Tuesday, February 17, 2026Daily Trivia Questions are below TODAY’S FOOD QUOTE“How much cheese is a handful? How much more or less is a cupful? What is the capacity of a glass, a tumbler, or a soup ladle? What is the difference between a suspicion and a pinch? How much more is a good pinch? How much wine is a little, how many olives a few? When a book says a tin of chopped almonds or pomegranate juice what are you supposed to understand by that?”
Elizabeth David (1913-1992)
FOOD HOLIDAYS - TODAY IS:• National Cafe Au Lait Day • National Cabbage Day (Cabbage Quotes)
(Cabbage Trivia -- Cabbage Recipes) • Feast of Shesmu, Egyptian god of the Wine Press. • Fornacalia: Old Roman Bread Festival or Feast of Ovens. • National CSA Week (Feb 15-21, 2026) Formerly CSA Day [CSA Innovation Network] Community Supported Agriculture
TODAY IN FOOD HISTORY1665 Rudolph Jacob Camerarius was born. A German botanist, he showed the existence of sexes in plants, and identified the stamen and pistil as the male and female organs. 1680 Jan Swammerdam died (born Feb 12, 1637). Dutch biologist and microscopist. His investigations into insect anatomy showed that insects did not generate spontaneously as had been previously believed, but were the product of eggs laid by females of the same species. Eggs, larva, pupa and adult are different forms of the same species. He also revealed that 'king bees' have ovaries and were actually 'queen bees.'
(Bee Trivia and Facts --- Bee Quotes) 1827 Chester Stone of Middlebury, Connecticut received a patent for a washing machine. 1844 Aaron Montgomery Ward was born (died Dec 7, 1913). Founder of Montgomery Ward & Co. to sell general merchandise by mail order. 1863 The International Red Cross was founded in Geneva, Switzerland. 1869 The Canadian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was founded. 1876 Canned sardines went on sale in the U.S. for the first time. They were packed in oil. (Some sources say 1873). 1883 A. Ashwell, of West Dulwich, UK, received a patent for the "vacant/engaged" door bolt for lavatory doors. 1889 H.L. Hunt, the pioneering Texas oil millionaire (Hunt Oil Company) was born. He carried a brown bag lunch to his office each day and considered himself as 'just plain folks.' 1897 Alice McLellan Birney and Phoebe Apperson Hearst founded the National Congress of Mothers, forerunner of the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), in Washington, D.C. 1958 'Sugartime' by the McGuire Sister topped the charts. 1970 Canada bans the use of phosphates in laundry detergent, to prevent damage to lakes and rivers by excessive weed growth. 1985 U.S. first class postage rates are raised to 22 cents and post cards to 14 cents. 2002 New regulations to go into effect this year require German pig farmers to spend at least 20 seconds every day with each pig, 10 seconds in the morning and 10 seconds in the afternoon. I do not know about what regulations there might be for spending time with German cows, sheep, chickens and other farm animals. 2008 The USDA announced the largest beef recall of 143 million pounds of frozen beef from a California slaughterhouse. ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** February 12-March 1, 2026 Riverside County Fair & National Date Festival - Indio, California February 17, 2026 77th Annual International Pancake Day - Liberal, Kansas February 19-22, 2026 South Beach Wine & Food Festival - South Beach, Florida February 19-22, 2026 Newport Seafood & Wine Festival - Newport, Oregon February 20-22, 2026 National Pheasant Fest & Quail Classic - Minneapolis, Minnesota February 21-March 2, 2026 New York City Beer Week
New York, New York (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?
· Chuckles sugared jelly candies are introduced.
· U.S. table-salt makers introduce iodized salt.
· 'Wise Potato Chips' were introduced.
· The 'I-Scream-Bar' is renamed 'Eskimo Pie' and within a year are selling one million bars a day. 2) This plant is pictured on tombs from ancient Egypt, and has been found in ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Pliny listed it as a cure for 60 different illnesses. In 1st century India it was used to prevent heart disease. In Shakespearean England, it was prized as an aphrodisiac. The English name for it comes from the Anglo-Saxon for 'spear plant,' and the Latin word comes from the Celtic word meaning 'hot.'
What is it? 3) This tree and its fruit are native to the Peruvian Andes, but are widely cultivated as a commercial crop in New Zealand, where most of the U.S. supply originates. When it did not sell well under its original name, New Zealanders invented its current name in 1966.
a) kiwi. b) tamarillo. c) uglifruit.
d) gooseberry. e) pumello. 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
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