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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 FEBRUARY

• Updated: Over 9,000 Food Festivals

• St. Patrick’s Day Facts & Food

• St. Patrick’s Day 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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February Food Holidays:

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

FEBRUARY is:

• Black History Month

• American Heart Month

• Bake for Family Fun Month

• Canned Food Month

• Chocolate Lovers Month

• Fabulous Florida Strawberry Month

 Grain of the Month: Barley

 Great American Pies Month

• National Bird Feeding Month (one of the most difficult months in much of the U.S. for birds to survive in the wild)

• National Cherry Month

• National Children's Dental Health Month

• National Grapefruit Month

• National Hot Breakfast Month

• National Potato Lover's Month

• National Snack Food Month

• Sweet Potato Month

• Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month

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DID YOU KNOW?

True Mόnster or Muenster cheese originated in a monastery in the Alsace region of France sometime around the 7th century (by either Irish or Italian monks). Germany has adopted this French cheese as it own, and Muenster is also popular in Scandinavia. Muenster is a semisoft cow's milk cheese with an orange colored rind.  Its flavor ranges from mild when young, to quite strong for well aged cheeses.  Muenster cheese made in the U.S. (and many other countries) is a very bland cheese which has no real resemblance to Muenster made in France and Germany.

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Tuesday, February 24, 2026

Daily Trivia Questions are below

TODAY’S FOOD QUOTE

“According to the statistics, a man eats a prune every twenty seconds. I don't know who this fellow is, but I know where to find him.”
Morey Amsterdam
 

FOOD HOLIDAYS - TODAY IS:

• National Tortilla Chip Day (Tortilla Trivia & Facts)

• World Bartender Day: Support your local bartender!

• [National Invasive Species Awareness Week] (Feb 23-27, 2026) Raise awareness and identify solutions to invasive species issues at local, state, tribal, regional, international and national levels.

• [National Eating Disorders Awareness Week] (Feb 23-March 1, 2026)

• National FFA Week: Feb 21-28, 2026
  [Future Farmers of America]

• UK: [Real Bread Week] (Feb 21-March 1, 2026) A celebration of additive-free loaves and the people who make them.
 

TODAY IN FOOD HISTORY

1809 Asa Fitch was born (died April 8, 1879).  American entomologist who studied the relationship of insects to crops and whether they were beneficial or damaging. Knicknamed the 'Bug Catcher of Salem.'

1857 The Los Angeles Vineyard Society was established at what would become Anaheim, California.

1863 The Arizona Territory was created.
(Arizona Food Trivia and facts)

1874 John Bachman died. A Naturalist who wrote some of the text for John James Audubon's albums of birds and mammals of North America. He also published his own works on botany, agriculture and southern animals.

1896 Caesar Cardini was born in Italy (died Nov 3, 1956 in Los Angeles). Chef and restaurateur in the U.S. and Mexico, he is credited with creating the Caesar Salad at his restaurant in Tijuana, Mexico in the 1920s.
(Caesar Salad History  --  Caesar Salad Recipe)

1924 Abe Vigoda was born. American character actor. One of his well known TV characters was 'Fish' on 'Barney Miller'.

1938 DuPont begins production of nylon toothbrush bristles. A patent had been granted in 1937. The nylon bristles replaced hog bristles. No more brushing your teeth with hog hair!

1955 Steven Jobs was born, co-founder of Apple computer company. According to the company, he "grew up in the apricot orchards which later became known as Silicon Valley."

1989 A fossil egg was found in Utah that was 150 million years old.

2003 Bernard Loiseau died (born Jan 13, 1951).  French chef, owner of La Cote d'Or in Saulier, a Michelin three-star recipient.  He committed suicide, supposedly in response to reports that his restaurant might lose one of its 3 stars.

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

February 12-March 1, 2026  Riverside County Fair & National Date Festival - Indio, California

February 21-March 2, 2026  New York City Beer Week
New York, New York

February 25-March 1, 2026  92nd Annual Minneapolis Home + Garden Show - Minneapolis, Minnesota

February 26-28, 2026  World's Championship Bar-B-Que - Houston, Texas

February 26-March 8, 2026  Florida Strawberry Festival - Plant City, Florida

February 27-March 1, 2026  Annual National Fiery Foods & BBQ Show - Albuquerque, New Mexico

February 28, 2026  Kennett Winterfest
Kennett Square, 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 first quart beer cans appeared.
· Sylvan Goldman & Fred Young invented the first shopping cart.
· The 5th Avenue candy bar was introduced.

2) What is heliculture?
  a) growing plants in soil
  b) growing snails for food
  c) growing heliotrope garden plants
  d) growing seaweed for food

3) Lake Titicaca is the world's highest lake navigable to large vessels. It is the border between Peru and Bolivia at 12,500 feet above sea level, and is 3,200 square miles in size. It is also an area that was home to one of the oldest known civilizations in the Americas. The Aymara people that live there still practice ancient methods of agriculture. What do they grow in the highest cultivated area of land in the world, at 15,420 feet?
  a) potatoes.  b) quinoa.  c) barley.
  d) corn.  e) chocolate.

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

Two peanut farmers have been elected President of the United States: Thomas Jefferson and Jimmy Carter.

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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?

When first introduced in 1932, a package of 3 Musketeers candy contained three small, separate bars: one chocolate, one vanilla, one strawberry. Rising costs and wartime restrictions saw the phasing out of the vanilla and strawberry pieces.

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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?

In the U.S. pistachios were dyed red to disguise imperfections in the shells and to make the nuts stand out in vending machines.

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Website last updated on Tuesday, February 24, 2026