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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 DECEMBER

• Updated: Over 9,000 Food Festivals

• NEW YEARS EVE EVENTS

• New Year’s Trivia

• New Year’s Quotes

• Football Food Articles

• Buffalo Chicken Game Day Recipes

• Turkey Recipes   • Ham Recipes
 

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FEATURED RECIPES & TIPS

· Guacamole & Avocado Dips

· Original Frank's Redhot Wings

· Ultimate Party Wings

· More Chicken Wing Recipes

· More Appetizer Recipes

· Meatball Appetizer Recipes

· French Onion Dip

· Jack's Screaming Red Sauce

· 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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December Food Holidays:

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

DECEMBER is:

• Grain of the Month: Buckwheat
  · Buckwheat Trivia & Facts

• National Egg Nog Month
  · Eggnog Trivia & Facts
  · Egg Nog Recipes

• National Fruit Cake Month
  · Holiday Fruit Cake Recipe
  · Fruitcake Trivia

• Root Vegetables Month
  · Root Vegetable Articles

• National Pear Month: Many fruits are out of season during the winter months. Pears are available fresh during this time.  · Pear Trivia    · Pear Quotes

•  Worldwide Food Service Safety Month
created in 1994 by the National Restaurant Association

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DID YOU KNOW?

Carnations, also called clove pink and gillyflower, are an edible flower with a spicy odor that are native to the Mediterranean region. They can be candied, pickled with spices, and used fresh in salads. In the past they have been used to spice wine and beer, and as a substitute for the more expensive clove.

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Sunday, December 28, 2025

Daily Trivia Questions are below

TODAY’S FOOD QUOTE

“The kitchen is a country in which there are always discoveries to be made.”
Grimod de la Reyniθre (1758-1838)
 

FOOD HOLIDAYS - TODAY IS:

• National Chocolate Candy Day
  (Chocolate Trivia  ---  Chocolate Quotes)

• Brobdingnagian Proboscis Day (see 1897 below)

• [Kwanzaa] begins (Dec 26 to Jan 1) A celebration of African American family, community and culture.
 

TODAY IN FOOD HISTORY

1763 John Molson was born (died Jan 11, 1836).He founded Molson Brewery, Montreal, Canada.

1814 Sir John Bennet Lawes was born (died Aug 31, 1900).  English agronomist, he developed a superphosphate that marked the beginnings of the artificial fertilizer industry.

1846 Iowa became the 29th state.
(Iowa Food Facts and Trivia)

1869 William Finley Semple of Mount Vernon, Ohio received the first U.S. patent (No. 98,304) for chewing gum, although he never commercially manufactured any gum. (Chewing Gum Trivia)

1877 John Stevens filed a patent application for a grain crushing mill (issued March 23, 1880).

1886 Josephine Garis Cochran patented the first commercially successful dish washing machine.  It became a huge hit at the 1893 Columbian Exposition.  Her company eventually evolved into KitchenAid.

1897 Henry J. Heinz registered 'Heinz' trademark.
(Heinz Trivia & Facts)

1897 Edmond Rostand's romantic, dramatic play 'Cyrano de Bergerac' premiers in Paris.  A unique combination of love, swordplay, comedy, pathos and an extraordinary nose ("That thing a nose? Marry-come-up!  'Tis a dwarf pumpkin, or a prize turnip!").

1943 Keith Floyd was born (died Sept 14, 2009). British celebrity chef, restaurateur, cookbook author and cooking show host.

1957 The largest abattoir in the north of England was closed after foot-and-mouth disease was found in cattle waiting to be slaughtered.

1968 'I Heard It Through the Grapevine' by Marvin Gaye was number one on the music charts.

2000 Retailer Montgomery Ward, pioneer of mail-order catalogs in 1872, announced it is shutting down after nearly 128 years in business.

2001 The National Guard was called up out help Buffalo, New York dig out from a five-day storm that dropped almost 7 feet of snow.
 

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

Novvember 14, 2025 - January 17, 2026
Gingerbread House Competition & Display
Lahaska, Pennsylvania

Nov 18, 2025-Jan 4, 2026  National Gingerbread House Competition & Display - Asheville, N. Carolina

December 1-31, 2025  55th Annual Christmas in Newport - Newport, Rhode Island

December 20-29, 2025  NOLA Christmasfest
New Orleans, Louisiana

December 30-31, 2025  PeepsFest & Peeps Chick Drop - Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

• NEW YEARS EVE EVENTS

(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?
· Sylvester the cat first tried to have Tweety Bird for lunch in a Warner Bros. cartoon.
· The first aluminum foil, Reynolds Metals 'Reynolds Wrap' goes on sale.
· Marilyn Monroe was crowned the first Artichoke Queen in Castroville, California
· Rhubarb was legally classified as a fruit in the U.S., even though botanically it is a vegetable.

2) In 1952 several animals vied for the honor of representing the new Kellogg's cereal 'Sugar Frosted Flakes.' Tony the Tiger won. The other contestants were Katy, Elmo and Newt.
 What animal was each one (Katy the__, Elmo the__ and Newt the__), and which another one initially shared the front of the box with Tony the Tiger?

3) This was once a major source of potash and iodine, and today is used to obtain alginic acid.  Alginic acid is used in tire manufacturing, in ice cream to prevent it from crystallizing, and in paints. 
What is it?

Click Here for Today’s Quiz Answers

   Click here for 23 Christmas Quiz Questions

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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

The 1 billionth can of Spam was produced in 1959. The 9 billionth can was produced in 2022.
 

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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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DID YOU KNOW?

Because of the astringent, tart flavor, quinces are commonly made into preserves and jellies. When prepared as jelly, it tastes like a cross between an apple and a pear. Sometimes the quince smells like a tropical fruit.

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IN SEASON FOR WINTER

VEGETABLES
(Recipes  --  Tips)
Avocados
Beets
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots
Celery
Collard Greens
Kale
Leeks
Onions
Parsnips
Plantains
Potatoes
Pumpkin
Rutabagas
Sweet Potatoes & Yams
Swiss Chard
Turnips
Winter Squash

FRUITS (Tips)
Apples
Bananas
Grapefruit
Grapes
Kiwifruit
Lemons
Limes
Oranges
Pears
Pomegranates

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DID YOU KNOW?

There are approximately 16 million restaurant workers in the United States. (2025)

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Website last updated on Sunday, December 28, 2025