This is the second post of a three-part series where we share what we’ve learned from watching cooking shows. In this post, chef Bobby Flay is highlighted. Incredibly talented, Bobby has an impressively diverse and successful…
Food and Culture
29 things we learned from Ina Garten
Ina, Bobby, and Ree are names that we use regularly in our conversations as if they were our friends. In some ways they are. We studied these celebrity chefs on the Food Network for years…
Spoons, Forks, Knives, Chopsticks- What Your Silverware Says About You
What you choose to eat with can give you clues about your personality and who you are. There is a children’s book called Spoon with anthropomorphized utensils. Little Spoon isn’t happy and wants to be…
The History of Burritos and a Chicken Bean Burrito Recipe
If the number of American Tex-Mex fast casual restaurants— Chipotle, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Qdoba, Taco Bell, Del Taco, Baja Fresh, and more— are any indication, burritos are a national favorite and for good reason—a flour…
Food in mid-18th century France: Disney’s Beauty & the Beast
Disney released Beauty and the Beast, a faithful yet fresh live-action re-telling of its 1991 animated classic. Cutting across generations, the film sets an all-time highest-grossing March opening in the U.S., with a $170 million…
Increase Your Literacy and Multiliteracy Through Food
Literacy and its newer, more complex cousin multiliteracy are terms that are used in the teaching world as ways to talk about what skills are needed to communicate. But these concepts are useful to those…
Become a Lexicographer: Learn the Keys to any Community
You want to be part of the group, a member of the club. Everyone wants to belong somewhere. A way to enter in any social circle is to learn the group language. We can adopt…
The Art of Serving Food: Dinner Table Etiquette
Serving food is a delicate act of communication. How much pie do you serve your friend at a dinner party? How much pasta do you spoon on your children’s plates? Who gets the last piece…
Thanksgiving and TV Dinners: The Surprising History Between Them
Thanksgiving is a celebration usually composed of food (turkey, sides, and pie, of course), family (and friends for Friendsgiving), and football (humorous commercials!). Gathering around the TV, Thanksgiving revelers let the stomach digest before the…
Developments in Kitchen Design
Walk into a newly constructed house and you’ll likely find the kitchen to be a main focus. Often described as the ‘heart’ and ‘haven,’ the kitchen is now architecturally designed to be the center of…