Monday, March 2, 2026Daily Trivia Questions are below TODAY’S FOOD QUOTE“I have no truck with lettuce, cabbage, and similar chlorophyll. Any dietitian will tell you that a running foot of apple strudel contains four times the vitamins of a bushel of beans.” S.J. Perelman FOOD HOLIDAYS - TODAY IS:• National Banana Cream Pie Day (Banana Cream Pie Recipes) • Egg McMuffin Day [mcdonalds.com] • National School Breakfast Week (March 2-6, 2026 - 1st full week in March) [School Nutrition Assoc] (Breakfast Recipes --- Breakfast Facts & Trivia) (Breakfast Quotes) • UK: [British Pie Week] (March 2-8, 2026) (Pie Recipes --- Pie Trivia --- Pie Quotes) • UK: [SPAM Appreciation Week] (March 2-8, 2026) TODAY IN FOOD HISTORY1787 William Bass died (born 1717). English brewer, founder of Bass Brewery in 1777 in Burton-on-Trent. 1799 The first U.S. weights and measures law was passed by Congress. Actually it did not set standards, but rather required the surveyor of each port to test and correct the instruments and weights used to calculate duties on imports. Basically each surveyor was on his own in setting the standards to be tested. (Weights & Measures Facts) 1863 Congress authorized a track width of 4-ft 8-1/2 in. as the standard for the Union Pacific Railroad, which would become the standard width for most of the world. 1865 John James McLaughlin was born (died Jan 28, 1914). Canadian chemist and pharmacist, founder of Canada Dry soft drink brand. 1887 Harry E. Soref was born. Inventor of the laminated steel padlock, founder of the Master Lock Company in 1921. The company became well known in 1928 when it shipped 147,600 padlocks to federal prohibition agents in New York for locking up speakeasies they raided. 1903 The 12 story, 416 room Martha Washington Hotel opened in New York City. It was the first hotel exclusively for women (but men could eat in the restaurant). 1904 Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel) was born. Writer and cartoonist. A few of his childrens books were 'Green Eggs and Ham,' 'One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish,' 'Scrambled Eggs Super!' and 'The Butter Battle Book' 1923 Canada and the U.S. sign the 'Halibut Treaty' (Convention for the Preservation of the Halibut Fishery of the Northern Pacific Ocean) to preserve North Pacific fish stocks, providing for joint management of the Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) and a 3-month closed winter season. This was Canada's first treaty negotiated independently of Britain. 1930 Actor John Cullum was born. He played the restaurateur on the TV show ‘Northern Exposure’. 1933 The classic film 'King Kong' premiered at Radio City Music Hall and the RKO Roxy theaters in New York City. 1935 Porky Pig, Warner Bros. Loony Tunes character, made his debut in the animated short 'I Haven't Got a Hat' 1942 The Stage Door Canteen opened in New York in the basement of the 44th Street Theater. It offered servicemen free nights of dancing, entertainment, food and nonalcoholic drinks, and even opportunities to rub shoulders with celebrities. 1962 The Twilight Zone episode 'To Serve Man' premiered. It is about aliens who arrive here ‘to serve man,’ but not quite in the way we assumed. Their manual on how ‘to serve man’ turns out to be a cookbook. 1974 U.S. first class postage rates are raised to 10 cents and post cards to 8 cents. 1976 The musical 'Bubbling Brown Sugar' opened on Broadway. 1984 Ray Kroc's first McDonald's franchise restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois closed. It had opened for business on April 15, 1955. 1989 A phone call to the U.S. Embassy in Santiago, Chile begins a chain of events that results in an 11 day embargo of Chilian fruit. The anonymous phone call, and another one on March 9, warns that Red Flame grapes on the way to the U.S. have been injected with cyanide. Over 2 million crates of Chilean fruit is impounded and 20.000 Chilean food workers lose their jobs. Consumers in the U.S. and several other countries stop eating grapes of any kind for a month. No real evidence of contamination was found. 1995 The musical 'Smokey Joe's Cafe' opened in New York City. 2011 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared the Eastern Cougar officially extinct, ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** February 21-March 2, 2026 New York City Beer Week New York, New York February 26-March 8, 2026 Florida Strawberry Festival - Plant City, Florida March 1-31, 2026 - Taste Atlantic City Atlantic City, New Jersey March 1-31, 2026 Washington Wine Month Various locations, Washington March 6-15, 2026 - 44th Annual Pittsburgh Home & Garden Show - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania March 7, 2026 Schell's Bock Fest New Ulm, Minnesota March 7-8, 2026 - Downtown Chandler Barbeque Festival - Chandler, Arizona (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? · Gail Borden creates condensed milk. · Native American Chef George Crum invented potato chips at Moon's Lake House in Saratoga Springs, New York. · Keebler Biscuits are introduced in Philadelphia by baker Godfrey Keebler. 2) A thistle-like Eurasian plant (Carthamus tinctorius) of the daisy family, having heads of red or orange flowers that are the source of a red dye. The seeds, which look like small pine nuts, contain an oil used in foods (especially margarine), cosmetics, paints, and medicine. The flower petals are sometimes used as a substitute for saffron. Name this plant. 3) An aromatic herb, a member of the parsley or carrot family, and indigenous to the regions around the Black and Caspian Seas. It is an essential ingredient of fines herbes, widely used in French cuisine. Some varieties also have edible roots which are like small turnips, and were enjoyed by the early Greeks and Romans, and in England during the 14th to 17th centuries. Name this herb. 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 TOP |