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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 OCTOBER

Updated: Over 9,000 Food Festivals

BBQ & Grilling Articles & Recipes

Outdoor Grilling Tips

Halloween: Off With Their Heads!

Halloween Recipes

Equivalents and Substitutions

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FEATURED RECIPES & TIPS

· Alcohol in Cooking

· 79 Potato Salad Recipes

· 62 Slaw Recipes

· 91 Chicken Salad Recipes

· Guacamole & Avocado Dips

· Original Frank's Redhot Wings

· Ultimate Party Wings

· Meatball Appetizer Recipes

· Crunchy Snack Mixes

· More Appetizer Recipes

· Kick Off Kabobs Recipe

· Sloppy Joe Biscuit Cups

· Avocado Parmesan Potato Bowls

· Bacon Stuffed Portobellos

· Pig Skins

· Cheddar Cheese Straws

· Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Dip

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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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October Food Holidays:

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

OCTOBER is:

· Fair Trade Month

· Grain of the Month: Corn

· National Cranberry Month

· National Apple Month

· National Applejack Month

· National Caramel Month

· National Chili Month

· National Cookbook Month

· National Cookie Month

· National Country Ham Month

· National Dessert Month

· National Eat Better; Eat Together Month

· National Farm to School Month

· National Kitchen and Bath Month

· National Pasta Month

National Pickled Peppers Month
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· National Pizza Month

· National Popcorn Poppin' Month

· National Pork Month

· National Pretzel Month

· National Seafood Month

· National Spinach-Lovers' Month

· National Toilet Tank Repair Month

· Non-GMO Month

· Squirrel Awareness Month

· Vegetarian Awareness Month

· New Zealand Cheese Month

· UK: Seed Gathering Season

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DID YOU KNOW?

According to a survey by the National Pasta Association, 77% of Americans surveyed eat pasta at least once a week, and 1/3 eat pasta 3 or more times a week.

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Friday, October 17, 2025

Daily Trivia Questions are below

TODAY’S FOOD QUOTE

“When you become a good cook, you become a good craftsman, first. You repeat and repeat and repeat until your hands know how to move without thinking about it.” Jacques Pepin
 

FOOD HOLIDAYS - TODAY IS:

• National Pasta Day (Pasta Trivia  --  Pasta Recipes)
  (Pasta Cooking Tips)

• St. Richard Gwyn, patron of large families.

• National School Lunch Week (Oct 13-17, 2025)
  [School Nutrition Association]

• UK: National Baking Week (always Oct 14-20)

• UK: [Coffee Week] (October 13-19, 2025) The nation’s largest celebration of coffee, all for a good cause. (Coffee Trivia ---  Coffee Quotes)

• UK: Seed Gathering Season (Sept 22-Oct 22)
[The Tree Council]  Gather seeds, fruits and nuts which can be nurtured to grow the trees of the future.
 

TODAY IN FOOD HISTORY

1671 The first auction of furs from Hudson Bay took place at Garroway's Coffee House in London, England.

1814 At the Horseshoe Brewery in London the metal bands on a huge beer brewing vat snapped and a tidal wave of 3,555 barrels of Porter beer crashed through the brewery walls, destroying several tenements, and killing 8 people.
(See also The Molasses Flood, Jan 15, 1919)

1937 Donald Duck's three nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie, first appeared in the newspaper comic strip.

1946 Jim Tucker of the music group 'The Turtles' was born.

1963 'Sugar Shack' by Jimmy Gilmer & Fireballs is #1 on the charts.

1977 The Guinness Book of World Records notes that Peter Dowdeswell managed to eat 40 sandwiches in 17 minutes, 53.9 seconds at a California donut shop on October 17, 1977. Each sandwich was 6 X 3 inches, spread with jam and butter.

2000 'Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water' Limp Bizkit's 3rd studio album was released. and debuted at number 1 on the charts.

2006 The U.S. population reached 300 million.

2008 'The Secret Life of Bees' opened in U.S. theatres.

2020 To celebrate its 50th anniversary, Iceland Foods Ltd., a British supermarket chain headquarted in Wales, sent a chicken nugget into space.  In a gas-filled weather balloon, the nugget traveled through the Earth’s atmosphere to an altitude of 110,000 feet.
 

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

October 8-19, 2025  South Carolina State Fair
Columbia, South Carolina

October 10-19, 2025  85th Annual Arkansas State Fair
Little Rock, Arkansas

October 15-18, 2025  Circleville Pumpkin Show
Circleville, Ohio

October 15-19, 2025  New York City Wine & Food Festival - New York, New York

October 16-19, 2025 - 58th Annual World Championship Chili Cook-Off - Indianapolis, Indiana

October 18-19, 2025  59th Annual U.S. National Oyster Festival in St. Mary’s County
St. Mary's County, Maryland

(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?
· Eating Well magazine begins publication.
· Campbell's Soup produces its 20 billionth can of tomato soup.
· Campbell's Soup introduces Cream of Broccoli soup.
· Burger King began using Newman's Own Salad Dressings
· The first McDonald's restaurant in Moscow, Russia opens.

2) The name of this hard cow's milk cheese dates back to about 1840. It originated in North Yorkshire, and at that time had blue veining. Due to changes in production techniques, the blue veining was eliminated, and it is very hard to find the blue veined version today. Name this cheese.

3) These trees are members of the cypress family, and are found throughout the Northern Hemisphere. An essential oil is obtained from the wood, and is used in perfumes and medicines. The fruit have a fragrant, spicy aroma but are too bitter to be eaten fresh.  The dried fruit are used in cooking, soft drinks, and the manufacture of wine and spirits. Tea made from the dried fruit is an old folk hangover cure.  Galls produced on the trees by a fungal infection are commonly known as cedar apples. 
Name this tree and its fruit.

4) What is the name for wines made from white grapes or red grapes with the skins removed?

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?

The endosperm (the inner kernel) of durum wheat is called 'semolina' - ground semolina (flour) is used to make the best quality Italian pasta.  It has a rich yellow color.

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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?

Around 10,000 B.C. man first started eating a crude form of flat bread—a baked combination of flour and water. Ancient Egyptians are usually credited with inventing the oven and discovering yeast leavening. About 3,000 B.C. they started fermenting flour and water mixtures by using wild, air-borne yeast. Eventually they added sugar, salt and flavorings such as poppy and sesame seeds.

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IN SEASON FOR AUTUMN

VEGETABLES
(Recipes  --  Tips)
Beets
Bell Peppers
Broccoli
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Celery
Collard Greens
Cranberries
Garlic
Ginger
Green Beans
Herbs
Kale
Lettuce
Mushrooms
Okra
Onions
Parsnips
Peas
Plantains
Potatoes
Pumpkin
Radishes
Rutabagas
Spinach
Sweet Potatoes & Yams
Swiss Chard
Turnips
Winter Squash

FRUITS (Tips)
Apples
Bananas
Grapes
Kiwifruit
Lemons
Limes
Mangos
Pears
Pomegranates
Raspberries

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DID YOU KNOW?

Goat meat is the most popular red meat in the world, and goats milk the most popular milk source.

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Website last updated on Friday, October 17, 2025