FoodReference.com Logo

FoodReference.com     (since 1999)

 

HOME   |   Articles   |   Food_Trivia   |   Today_in_Food_History   |   Food_History_Timeline   |   Recipes   |   Cooking_Tips   |   Food_Quotes   |   Who’s_Who   |   Culinary_Schools_&_Tours   |   Trivia_Quizzes   |   Food_Poems   |   Cookbooks   |   Free_Magazines   |   Food_Festivals_&_Events

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 SEPTEMBER

Updated: Over 9,000 Food Festivals

Summer & Picnic Food, Tips & Recipes

Grilling & Barbecue Articles & Recipes

Sports & Tailgating Articles & Recipes

** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
 

 


** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

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
 

** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
 

 


** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

September Food Holidays:

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

SEPTEMBER is:

• Better Breakfast Month
• All-American Breakfast Month
• California Wine Month
• Childhood Obesity Awareness Month
• Family Meals Month
• Hunger Action Month
• National Biscuit Month
• National Bourbon Heritage Month
• National Chicken Month
• National Cholesterol Education Month
• National Food Safety Education Month
• National Fruits & Veggies Month
• National Hazelnut Month
• National Honey Month
• National Mushroom Month
• National Papaya Month (also June)
• National Potato Month
• National Rice Month
• Organic Harvest Month
• Whole Grains Month
• Grains of the Month: Rice & Wild Rice
• Canada: National Organic Month
• Scottish Food & Drink September
• UK: Seed Gathering Season
• UK: Sourdough September
• UK: Sustainable Seafood September

** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

DID YOU KNOW?

• When reading food labels, remember that some of the terms used have no legal definition, and really tell you nothing about the food. Some of the terms with no legal definition are: » 'natural' » 'wholesome' » 'no chemicals' » 'farm fresh' » 'allergy tested' » 'non polluting' & 'original. 
• Look for the legally defined terms, such as: » 'USDA Organic' » 'Fair Trade Certified' » 'Farm-Raised' » 'Wild Caught' » 'No Hormones Administered or Added' » '100% Organic'
 

** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

Thursday, September 17, 2026

Daily Trivia Questions are below

TODAY’S FOOD QUOTE

“Coleridge holds that a man cannot have a pure mind who refuse apple-dumplings. I am not certain but that he is right.”   Charles Lamb (1775-1834)
 

FOOD HOLIDAYS - TODAY IS:

• National Apple Dumpling Day
  (Apple Dumpling Recipes)

• National Paw Paw Day (Sept 17, 2026 - 3rd Thurs)
  (Paw Paw Trivia & Facts  ---  Article about Paw Paw)

• National Monte Cristo Day (Monte Cristo Trivia)

• Australia: [Cupcake Day for the RSPCA]
(Sept 17, 2026)

• [International Housekeepers Week / Environmental Services Week]  (Sept 13-19, 2026 - 2nd full week)

• [Folic Acid Awareness Week] (Sept 13-19, 2026)

• Biscuits and Gravy Week (Sept 13-19, 2026 - 2nd full week in Sept)  (Biscuits & Gravy Article & Recipe)
  (Biscuit History  ---  Biscuit Quotes)

• UK [British Food Fortnight] (Sept 17-Oct 2, 2026)
 

TODAY IN FOOD HISTORY

1836 Antoine-Laurent de Jussieu died. A French botanist whose ideas formed the foundation of a natural plant classification system.

1872 Phillip Pratt of Massachusetts received the first U.S. patent (No. 131,370) for an automatic sprinkler system.

1899 Charles A. Pillsbury, flour magnate, died (born Dec 3, 1842).  (Flour Trivia and Facts)

1900 Hotelier John Willard Marriott was born (died Aug 13, 1985).  Beginning with Hot Shoppe restaurants, then airline catering, and then motels, Marriott built his business into one of the largest, fastest growing, and most profitable hotel and restaurant businesses in the U.S.

1909 Peter Barr died (born April 20, 1826).  Scottish horticulturist popularly known as the “Daffodil King” for his work studying and popularizing this spring flower.

1968 Joseph ‘Joe’ Bastianich was born.  Restaurateur, winemaker and author. He is also a judge on TV cooking shows MasterChef and MasterChef Junior.

1997 'Honey' by Mariah Carey is #1 on the charts.

1999 The movie 'Breakfast of Champions' opened in U.S. theatres.

2002 Elizabeth Coblentz died (born July 18, 1936). Syndicated Amish cooking columnist and cookbook author (The Amish Cook, The Amish Cook Cookbook, An Amish Christmas, etc.).

2018 Australian authorities say six brands of strawberries could contain sewing needles.  In November 2018 a 50-year-old woman was charged with sabotaging the strawberries in an act of workplace revenge.

2024 Boar's Head has permanently discontinued liverwurst, months after the discovery of an ongoing listeria outbreak tied to a 57 hospitalizations across 18 states, including nine deaths.
 

** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

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

September 13-19, 2026  135th Bean Soup Festival & Fair - McClure, Pennsylvania

September 14-20, 2026  Colorado Wine Week
Statewide, Colorado

September 14-20, 2026 - Vermont Cheese Week
Statewide, Vermont

September 16-19, 2026  60th Annual Morton Pumpkin Festival - Morton, Illinois

September 17-20, 2026  King Turkey Day Festival
Worthington, Minnesota

September 18-19, 2026  25th Annual Natchitoches Meat Pie Festival - Natchitoches, Louisiana

September 18-20, 2026  28th Annual Ohio Pawpaw Festival - Albany, Ohio

(SEE ALL FOOD FESTIVALS and OTHER FOOD EVENTS)
 

** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

FOOD TRIVIA QUIZ    (new DAILY questions)

1) All of the following events took place in the same year.  What year is it?
· The first U.S. silver dollar coins were struck and released into circulation.
· The first successful toll road opened, the Lancaster Turnpike.
· Eli Whitney of New Haven, Connecticut patented the Cotton Gin, which separates cotton from the seeds.
· The Whiskey Rebellion. Protesting the federal tax on distilled spirits.

2) What condiment is said to have been created sometime in the late 1820s by Henderson William Brand, the Chef to England's King George IV?

3) What is Balanophagy?

4) A member of the morning glory family, related to the turnip, with flesh the color and texture of waterchestnuts, this tuber has a sweet, nutty flavor. It is native to the Americas, and was introduced into the Philippines and Malaysia in the 17th century. Its use has spread throughout Asia and the Pacific islands. It is great in salads, and is frequently used in stir fries. The crisp white flesh remains crisp after cooking. Only the roots are eaten, as the leaves, stems, ripe pods, and seeds may be poisonous. The mature seeds contain a fairly high concentration of rotenone, an insecticide.
Can you name this vegetable?

5) This vegetable is actually a flower bud.  They contain two compounds, cynarin and chlorogenic acid, that stimulate the sweetness receptors and make everything taste sweeter for a short period of time.  Only some people (about 40-60%) experience this and sensitivity to these compounds.  In 1947, Marilyn Monroe was crowned the first Queen of this vegetable!  They are used to flavor Cynar, a flavored aperitif made in Italy.
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
 

TOP

DID YOU KNOW

The Navy Bean is the official Bean of Massachusetts, and in 1993 the state legislature declared it the original bean of Boston Baked Beans

** ** ** ** ** **

 


** ** ** ** ** **

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'

** ** ** ** ** **

Click Here for
Food Emergency
Websites, Phone #s, E-mails, etc.

 

** ** ** ** ** **

Classic Fish and Seafood Recipes
 

** ** ** ** ** **

IN SEASON FOR SUMMER

VEGETABLES: (Trivia)
(Recipes  --  Tips)
Avocados
Beets
Bell Peppers
Carrots
Celery
Corn
Cucumbers
Eggplant
Garlic
Green Beans
Lima Beans
Okra
Onions
Peas
Plantains
Summer Squash
Tomatillos
Tomatoes
Zucchini
 

FRUITS (Tips)
(Trivia)
Apples
Apricots
Bananas
Blackberries
Blueberries
Cantaloupe
Cherries
Grapes
Honeydew Melon
Mangos
Peaches
Pears
Pineapples
Plums
Raspberries
Strawberries
Watermelon

** ** ** ** ** **

DID YOU KNOW?

California's vineyards were less than 100,000 acres before Prohibition, and by the end of Prohibition had expanded to over 600,000 acres! (1920-1933)

** ** ** ** ** **

  Home   |   About Us & Contact Us   |   Privacy Policy   |   Chef James Biography   |   Bibliography   |   Food Links  

Please feel free to link to any pages of FoodReference.com from your website.

For permission to use any of this content please E-mail: james@foodreference.com

All contents are copyright © 1990 - 2026 James T. Ehler and www.FoodReference.com unless otherwise noted.
All rights reserved.

You may copy and use portions of this website for non-commercial, personal use only.
Any other use of these materials without prior written authorization is not very nice and violates the copyright.

Please take the time to request permission.
 

Website last updated on Thursday, September 17, 2026