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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 JULY

Updated: Over 9,000 Food Festivals

Fourth Of July And Food

Summer & Picnic Food, Tips & Recipes

Grilling & Barbecue Articles & Recipes

Sports & Tailgating Articles & 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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July Food Holidays:

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

JULY is:

• Air Conditioning Appreciation Days (July 3 to Aug 15)

• Grain of the Month: Wheat

• Lasagna Awareness Month

• National Baked Bean Month

• National Blueberry Month (Since 1974)

• National Culinary Arts Month - since 2002.

• National Grilling Month

• National Horseradish Month

• National Hot Dog Month

• National Ice Cream Month [Presidential Proclamation: 1984, President Ronald Reagan]

• National Picnic Month

• National Pickle Month

• National Watermelon Month

• UK: [National Fishing Month] (July 25-Aug 30, 2026)

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DID YOU KNOW?

Black-eyed Beans (Peas) have a scented aroma, creamy texture and distinctive flavor. These beans are characterized by their kidney shaped, white skin with a small black eye and very fine wrinkles. Originally from Africa, it is one of the most widely dispersed beans in the world. Black-eyed peas are really a type of pea, which gives it its distinctive flavor and rapid cooking potential, with no pre-soaking needed.

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Friday, July 3, 2026

Daily Trivia Questions are below

TODAY’S FOOD QUOTE

“The highlight of my childhood was making my brother laugh so hard that food came out of his nose.”   Garrison Keillor
 

FOOD HOLIDAYS - TODAY IS:

• International Plastic Bag Free Day Dedicated to spreading the word that a plastic bag free world is possible and that sound environmental alternatives to single use plastic bags are available.

• Air Conditioning Appreciation Days (Annually July 3 to Aug 15)

• National Fried Clam Day (see 1916 below)
  (Fried Clams Recipe  ---  Trivia  ---  Clam Quotes)

• National Chocolate Wafer Day

• National Eat Beans Day  (Bean Recipes)
  (Bean Trivia  ---  Bean Quotes)

• Canada's National Fishing Week (June 27-July 5, 2026) [Canadian National Sportfishing Foundation]
 

TODAY IN FOOD HISTORY

1608 In Canada, the city of Quebec was founded by Samuel de Champlain.

1806 Michael Keens presented the first cultivated strawberry combining flavor and appearance, at the Royal Horticultural Society. ".... I have for a considerable time employed myself in raising new varieties from seed, which has been not only a source of great amusement to me, but also very profitable in my profession."  (Strawberry Trivia)

1844 The last pair of Great Auks was killed near Iceland. They had been hunted to extinction for food and bait. Great Auks (Garefowl) were almost 3 feet tall, with short wings, similar to penguins. They were flightless, which made them vulnerable to hunters.

1857 Anna Maria Russell, 7th Duchess of Bedford died (born Sept. 3, 1783). Originator of British Afternoon Tea during the late 1830s.
[AfternoonTea.co.uk]

1890 Idaho became the 43rd state, the Potato State.
(Idaho Trivia & Facts)

1908 M.F.K. Fisher (Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher) was born (died June 22, 1992).  Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher was an American food critic and writer and the author of various articles, essays and books about food. She also translated Brillat-Savarin's 'The Physiology of Taste' in 1949.

1916 Lawrence ‘Chubby’ Woodman is said to have invented the fried clam at his concession stand in Essex, Massachusetts.  A local fisherman who liked Woodman's homedmade potato chips, suggested he fry up some of his clams.
(see [New England Historical Society website] for details.)

1922 ‘Fruit Garden & Home Magazine' was founded. Two years later it was renamed ‘Better Homes & Gardens’.

1924 Clarence Birdseye, with the financial backing of W. Hodges, W. Gamage, B. Jones, I.L. Rice and J.J. Barry, founded the General Seafood Corporation. The birth of the frozen food industry.
See also March 6, 1930.  (Clarence Birdseye Bio)

1929 Unusual uses for kitchen appliances: Foam rubber was developed at Dunlop Laboratories. British scientist E.A. Murphy used a kitchen mixer to whip natural latex rubber.

1985 The honey bee was designated the official state insect of Missouri on July 3, 1985.
(Honeybee Trivia  ---  Missouri Trivia & Facts)

2004 An Estonian couple won the World Wife-Carrying Championships in the remote village of Sonkajarvi in Finland. The prize includes the wife's weight in beer and a portable sauna.
[Sonkajarvi website]

2005 Gaylord Nelson died (born June 4, 1916)  Former senator and governor of Wisconsin. He was the founder of Earth Day in 1970, and helped spawn modern environmental activism.
(see Earth Day: April 22).

2009 The movie 'I Hate Valentine’s Day' opened in U.S. theaters.

2019 Frankfort, Kentucky:  A Jim Beam warehouse with about 45,000 barrels of bourbon was destroyed by a massive fire. Firefighters from four counties responded.. No injuries were reported.  The whiskey destroyed represented only about 1% of Jim Beam's bourbon inventory.  (Bourbon Trivia & Facts)

2020 Coronavirus: Walmart converting 160 of its parking lots into Drive-In Movie Theaters.
 

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

June 19-July 12, 2026  Alameda County Fair
Alameda County Fairgrounds, California

July 1-5, 2026 - Key Lime Festival - Key West, Florida

July 2-5, 2026 - 79th Annual Fishin' Fiesta
Freeport, Texas

July 3-4, 2026 - Taste of Minnesota - Minneapolis, MN

July 4, 2026 - Nathan's Famous International Hot Dog-Eating Contest - Coney Island, New York

July 4-11, 2026  170th Gibson County Fair
Princeton, Indiana

July 4-11, 2026 - 100th National Cherry Festival
Traverse City, Michigan

(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?
· Procter & Gamble introduces Jif Peanut Butter.
· The first completely enclosed shopping mall, Southdale Shopping Center opens in Edina, Minnesota
· At a Fourth of July family picnic, Milton Levine came up with the idea for the Ant Farm.
· Del Monte Pineapple Grapefruit Drink was introduced

2) Pick it, wash it, hollow it out, fill it with cream or milk and bake it whole. What is it, and what pie evolved from this recipe?

3) The jack-o-lantern, or carved pumpkin was originally made from what vegetable?

4) Who is the world's largest purchaser of beef?
  a) U.S. Military.  b) McDonald's.  c) Burger King.
  d) Walmart.  e) Japan.
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

North Dakota grows more sunflowers than any other state (over 1 billion pounds annually - about 1/2 U.S. total production)

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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?

The American Quahog is an edible hard-shell clam of the Atlantic coast of North America. Also known as cherrystone, littleneck  and hard-shell clam.  The Ocean Quahog is a large deep water clam with a mahogany brown shell, also known as mahogany clam and black quahog.

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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?

In 1987 Rhode Island adopted the Quahog (Clam)  (Mercenaria mercenaria) as the Official State Shell.

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Website last updated on Friday, July 3, 2026