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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 JANUARY

• Updated: Over 9,000 Food Festivals

• Valentine’s Day Recipes

• Football Food Articles

• Buffalo Chicken Game Day Recipes

• Guacamole & Avocado Dips

• Meatball Appetizer 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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January Food Holidays:

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

JANUARY is:

• Be Kind To Food Servers Month

• Bread Machine Baking Month
  · Bread Recipes  · Bread Trivia
  · Bread Quotes

• [Family Fit Lifestyle Month]

• [National Fiber Focus Month]
   · Fiber Facts & Trivia

• [National Hot Tea Month]
  · Tea Trivia & History
  · Tea Quotes

• National Meat Month
  · Meat Trivia  · Meat Quotes)

• [National Soup Month]
  · Soup Recipes  · Soup Trivia
  · Soup Quotes

• Oatmeal Month
• Grain of the Month: Oats (More oatmeal is eaten in January than any other month)
  [Whole Grains Council]  · Oat Trivia

• Prune Breakfast Month

• [Wheat Bread Month]
  · Bread Recipes  · Bread Trivia
  · Bread Quotes

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DID YOU KNOW?

Cashews are native to the Americas, but widely cultivated in  India and Africa since the 16th century. You never see cashews for sale in the shell because between the outer and inner shells covering the nut is an extremely caustic oil. The outer shell must be roasted or burned off with the oil (the smoke is also an irritant). The kernels are then boiled or roasted again, and a second shell is removed.

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Friday, January 23, 2026

Daily Trivia Questions are below

TODAY’S FOOD QUOTE

“Men may come and men may go.....but Pie goes on for ever.”  George Augustus Sala
 

FOOD HOLIDAYS - TODAY IS:

• National Pie Day (Pie Trivia & Facts  --  Pie Recipes)
  (The Perfect Pie Crust  ---  Pie Quotes)

• National Rhubarb Pie Day
  (Rhubarb Facts, Trivia, Tips)

• St. Bernard of Vienne, patron of farm workers and field hands.

• Fresh Squeezed Juice Week  (begins 3rd Sun - Jan 18-24, 2026)

• Healthy Weight Week (Jan 18-24, 2026· - 3rd week)
  (Healthy Diets & Dieting Articles  ---  Diet Quotes)
 

TODAY IN FOOD HISTORY

1803 Arthur Guinnesss died (born Sept 28, 1725?). Irish brewer, founder of the Guinness brewery.

1806 William Pitt 'The Younger' died. At 46, Pitt was the youngest British Prime Minister. There is some disagreement over his last words. Some say they were ‘Oh, my country! how I love my country!’. Others claim he said ‘Oh, my country! how I leave my country!’; or ‘My country! oh, my country!’; or my favorite, ‘I think I could eat one of Bellamy’s veal pies.’

1832 French painter Ιdouard Manet was born on this day in 1842. His first significant painting was 'The Absinthe Drinker.' He was an associate of the Impressionists. (Absinthe Trivia and Facts)

1862 Agoston Haraszthy de Mokcsa brought 1,400 varieties of grapevines from Europe to California in 1862, and planted the first large vineyard in California in the Sonoma Valley. After the phyloxera blight destroyed much of Europe’s vineyards, some of these same vines, now on resistant American root stock, helped save the European wine industries.
(Phylloxera Vastatrix, Deadly Vine Disease)

1890 Cordelia (Hornaday) Knott was born (died April 23, 1974). Co-founder, with her husband Walter, of Knott's Berry Farm in California. Their farm evolved from growing and selling berries from a roadside stand into the oldest and one of the largest theme amusement parks in the U.S.

1919 Ernie Kovacs, innovative comedian, was born. One of Kovacs' first TV appearances was in Philadelphia in 1950 with a chef, Albert Mathis from the Gulph Mills Country Club, in a live unrehearsed cooking show titled 'Deadline for Dinner.'
(TV Chefs Trivia & Facts)

1931 Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova died. A famous dessert of Australian or New Zealand origin was named for her. It is a meringue with whipped cream and fruit. (Please, no more email on this subject - both countries have strong supporters for the origin, and in an effort at compromise, I have split the credit with both.)

1957 *Production of the Pluto Platter began (renamed Frisbee in 1958)  See Sept 30, 1958 for patent. The pie tins of the Frisbie Pie Company in Connecticut were the inspiration for the creation of the Frisbee.  *Many sources give Jan 13 as the date. I am not sure which is correct.

1961 Wilhelm Koppers died. This cultural anthropologist developed theories on the origins of society based on studies of hunter-gatherer tribes.

1963 Three million gallons of soybean oil flooded streets in Mankato, Minnesota when a storage tank ruptured. Eventually the oil ended up in the Mississippi River. In the spring, more than 10,000 ducks were found dead in the wetlands along the river. (Soybean Trivia)

1971 The coldest temperature ever recorded in the U.S. was recorded at Prospect Creek Camp on the Alaskan Pipeline in northern Alaska - minus 80 degrees F.

1977 Toots Shor died (born May 6, 1903). American restaurateur, Toots Shor's Restaurant was a gathering place for New York celebrities during the 1940s and 1950's.

1997 Richard Berry, composer of 'Louie Louie' died (born April 11, 1935). [Wikipedia]

1999 Jay Arthur Pritzker died (born Aug 26, 1922).  Purchased the Hyatt House motel hotel near Los Angeles International Airport from Hyatt von Dehn in 1957.  This was the beginning of Hyatt Hotels luxury hotel corporation.  (see also May 21, 1915).

2020 China announces a quarintine of Wuhan province due to the Coronavirus.
 

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

January 1-31, 2026 - Napa Valley Restaurant Month
Napa Valley, California

January 20-Feb 12, 2026  NYC Restaurant Week
New York, New York

January 22-February 1, 2026  140th Saint Paul Winter Carnival - St. Paul, Minnesota

January 23-February 1, 2026  Baltimore Restaurant Week - Baltimore, Maryland

January 24-25, 2026 - The Chocolate Expo
Wilmington, Massachusetts

January 24-25, 2026  Port St. Lucie Seafood Festival
Port St. Lucie, Florida

January 24-25, 2026  20th Annual Portland Seafood & Wine Festival - Portland, Oregon

(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 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) What is the common name for roasted buckwheat groats (or a porridge made from them) in Eastern European countries?

3) What citrus fruit is named after a human body part?

4) What are the two most cultivated fruit trees in the world?

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

In countless surveys, Apple Pie has been chosen the favorite dessert in the United States. Apple pie has also been a favorite in England for hundreds of years.

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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?

Green goddess dressing was created by the chef at San Francisco's Palace Hotel during the 1920s.  It was created in honor of actor George Arliss who was appearing in a play called 'Green Goddess'.  This classic dressing is a blend of mayonnaise, minced anchovies, chives, tarragon, parsley, scallions, and garlic.

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IN SEASON FOR WINTER

VEGETABLES
(Recipes  --  Tips)
Avocados
Beets
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots
Celery
Collard Greens
Kale
Leeks
Onions
Parsnips
Plantains
Potatoes
Pumpkin
Rutabagas
Sweet Potatoes & Yams
Swiss Chard
Turnips
Winter Squash

FRUITS (Tips)
Apples
Bananas
Grapefruit
Grapes
Kiwifruit
Lemons
Limes
Oranges
Pears
Pomegranates

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DID YOU KNOW?

SHOO-FLY PIE
This is a Pennsylvania Dutch pie with a molasses and/or brown sugar filling. The name supposedly comes from having to shoo the flys away from this very sweet pie.

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Website last updated on Friday, January 23, 2026