Wednesday, December 24, 2025Daily Trivia Questions are below TODAY’S FOOD QUOTE“Hallo! Whoop! How are you! Merry Christmas!”
Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ (1843)
FOOD HOLIDAYS - TODAY IS:• CHRISTMAS EVE “Twas the night before Christmas” Children have visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads. • National EggNog Day (EggNog Recipes)
(see also 1826 below) • St. Adam's Day, patron of gardeners.
TODAY IN FOOD HISTORY1781 Baroness Frederika von Riedesel erects the first Christmas tree in Canada at Sorel, Québec.
(Christmas Tree Trivia) 1809 Kit Carson, American frontiersman, was born. When he died May 23, 1868, his last words were supposedly "Wish I had time for just one more bowl of chili." 1818 Franz Gruber composed the music for ‘Silent Night’ to words written by Josef Mohr. It was sung for the first time at midnight mass in St. Nicholas Church in Oberndorf, Austria. 1822 Clement Moore is thought to have composed his classic poem, "A Visit from St. Nicholas" (now popularly known as "The Night Before Christmas") on December 24, 1822, while traveling home from Greenwich Village, where he had bought a turkey to fill the last of several baskets that his family was accustomed to donating to the poor during the holiday season (see also Dec 23, 1823).
(Complete text of the poem). 1826 'Eggnog Riot' at West Point military academy. When informed that their Christmas eggnog would be alcohol free, cadets in North Barrack No. 5 decided to make their own eggnog with alcohol, for a Christmas eve late night/early morning celebration. Of course it got noisy and they were caught. Shouting and general disorder developed, some swords were drawn, firewood crashed through windows, and at least one shot was fired. The artillery unit stationed at West Point had to be called in to quell the disturbance. In the aftermath 6 cadets resigned, 19 were court marshaled, and many, including a young Jefferson Davis, were confined to quarters for more than a month. 1851 A devastating fire destroyed about 35,000 books in the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. 1914 John Muir died. Muir was a naturalist who was largely responsible for the establishment of Sequoia and Yosemite national parks in California in 1890. 1919 Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller gave away $100 million dollars. 1919 Theophilus Van Kannel died (born 1841), inventor of the revolving door in 1888. 1967 Burt Baskin died (born Dec 17, 1913). Co-founder, with Irv Robbins, of the Baskin-Robbins ice cream parlor chain in 1946 in Glendale, California. 1968 'I Heard It Through The Grapevine' by Marvin Gaye is #1 on the charts. 2003 Canada institutes a partial ban on imported beef from the US, due to a case of mad cow disease (BSE) in a Canadian-born Holstein cow, slaughtered in Washington state. 2005 Michael Vale died (born June 28, 1922). Actor who portrayed 'Fred the Baker' in Dunkin' Donuts commercials and 'Sam Breakstone' in Kraft Foods' dairy commercials. 2006 In the Chicago suburb of Villa Park, thieves stole a semi tractor trailer filled with broccoli. It was valued at $50,000. 2024 President Joe Biden signed a bill officially designating the bald eagle as the national bird.
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** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** 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)
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** FOOD TRIVIA QUIZ (new DAILY questions)SPECIAL CHRISTMAS QUIZZES1) How many gifts in total were given in “The Twelve Days of Christmas” song? 2) Three of Santa’s reindeer’s names begin with the letter “D.” What are those names? 3) What popular Christmas song was actually written for Thanksgiving? 4) What phrase was made popular by Ebenezer Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol”? 5) What color are the berries of mistletoe? Click Here for Today’s Quiz Answers ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** 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
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** 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
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