Whaddya Think, Doctor Fink?

  Root vegetables are food for the soul. Mike McShane wrote in Eate Collective, “there’s a strange primal comfort in a root vegetable.” They “anchor” plants into the ground, provide water and nutrients when the weather isn’t cooperating, and they have been part of our diet for as long as humans have been around. People could always count on them. Let’s start at the beginning. Travel back hundreds of thousands of years. Maybe you lived in a cave or in

From the 1700s to today, cupcakes have been a delicious part of our lives. Eat your favorite cupcake while you check out the facts below! *The full title of Amelia Simmons’ book (the first U.S. cookbook written by an American, that included a recipe for cupcakes) was American Cooke or the Art of Dressing Viands, Fish, Poultry and Vegetables, and the Best Modes of Making Pastes, Puffs, Pies, Tarts, Puddings, Custards, and Preserves, and all kinds of CAKES from the

  Some call them fairy cakes (UK). Others munch on patty cakes (Australia). Most of us know them as yummy cupcakes. Those delicious, tiny cakes have a history almost as colorful as the snack. You only have to go back a few centuries. Amelia Simmons, in 1796, called herself an “American Orphan.” Food historians believe that she worked in domestic service – probably in the kitchen. At the time, women did not have the formal education that men received. The

  Some foods are new and trendy. Others reach back in time, embedded in ancient history. Like waffles. They’ve been around long before 1955 when the first Waffle House Restaurant opened. More than enough time for different versions around the world. Maybe that’s why the Pilgrims brought the recipe to America when they sailed on the Mayflower (1620)? Waffles were “invented” thousands of years ago by early humans. They made a mixture of flour and water and cooked it on

In 1958, The Chordettes, a female singing quartet, came out with a worldwide hit – Lollipop. It was written after Julius Dixson was delayed for a meeting with his songwriting collaborator, Beverly Ross. The reason? Dixson’s daughter had a lollipop stuck in her hair.   The Chordettes, Wikimedia Commons Lollipops have been stuck in our lives for a very long time. Head back ten thousand years. Food historians believe that cavemen found honeycombs in abandoned bee hives. They tasted the

  Do you prefer chocolate or vanilla? Steak or chicken? Are you a carnivore or vegan? Kosher or ham-and-cheese? Most people believe that you are what you eat. If that’s true then it’s very revealing when you look at U.S. Presidential Palates. Some Presidents kept their food choices private – shared with White House chefs, family, and special visitors. Others spread the word, creating fads, aficionados, and news stories. Many became synonymous with their choices and others, well, they’re either

  Maybe you know them as crumbles, slumps, dump cakes, or sonkers? How about a serving of crow’s nest pudding, pandowdy, or Brown Betty? They’re all relatives in the cobbler family. Basically, a cobbler is a clumsy-looking, no-fuss dessert made from cooked fruits and berries, topped with a biscuit-like pastry or layered with bread crumbs and cubes. All cobbler family members have four common elements – fruit, butter, sugar, and flour. It’s baked, steamed, or prepared stovetop depending on the

George Washington knew what he was doing. Natalie Colarossi wrote in Business Insider that “he spent his entire campaign budget – a whopping 50 pounds – on 160 gallons of liquor in order to sway voters on election day.” Clearly, it worked. Munching for votes is a tradition, although it doesn’t always work the way it was intended. Some stump foods tell a different story. For example, President Gerald Ford committed an unforgivable gaff in 1976, dubbed “The Great Tamale

  Like marriages, there a lot of different ways to make it work. Traditionally, strawberry shortcake is a simple dessert, rich, and filled with history. The luscious red strawberries we love today started in the wild like young people looking for partners. Their natural habitat is temperate regions around the world. Food historians note that thousands of years ago indigenous people in North and South America consumed and cultivated the berries. Many believed that strawberries were a symbol of love,

Potato salad – hot, warm, or cold from the fridge. It’s the salad that conquered the world. However, you can’t have potato salad without potatoes – so let’s start with that. Potatoes are native to South America. They were cultivated over 8,000 years ago by indigenous tribes, serving as a staple in their diets. Potatoes were easy to grow, calorie-dense, and could be stored for a long time. Tribes mashed, baked, boiled, and stewed potatoes. (See the image of an