<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"> <div>We don't just blog about food here at the museum. We celebrate it in our demonstration kitchen programs and our multiday Smithsonian Food History Weekend. We'll keep up the delicious fun next year. For now, check out the eight blog posts that were this year's cream of the crop.</div><div> </div><div><a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/story-four-thanksgiving-ingredients" target="_blank"><strong>1) The story of four Thanksgiving ingredients</strong></a></div><div>Squash, corn, cranberries, and turkey—they're as familiar on our Thanksgiving tables as pumpkin pie. How did these ingredients become such an important part of the annual feast?</div><p><strong>My favorite foodie factoid</strong>: Colonists enjoyed dried pumpkin, especially in a popular cocktail called a "flip," which included sugar, molasses, strong beer, and rum. Sign me up.</p><div> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/ice-harvesting-electric-refrigeration" target="_blank"><img alt="Black and white photo of a man and woman at an ice box" class="auto-caption media-image img__fid__16938 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" rel="lightbox" src="https://americanhistory.si.edu/sites/default/files/styles/blog_image/public/1920s%20ice%20box_0.jpg?itok=vWsc9Af2" style="width: 465px; height: 550px;" title="Into the 1930s, households used large blocks of ice to keep food cold in "iceboxes." This photo is from the 1920s. Courtesy of the Sloane Collection."></a></div><div><a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/ice-harvesting-electric-refrigeration" target="_blank"><strong>2) Keeping your (food) cool: From ice harvesting to electric refrigeration </strong></a></div><div>Before electric refrigeration, a whole industry kept American ice boxes supplied with chunks of ice—a messy and unreliable way to preserve food that I'm glad I missed.</div><div> </div><div><strong>My favorite foodie factoid</strong>: Bigger was better. If a harvested chunk of ice was less than eight inches thick, it would melt too quickly during transportation.</div><div> </div><div><a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/pass-gelatin-taste-history-through-mid-century-cooking" target="_blank"><strong>3) Pass the gelatin: A taste of history through mid-century cooking</strong></a></div><div>We interviewed Ruth Clark, the creator of a blog called "Mid-Century Menu." Ruth hunts down vintage recipes and taste-tests them.</div><div> </div><div><strong>My favorite foodie factoid</strong>: Ruth's favorite gelatin dish is "Under the Sea" salad. Ingredients include lime Jell-O, cream cheese, and canned pears.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/caroline-r-jones-adwoman" target="_blank"><img alt="Color advertisement with two women in a kitchen" class="auto-caption media-image img__fid__16939 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" rel="lightbox" src="https://americanhistory.si.edu/sites/default/files/styles/blog_image/public/Jones_Campbells_Ad_0.jpg?itok=4dtpR2YI" style="width: 417px; height: 550px;" title="A Campbell Soup Company advertisement designed by Caroline Jones."></a></div><div><a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/caroline-r-jones-adwoman" target="_blank"><strong>4) Caroline R. Jones: Trailblazing adwoman</strong></a></div><div>The first African American woman to earn a position as a copywriter at J. Walter Thompson, one of the nation's leading advertising firms, was Caroline R. Jones. She went on to found her own firm and attract an impressive client list. She developed ads for Campbell's Soup and other familiar brands.</div><div> </div><div><strong>My favorite foodie factoid</strong>: In 1979, she came up with the slogan "We Do Chicken Right!" for Kentucky Fried Chicken (now KFC), which wanted to increase its brand's visibility among African Americans in the New York region. The slogan performed brilliantly and, by the 1980s, was in use in national ad campaigns.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/tabasco-and-war-against-bland-military-meals" target="_blank"><img alt="Photograph of small bottle of Tabasco" class="auto-caption media-image img__fid__16940 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" rel="lightbox" src="https://americanhistory.si.edu/sites/default/files/styles/blog_image/public/Tabasco_1.jpg?itok=70Z-zZFn" style="width: 455px; height: 550px;" title="In our Armed Forces History collection, a mini-bottle of Tabasco for a military Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE)"></a></div><div><a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/tabasco-and-war-against-bland-military-meals" target="_blank"><strong>5) Tabasco and the war against bland military meals</strong></a></div><div>The tangy hot sauce has a deep connection to military history.</div><div> </div><div><strong>My favorite foodie factoid</strong>: When the McIlhenny family returned to their plantation on Avery Island, Louisiana, after the Civil War, they discovered that their garden of Capsicum peppers had survived. The McIlhennys began selling their legendary hot sauce in 1868.</div><div> </div><div><a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/chickens-eggs-and-changing-american-diet" target="_blank"><strong>6) Chickens, eggs, and the changing American diet </strong></a></div><div>Early colonists brought egg-laying chickens with them from Europe—but Americans didn't actually eat much chicken.</div><div> </div><div><strong>My favorite foodie factoid</strong>: When did Americans eat chicken meat? Once a chicken stopped producing eggs, you might prepare the older, tougher bird in a long-cooked, tenderized-by-heat stew or casserole.</div><div> </div><div><a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/sushi" target="_blank"><strong>7) 5 big questions behind American sushi</strong></a></div><div>Whether you're a sushi fan or not, this blog post is a great example of how much you can learn about American history through the lens of food.</div><div> </div><div><strong>My favorite foodie factoid</strong>: To get Americans to try sushi in the mid-1960s, chefs often hid the unfamiliar dried nori (seaweed) wrapping on the inside of the roll, covering the exterior of the "inside-out" roll with rice.</div><div> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/wok-frozen-food-aisle" target="_blank"><img alt="Phot of billboard advertising Kubla Khan Shrimp Dinner" class="auto-caption media-image img__fid__16942 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" rel="lightbox" src="https://americanhistory.si.edu/sites/default/files/styles/blog_image/public/So%20authentic_0.jpg?itok=PJsm741Q" style="width: 550px; height: 547px;" title="Kubla Khan products were exported to Asia. This 1960s billboard advertisement reads, “so authentic they’re sold in the Orient.” Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution."></a></div><div><a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/wok-frozen-food-aisle" target="_blank"><strong>8) From the wok to the frozen food aisle</strong></a></div><div>Archivist Cathy Keen brought us the story of Kubla Khan frozen foods, founded by a Chinese American former Army Air Force pilot who fought in World War II.</div><div> </div><div><strong>My favorite foodie factoid</strong>: When we think of frozen food, we sometimes envision factory-style processing. Not so for Kubla Khan. The food was made in small batches in actual woks!</div><div> </div><div>Our focus on food history will continue in 2016 as we explore how democracy and community participation influence the food we grow, cook, and eat. What topics do you want us to blog about? Let us know!</div><div> </div><div><em>Erin Blasco is an education specialist in the New Media Department. Her favorite food history object of the moment? <a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1356650" target="_blank">An ice cream mold in the shape of George Washignton</a>. </em></div> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-related-user field-type-user-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Related Staff Member: </div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/users/blascoe">BlascoE</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-posted-date field-type-datetime field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Posted Date: </div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">Tuesday, December 22, 2015 - 08:00</span></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-blog-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above clearfix"><h3 class="field-label">Categories: </h3><ul class="links"><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-0"><a href="/blog-tags/food-history">Food History</a></li></ul></div><div id="disqus_thread"><noscript><p><a href="http://amhistorymuseum.disqus.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Famericanhistory.si.edu%2Fblog%2F8-most-delicious-food-history-blog-posts-2015">View the discussion thread.</a></p></noscript></div><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OSayCanYouSee?a=Up-Cqs_arp4:J5q_TQcG-3A:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OSayCanYouSee?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OSayCanYouSee?a=Up-Cqs_arp4:J5q_TQcG-3A:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OSayCanYouSee?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OSayCanYouSee?a=Up-Cqs_arp4:J5q_TQcG-3A:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OSayCanYouSee?i=Up-Cqs_arp4:J5q_TQcG-3A:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OSayCanYouSee?a=Up-Cqs_arp4:J5q_TQcG-3A:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OSayCanYouSee?i=Up-Cqs_arp4:J5q_TQcG-3A:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OSayCanYouSee?a=Up-Cqs_arp4:J5q_TQcG-3A:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OSayCanYouSee?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OSayCanYouSee/~4/Up-Cqs_arp4" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>
