Double Cheeseburgers, Quiche, and Vegetarian Burritos: American Cooking From the 1920s Through Today by Loretta Frances Ichord
Stars: ***
Millbrook Press (2007)
Cooking/American History/Children’s Nonfiction
63 pages
Summary: A history of 20th century American food describes innovative foods and technologies that changed the market, explains the cultural significance of food, and provides recipes for traditional American dishes.
I picked this book up at a library book sale for a couple cents. It’s apparently part of a series by the author on cooking through the ages. More on that later.
Double Cheeseburgers, Quiche and Vegetarian Burritos
This book is designed for ages 8-11 and does a good job of catering to that age group. The book covers topics such as convenience foods, war rations, TV dinners and fast food beginnings, international cuisine, the rise of vegetarianism and Mexican American cooking, organic produce and more food trends, counting fat/carbs and the future of American cooking.
This book was made in the USA and therefore refers to the United States of America but what the book talks about is true of Canada too.
Fun Facts I Learned:
- The Quaker Oats Company introduced quick cooking oats in 1921!
- Kraft Macaroni & Cheese (aka KD) came on the scene in 1937
- The Joy of Cooking (1936) was one of the first cookbooks
- How the war rationing system worked (I had no idea)
- TV dinners were so named because they came in a box shaped like a TV (not because they were designed to eat in front of TVs – they weren’t.)
The book also includes a few recipes:
- Deviled Eggs
- Wartime Cake
- Double Cheeseburgers
- Quiche
- Vegetarian Burritos
- Peach Cobbler
- Pumpkin Muffins
- Fool Medames (Egyptian bean dish)
The book has fun illustrations by Jan Davey Ellis which round out the book. It was a fun read and look at American History when it comes to food.
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