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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 APRIL

Updated: Over 9,000 Food Festivals

Cinco de May Articles and Recipes

Mother’s Day Articles and Recipes

Fiddleheads: A New England Delicacy
 

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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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April Food Holidays:

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

APRIL is:

• Alcohol Awareness Month (since 1987)

• Defeat Diabetes Month

• Fresh Florida Tomato Month - fresh tomatoes are harvested from every growing district in Florida in April.

• Global Child Nutrition Month

• Grain of the Month: Sprouted Grains

• National B.L.T. Month

• National Garden Month

• National Garlic Month

• National Grange Month - advocates for rural America and Agriculture

• Grilled Cheese Month

• National Pecan Month

• National Soft Pretzel Month

• National Soyfoods Month (Began in 1996 by the Soyfoods Assn of North America)

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DID YOU KNOW?

The lettuce that we see today, actually started out as a weed around the Mediterranean basin. Served in dishes for more than 4500 years, lettuce has certainly made its mark in history with tomb painting in Egypt and identification of different types of lettuces by various Greek scholars. Christopher Columbus introduced lettuce to the new world and from there, lettuce in the United States began cultivating.

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Tuesday, April 14, 2026

Daily Trivia Questions are below

TODAY’S FOOD QUOTE

“No rule of etiquette is of less importance than which fork we use.”
Emily Post
 

FOOD HOLIDAYS - TODAY IS:

• National Pecan Day (Pecan Trivia and Facts)

• National Gardening Day
 

TODAY IN FOOD HISTORY

1828 Noah Webster published 'American Dictionary of the English Language', with 70,000 entries, including more than 10,000 "Americanisms".

1912 The British luxury liner Titanic struck an iceberg shortly before midnight. It sank at 2:20 a.m. on April 15. (Authentic Titanic Recipes)

1927 Clarence Birdseye of Massachusetts received U.K. patent  #257,222 for frozen fish fingers.
(see also March 6, 1930)

1935 Black Sunday.  A huge dust storm or 'black blizzard' blew through areas of New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas.  One of the worst dust storms in U.S. history, it displaced an estimated 300 million tons of topsoil.

1939 John Steinbecks Pulitzer winning novel, ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ is published.  The story deals with the Great Depression, tenant farmers, migrant workers, the dust bowl and California.
(see also Feb 27, 1941)

1945 A malfunctioning toilet on German U-Boat U-1206 forces it to surface off the coast of Scotland. Promptly attacked by British aircraft, the Captain scuttles the boat. (Toilet Trivia)

1964 Rachel Louise Carson died. An American biologist and author of 'Silent Spring,' about environmental pollution, especially the dangers of DDT.

1989 'She Drives Me Crazy' by Fine Young Cannibals is #1 on the charts

2010 Eastern Australia is hit by a locust plague. The insects infested some 190,000 square miles, ravaging farmland, gardens and grazing areas.
(Locust Trivia and Facts)

2020 Coronavirus: Some restaurants begin selling groceries in an effort to stay afloat.
 

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

April 10-19, 2026  Sourdough Bread Festival
Cherry Valley, California

April 13-19, 2026  21st Annual City Restaurant Week
Wilmington, Delaware

April 17-18, 2026  Annual California Antique Farm Equipment Show - Tulare, California

April 18, 2026 - Maryland Chicken Wing Festival
Crownsville, Maryland

April 18-19, 2026  Michigan Alpaca Fest
Allegan, Michigan

April 18-19 & 22-26, 2026 - 79th Annual Pennsylvania Maple Festival - Meyersdale, Pennsylvania

(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?
· The Quarter Pounder was introduced at McDonald's for 53 cents.
· The first Starbucks opened in Seattle.
· Coca Cola introduces the plastic bottle.
· Celestial Seasonings Herbal Tea is introduced in Boulder, Colorado.
· The first Japanese McDonald's opens in Tokyo.

2) These mainly cool weather crucifers are grown annually for their roots. They come in an extraordinary range of sizes, shapes and colors.  Small and round, long and tapered; white, black, yellow, red, lavender, pink and purple. The leaves have been used in gourmet salads.  They probably originated in Asia (China) and were esteemed by the ancient Greeks and Romans.  Americans consume almost 1/2 million pounds of them a year.
What are these peppery vegetables?

3) Earl Silas _____ created the first ones in 1942 and they were being sold in stores by 1946.  House Beautiful magazine described these products as "fine art for 39 cents." The Detroit Institute of Arts displayed them in its 1947 'Exhibition for Modern Living.'  The Museum of Modern Art in New York featured one in a 1956 exhibition on outstanding 20th century design.  90% of the sales of this product line are made outside of the traditional retail store environment. 
What is the name of this product?

4) The name of both a cheese and the famous dish made with it. Born in the Swiss Canton of Valais, there are both French and Swiss varieties.  The cheese dish is usually accompanied by potatoes, gherkins (cornichons), pickled onions and dark bread.
Name this cheese.

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

It is the greener (or whiter) asparagus that are more tender, not the thin ones.

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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?

In addition to being destructive, grasshoppers and locusts are also edible, and are eaten as food in several areas of the world. They may be ground into meal, dried, roasted, boiled, dipped in honey, jellied, or chocolate covered.

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IN SEASON FOR SPRING

VEGETABLES
(Recipes  --  Tips)
Asparagus
Avocados
Broccoli
Cabbage
Carrots
Celery
Collard Greens
Kale
Lettuce
Mushrooms
Onions
Peas
Plantains
Radishes
Rhubarb
Spinach
Swiss Chard
Turnips

FRUITS (Tips)
Apples
Apricots
Bananas
Blackberries
Kiwifruit
Lemons
Limes
Pineapples
Strawberries

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DID YOU KNOW?

Female asparagus stalks are plumper than male stalks.

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Website last updated on Tuesday, April 14, 2026