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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 SEPTEMBER

Updated: Over 9,000 Food Festivals

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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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

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DID YOU KNOW?

Cassia (Chinese cinnamon) is the dried bark of a tree in the laurel family, as is cinnamon.  Cinnamon and cassia are closely related, but cassia is stronger and less delicate in flavor. Most of the 'cinnamon' sold in the U.S. is actually cassia.   

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Sunday, September 20, 2026

Daily Trivia Questions are below

TODAY’S FOOD QUOTE

“It is impossible to read English novels without realizing how important a part food plays in the mental as in the physical life of the Englishman.”
Elisabeth Luther Cary (1867-1936)
 

FOOD HOLIDAYS - TODAY IS:

• National Rum Punch Day (Punch Recipes)

• National Pepepperoni Pizza Day ?
  (Pizza Trivia  ---  Pizza Recipes  ---  Pizza Quotes)

• National Fried Rice Day

• National String Cheese Day

• National Queso Day

• St. Eustace's Day, patron of hunters.

• Maine Lobster Week (Sept 19-26, 2026)
  [Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative]
  (Lobster Trivia  ---  Lobster Recipes)

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

TODAY IN FOOD HISTORY

1519 Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan sailed from Spain with 5 ships, in search of a western route to the Spice Islands of Indonesia. After sailing around the tip of South America, Magellan was killed on an island in the Philippines. One of the ships eventually reached the Spice Islands and continued sailing west, reaching Spain on Sept 6, 1522. The first ship to circumnavigate the globe.

1842 Sir James Dewar was born. He invented the 'Dewar Flask,' the original 'thermos bottle'.

1859 George B. Simpson received U.S. patent No. 25,532 for an "electroheater" which could be used for heating or boiling water, etc.

1878 Upton Sinclair was born. His novel, 'The Jungle,' was a detailed horror story about the conditions in the meat packing industry of the time. It led to extensive reforms.

1888 David Marine was born (died Nov 6, 1976). An American pathologist whose research on the treatment of goitre with iodine led to the iodizing of table salt.  (Salt, A Precious Commodity)
(Salt Trivia & Facts  ---  Salt Quotes)

1890 Blues musician 'Jelly Roll' Morton was born.

1891 August Schell died. He founded the August Schell Brewing Company in New Ulm, Minnesota in 1860.

1943 Xavier Marcel Boulestin died (born 1878). French chef, restaurateur, cookbook author. He was also the first TV chef, appearing on the BBC in 1937-1939 in 'Cook's Night Out'.

1969 'Sugar, Sugar' by the Archies hits Number 1 on the charts.

2002 William Rosenberg founder of Dunkin' Donuts died (born June 10, 1916).  (The Dunkin' Donuts website lists his date of death as Sept 22, but numerous newspapers and others list Sept 20).

2018 California becomes 1st state to ban restaurants from automatically handing out plastic straws. The ban includes full-service, dine-in restaurants, but not fast-food restaurants.
 

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

September 19-26, 2026  79th Persimmon Festival
Mitchell, Indiana

September 20-26, 2026  Farmington Fair
Farmington, Maine

September 24-27, 2026  106th Annual Durham Agricultural Fair - Durham, Connecticut

September 24-27, 2026  Chicago Gourmet
Chicago, Illinois

September 24-27, 2026  Annual Alligator Festival
Luling, Louisiana

September 25-26, 2026  34th Annual Coca-Cola Days
Atlantic, Iowa

September 25-27, 2026  Annual Pensacola Seafood Festival - Pensacola, Florida

(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?
· In Ontario a cow named Hanover Hill Barb is sold for $235,000; highest price ever paid for a cow to date.
· In Paris, two California wines won top honors at a tasting by the best of France's wine experts.
· To settle a sex discrimination lawsuit, New York's "21" Club hired its first waitress.
· The $2 bill is reintroduced by the U.S. Treasury.
· The U.S. and Russia both extend their fishing rights to 200 miles offshore.

2) The cucurbits include melons, cucumbers, watermelons, pumpkins, squashes, marrows and zucchini. This particular curcurbit occurs in the wild only in the Himalayas and in lands to the east of those mountains. It was probably domesticated in northern India, and arrived in the Mediterranean area sometime around 500 B.C. This curcurbit is the:
  a) Cucumber.  b) Pumpkin.  c) Cantaloupe.
  d) Watermelon.  e) Zucchini.

3) Although not created the 20th century, this drink probably takes it's name from a Queen of England.
Name this drink and the Queen.

4) A very large smoked sausage (usually pork) from Bologna, Italy, studded with cubes of pork fat, peppercorns and/or pistachios and/or green olives. American bologna (boloney) is a very poor imitation.  It probably dates back to the 15th century, and the original recipes included myrtle.
Name this sausage.

5) Bombay duck (Harpodon nehereus) is not a duck. What is it?
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

Marie Antoinette wife of Louis XV was known to wear potato blossoms as a hair decoration.
 

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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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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

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DID YOU KNOW?

Melons are one of the very few fruits that are never cooked.

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Website last updated on Sunday, September 20, 2026