Friday, May 23, 2025Daily Trivia Questions are below TODAY’S FOOD QUOTE“On a hot day in Virginia, I know nothing more comforting than a fine spiced pickle, brought up trout-like from the sparkling depths of the aromatic jar below the stairs of Aunt Sally's cellar.” Thomas Jefferson FOOD HOLIDAYS - TODAY IS:• National Taffy Day • International Heritage Breeds Week (May 18-24, 2025) [Livestock Conservancy] • UK: British Sandwich Week (May 19-25, 2025) [The British Sandwich Association] (Sandwich Trivia) (Sandwich Recipes --- Sandwich Quotes) TODAY IN FOOD HISTORY1707 Carolus Linnaeus was born. He was a Swedish botanist who developed the 2 name or binomial system for defining and naming plants. 1725 Robert Bakewell was born (died, October 1, 1795). Bakewell was an agriculturalist who helped revolutionize cattle and sheep breeding in England. He obtained the best animals he could find and then worked with a closed herd, inbreeding only superior animals. 1774 Residents of Chestertown, Maryland react to news of the Boston Tea Party by staging a similar protest, dumping a shipment of tea into the Chester River. 1788 South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. (South Carolina Food Trivia) 1820 James Buchanan Eads was born (died March 8, 1887). Created special boats and a diving bell for salvaging goods from sunken riverboats on the Mississippi river. He also created a jetty system on the Mississippi for New Orleans which used the river's flow to cut its channel deeper enabling year round navigation. 1868 Kit Carson, American frontiersman, died. His last words were supposedly "Wish I had time for just one more bowl of chili." 1911 The New York Public Library, the largest marble structure ever constructed in United States, was officially dedicated by President William Howard Taft. The beaux-arts building, located on Fifth Ave. between 40th and 42nd Streets, cost $9 million and took 14 years to complete. 1922 Thomas Edison patented a method for making metal foils. 1933 Max Wasserberg of Brooklyn, New York received a patent for a Collapsible Beach and Lawn Chair. 1939 William Underwood Company registered "Underwood" trademark for canned deviled ham. 1950 Frederick M. Jones was issued U.S. patent No. 2,509,099 for a "System for controlling the operation of refrigeration units". 1960 Georges Claude died (born Sept 24, 1970). A French engineer, he invented the neon light, commonly used for signs. 1968 'Yummy, Yummy, Yummy' by the Ohio Express is #1 on the charts. 2016 Archaeologists uncovered a 5,000-year-old brewery in the Central Plain of China. It is the oldest beer-making facility ever discovered in China. Residue from inside the uncovered pots and funnels included a mix of fermented grains: broomcorn millet, barley and Job's tears, a chewy Asian grain also known as Chinese pearl barley. The beer 'recipe' also called for tubers, which were added to sweeten and flavor the beer. (As reported in the journal 'Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences'). (Beer Trivia & Facts) 2020 Coronavirus: The Minnesota State Fair is canceled for 2020; Coronavirus still causing problems at meat and poultry plants. ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** May 22-25, 2025 58th Annual Jambalaya Festival Gonzales, Louisiana May 23-25, 2025 BottleRock Napa Valley Music & Food Festival - Napa, California May 23-25, 2025 Blue Crab Festival - Palatka, Florida May 23-25, 2025 Mudbug Madness Shreveport, Louisiana May 24-25, 2025 84th Happy Valley Strawberry Festival - Anderson, California May 25, 2025 Annual Soft Shell Festival Crisfield, Maryland May 24-26, 2025 Annual Taste of Cincinnati Cincinnati, Ohio (SEE ALL FOOD FESTIVALS and OTHER FOOD EVENTS) ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** FOOD TRIVIA QUIZ (new DAILY questions)1) All of the following events took place in the same year. What year is it? · The U.S. population is 38,558,371. · Farmers are 53% of the labor force. · The U.S. produces 30 million cans of food. · Christmas is declared a federal holiday in the U.S. 2) The cultivation of this plant originated somewhere in Europe or the Middle East, relatively recently compared with other cereal crops. Its cultivation was probably encouraged by the increasing use of horses in farming, sometime before 2000 B.C. The Romans knew of it, but considered it a weed, and it was probably originally discovered growing as such with other cereal crops. Accidentally harvested with other crops, its value was eventually discovered and it was cultivated as a crop in its own right. By the 17th century it had become an important crop in northern Europe, but most other countries looked upon it as a weed, or an animal fodder crop. Until recently (19th century), it was still a basic food crop in certain European countries. World production is over 50 million tons annually, with Russia growing almost one-half of the total. Only about 5% of world production is used for human food. Because it contains a natural antioxidant, fatty foods, such as potato chips, nuts and coffee are processed with its flour or are dusted with it prior to packaging. Other foods such as chocolate, peanut butter and margarine have its flour as an ingredient for the same reason. Name this crop. 3) This member of the family of Cruciferous vegetables, is a Eurasian plant, most likely a native of Asia. It was probably domesticated in China over 3,000 years ago, and possibly also the eastern Mediterranean area. The Egyptians pressed oil from their seeds (before the arrival of olive oil), and were part of the food rations of the workers who built the pyramids. They were also a popular snack food in ancient Rome, although Pliny (in Historia Naturalis) thought it "a vulgar article of the diet" with a "remarkable power of causing flatulence and eructation." Name this plant. Click Here for Today’s Quiz Answers ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** 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 ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** 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 |