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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 DECEMBER

Updated: Over 9,000 Food Festivals

Football Food  ---  Turkey Recipes

Christmas Articles  ---  Ham Recipes

Christmas Food Trivia

Christmas Tree Trivia

Other Christmas Trivia

Holiday Recipes

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

The Christmas Goose

NORAD SANTA TRACKER

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FEATURED RECIPES & TIPS

· Guacamole & Avocado Dips

· Original Frank's Redhot Wings

· Ultimate Party Wings

· More Appetizer Recipes

· Deep Fried Turkey

· White Castle Turkey Stuffing

· Turkey Stuffings & Dressings

· Classic Green Bean Casserole

· Fresh Cranberry Relish

· Turducken Recipe

· Candied Sweet Potatoes

· Christmas Wreath Cake

· English Mince Meat (1896)

· Cranberry Cheese Bars

· Perfect Gingerbread Men

· Gingerbread Whoopie Pies

· Pfeffernusse Cookies

· Texas State Fair Pecan Pie

· Florida Pecan Pie

· Pumpkin Pie

· Southern Sweet Potato Pie

· Virginia Sweet Potato Pie

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December Food Holidays:

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

DECEMBER is:

• Grain of the Month: Buckwheat
  · Buckwheat Trivia & Facts

• National Egg Nog Month
  · Eggnog Trivia & Facts
  · Egg Nog Recipes

• National Fruit Cake Month
  · Holiday Fruit Cake Recipe
  · Fruitcake Trivia

• Root Vegetables Month
  · Root Vegetable Articles

• National Pear Month: Many fruits are out of season during the winter months. Pears are available fresh during this time.  · Pear Trivia    · Pear Quotes

•  Worldwide Food Service Safety Month
created in 1994 by the National Restaurant Association

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DID YOU KNOW?

In the year 1213, England's King John (1166-1216) ordered 3,000 capons, 1,000 salted eels, 400 hogs, 100 pounds of almonds, and 24 casks of wine for his Christmas festivities.

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Sunday, December 21, 2025

Daily Trivia Questions are below

TODAY’S FOOD QUOTE

“In my experience, clever food is not appreciated at Christmas. It makes the little ones cry and the old ones nervous.”
Jane Grigson
 

FOOD HOLIDAYS - TODAY IS:

• Winter Solstice (2025) - Shortest day of the year.
Winter begins in the Northern Hemisphere, Summer begins in the Southern Hemisphere.

• National Kiwifruit Day (Kiwi Trivia & Facts)

• National Fried Shrimp Day  (Shrimp Trivia)
  (Shrimp Recipes  ---  Shrimp Quotes)

• National Coquito Day (a coconut based alcoholic beverage from Puerto Rico, similar to eggnog)

• Ribbon Candy Day

• Chester Greenwood Day (designated by Maine in 1977 - See Dec 4, 1858)

• Dec 17-23: Saturnalia - Ancient Roman festival honoring Saturn, the god of agriculture and harvest.
 

TODAY IN FOOD HISTORY

1620 The Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock on the 'Mayflower.'  (Bad weather delayed the actual landing until Dec 23).

1837 Joseph McCoy was born (died Oct 19, 1915).  American cattleman, he promoted Abilene, Kansas as a terminus for Texas cattle drives (the Chisholm Trail), shipping the cattle from there by rail to big cities in the Midwest and East. (Cattle Trivia & Facts)

1883 Laurence M. Klauber was born.  Klauber was an American herpetologist and inventor who was a rattlesnake expert.  If you want to know anything or everything about rattlesnakes, see his book ‘Rattlesnakes: Their Habits, Life Histories and Influence on Mankind.’

1913 The 'New York World' published the first crossword puzzle.

1937 Walt Disney's first full length animated film ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ opened in Los Angeles, California. It ran for 83 minutes and cost $1.5 million to make. (The 7: Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy and Sneezy)

1946 Louis Jordan's single, the fast paced and humorous "Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens,” debuted on the rhythm and blues (R&B) charts.

1998 Adelaide Hawley Cumming died.  She was television's original Betty Crocker on the ‘Betty Crocker Show’ premiering in 1949.

1999 David Geske and Len C. Kretchman of Menusaver, Inc. were granted [patent No. 6,004,596] for making a “Sealed Crustless Sandwich” of peanut butter and jelly.  Purchased by Smucker's, the patent was controversial from the start.  After several lawsuits, appeals, and reexaminations the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office issued a certificate canceling all claims on September 25, 2007.
(see also Peanut Butter & Jelly Trivia)
(Peanut Butter Quotes)

2000 Further research leads to the removal of warning labels on products containing Saccharin, a non-nutritive sweetener. See also Nov 23, 1977.
(Saccharin Trivia)

2012 "Y12" - The end of the Long Count Maya Calendar Cycle (5,125.37 years). Despite predictions, the world did not end.
 

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

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 10-22, 2025  The Bracebridge Dinner
Yosemite National Park, California

December 20-29, 2025  NOLA Christmasfest
New Orleans, Louisiana

NEW YEARS EVE EVENTS

(SEE ALL FOOD FESTIVALS and OTHER FOOD EVENTS)
 

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FOOD TRIVIA QUIZ    (new DAILY questions)

SPECIAL CHRISTMAS QUIZZES

1) In what year did Pope Liberius designate December 25 as the official date of Christmas?

2) What Christmas song was composed by Joseph Carleton Beal and James Ross Boothe in 1957, and has since been recorded by more than 25 different artists, including The Platters, Chubby Checker, Johnny Mathis, Dion, George Strait, and Hilary Duff?

3) When was Christmas was declared a federal holiday in the United States?

4) In 1836 what state became the first U.S. state to designate Christmas as a legal holiday?

5) Who wrote the song 'White Christmas'?

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

· Turkey Tips

· Cranberry Tips

· Sweet Potato Tips

· Stringy Sweet Potatoes

· Pecan Tips

· Mashed Potato Tips

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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?

American explorer Zebulon Pike celebrated Christmas (1806) by allowing 'two pounds extra of meat, two pounds extra of flour, one gill of whiskey, and some tobacco, to each man, in order to distinguish Christmas Day.'

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IN SEASON FOR AUTUMN

VEGETABLES
(Recipes  --  Tips)
Broccoli
Brussels Sprouts
Cauliflower
Celery
Collard Greens
Cranberries
Green Beans
Kale
Mushrooms
Okra
Onions
Parsnips
Peas
Potatoes
Pumpkin
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?

In 1843 English businessman Sir Henry Cole commissioned artist John Calcott Horsley to produce the first printed Christmas Cards.

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Website last updated on Sunday, December 21, 2025