Fred Harvey’s chain of successful restaurants in the old west along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroads revolutionized the way travelers dined. Whole pies were divided into 4 pieces! Harvey’s last words were “Don’t cut the ham too thin”. A stickler for quality and value for the customer. By 1900, Harvey had 65 restaurants, 12 hotels and employed over 5,000 people, half of which were women. What really led to success? The Harvey Girls. Get this recipe for a Harvey favorite, Chicken Maciel.

Brownies were developed for the 1893 Chicago World’s fair. Mrs. Bertha Palmer commissioned the pastry chef of her hotel, the Palmer House to create a special dessert for the fair. She requested a dessert smaller than a cake that would fit in a boxed lunch for the lady managers that oversaw the construction of the Women’s building at the World’s Fair. In the late 19th century, grand Hotels emerged as the new location for opulent banquets, fine dining and the perfect place for Gilded Age society to see and be seen. Brownies sure have changed in the past 131 years! This original recipe includes walnuts and an apricot glaze. They are rich and buttery (which makes sense considering the more than 2 sticks of butter used!) and not as chocolatey as their modern counterparts.

The original Waldorf Salad was invented in 1893 at the Waldorf Hotel by it’s famous maître d'hôtel, Oscar Tschirky. We’ll discuss the Astor family rivalry that built the Waldorf-Astoria hotel before it was demolished to make room for the Empire State Building. In the late 19th century, grand Hotels emerged as a new location for opulent banquets, fine dining and the perfect place for Gilded Age society to see and be seen. There was no finer gilded age hotel in New York than the Waldorf-Astoria…This stunning hotel has a fascinating origin story with 2 feuding cousins, both heirs to the Astor fortune.

We’re going back to Edwardian England to learn which foods were cooked and how they were served. We’ll take a look at Downton Abbey as a fictional example of what food was really like in an Edwardian manor like Highclere Castle. Today I’m using authentic recipes for roast quail with cherry sauce and duchess potatoes from master chef Escoffier to exemplify the upstairs meals and I’ll make a delicious English classic from downstairs, seen in the Downton abbey series, treacle tart.

We’re going back to April 14th, 1912 to cook and compare the last meals served on Titanic. We’ll recreate the last meals in first, second and third class on the night of the sinking. We’ll compare the dining saloons of each class and their menus. We’ll make 2 dishes from the first class dining saloon including the most iconic Titanic dish: Lamb with Mint Sauce. We’ll make 2nd Class Curried Chicken and Rice and 3rd Class Tea including Stewed Figs and Rice Pudding.

We’re going back to the world’s fairs from 1851-1904, to we learn which foods were showcased at these worldwide expositions. Worlds fairs were like Victorian versions of Disney’s Epcot. People from all over the globe gathered to immerse themselves in architecture, culture, technology and food. We’ll show the worlds fair restaurants that fed the millions of visitors passing through.

Dolley Madison has a long standing association with ice cream, and there are several stories stating that oyster ice cream was her favorite. Whether it’s just a myth or it really was Dolley’s favorite…it was too strange to pass up. Get the recipe here!

We’re going back in history to look at White House cuisine through the Madison, Kennedy & Obama Administrations. What did these presidents like to eat? What did they serve at the White House? And what culinary impact did they make on a national scale?

We’re going back to 1837 in New York City to learn the history of America’s first fine dining restaurant, Delmonico’s. We’ll make the dishes they made famous like Baked Alaska, Eggs Benedict along with owner Oscar Tucci’s Secret Delmonico Cocktail.

We’re going back to 1933-1945 during FDR’s administration to learn just how bad the food really was. We’ll discuss the notorious Mrs. Nesbitt, the untrained White House cook. There was another reason the food was so bad: the Great Depression and world war 2. We’ll make one of Eleanor’s 7 1/2 cent meals along with Eleanor’s special Sunday supper…scrambled eggs with brains.

We’re going back to the turn of the century in New York city to learn about the scandalous Broadway Dining scene. Lobster palaces like Rector’s became the place for rich and powerful New York men to wine and dine Broadway chorus girls. Known as “stage door Johnnys” (essentially groupies)… these wealthy men in top hats lined the stage doors waiting to whisk starlets away in Hansom cabs to a lobster and champagne dinner. We’ll make a Rector’s restaurant specialty: lobster thermidor, which is appropriate for the theatre scene, actually getting it’s name from the French Belle Epoque Play, Thermidor.

We’re going back to the 1960’s to learn what Americans were eating. We’ll make a classic buffet dinner from the Betty Crocker Hostess Cookbook and flambéed cherries jubilee. We’ll find out what restaurants were popular and what foods were invented. We sent a man to the moon prompting midcentury food and kitchens to get a little more futuristic.The civil rights movement gained momentum in Lunch counters across the southern United States.

We’re going back to Tudor England to learn what Henry VIII and his 6 wives liked to eat. Royal Tudor food has long been studied, especially in regard to Henry and his hearty appetite. But I found myself wondering, what about the wives? Were there any dishes that Catherine of Aragon brought to court? What was served at a coronation feast? What did Anne Boleyn like to eat? Today we will make Maid of Honour tarts, a treat tied to Anne Boleyn. A sweet spiced wine called Hippocras that Henry believed had medicinal properties, wafers, Tudor salad and of course fire roasted meat.

We’re going back to the old western frontier of the 19th century to cook a meal in the Wild West! After the arduous journey over the Oregon trail, Pioneers settled into their new homes in the west. This video tells the stories of outlaws, cowboys, native Americans, homesteaders, and gold miners. We’ll discuss how Chinese railroad workers introduced Chinese food to America, what cowboys ate while driving cattle across the Great Plains and what exactly they served in Boomtown saloons.

We’re going back to the 1830’s-1860’s on the Oregon Trail to find out what pioneers were eating along their journey. Before railroads connected the west, Pioneers in covered wagons traveled about 2000 miles on the Overland trail, taking roughly 6 months at 3-5 miles per hour! What did they eat on their journey? What food was packed on the covered wagon? How did they cook?

We’re going back to January of 1920 when Prohibition went into effect. We’ll make a cocktail and prohibition era cocktail snacks. The Bee’s Knees cocktail used honey syrup and lemon to balance and hide the flavors of bathtub gin. I’m making 2 recipes from the 1922 Everywoman’s cookbook: shrimp cocktail and blue cheese stuffed celery. We also discuss: Jazz clubs of the Harlem Renaissance, New York City Speakeasies, Gangsters, Bootleggers, and Lydia Pinkham’s Vegetable Tonic.

We’re going back 100 years to learn about food in the roaring 20’s. Americans were no longer limited to the meatless & wheatless meals of world war 1. After years of war and pandemic, Americans were finally having some fun, legal or otherwise. New culinary innovations like : wonder bread, Velveeta cheese, popsicles, & Reese’s peanut butter cups gained popularity in this decade. Betty Crocker entered the culinary world. We saw the emergence of home refrigerators & electric stoves.

We’re going back to Victorian America to learn about the invention of cocktails & bartending and the free bar room lunch. We’ll discuss Jerry Thomas, the father of American Mixology, where Americans drank while making a popular Victorian cocktail, the Sherry Cobbler. After a drink, we’ll prove that there is such a thing as a free lunch while recreating one.

We’re going back to 18th century Versailles to learn what Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI ate. Marie Antoinette…out of touch villain who when told that the people of France had no bread said “let them eat cake!?” Or maligned scapegoat of the French Revolution? We will get to the infamous quote…but first. Let’s make some cake.

We’re going back to Victorian England to find out what the British were eating and bake a Victoria sponge cake. Queen Victoria was crowned in 1837 and this era lasted until her death in 1901. A lot happened in 64 years so buckle up! The Industrial Revolution, urbanization, railroads, & colonialism changed the way the British lived, ate and cooked. New inventions like mason jars, canned foods, refrigerated rail cars & steamer ships meant that food lasted longer and could travel farther.

We’re going back to the Medieval Europe to learn all about alcohol and make mead. We’ll discuss Hildegard the beer loving nun who changed brewing forever by advocating for hops, how the church turned alewives into witches, what Europeans were drinking and how they entertained themselves during these bleak times. It’s an understatement to say that medieval Europeans were serious about their alcohol! Tampering with alcoholic beverages in Scotland was a crime punishable by death! You would drink too if you watched 1/3 of Europe die of the plague.

Get the recipe for this Casablanca inspired Champagne Cocktail while learning what Americans were drinking in the 1940’s and World War 2. Where did old Hollywood movie stars drink? How did World War 2 affect the alcohol industry? Find out here!

The old fashioned is well…old. The sentiment behind this cocktail is what I really love. In the late 19th century, cocktails were getting elaborate, flashy and over the top... Old timers bellied up to the bar and demanded a no frills “old fashioned cocktail.” Like in the good old days before all the nonsense. What they were referring to was the Whiskey Cocktail, first recorded in 1806, which was just whiskey, bitters, sugar and water. Originally a morning pick-me up, almost medicinal remedy. Get the recipe & more Gilded Age history here.

We’re going back to the 1940’s to learn what Americans were eating on the home front during World War 2. We’re making a classic meal with rationed ingredients: meatloaf, mashed potatoes and glazed carrots. What exactly is a victory garden and who did the work? Many of the ideas to “win the war with food” were repurposed from earlier times of need like World War 1 and the Great Depression. Victory gardens were a way of producing as much food at home to keep necessary food, energy and shipping toward the war front.

The history of the most beloved cookie of all time… the chocolate chip cookie. Invented in the 1930’s by Ruth Wakefield at the Toll House Inn, this cookie has it all…scandal, celebrity endorsements and a famous name. Get my secret recipe here!

What exactly is the connection between Thomas Jefferson and Mac & Cheese? Did he invent it? No. Did he bring back macaroni from Paris to Monticello and serve it to many of our founding fathers? Sure did. Did he cook it himself? Absolutely not. James Hemings, a chef enslaved by Thomas Jefferson did the cooking and in this chef’s opinion, should be the one we attribute the popularity of Mac & Cheese in America to.

Is anyone else completely obsessed with the new HBO series “the Gilded Age”?!? If you love history and juicy storylines, run to your nearest television immediately. The Gilded Age was a distinctly American era from the 1870’s to 1900 when America had just ended the Civil War and became an industrial powerhouse. The disparity between rich and poor in this time was almost unmatched. But what was everyone eating??

What were Europeans eating in Medieval times? Watch as I cook a meat pie over open flame as I describe the foods available in Europe from the 5th to 15th centuries. What did royalty eat at Medieval feasts? What about Medieval peasants? What myths are common about Medieval cooking? Did they use spices to cover the taste of rotten meat? Did they really drink beer and wine all day long? How did Medieval Europeans cook and preserve food? What were markets like in the Middle Ages? Get the answer to all these questions and the recipe here.

The Columbian Exchange was the transfer of plants, animals and food between the Old world (Europe, Asia & Africa) and the New World (North and South America) following the voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492. Can you imagine a world without tomato sauce in Italy? Ireland without potatoes? Florida without oranges? Pumpkin with no spice? Chocolate without sugar? Without the Columbian exchange, the way we eat today would be dramatically different.

Afternoon Tea came into fashion when Anna, Duchess of Bedford, couldn’t wait for dinner to be served late in the evening. She had a tray of tea, cake and breads brought up to her room, where friends joined and the tradition caught on.

To celebrate President’s Day, I’m sharing some of the weirdest, most delicious and even deadly foods our American Presidents ate. George W. Bush banned broccoli in the White House. Nixon liked cottage cheese topped with ketchup?! FDR even served hot dogs to the King and Queen of England. Let’s not forget about Zachary Taylor who died from an intestinal infection from a batch of bad cherries. Then of course there’s Thomas Jefferson who helped popularize many dishes we love today.

Today, in 1918, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, World War 1 ended. It used to be called Armistice Day to celebrate the end of WW1, now Veterans Day, honors all veterans that served our country. Nothing says war food like hard tack. They fed the hungriest men in the literal trenches of WW1. There are hard tacks in museums that are theoretically still edible. Learn what American soldiers were eating in WW1, all about victory gardens, the original meatless Monday and the hard tack recipe here!

Ever wonder what Americans were eating during the Great Depression? The most bleak recipe I could find was “Hobo Stew” which called for a pinch of tobacco and LINT. Other delicious morsels include: Vinegar Cobbler,Liver Loaf, Mock Apple Pie made with Ritz crackers, Peanut Butter Stuffed Onions, Hot Water Pie, Gelatin Luncheon Salad, and my personal favorite, S.O.S (or Shit on a Shingle, a military staple of canned corned beef in a gloopy, mystery sauce served on toast). Learn about how Americans fed their families during this era along with an old fashioned potato soup recipe that’s anything but depressing.

Everyone has that one recipe that defines their childhood. Growing up as a little girl in Kansas City, Missouri, this simple nutmeg custard was that dish for me. My great grandmother Mary was a truly great cook. Sure she was a beautiful, classy lady but she also lived on a lake and drove a pontoon boat with a Budweiser in hand. Get this recipe and the history of custard here.

Foods we associate with St. Patrick’s Day aren’t very Irish. Irish American? Sure. Corned Beef and Cabbage? Turns out beef wasn’t traditionally eaten in Ireland until British control. Lamb and pork were much more widely consumed and cows were mainly used for dairy production. And corned beef itself was actually an Irish American invention made with a cheaper cut of meat, brisket, available in Jewish delis of New York City.

Ever wonder when banana bread became so popular? We all know everyone was baking during the pandemic lockdown, and many tried their hand at banana bread. It actually gained popularity after another national crisis, the Great Depression.

Panzanella is a traditional Italian dish that is a creative way to use up old bread. The crusty bread soaks up all the tomato juices and creates a delicious bread salad. Yes you heard me, a bread salad. Italians are so brilliant.