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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 NOVEMBER

• Updated: Over 9,000 Food Festivals

• Football Food

• Thanksgiving Facts & Trivia

• Thanksgiving Articles

• Thanksgiving Recipes

• Turkey Recipes   • Turkey Tips

• Turkey Trivia   • Turkey Quotes

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FEATURED RECIPES & TIPS

· Guacamole & Avocado Dips

· Original Frank's Redhot Wings

· Ultimate Party Wings

· More Appetizer Recipes

· Deep Fried Turkey

· White Castle Turkey Stuffing

· Turkey Stuffings & Dressings

· Classic Green Bean Casserole

· Fresh Cranberry Relish

· Turducken Recipe

· Candied Sweet Potatoes

· Christmas Wreath Cake

· English Mince Meat (1896)

· Cranberry Cheese Bars

· Perfect Gingerbread Men

· Gingerbread Whoopie Pies

· Pfeffernusse Cookies

· Texas State Fair Pecan Pie

· Florida Pecan Pie

· Pumpkin Pie

· Southern Sweet Potato Pie

· Virginia Sweet Potato Pie

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November Food Holidays:

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

NOVEMBER is:

• American Diabetes Month

• Eat Smart Month

• Grains of the Month: Millet and Teff

• International Thank a Farmer Month

• National Bison Month
  America's National Mammal
  · Bison Facts and Trivia

• National Georgia Pecan Month
  · Pecan Facts and Trivia
  · Pecan Tips

• National Peanut Butter Lovers' Month
  · Peanut Butter Trivia

• National Pepper Month (the vegetable)
  · Peppers Facts and Trivia
  · Sweet Pepper Tips

• National Pomegranate Month
  · Pomegranate Facts & Trivia
  · Pomegranate Tips

• National Roasting Month
  · Roasting Articles

• National Raisin Bread Month
  · Bread Trivia and Facts

• Sweet Potato Awareness Month
  · Sweet Potato Trivia
  · Sweet Potato Recipes
  · Sweet Potato Nutrition
  · Sweet Potato Articles
  · Sweet Potato Tips
  · Stringy Sweet Potatoes

• World Vegan Month
  · Vegan Recipes

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DID YOU KNOW?

Blueberries and huckleberries although related, are not the same. One obvious difference is that the blueberry has many soft, tiny almost unnoticeable seeds, while the huckleberry has ten larger, hard seeds. Blueberries are more blue, while huckleberries are more blueish black.

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Wednesday, November 19, 2025

Daily Trivia Questions are below

TODAY’S FOOD QUOTE

“Most turkeys taste better the day after, my mother’s tasted better the day before.”
Rita Rudner
 

FOOD HOLIDAYS - TODAY IS:

• National Zinfandel Day [Wine International Assoc]
  (Nov 19, 2025 - 3rd Wed)

• [World Toilet Day] Today, 3.6 billion people are still living with poor quality toilets that ruin their health and pollute their environment. World Toilet Day is about inspiring action to tackle the global sanitation crisis.

• National Carbonated Beverage with Caffeine Day

• National Hunger & Homeless Awareness Week  (Nov 16-22, 2025 - week before Thanksgiving) [National Coalition for the Homeless] A time to share our compassion with our neighbors who are experiencing homelessness.

• UK: National Baking Week (always Oct 14-20)
 

TODAY IN FOOD HISTORY

1493 Christopher Columbus discovered the island of Puerto Rico on his 2nd voyage to the New World. The island was populated by as many as 50,000 Taνno or Arawak Indians.  He originally named the island San Juan Bautista, for St. John the Baptist.

1600 Charles I, king of England, Scotland and Ireland was born. Ice cream is said to have come from France when he married Henrietta Maria, daughter of Henri IV, and sister of Louis XIII.

1833 Cyrus Hall McCormick received U.S. Patent 7,819X for a Self-sharpening, horizontal plow.

1895 Fredrick E. Blaisdell of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania received 1st U.S. patent (No. 549,952) for a paper pencil (paper-wrapped crayons or marking lead with a pull-string to reveal more lead).

1955 'Autumn Leaves' by Roger Williams was number 1 on the music charts.

1959 The last Edsel rolled off the assembly line at Ford Motor Company.

1961 Michael Rockefeller, son of Governor Nelson Rockefeller, disappeared, and was presumed eaten by the cannibals of New Guinea.

1966 Rocco DiSpirito was born. American celebrity chef and cookbook author. Host of TV shows 'Now Eat This' and 'Restaurant Divided'

1967 Casimir Funk died (born Feb 23, 1884). Funk was a Polish-American biochemist who came up with the word 'vitamine' later changed to 'vitamin.'

1977 A record albacore that weighed 88 pounds was caught off the Canary Islands.
(Albacore Trivia & Facts)

1980 Bill and his wife T.J. Palmer opened the first Applebee's restaurant, T.J. Applebee’s Rx for Edibles & Elixirs, in Atlanta, Georgia.

2007 Dick Wilson died (born July 30, 1916). Actor who played the role of Mr Whipple in Charmin toilet paper TV commercials - "Please don't squeeze the Charmin."

2009 Nestle, one of the largest producers of canned pumpkin products, reports there may be a shortage of its products because heavy rains interrupted the pumpkin harvest. (Pumpkin Trivia & Facts)

2009 Sugarcane stems in hands, thousands of farmers staged a massive demonstration in New Delhi, India to pressure the government to increase sugarcane prices.

2020 Canada: Officials of Jasper National Park in Alberta province have put up digital road signs “Do not let moose lick your car.”  Moose need salt in their diet and have found the road salt that splashes on cars irresistible - a practice dangerous to cars, drivers and the moose.
 

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

Nov 18, 2025-Jan 4, 2026  National Gingerbread House Competition & Display - Asheville, N. Carolina

November 21-22, 2025  Annual Plant City Pig Jam
Plant City, Florida

November 21-23, 2025  32nd Annual Mountain Mandarin Festival - Auburn, California

November 22, 2025  Atlanta Chili Cook Off
Dunwoody, Georgia

November 22-24, 2025  America's Hometown Thanksgiving - Plymouth, Massachusetts

November 22-23, 2025  Maine Harvest Festival
Bangor, Maine

(SEE ALL FOOD FESTIVALS and OTHER FOOD EVENTS)
 

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FOOD TRIVIA QUIZ    (new DAILY questions)

FIRST OF 9 THANKSGIVING QUIZZES

1) What percentage of pecans are sold already shelled?

2) What do turkey giblets consist of?

3) How many pecans would it take to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool?

4) What did the mother turkey say to her disobedient children?

5) What percentage of the worlds' crop of sweet potatoes is grown in Asia?

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

COOKING TIPS

• Cranberry Tips
• Sweet Potato Tips
• Pecan Tips
• Walnut Tips
• Goose Tips

DID YOU KNOW?

It takes about 200 cranberries to make one can of cranberry sauce.

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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?

Geese have less meat and more bone then chicken or turkey. Allow at least 1 1/2 pounds per person when buying a goose.  Smaller birds are preferred - look for ones 8 to 12 pounds for roasting, as larger (older) birds will be tough and should be braised.  Farm raised geese are very fatty - wild geese are leaner.

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IN SEASON FOR AUTUMN

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

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

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DID YOU KNOW?

Bay leaves, cloves and sage all act as natural insect repellents for ants and other crawling insects.

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Website last updated on Wednesday, November 19, 2025