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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?

Bouillon cubes are compressed, concentrated cubes of dehydrated meat or vegetable stock.  Bouillon cubes were first made commercially in 1882 by Swiss flour manufacturer Julius Maggi. He produced them so the poor living in city slums (who could not afford meat) would have an inexpensive method for making nutritious soup.

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Friday, October 9, 2026

Daily Trivia Questions are below

TODAY’S FOOD QUOTE

Why beer is better than wine: “....human feet are conspicuously absent from beer making.”
Steve Mirsky, Scientific American (May, 2007)
 

FOOD HOLIDAYS - TODAY IS:

• Moldy Cheese Day (Blue Cheese Facts & Trivia)
  (Cheese Quotes)

• Submarine, Grinder, Hoagie, Hero Day
  (Sandwich Trivia  --  Sandwich Recipes  --  Quotes)

• International Beer and Pizza Day

• World Egg Day (Oct 9, 2026 - 2nd Friday)
  [World Egg Organisation]  (Egg Trivia & Facts)
  (Egg Recipes  ---  Egg Quotes)

• Health Care Food Service Workers Week (October 4-10, 2026) [Assoc. for Healthcare Foodservice]

• National 4-H Week (Oct 4-10, 2026) [4-h.org]

• 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

1855 Isaac Merritt Singer was issued the first U.S. patent for a sewing machine motor.
(see also Aug 12, 1851).

1891 Otto Schnering was born (died Jan 10, 1953). Founder of the Curtiss Candy Company in 1916. The company's first candy product was named Kandy Kake, renamed Baby Ruth in 1921. The Butterfinger candy bar was introduced in 1926.

1899 Charles Ranhofer died (born Nov 7, 1836).  Chef at Delmonico's Restaurant in New York City from 1862 to 1896. Wrote cookbook 'The Epicurean' (1894).  (Delmonico’s Trivia & Facts)

1906 Joseph Farwell Glidden died. Glidden, an Illinois farmer, received a patent for the first commercial barbed wire on November 24, 1874. The beginning of the end to open range and the cowboy. Glidden formed the Barb Fence Company with Isaac L. Ellwood, and became one of the wealthiest men in the country.  (Barbed Wire Trivia & Facts)

1917 Clarence Saunders, founder of Piggly Wiggly grocery store chain in Memphis (the first true self-service grocery store), received U.S. Patent #1,242,872 for a 'Self Serving Store'.

1936 The first generator at Boulder Dam (later Hoover Dam) began transmitting electricity to Los Angeles.

1938 Rocky Aoki was born (died July 10, 2008).  Founder of Benihana Japanese Steakhouse restaurant chain.

1941 Carmen Miranda recorded 'The Man with the Lollipop Song.'

1946 'The Iceman Cometh' opened in New York City.

1962 Union Carbide registered 'Glad' trademark for plastic bags.

1985 Strawberry Fields, a 2 1/2 acre garden memorial in New York City's Central Park, was dedicated to John Lennon.

1991 The first Sumo wrestling tournament ever held off Japanese soil in the sport's 1500 year history begins at London's Royal Albert Hall.

1996 World's largest grilled cheese sandwich was made, 3,000 pounds.
(International Grilled Cheese Recipes)

2007 SABMiller and Molson Coors announced an agreement to combine their U.S. operations to create MillerCoors.  U.S. antitrust regulators approved the joint venture on June 5, 2008, and MillerCoors began operation as a combined entity on July 1, 2008.

2012 The last filling of the iconic 6.5 ounce returnable glass Coca Cola bottles was capped in Winona, Minnesota. (Coca-Cola Trivia & Facts)
 

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

October 1-11, 2026 - Tulsa State Fair
Tulsa, Oklahoma

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

October 6-10, 2026  82nd Annual Floresville Peanut Festival - Floresville, Texas

October 8-11, 2026  53rd Annual National Shrimp Festival - Gulf Shores, Alabama

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

October 9-11, 2026  54th Annual Cuero Turkeyfest
Cuero, Texas

October 10-11, 2026  36th World Championship Gumbo Cook-Off - New Iberia, 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?
· Clarence Birdseye introduces the first frozen peas.
· Pream, a powdered nondairy coffee lightener is introduced.
· Colonel Harland Sanders begins to franchise KFC restaurants.
· Sugar Frosted Flakes are introduced by Kelloggs.

2) What transparent, pure form of gelatin was obtained from certain aquatic vertebrates, and was used to clarify wine, in jellies and as an adhesive?

3) This bushy, aromatic plant is native to southern Europe and Asia, and has a pungent, spicy-minty taste. Both the leaves and flowers can be used in salads, soups, fruit salads and teas. It is also used in the production of cordials and liqueurs such as Chartreuse. It is widely grown as an ornamental garden plant, and attracts bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. The name is mentioned in the Bible, (1 Kings 4:33, Psalms 51:7 and John 19:29) but it is most likely a different plant then the one we now know by this name.  Name this plant.

4) What is the name for wines made from white grapes or red grapes with the skins removed?

5) What do the following have in common: Chapatti, Ciabatta, Fry Bread, Gyro Bread, Lavash, Matzoh, Naan, Tortillas, Pizza, Focaccia, Pocket Pita?

6) Who developed the process for making frozen concentrated orange juice?
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 hen requires about 24 to 26 hours to produce one egg, but one hen was reported to have produced 7 eggs in one day.

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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?

Why does Swiss Cheese have holes?
Put simply, during the manufacturing process the particular bacteria that produces the flavor and texture of the cheese also produces carbon dioxide gas as a by product, and these bubbles of gas produce the holes.

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Website last updated on Thursday, October 8, 2026