Bamboo

Bamboo regenerates itself eternally. The life span of a single bamboo is not very long-about 20 years-but the grove stands forever. The fully mature bamboo sends most of the organic nutrients prepared by its leaves down through paths in the vascular bundles, which run vertically down the culms, to its rhizomes, which form the vast, complicated underground network that creates its progeny. New bamboo shoots are produced every year from these rhizomes, ensuring the survival of the bamboo grove.

Mmmmm....Apple Pie

“As American as Apple Pie!” How many times has that phrase been uttered over the years? But is it true? Well, yes and no. Not to upset the Founding Fathers, but Apple Pie, like most American customs and traditions, is European in origin. Indeed, pies were especially popular during the reign of Elizabeth I.

No one knows who ate the first slice, but pie in one form or another has existed since the ancient Egyptians made the first pastry-like crusts. The early Romans, who probably learned about it from the Greeks, probably made the first pies we would recognize as pies. The Roman, Cato the Censor, published the first written recipe: a rye-crusted goat cheese and honey pie. The Romans then spread the word around Europe, including England.

Evan Jones, in American Food the Gastronomic Story, writes: Some social chroniclers seem convinced that fruit pies as Americans now view them originated with the Pennsylvania Dutch. Potters in the southeastern counties of that state were making pie plates in the early 18th century and cooks began to envelop in crispy crusts every fruit that grew I the region. “It may be,” Fredrick Klee asserts, “that during the revolution men from other colonies came to know this dish in Pennsylvania and carried this knowledge back home to establish pie as the great American dessert.”

Thus, Apple Pie, while not originally American, was “assimilated” and transformed into a distinctly American experience. If the food loving Pennsylvania Dutch didn’t invent pie, they certainly perfected it.

Mmmmm...Angel Food Cake

No one is completely sure of the origin of Angel Food or “angel cake”, although we know it surfaces first in America, and in the 1880’s. Most culinary historians think Angel Food is a takeoff of the sponge cake and the cornstarch cake, and that it originated in southeastern Pennsylvania. Critical ingredients in Angel Food are egg whites, sugar, vanilla and coconut.

Almonds

More than just foods, throughout history, almonds have maintained religious, ethnic and social significance. The Bible's "Book of Numbers" tells the story of Aaron's rod that blossomed and bore almonds, giving the almond the symbolism of divine approval. They were used as a prized ingredient in breads served to Egypt's pharos. The Romans showered newlyweds with almonds as a fertility charm. Today, Americans give guests at weddings a bag of sugared almonds, those wonderful Jordan Almonds. In Sweden, cinnamon-flavored rice pudding with an almond hidden inside is a Christmas custom. Find it, and good fortune is yours for a year.

The Cavalcade of Comedy

Michael Phelps on Saturday Night Live

A Short History of the Popsicle

The Popsicle was created by accident in 1905. One afternoon, Frank Epperson, then 11, left a mixture of powdered soda and water and a stirring stick on his porch. That night, San Francisco experienced record low temperatures, and he woke the next morning to find the flavored water had frozen solid to the stick.

Epperson dubbed his invention "Epsicle," a combination of the first two letters of his surname and "icicle." He experimented with "Epsicle" variations for friends and eventually created the Epsicle Company of California. Epperson sold his product at amusement park concessions in California before applying for a patent. Sometime after receiving a patent in 1924, Epperson changed the name from "Epsicle" to "Popsicle." According to legend, the name evolved from his children's frequent requests for "Pop's sicle."

The Creamsicle, the ice cream variation on the Popsicle, came in 1938