The Year of the Tiger begins tomorrow, February 1st , but celebrations for the Lunar New Year take place from January 31st through February 15th. New Year —New Luck Prior to the first day of the new year, people deep clean their homes to remove huiqi [inauspicious breaths] and to appease the gods who will
Articles Categorized Food
Thanksgiving in 18th Century New England
Recent research for my current project has turned up a few interesting insights into how eighteenth century New Englanders celebrated Thanksgiving, which makes an interesting change for the annual stories about the first Thanksgiving in 1621. Over a hundred years since the Pilgrims stepped ashore, colonial Americans did not worry about starvation or share the
Pumpkin Spice & All Things Nice
There are many ways we know the season of Autumn has begun. The calendar informs us the official date is September 22. People whose school days ended sometime in the last century associate Autumn with the beginning of school. There’s the turning of the leaves, the nights drawing in, and the nip in the air.
Leftovers: Once Virtuous, Now Annoying
Except for point number 5 advising less wheat and meat products, this 1917 poster for about the acquisition, preparation, and consumption of food is similar to advice we receive today. Number 6, “use what is left” is tricky, because it refers to the dreaded food category of “leftovers.” One 1948 cook book observed, the word
Hamburgers + Car Hops = Fast Food
At its most basic version, a hamburger is a sandwich featuring one or more patties of ground meat served inside a bread roll. From here variations begin. Besides meat, hamburgers come with other ingredients inside the bun from lettuce to pickles; tomatoes to onions, and then there’s the sauce. Mustard, ketchup, mayo, or the so-called
Pecans: An American Nut
Pecans (carya illinoisensis) are an edible nut most often associated with desserts, particularly pecan pie, an extraganza of added sweetness. [Recipe Below] Pecans are also found in praline candy, cakes, cookies, and candied nuts. But this is misleading association, because, in fact, raw pecans are loaded with healthy monounsaturated fat and fiber, as well as
ICE COLD LEMONADE ON A HOT SUMMER DAY
Last month’s blog on Iced Tea got me thinking about other thirst quenching drinks for hot summer days, and Lemonade is every bit as common as Iced Tea as a summer beverage. Lemons and sugarcane, two prime ingredients for lemonade, are native to India where people mix a beverage called Nimbu Pani. The ingredients include
Ketchup: The All-American Condiment
Ketchup is the go-to of all American condiments. In fact, the average American consumes 71 pounds of ketchup each year. [Incidentally, this 1953 advertisement by Alcoa Aluminum uses the Del Monte catsup bottle as a prop to demonstrate how easy it is to open aluminum screw tops.] It’s easy to understand why Alcoa used a
The History & Impact of Chopsticks
Did you know February 6 is National Chopstick Day? It’s an obscure commemoration for unique eating utensils used by about one-third of the world’s population. Chopstick use requires a surprising amount of dexterity, and involves 30 joints and 50 muscles in the right-hand fingers, wrist, arm, and shoulder. In other words, using chopsticks is harder
Fanny Farmer & Modern Cooking
On August 23, 1902 Fanny Farmer opened her School of Cookery and continued her revolution in American cookery. In order to appreciate her efforts, it’s useful to start with a recipe comparison for Bird’s Nest Pudding. The original 1833 recipe is from The American Frugal Housewife by Lydia Maria Child. Bird’s Nest Pudding If you
