Food as History

This is the time of year when I get that special feeling. It’s hard to describe. It’s not exactly joy–I’m not a joyful person, by nature. Merry? Nah, not me. I think the word I’m looking for is…oily. The oil is not just on my skin,...

Pshaw? No, P’tcha!

There is one place in which all my interests converge, my love of history, my love of writing, my love of tradition: Food. I recently read Ruth Reichl’s Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table, which I enjoyed immensely, although it did have me running to...

Immigration: Would You Have Made It Over?

One of the things that baffles me in the immigration debates is that so many people don’t acknowledge that at one time, their own families were immigrants (with the exception, of course, of Native Americans, but they aren’t the ones screaming about...

I Read It in the News

While I’m certainly interested in seeing how far back I can discover relatives on my family tree, I’m also interested in knowing what my family’s life was like when they arrived to America. What did they eat, where did they go out, what was their...

Entering the 1930s

I’ve been quiet here because all of my writing time has been spent on the novel. The rewrite has taken on a life of its own. The novel is quite a bit longer; I still have a few chapters left to do and it’s already longer than the previous version. But I do...

Gossiping Gals

In researching my novel, I’ve come across a number of fun items that, while not totally relevant to the story at hand, are fun to read and are great ways for me to infuse flavor. I don’t have a scene of women chatting in a bathroom, yet this article (from...