"A delightful book about America's most popular nut butter and sandwich spread . . . well-written, fast-paced, surprising."—Andrew F. Smith, editor in chief, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in AmericaAmericans spoon it out of the jar, eat it in sandwiches by itself or with its bread-fellow jelly, and devour it with foods ranging from celery and raisins ("ants on a log") to a grilled sandwich with bacon and bananas (the classic "...

A Hollywood screenwriting and movie-making icon, Ernest Lehman penned some of the most memorable scenes to ever grace the silver screen. Hailed by Vanity Fair as "perhaps the greatest screenwriter in history," Lehman's work on films such as North by Northwest, The King and I, Sabrina, West Side Story, and The Sound of Music helped define a generation of movie making.But while his talent took center stage, the public knew little of Lehman...

More than Mom's apple pie, peanut butter is the all-American food. With its rich, roasted-peanut aroma and flavor; caramel hue; and gooey, consoling texture, peanut butter is an enduring favorite, found in the pantries of at least 75 percent of American kitchens. Americans eat more than a billion pounds a year. According to the Southern Peanut Growers, a trade group, that's enough to coat the floor of the Grand Canyon (although the association doesn't say to what height).Americans ...

**A James Beard Award–winning journalist reveals the surprising forces that shape our eating habits“Sax is great company, a writer of real and lasting charm.” —New York Times Book Review**In this eye-opening, witty work of reportage, David Sax uncovers the world of food trends: where they come from, how they grow, and where they end up. Traveling from the South Carolina rice plot of America’s premier grain guru to Chicago’s gluttonous Baconfest, Sax reveals a world...

The content of The Canadian Housewife’s Manual of Cookery owes much to contemporary cookbooks published in America, England, and France. There are several hundred recipes including soups, sauces, fish, meats, poultry, eggs, game, vegetables, puddings, pancakes, fritters, pastry, cakes, bread, sweets, salads, ale, beer, and summer drinks. In addition, the book contains a chapter on homemade concoctions for various illnesses, information on maintaining a dairy and cheese-making, kee...

From the international bestselling author of Red Herrings and White Elephants, Pop Goes the Weasel & They Laughed at Galileo.Did you know that the Cornish pasty was invented to protect tin miners from arsenic poisoning, or that the word 'salary' comes from Roman soldiers being paid their wages in salt? Why do we eat goose (or turkey) at Christmas?Is the Scotch egg actually from Scotland and what did some retired crusaders have to do with French toast? Who w...

Get ready to devour America. Adam Richman, the exuberant host of Travel Channel's Man v. Food and Man v. Food Nation, has made it his business to root out unique dining experiences from coast to coast.Now, he zeroes in on some of his top-favorite cities—from Portland, Maine, to Savannah, Georgia—to share his uproariously entertaining food travel stories, top finds, and some invaluable (and hilarious) cautionary tales. America the Edible also tells the sto...

Taste your way through America with more than 125 recipes for our favorite historical cakes and frostings.Cakes in America aren't just about sugar, flour, and frosting. They have a deep, rich history that developed as our country grew. Cakes, more so than other desserts, are synonymous with celebration and coming together for happy times. They're an icon of American culture, reflecting heritage, region, season, occasion, and era. And they always have been, througho...

As the first to write a basic book in English on winemaking from the winemaker’s point of view, Philip Wagner has long been considered an authority on the subject, and his book American Wines and Wine-Making has become a bible for small producers and home winemakers in this country. Now, in this completely new version of that classic, Mr. Wagner takes into account the many dramatic changes that in recent years have revolutionized the American wine scene.With the knowledge ...

A provocative look at how and what Americans eat and why—a flavorful blend of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Salt Sugar Fat, and Freakonomics that reveals how the way we live shapes the way we eat.Food writer and Culinary Institute of America program director Sophie Egan takes readers on an eye-opening journey through the American food psyche, examining the connections between the values that define our national character—work, freedom, and progress—and our eating habits, the good and the...

One of the great science and health revelations of our time is the danger posed by meat-eating. Every day, it seems, we are warned about the harm producing and consuming meat can do to the environment and our bodies. Many of us have tried to limit how much meat we consume, and many of us have tried to give it up altogether. But it is not easy to resist the smoky, cured, barbequed, and fried delights that tempt us. What makes us crave animal protein, and what makes it so hard to give up? An...

Spices are rare things, at once familiar and exotic, comforting us in favourite dishes while evoking far-flung countries, Arabian souks, trade winds, colonial conquests and vast fortunes. From anise to zedoary, The Book of Spice introduces us to their properties, both medical and magical, and the fascinating stories that lie behind both kitchen staples and esoteric luxuries.John O'Connell's bite-size chapters combine insights on history and art, religion and medicine, cult...