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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

• Lenten Season Articles & Recipes

• Easter Articles  ---  Easter Recipes

• Passover Articles and Recipes

• Chicken Wing Recipes

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FEATURED RECIPES & TIPS

· Guacamole & Avocado Dips

· Original Frank's Redhot Wings

· Ultimate Party Wings

· Meatball Appetizer Recipes

· Mushroom Appetizer Recipes

· Crunchy Snack Mixes

· More Appetizer Recipes

· Fancy Ham Wrapped Fruit

· Ham & Cheese Party Loaf

· Kick Off Kabobs Recipe

· Oriental Pork Pot Stickers

· Sloppy Joe Biscuit Cups

· Avocado Parmesan Potato Bowls

· Bacon Stuffed Portobellos

· Pig Skins

· Potato Salad Recipes

· Cole Slaw Recipes

· Cheddar Cheese Straws

· Snappy Sweet Potato Crackers

· Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Dip

· Holiday Desserts and Cookies

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FREE Magazines and
other Publications

An extensive selection of free food, beverage & agricultural magazines, e-books, etc.

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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

• Defeat Diabetes Month (National Diabetes Month is November)

• 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

• Grilled Cheese Month

• National Pecan Month

• National Soft Pretzel Month

• National Soyfoods Month

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DID YOU KNOW?

Flour is made by grinding and sifting grains (or other foodstuffs), especially wheat. Some other grains that are ground into flour are rye, buckwheat, barley, corn and rice. Other foodstuffs that are used to make flour are potatoes, acorns, mesquite, cassava, soybeans, amaranth and bananas.

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Wednesday, April 2, 2025

Daily Trivia Questions are below

TODAY’S FOOD QUOTE

“To feel safe and warm on a cold wet night, all you really need is soup.”   Laurie Colwin
 

FOOD HOLIDAYS - TODAY IS:

• Pascua Florida Day - State Day in Florida (See 1513 below) (Florida Trivia and Facts)

• National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day
  (Peanut Butter Trivia and Facts)

• Feast of Acan, the Mayan God of Wine

• St. Urban of Langres' Day, patron of barrel makers, coopers, and vintners.
 

TODAY IN FOOD HISTORY

742 Charlemagne was born. Charlemagne, Charles I, Charles the Great, King of the Franks, Charles le Grand, Carolus Magnus, Karl Der Grosse, King of the Lombards, master of Western Europe, Emperor.
Some of the food related 'facts' I have come across related to Charlemagne:
* the peacock was first served in Europe during his reign;
* Sauerbraten was invented by Charlemagne;
* Roquefort cheese was a favorite of his;
* the knife began to be used to eat food for the first time during his reign (rather than the fingers);
* Roses were used to cover tables for meals.
I have no real corroboration for any of these so called 'facts'.

1513 Ponce de Leon landed in Florida while searching for the Fountain of Youth. He thought it was just another island of the Bahamas. (Sources vary on date from April 2 to April 8 but Florida celebrates on April 2)

1814 Erastus Brigham Bigelow was born (died Dec 6, 1879). Inventor of manufacturing machinery for making gingham cloth. The red & white checked tablecloths used in restaurants is a classic example of gingham.

1819 The periodical, 'American Farmer' was founded by John Skinner

1827 Joseph Dixon began manufacturing the first lead (graphite) pencils.  Necessary to write recipes and menus.

1840 Emile Zola was born.  French writer and critic who was also known as a gourmand.  His detailed descriptions of simple meals, banquets and eating in his novels are among the best to be found anywhere.  He was also known for his own luxury dinner parties. "What will be the death of me are bouillabaisses, food spiced with pimiento, shellfish, and a load of exquisite rubbish which I eat in disproportionate quantities."

1863 THE RICHMOND BREAD RIOTS - Shortages of food caused hundreds of angry women gathered in Richmond, Virginia to march on the governor's office and then on the government commissary to demand bread.  It ended in a riot when they broke into the commissary and then other shops & buildings and carried out anything they could carry.  Even the hospital reported losing over 300 pounds of beef.  Arrests were made, but at the request of authorities, the newspapers downplayed the incident, and records were later destroyed when the Confederate government fled and burned much of the town behind them.

1884 Dennis Robert Hoagland was born (died Sept 5, 1949).  American plant physiologist. He perfected the water-culture technique for growing plants without soil.

1889 Charles M. Hall received U.S. patent #400,655 for the process to extract aluminum from its ore.
(Aluminum Food Trivia & Facts)

1949 'Candy Kisses' by George Morgan was #1 on the country music charts.

1974 Alexandre Dumaine died (born Aug 26, 1895).  One of the most decorated French chefs.  Proprietier of 3 Michelin star Hτtel de la Cτte-d'Or.  Author with Henry Clos Jouve of 'Ma Cuisnie' (1972).

1994 Elizabeth Mary ('Betty') Furness died (born Jan 3, 1916).  Actress and spokesperson for Westinghouse Electric consumer appliances. Special Assistant for Consumer Affairs (1967-1969) under President Lyndon B. Johnson. Board member of Consumers Union, publisher of 'Consumer Reports', Executive Director of NY State Consumer Protection Board, consumer reporter for WNBC in New York.

2020 Coronavirus: Empty highways, grounded planes and closed factories leads to collapse in oil demand, add a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia and oil prices have collapsed to lowest in 18 years;  Gas selling for about $1 a gallon at some Minnesota gas stations.
 

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

March 28-April 6, 2025  Jersey Shore Restaurant Week - Jersey Shore, New Jersey

March 28-April 27, 2025  Knott's Boysenberry Festival
Buena Park, California

April 3-6, 2025  Mule Day - Columbia, Tennessee

April 4-5, 2025 - 47th Annual Pig Cookin' Contest
Newport, North Carolina

April 4-5, 2025 - 25th Annual Pennsylvania Herb & Garden Festival - York, Pennsylvania

April 5, 2025 - East Coast She Crab Soup Classic
Virginia Beach, Virginia

April 5-20, 2025 - Sourdough Bread Festival
Cherry Valley, California

(SEE ALL FOOD FESTIVALS and OTHER FOOD EVENTS)
 

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FOOD TRIVIA QUIZ    (new DAILY questions)

1) The following events took place in the same year.
What year is it?
· First Farm Aid Concert was held at Champaign, Illinois.
· The first McDonald’s restaurant, in Des Plains, Illinois, became the first fast food museum.
· Former vice-residential candidate Geraldine Ferraro appeared in a Diet Pepsi TV commercial.
· Creme Fraiche won the Belmont Stakes, ridden by Jockey Eddie Maple

2) Which of these has the most Vitamin C?
  a) Oranges.  b) Lemons.  c) Red Bell Peppers.
  d) Limes.  e) Green Bell Peppers.

3) In 1490 there were an estimate 30 million of these; in 1890 there were only 750; in 2023 there were about 500,000.
What animal is this?

4) About how many pounds of sweet potatoes are produced each year in the U.S.
What are the top 3 producing states?

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?

Globe artichokes are the large, unopened flower bud of a plant belonging to the thistle family.  The many leaf-like parts making up the bud are called scales. Peak season is in April and May.         

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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?

Garlic and onions are among the oldest cultivated food plants.  Their culinary, medicinal and religious use dates back more than 6000 years.
 

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IN SEASON FOR SPRING

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

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

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DID YOU KNOW?

The peanut (Arachis hypogaea) is actually not really a nut - it is a legume, the same family as beans and peas.
 

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Website last updated on Tuesday, April 1, 2025