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 johnies (essentially groupies), these wealthy men in top hats lined the stage doors waiting to whisk starlets away in Hanson 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. New York was changing around the turn of the century…electric lights lit up the great white way…skyscrapers were going up…way up. And we’ll discuss the crime of the century: the murder of Famous New York architect Stanford White. It’s quite a story: two stage door johnies who battled it out for the affections of the most famous showgirl, model and original it girl…Evelyn Nesbit.

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. 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 1830’s to 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 of 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? This post covers breakfast, lunch and dinner and a recipe for dried apple pie, an Oregon Trail staple recipe.

We’re going back to January 16th of 1920 just before Prohibition went into affect. We’ll make a cocktail and prohibition era cocktail snacks. On the eve of prohibition, before midnight, Americans enjoyed a final legal beer with friends. Then there were dramatic farewell funerals for alcohol (a symbolic death of a fictional person, called John Barleycorn). The Bee’s Knees cocktail used honey syrup and lemon to balance and hide the flavors of bathtub gin. Cocktail parties were popular during prohibition because drinking from your liquor stash at home was technically legal. The goal was to create snacks to eat with one hand so that your other hand was free to drink. 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, Gangster 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. The largest sector of American manufacturing was the food industry by the end of the decade! 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. Sure the “great experiment “ -prohibition of alcohol- brought down the mood a bit, but that didn’t stop Americans from going to restaurants…or from drinking.

We’re going back to Victorian America to learn about the invention of cocktails & bartending and the free bar room lunch.

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? Marie Antoinette did in fact love cake and chocolate, so in her honor I made a cake fit for a queen. This chocolate cake is my Grandma’s recipe but I’ve put a Marie Antoinette spin on it with orange blossom butter cream. Her favorite breakfast was hot chocolate, flavored with orange blossom from the Versailles gardens.

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. This era was marked by luxurious hotel restaurants, ladies tea rooms, pubs and plenty of street food. Maybe you’ve heard about some of the unpleasant Victorian dishes like jellied eel, boiled calf’s head and Broxy. But It wasn’t all Mrs. Lovett’s meat pies and workhouse gruel! Victorian food was delicious if you could afford it. Victoria sponge, afternoon tea, Sunday Roast, Fish and Chips, and mince pies were all popular in this era.