Tuesday, August 18, 2026Daily Trivia Questions are below TODAY’S FOOD QUOTE“Chardonnay is a red wine masquerading as a white, and Pinot Noir is a white wine masquerading as a red.”
Andrι Tchelistcheff, winemaker (1901-1994)
FOOD HOLIDAYS - TODAY IS: National Ice Cream Pie Day (Ice Cream Recipes) National Pinot Noir Day (Wine) National Fajita Day
TODAY IN FOOD HISTORY1587 Virginia Dare was born on Roanoke Island, North Carolina, the first English child born in the New World. However, when a ship with relief supplies returned 3 years later, the colony was abandoned and no trace of the colonists was ever found. 1850 Honore de Balzac died. French author. Balzac would lock himself away during creative bursts, drinking coffee and eating only fruit and eggs. When he finally took a break, he was known to consume huge quantities of food. One report recalls that at the Vιry restaurant he consumed at one sitting 'a hundred Ostend oysters, twelve cutlets of salt-meadow mutton, a duck with turnips, two partridges and a Normandy sole,' not to mention the desserts, fruit and liqueurs he finished up with. 1872 Montgomery Ward published the first mail order catalog. It consisted of one page and listed more than 150 items for sale. 1891 The first rainmaking experiments in the U.S. were conducted near Midland, Texas. Robert Dyrenforth set off explosive balloons and artillery to try to make rainclouds. It was thought that the smoke, dust and air disturbances might produce rain. It didn’t. (Rain Trivia) 1929 Attracted by the smell of food in the coffee shop, a 350 pound bear breaks into the lounge of the Hotel Duluth in Minnesota. Police are forced to shoot it when efforts to capture or drive off the bear fail. 1953 Four cows in Stearns county Minnesota were picked up by a tornado and set down unharmed. 2004 It was reported that it rained fish at about 2:30 p.m. in Shropshire, western England. 2010 The USDA expanded a recall of eggs from two Iowa producers to 380 million eggs nationwide after they were linked to an outbreak of salmonella poisoning. (A much smaller initial recall was issued on August 13). The massive recall was expanded to more than half-billion eggs by August 20. More than 1,000 people had been sickened. 2020 A brown bear apparently craving junk food crawled into a California Safeway grocery store and left with a bag of Tostitos chips in its mouth.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** August 7-23, 2026 - Indiana State Fair
Indianapolis, Indiana August 15-22, 2026 Washington County Agricultural Fair - Washington, Pennsylvania August 18-22, 2026 180th Vermont State Fair
Rutland, Vermont August 19-22, 2026 149th Arkansas Valley Fair
Rocky Ford, Colorado August 20-23, 2026 Lexington Blueberry Festival
Lexington, Ohio August 21-September 7, 2026 Alaska State Fair
Palmer, Alaska August 22-23, 2026 Annual Banana Split Celebration
Latrobe, Pennsylvania (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 population of the U.S. is now 179,323,175. Farmers are 8.3% of the labor force.
· The first Hardee's restaurant opened in Greenville, North Carolina.
· Domino's Pizza was founded.
· Frozen bagels were introduced.
· Granny Smith apples were first imported from New Zealand and sold in the U.S. 2) The fruit of this tree grows directly on the trunk and looks like a small melon. Inside, the pulp contains 20 to 50 seeds or 'beans'. It takes about 400 of these 'beans' to make a pound of finished product. Name the tree and the finished product. 3) Name the herb variously described as: slightly soapy; like parsley but tangier; citrusy, biting tang; fragrant; zesty; muddy; a mixture of cumin and caraway; stinky bed bug flavor; smells and tastes of chemicals; pungent; unforgettably pungent; sharp, strong, earthy; sage citrus flavor; clean and distinct flavor; orange peel-like aroma; sweet flavor; slight numbing quality; like wood bugs'; wild and uncharacterizable. 4) What fish stew originated with Portuguese and Italian fishermen in San Francisco, California, consisting of fish and shellfish cooked with garlic, tomato and white wine?
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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