AUTUMN (Fall)

VEGETABLES: (Trivia)
(Recipes  --  Tips)
Beets
Bell Peppers
Broccoli
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Celery
Collard Greens
Cranberries
Green Beans
Kale
Lettuce
Mushrooms
Okra
Onions
Parsnips
Peas
Plantains
Potatoes
Pumpkin
Radishes
Rutabagas
Spinach
Sweet Potatoes & Yams
Swiss Chard
Turnips
Winter Squash
 

FRUITS (Tips)
(Trivia)
Apples
Bananas
Grapes
Kiwifruit
Mangos
Pears
Pomegranates
Raspberries

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DID YOU KNOW?

Almost every species of livestock has been milked, including horses, donkeys, goats, sheep, camels, buffaloes, reindeer, and yaks. The only exception is the pig, although nutritionally its milk is close to that of human beings.

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Website last updated on Monday, October 26, 2026