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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 MAY

Updated: Over 9,000 Food Festivals

Grilling & Barbecue Articles & Recipes

Summer & Picnic Food, Tips & 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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May Food Holidays:

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

MAY is:

• American Cheese Month

• Celiac Disease Awareness Month

• Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month

• Grain of the Month: Amaranth

• International Mediterranean Diet Month

• National Artisan Gelato Month

• National Barbecue Month

• National Egg Month

• National Hamburger Month

• National Salad Month

• National Salsa Month

• National Strawberry Month (also the start of peak California Strawberry season.)

• National Tavern Month (since 1953)

• National Vinegar Month

• World Trade Month (since 1935)

• UK: National Asparagus Month

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DID YOU KNOW?

There are about 7,000 cherries on an average tart cherry tree (the number varies depending on the age of the tree, weather and growing conditions), and it takes about 250 cherries to make a cherry pie, so each tree potentially could produce enough cherries for 28 pies.

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Tuesday, May 26, 2026

Daily Trivia Questions are below

TODAY’S FOOD QUOTE

“The ambition of every good cook must be to make something very good with the fewest possible ingredients.”   Urbain Dubois (1818-1901)
 

FOOD HOLIDAYS - TODAY IS:

• National Blueberry Cheesecake Day
  (48 Cheesecake Recipes  |  Cheesecake Baking Tips)

• National Cherry Dessert Day  (Cherry Trivia & Facts)
  (Cherry Cake Recipes  --  Cherry Pie Recipes)
 

TODAY IN FOOD HISTORY

1647 Alse Young of Windsor becomes the first person on record to be executed for witchcraft in the American colonies, when she is hanged in Hartford, Connecticut.

1818 Urbain Dubois was born (died March 14, 1901).  French chef, author of many cookbooks, but especially 'La cuisine classique' (1856).  Served as chef to Prince Alexey Orlov and Prince William of Prussia.

1864 Montana becomes a U.S. territory.
(Montana Food Trivia)

1885 Dorothea Lange was born (died Oct 11, 1965).  Documentary photographer, Lange is best known for her Depression-era work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA).

1908 Shortly after 4:00 am, Canadian drillers working for the Anglo-Persian Oil Company make the first major oil discovery in the Middle East at Masjid-i-Suleiman (in present day Iran).

1923 James Arness was born.  Best known as Marshal Matt Dillon on the TV series 'Gunsmoke,' he also played the creature in the 1951 movie 'The Thing from Another World.'  The creature was a vegetable based alien life form, a “super intellectual carrot.”

1927 The last Model T Ford rolled off the assembly line. 15 million Model T's were produced from 1908 to 1927. Known as the ‘Tin Lizzie.’

1950 Fuel rationing ends in the UK.  Petrol rationing was first imposed at the onset of World War II in September 1939.

1955 Morimoto Masaharu was born in Hiroshima, Japan.  Masaharu is a well known Japanese Chef, and was the last Japanese Iron Chef on the TV show, Iron Chef (late 1990s).  He now has his own restaurant, Morimoto in Philadelphia.

1971 Don Maclean recorded 'American Pie'.

1979 'Reunited' by Peaches & Herb is #1 on the charts.

1993 Parliament approves Canada's participation in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). NAFTA will become effective on January 1, 1994.

1995 Isadore 'Friz' Freleng died (born Aug 21, 1906).  Cartoon animator, he created or developed cartoon characters Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Sylvester the Cat, and Tweety Bird.

1998 The U.S. Supreme Court rules that Ellis Island - historic gateway for millions of immigrants - is mainly in New Jersey, not New York.

1999 Waldo Lonsbury Semon died.  Semon was an American Inventor who is credited with the invention of Vinyl.  Vinyl is the 2nd most used plastic in the world.  Semon held over 100 patents.

2000 Legislation in San Francisco banning discrimination based on Height or Weight became effective. (see also May 8, 2000).

2010 In Greece, a horde of millions of frogs forced the 2 hour closure of a major highway east of Thessaloniki.

2020 Coronavirus:  Despite increased precautions meat industry workers still getting sick.
 

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

May 27-30, 2026  35th Annual Erie's Wild Rib Cook Off & Music Festival - Erie, Pennsylvania

May 28-30, 2026  Mentone Egg Festival
Mentone, Indiana

May 29-30, 2026  Mike The Headless Chicken Festival
Fruita, Colorado

May 29-31, 2026  5th Annual Windy City Hot Dog Fest
Chicago, Illinois

May 30-31, 2026  14th Annual Minnesota Grillfest
St. Paul, Minnesota

(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?
· The luxury Boston Ritz-Carlton hotel opened. Room rates were $15.
· Imperial Airways became the first British airline to serve hot meals.
· Edwin E. Perkins of Hastings, Nebraska invented the powdered soft drink Kool-Aid.

2) This skim milk cheese dates back to at least the 13th century and may date even to the 11th century. It is made only from April 1 through November 11 each year with milk from cows that have been feeding on fresh pasture. Most of the cream is skimmed from the milk which is then cooked in copper containers, pressed in cheesecloth lined molds, salted in brine and then allowed to mature.
Name this cheese.

3) Dr. Jonas Salk used a food service machine in his laboratory while he was working on the Salk Polio vaccine.
Can you name the specific machine he used?
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

There are more than 1,000 varieties of cherries in the United States, but fewer than 10 are produced commercially.

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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?

Blueberries and huckleberries although related, are not the same. One obvious difference is that the blueberry has many soft, tiny almost unnoticeable seeds, while the huckleberry has ten larger, hard seeds. Blueberries are also more blue, while huckleberries are blackish blue or redish black. This red/black variety is also called southern cranberry.

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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?

Dried locusts are about 75% protein and 20% fat.

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Website last updated on Tuesday, May 26, 2026