Stephanie Butler
Articles From This Author
Dining Across America in Rail’s Golden Age
Long before supersonic jets made it easy to cross the country, train travel was the elegant way to get from place to place in the United States. During the golden age of American trains, their sleek, opulent interiors featured plush seats, porters for your every need and gleaming ...read more
America’s State Foods
When it comes to official state mottos, we all know that New Hampshirites “Live Free or Die.” Oklahomans claim “Oklahoma!” as their state song, and Georgians proudly sing “Georgia on My Mind.” But when it comes to state foods, the list gets pretty esoteric. Were you aware, for ...read more
How Space Food Has Evolved—And Improved
As soon as NASA began the work of sending humans into space, the question arose: What would they would eat once there? Space food had to fit a number of requirements. It had to be easily portable. It had to be nutrient-dense and filling, as the astronauts would be expending a ...read more
From Chuck Wagons to Pushcarts: The History of the Food Truck
For the past couple of years, it seems the most fashionable way to get your lunch is from a truck. From Los Angeles to New York, slinging lobster rolls or Korean tacos or gourmet ice pops, food trucks run wild across our country’s blossoming food scene. But while the craze is ...read more
From New York to Montreal: What’s in a Bagel?
Whether you prefer yours toasted or not, with scallion cream cheese or just buttered, with lox or jam, chances are you love a good bagel for breakfast. And you aren’t alone – Americans have enjoyed bagels for about 100 years, ever since Polish Jews brought them to New York’s ...read more
How Hershey's Chocolate Helped Power Allied Troops During WWII
It's one of the most celebrated feats of World War II: On June 6, 1944, more than 160,000 troops stormed the beaches of Normandy during the D-Day invasion. Less known is that an unlikely snack helped power the Allies before, during and after the historic mission—Hershey’s ...read more
Delightful, Delicious Dumplings
From Italian ravioli, to Polish piroshky, to Chinese pot stickers, the humble dumpling is beloved by eaters around the world. Truly a universal food, you’d be hard pressed to find a cultural cuisine that doesn’t include dumplings in some form, be it stuffed or boiled. Ghanaians ...read more
Graham and Kellogg: The Health-Crazed Men Behind Our Kitchen Favorites
Graham crackers and corn flakes: two staples of every American pantry. Chances are you’ve enjoyed a bowl of cornflakes for breakfast or snacked on a s’more by the side of a campfire. But did you know that both of these foods trace their roots back to the 1800s and two men’s ...read more
Going Paleo: What Prehistoric Man Actually Ate
Newly popular in health circles, the Paleo diet was created back in the 1970s by gastroenterologist Walter Voegtlin. He was the first to suggest that eating like our Paleolithic ancestors could make modern humans healthier. A return to the diet of our forebears, according to ...read more
The Surprisingly Sufficient Viking Diet
Today, the Vikings are celebrated as a proud, warlike folk, well known for their mythology and elaborate funerals. The Viking diet, however, is a mystery to most people. What did these warriors eat to survive in such a forbidding landscape? As it turns out, their food was ...read more
Symbolic Foods of Chinese New Year
For many Chinese, the annual Chinese New Year holiday is all about the food. From potstickers to noodles to citrus fruit, the foods eaten hold meaning and significance for the year ahead. The foods enjoyed during New Year are similar to those consumed during the rest of the ...read more
The Medieval History of the Christmas Cookie
Each December, cooks around the country take to their kitchens to bake cookies galore. Whether you prefer gingerbread men, crisp springerle or crunchy biscotti, chances are you’ll enjoy some fresh baked Christmas cookies this holiday season. Like many Christmas traditions, the ...read more
A History of Popcorn
It’s hard to think of a more purely American food than popcorn. Whether it’s salted and buttered at a movie theatre, kettle corn at a state fair or a caramel popcorn ball at holiday time, we devour the stuff. And we’re far from the world’s first popcorn fans: Archeologists have ...read more
Starving Soldiers at Valley Forge
The weather is finally turning colder, and the crisp morning air can only mean one thing: the season’s first snowfall isn’t far away. But imagine how chilling that cold air would be if you were a soldier in Washington’s army, preparing to spend a winter in Valley Forge, ...read more
The Hoppy History of Beer
Beer–it’s the chosen beverage of English kings, Egyptian stonemasons and Homer Simpson. And it has a long and celebrated history going back to 3400 B.C. The first known written record of beer dates back to the ancient Sumerians. It’s in the form of a hymn, to the goddess of beer ...read more
The Extra-Long History of the Hot Dog
The hot dog, a quintessential American summer grill food, has origins that may go back millennia. Historians believe its beginnings can be traced to era of the notorious Roman emperor Nero, whose cook, Gaius, may have linked the first sausages. In ancient Rome, it was customary ...read more
Frozen History: The Story of the Popsicle
Frozen desserts have been enjoyed for millennia. Ancient Roman slaves were sent up into the mountains to retrieve blocks of ice, to be crushed and served with fruit and spice syrups. Medieval Venetial explorer Marco Polo enjoyed sorbets and ices when he traveled to the Chinese ...read more
The Hardships of Civil War Eating
When you think of military food, the word “delicious” doesn’t often come to mind. That’s especially true of camp and battlefield rations, where MREs stocked with orange juice powder and peanut butter rule the day. But even today’s not-so-savory meals have come a long way since ...read more
Matzo, Matzo, Matzo: A Passover Tradition
The Jewish calendar is full of holidays with rich food histories. Whether it’s latkes and sufganiyot for Hanukkah or the decadent fast breaking of Yom Kippur, food is inextricably linked to celebrating for the Jewish people. One of the religion’s most iconic holiday foods is ...read more
A Brief History of Chopsticks
Chopsticks are used by billions of people around the world—and they have a truly ancient past. The Chinese have been wielding them since at least 1200 B.C., and by A.D. 500 the slender batons had swept the Asian continent from Vietnam to Japan. From their humble beginnings as ...read more
How Chocolate Became a Valentine's Day Staple
Conversation hearts, truffles galore and heart-shaped boxes of chocolates—these are the symbols of Valentine’s Day for many lovers around the world. But where did this tradition come from? While the roots of Valentine’s Day go all the way back to Roman times, candy gift-giving is ...read more
Off the Spice Rack: The Story of Salt
You wouldn’t think it to look at them, but your salt and pepper shakers have caused a lot of problems over the years. Underneath that innocuous ceramic bulb lies a history of kingdoms torn apart, newly discovered worlds and powerful trade dynasties. The story of spices fills many ...read more
Hoppin’ John: A New Year’s Tradition
Forget champagne—in the Southern United States, hoppin’ John is standard New Year’s fare. This simple, delicious dish of peas, pork and rice has graced holiday tables since the 1800s. Although it’s believed to bring luck and peace in the coming year to anyone who eats it, hoppin’ ...read more
More Than Chicken Soup: Food Remedies
It’s likely you’ve heard the adage “An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” and everyone knows about the reputed healing powers of a steaming bowl of chicken soup. But would you think to place potato slices on a fever-stricken patient’s forehead? Or shampoo with mayonnaise to give ...read more
Cooking for the Commander-in-Chief: The First Presidential Chefs
George Washington was excessively fond of hazelnuts. Chester Arthur was a celebrated gourmand who put away mutton chops by the dozen. James Garfield enjoyed nothing more than a steaming bowl of squirrel soup. We’ve heard about the quirky favorite foods of America’s ...read more
The Surprisingly Ancient History of Ketchup
Ketchup is found in 97 percent of U.S. homes and probably 100 percent of barbecues. But there’s more to this sauce than hamburgers, hot dogs and Heinz. In fact, ketchup has a storied past that dates back to imperial China, where it was made with fish entrails, meat byproducts and ...read more