Chris Boland on UnsplashThe classic American diner once seemed almost impossible to escape. These compact restaurants, with their chrome exteriors, counter stools, booths, bottomless coffee, and broad menus, became an important part of American roadside…
Grandma Didn't Need Another Gadget. Modern kitchens are packed with gadgets promising to save us from all the little jobs that eat up time during meal prep. Well, we hate to break it to you,…
The Ground Does the Work. Putting food in a hole sounds like something you'd do to get rid of it. For most of human history, the ground doubled as one of the most reliable cooking…
What Fed The World's Greatest Warriors?. Ancient Sparta is often remembered for its famously disciplined warriors, but even the toughest hoplite had to eat. Spartan meals were generally based on the agricultural products available in…
A Healthier Lunchbox. We know: packing lunch for your kids can be a headache. You want to cater to their individual tastes while avoiding anything too sugary or unhealthy, while also making sure you maintain…
When the Harvest Determined What Was for Dinner. Before supermarkets stocked nearly every fruit and vegetable year-round, Americans ate much more closely according to the harvest calendar. Fall meant cellars packed with root vegetables, baskets…
When the Kitchen Was the Snack Aisle. Before grocery stores were packed with brightly colored snack packs, individually wrapped treats, and foods marketed directly to kids, after-school snacking was usually a much simpler affair. Children…
America's Unusual Food Traditions. American food can look very different depending on which part of the country you're visiting. Regional dishes often reflect local ingredients, immigrant traditions, historical circumstances, and generations of people deciding that…
Your Health Inspector Would Faint. Every culture had to figure out how to keep food from spoiling long before refrigerators existed, and some of the solutions meant putting bacteria, mold, and even insects to work.…
