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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 OCTOBER

• Updated: Over 9,000 Food Festivals

• Halloween Trivia, Articles & Recipes

• Pumpkin Trivia and Facts

• 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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October Food Holidays:

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

OCTOBER is:

• Fair Trade Month
• Grain of the Month: Corn
• National Apple Month
• National Applejack Month
• National Caramel Month
• National Chili Month
• National Cookbook Month
• National Cookie Month
• National Country Ham Month
• National Cranberry Month
• National Dessert Month
• National Eat Better; Eat Together Month
• National Farm to School Month
• National Kitchen and Bath Month
• National Pasta Month
• National Pickled Peppers Month
• National Pizza Month
• National Popcorn Poppin' Month
• National Pork Month
• National Pretzel Month
• National Seafood Month
• National Spinach-Lovers' Month
• National Toilet Tank Repair Month
• New Zealand Cheese Month
• Non-GMO Month
• Squirrel Awareness Month
• Vegetarian Awareness Month

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DID YOU KNOW?

Melons are in the same gourd family as squashes and cucumbers. Most melons have similar structure to winter squash with thick flesh and inner seed-filled midsection. So what’s the difference between melons and squashes? It’s the way that they’re used. Squashes are considered vegetables, while melons are known as fruits with sweet and juicy flavor.

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Sunday, October 11, 2026

Daily Trivia Questions are below

TODAY’S FOOD QUOTE

“When they talk about healthy food, they usually mean things that don't taste very good.”
Julia Child (1912-2004)
 

FOOD HOLIDAYS - TODAY IS:

• National Sausage Pizza Day
  (Pizza Trivia  --  Pizza Recipes  ---  Pizza Quotes)

• Southern Food Heritage Day

• Feast of St. Gummarus, patron of cowherds.

• UK: [National Curry Week] (Oct 5-11, 2026) Celebrate over 200 years of Indian restaurants in the UK.

• UK: Seed Gathering Season (Sept 21-Oct 21, 2026)
[The Tree Council]  Gather seeds, fruits and nuts which can be nurtured to grow the trees of the future.
 

TODAY IN FOOD HISTORY

1811 The first steam-powered ferryboat began operation between New York City and Hoboken, New Jersey.

1844 Henry John Heinz was born. Founder of the H.J. Heinz company and creator of its slogan '57 varieties.'  (Heinz Trivia & Facts)

1887 The first accurate and practical adding machine patented by Dorr Eugene Felt. (The Comptometer).

1887 Canada: The 1st convention of the North West Farmers' Association opens in Regina, Saskatchewan.

1911 Nathaniel Wyeth was born. Nathaniel Wyeth, American chemist and inventor, received patent for PET (polyethylene terephthalate) beverage bottles. This was the first safe plastic strong enough to hold carbonated beverages.

1919 The first airline meals are served by Handley Page Transport.  Passengers are offered a pre-packed lunch-box, costing 3 shillings, on their London to Paris service.  [Royal Air Force Museum]

1952 'Jambalaya (On The Bayou)' by Hank Williams was number one on the country music charts.

1958 'The Old Man and the Sea' opened in U.S. theatres. Based on Earnest Hemingway's 1952 novel, it is the story of an aging fisherman and starred Spencer Tracy.

1965 Dorothea Lange died (born May 26, 1895).  Documentary photographer, best known for her Depression-era work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA). Her photographs humanized the tragic consequences of the Great Depression and profoundly influenced the development of documentary photography.

1983 The last hand cranked telephones in the United States were taken out of service as the 440 telephone customers in Bryant Pond, Maine were switched over to direct dial service.

1987 A major sonar exploration of Loch Ness in Scotland ends. It failed to find 'Nessie' the world famous Loch Ness monster.

1995 Americans Mario Molina and Sherwood Rowland, and Dutch scientist Paul Crutzen won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for their work warning that CFCs (Chlorofluorocarbons) used in aerosol sprays etc., are eating away Earth's ozone layer.

1996 President Clinton signed Economic Espionage Act of 1996 into law which criminalized misappropriation of trade secrets.
 

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

October 1-November 1, 2026  Arizona State Fair
Phoenix, Arizona

October 8-18, 2026  Mississippi State Fair
Jackson, Mississippi

October 13-17, 2026  Annual Bradford Pumpkin Show
Bradford, Ohio

October 14-17, 2026  La Fκte du Champagne
New York, New York

October 15-17, 2026  81st Annual Peanut Festival
Grapeland, Texas

October 15-18, 2026  World Food Championships
Indianapolis, Indiana

October 15-18, 2026  89th Annual International Rice Festival - Crowley, Louisiana

(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?
· New Jersey Devils hockey coach was suspended for telling the referee to "eat another doughnut you fat pig."
· Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania created a new record setting 4.55 mile long banana split.
· Schiphol airport in Amsterdam opened a special departure lounge for cows.
· McDonald's announced it will be opening 20 Moscow restaurants.

2) The East Coast and West Coast of the U.S. have differing tastes in peanut butter. What are their preferences?

3) What percentage of all pumpkins are sold for food?

4) What are the only major fruits native to North America?

5) What vegetable was an ingredient in mixtures used to attach gold leaf to early works of art?

6) Touted as a new 'super-grain' it really is a very old crop, being native to the Andes and used by the Incas (who called it the 'mother grain'). It really is a super-grain, containing all essential amino acids (other grains lack at least one amino acid), as much protein as meat, and many other essential nutrients. It is prepared like rice. 
What is the name of this grain?
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

A chicken egg shell has as about 17,000 tiny pores on the surface of the shell.
 

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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 AUTUMN (Fall)

VEGETABLES: (Trivia)
(Recipes  --  Tips)
Beets
Bell Peppers
Broccoli
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Celery
Collard Greens
Cranberries
Green Beans
Kale
Lettuce
Mushrooms
Okra
Onions
Parsnips
Peas
Plantains
Potatoes
Pumpkin
Radishes
Rutabagas
Spinach
Sweet Potatoes & Yams
Swiss Chard
Turnips
Winter Squash
 

FRUITS (Tips)
(Trivia)
Apples
Bananas
Grapes
Kiwifruit
Mangos
Pears
Pomegranates
Raspberries

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DID YOU KNOW?

Kentucky hams are made from Hampshire hogs fattened with beans, acorns and clover, and then during their final weeks, their diet is restricted to grain.

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Website last updated on Saturday, October 10, 2026