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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 APRIL

Updated: Over 9,000 Food Festivals

Cinco de May Articles and Recipes

Mother’s Day Articles and Recipes

Fiddleheads: A New England Delicacy
 

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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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April Food Holidays:

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

APRIL is:

• Alcohol Awareness Month (since 1987)

• Defeat Diabetes Month

• Fresh Florida Tomato Month - fresh tomatoes are harvested from every growing district in Florida in April.

• Global Child Nutrition Month

• Grain of the Month: Sprouted Grains

• National B.L.T. Month

• National Garden Month

• National Garlic Month

• National Grange Month - advocates for rural America and Agriculture

• Grilled Cheese Month

• National Pecan Month

• National Soft Pretzel Month

• National Soyfoods Month (Began in 1996 by the Soyfoods Assn of North America)

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DID YOU KNOW?

Cheshire cheese is the oldest cheddar type cheese, and the oldest named cheese in Britain. There are 3 varieties, a white, a 'red' (actually yellow in color) which is dyed with annatto, and a blue-veined variety originally considered undesirable when it occurred accidentally.

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Sunday, April 12, 2026

Daily Trivia Questions are below

TODAY’S FOOD QUOTE

“The fact is that it takes more than ingredients and technique to cook a good meal. A good cook puts something of himself into the preparation -- he cooks with enjoyment, anticipation, spontaneity, and he is willing to experiment.”  Pearl Bailey
 

FOOD HOLIDAYS - TODAY IS:

• National Licorice Day [Licorice International]
  (Licorice Trivia and Facts)

• National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day
  (International Grilled Cheese Recipes)

• Feast of St. Zeno of Verona, patron of anglers, fishermen.

• Corn Festival - Cochumatan Indians, Guatemala

• National Public Health Week: April 6-12, 2026 (1st full week in April) [American Public Health Assoc.]

• Egg Salad Week in 2026 is April 6-12 (week after Easter, March or April) Dedicated to the many delicious uses for all of the Easter eggs that have been cooked, colored, hidden and found.
 

TODAY IN FOOD HISTORY

1748 Antoine-Laurent de Jussieu was born. A French botanist whose ideas formed the foundation of a natural plant classification system.

1837 William Procter, James Gamble started making, soap and candles.

1872 France announced it would permit the commercial sale of margarine.  (Margarine Trivia)

1912 Clara Barton died (born Dec 25, 1821).  Founder of the American Red Cross.

1924 Prohibition ends in Alberta, Canada.

1932 The movie 'Grand Hotel' premiered in New York City (Best Picture of 1932).

1949 United Fruit Co. registered the 'Chiquita Banana' trademark for fresh bananas.
(Banana Trivia & Facts)

1985 The four 'unicorns' of Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus were declared to be only goats with surgically implanted horns by federal inspectors. The circus was ordered to stop advertising them as unicorns.

1988 The first U.S. patent (No. 4,736,866) on an animal life form was issued to Harvard scientists for a genetically engineered mouse.

1988 Singer Sonny Bono (Sonny & Cher) was elected Mayor of Palm Springs, California. Bono, wanted to be mayor because of his frustration over the red tape he encountered when remodeling his Italian Restaurant.

1989 The USSR issued ration cards for sugar due to a shortage.

1990 Three U.S. tuna canneries, StarKist, Chicken of the Sea and Bumble Bee, announced their commitment to ‘dolphin-safe’ tuna-catching practices.
(Tuna Trivia and Facts)

1996 'James and the Giant Peach' opened in U.S. theatres.

2000 Ben & Jerry's Homemade ice cream is acquired by Unilever for $326 million. (See also May 5, 1978)

2001 Maryland banned the farming of genetically modified fish in any waters linked to other bodies of water. (Fish Farming Trivia & Facts)

2020 Coronavirus:  Many U.S. food banks struggle to with unprecedented demand;  In addition to Coronavirus, East Africa threatened by 2nd wave of Locust plague, almost 20 times larger than recent 1st wave;  British bakers reintroduce WWII 'National Loaf,' a nutrient dense whole wheat bread.
 

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

April 2-12, 2026 - Clay County Agricultural Fair
Green Cove Springs, Florida

April 10-11, 2026 - 48th Annual Pig Cookin' Contest
Newport, North Carolina

April 10-12, 2026 - 13th Annual Boudin Festival
Scott, Louisiana

April 10-12, 2026  79th Annual Poteet Strawberry Festival - Poteet, Texas

April 10-19, 2026  Sourdough Bread Festival
Cherry Valley, California

April 11-13, 2026 - Annual World Grits Festival
St. George, South Carolina

(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?
· There are 25,000 pushcarts selling food in New York City.
· Chiclets chewing gum, with a hard sugar coating, are introduced.
· Dos Equis (XX) Mexican Beer was first brewed and was originally named 'Siglo XX'.
· Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar was created.
· Of gainfully employed persons, 38 percent were engaged in agriculture.

2) In most countries this fruit is used more like a vegetable than a fruit. Popular in Latin American, Caribbean and Asian countries, this versatile fruit has three unique stages when it can be eaten. In the first stage, when green, it tastes something like a potato, and the flesh is yellowish or slightly pink. In the middle stage, the skin may have some spots, and it is used as both a vegetable and a fruit. In the final stage, they are frequently all black, and are used in sweet dishes, and may be eaten out of hand. Name this fruit.

3) Do you know what country eats the most frozen food per capita?
  a) U.S.   b) Israel   c) Norway
  d) Belgium   e) Ireland

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

Licorice root contains a substance called glycyrrhizin that is 50 times sweeter than ordinary sugar.

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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?

Rack of lamb is the equivalent of a standing rib roast of beef. It is the portion from which rib chops are cut.

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IN SEASON FOR SPRING

VEGETABLES
(Recipes  --  Tips)
Asparagus
Avocados
Broccoli
Cabbage
Carrots
Celery
Collard Greens
Kale
Lettuce
Mushrooms
Onions
Peas
Plantains
Radishes
Rhubarb
Spinach
Swiss Chard
Turnips

FRUITS (Tips)
Apples
Apricots
Bananas
Blackberries
Kiwifruit
Lemons
Limes
Pineapples
Strawberries

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DID YOU KNOW?

More than one-third of all milk produced each year in the U.S. is used to make cheese.

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Website last updated on Sunday, April 12, 2026