April, 1930. There were no home microwaves or McDonald’s. Herbert Hoover was President and everyone was listening to Duke Ellington, Judy Garland, and Cole Porter. A Canadian-born baker, James Dewar, worked at the Continental Baking Company in Illinois. He noticed that machines

Fingers and chopsticks are traditional. Forks and knives are not. Sushi has names and customs that challenge the imagination. Creative sushi chefs (Itamae) are always coming up with something new and different. People love it. In the U.S. alone, the sushi industry is worth $22 billion

    What was the best thing before sliced bread? You probably never heard of Chillicothe, Missouri. A 1928 ad called Chillicothe the home of an invention that was “the greatest forward step in baking . . .” Humans began baking bread long before recorded history. It’s no surp

Casseroles and pies. Slow cooked or air fried. Baked or ice cream. The sweet potato goes everywhere. Consider this: it’s hard to keep track of sweet potatoes’ many names. In Puerto Rico, Columbia, and Brazil they’re batata; Japan calls them satsumaimo; Mexicans love el camote; and the

Absolutely not. Blue pumpkins come from a big family rich in colors and types – way beyond the familiar orange. According to the Missouri Botanical Garden, pumpkins are part of a large and diverse plant family, Cucurbitaceae, which includes squash, gourds, watermelons, and cucumbers.