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Inviting Writing: Break-Up Cake
Was your New Year's resolution to write down that food-related story that's been knocking around in your head, and send it in to Inviting Writing? I hope so! Maybe you've just been waiting for the right topic to inspire you. Well, the subject of our next series is something that most people, unfort...
January 18, 2011 |
By Lisa Bramen
It's a Marshmallow World
It's a marshmallow world in the winter when the snow comes to cover the ground—as has been the the case for parts of the southeastern United States that have been dealing with some serious snowstorms. At times like this, it might be best to stay indoors and indulge in actual marshmallows, be they f...
January 12, 2011 |
By Jesse Rhodes
What’s the Story, John Dory? The People Behind the Food Names
When I wrote recently about Christmas foods of the southern hemisphere, I mentioned the New Zealand/Australia specialty called pavlova. The meringue dessert was named for the famous ballerina, Anna Pavlova, who toured the two countries in the 1920s.But what about other foods—was there a Madeleine b...
January 07, 2011 |
By Lisa Bramen
Fruitcake 101: A Concise Cultural History of This Loved and Loathed Loaf
The action of Truman Capote's 1956 short story "A Christmas Memory" is set into motion when a nameless sixty-something woman looks out her kitchen window and exclaims, "Oh my, it's fruitcake weather." Thus, she and her dearest friend, her 7-year-old, live-in cousin Buddy, begin amassing supplies fo...
December 21, 2010 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Maple Vodka: A Sweeter Spirit
Remember that alphabet of maple treats I posted earlier this year? I have a new "V": maple vodka from Vermont.On a trip home, I discovered Vermont Spirits, a small St. Johnsbury distillery that makes vodka from the fermented sugars of maple sap instead of potatoes or grain, the usual suspects."We'r...
November 18, 2010 |
By Amanda Bensen
Soufflés: The Original Molecular Gastronomy?
Since my wedding earlier this year, I have made it a personal goal to use all of the kitchen tools I received as gifts. Some, like the glass nesting bowls and the microplane zester, got a good workout from the get-go. Others, namely the ramekins and the soufflé dish, have so far languished in the c...
November 12, 2010 |
By Lisa Bramen
Food Fit For the Dead—And the Living
Today is Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, a Mexican holiday that seeks to honor—or even communicate with—the spirits of the deceased. I've seen posters for Day of the Dead festivals in previous years and felt unsettled by the images of grinning or dancing skeletons. Why celebrate death so br...
November 02, 2010 |
By Amanda Bensen
A Cultural History of Candy
Samira Kawash writes the blog “Candy Professor” and is working on a book about the cultural and social history of candy in twentieth-century America. She spoke to Smithsonian’s Amanda Bensen about Americans’ tricky relationship with treats Amanda: At this time of year, even people who don’t eat a l...
October 29, 2010 |
By Amanda Bensen
Reverse Trick-or-Treating
I know a lot of adults—not me, of course—who buy their favorite Halloween chocolates secretly hoping that trick-or-treater turnout will be light and they can polish off the rest themselves. This is especially true of people who don't have their own children to pilfer from.If a relatively new practi...
October 22, 2010 |
By Lisa Bramen
Inviting Writing: A Candy-Crazed Family
Ah, the power of candy. It can be mysterious and exciting, even a little bit scary. It can inspire dreams and life lessons.And as freelance writer and food blogger Martha Miller points out in this week's Inviting Writing story, candy can also make us act a little bit crazy.Kit Kats & Candy Corn...
October 18, 2010 |
By Amanda Bensen
Inviting Writing: The Candy Drawer
Today's candy-themed Inviting Writing story comes from Krystal D'Costa, a New York City-based anthropologist who writes the fascinating blog Anthropology in Practice.Since we suspect (and hope) this may inspire you, the deadline for this round of Inviting Writing has been extended until October 15t...
October 12, 2010 |
By Amanda Bensen
Inviting Writing: The Mystery of the Missing Halloween Candy
Our Inviting Writing theme for October is candy, as Lisa revealed last week, and we're eager to hear your tales of trick-or-treating and more. We're off to a sweet start with this essay by Kate Blood of the blog Something We Dreamed. (She previously wrote this piece about eating on a Mexican canal ...
October 04, 2010 |
By Amanda Bensen
Inviting Writing: Candy, Costumes and Scary Neighbors
Now that we've been schooled on college food, it's time to graduate to a new Inviting Writing series. This month the topic is something on the minds of most American children this time of year, and anyone else who passes the seasonal displays in the supermarket: candy.Send us your personal essays a...
September 27, 2010 |
By Lisa Bramen
Inviting Writing: Fondue Memories of College
This is the final installment in our series of reader-penned tales about college food—look for a new Inviting Writing theme to be announced next Monday. Many thanks to all who participated. Since there were so many good ones, we couldn't run them all, but we loved reading them!This sweet story come...
September 20, 2010 |
By Amanda Bensen
Where do Swedish Fish and German Chocolate Cake Come From?
For some reason, my husband always buys Swedish Fish to snack on when we take road trips. On our recent drive to Martha's Vineyard, as I watched him bite the gummy fishes' chewy red heads off, one after another, the thought occurred to me: do Swedish Fish really come from Sweden?So when I got home ...
July 16, 2010 |
By Lisa Bramen
A Brief History of Popsicles
Are you as hot as we are? Temperatures are hitting the triple digits in D.C. this week, which makes me want to say something clever about third digits and obscenities, but my brain has melted past the point of cleverness and seems to be functioning as little more than a nerve center for "Me Want Ic...
July 07, 2010 |
By Amanda Bensen
Maple Creemees
I think you've probably picked up on my maple madness by now, so this shouldn't come as a surprise: my ideal summer treat is not a popsicle, a sundae or even an ordinary ice cream cone. It's a maple creemee.Creemee may be a peculiarly Vermont term, or at least unique to New England, as I haven't he...
June 22, 2010 |
By Amanda Bensen
Fun Foods for Father's Day
As you're probably aware, Father's Day is this Sunday in the United States. Wondering what you can cook up to make the day special? Here are a few fun ideas:1. A truly tasteful tie. People blog about the strangest things. A few months ago, I came across someone who just likes putting weird things i...
June 18, 2010 |
By Amanda Bensen
Five Ways to Eat Strawberries
I grew up in Southern California, partly in Orange County, which at the time still had nearly as many strawberry fields as shopping centers. I remember looking out at the rows of low plants and feeling bad for the migrant farm workers hunched over picking off the berries in the hot sun. All the sam...
June 09, 2010 |
By Lisa Bramen
Shocking Chocolate: Readers Respond to Inviting Writing
Time for another installment in our series of true-life stories about food and manners, submitted by our wonderful readers in response to our first Inviting Writing prompt. (You can read the first story here.) Today's tale comes to us from Christine Lucas, a writer in Savannah, Georgia.Nanna
By Chr...
April 23, 2010 |
By Amanda Bensen
