The little blog that could... with over a million and a half views

Actually, I missed it at one million... and now its over 1 1/2 million... since I rarely look at the stats (or the comments which I am woefully behind uplifting to the posts). Five years ago (Covid lockdown) I had to cut back on doing intensive posts each week, since I was spending so many hours (counted 50 hours on a slow week) on the Calendar of virtual food history talks to help support the closed museums, shops and tour guides. Now I just spend a few hours on the Calendar, but am busy trying to finish writing an increasingly long project. Eventually I hope to get back to doing more than one or two posts a month.

Thank you all for reading my blog. And now for some highlights...

The most popular post I've written? - Snapapple. I'd be happier if it was one of my flue-zies: (click each for info) Rumford or Reip metal wall ovens, stew stoves, steam kitchen apparatus, stoves & ranges, ovens... But it is odd, I like odd, and it's a tad bit dangerous with the candles amongst the apples as seen in the first image, below.

In early June 2020, a month after I started the Calendar of virtual food history talks for lockdown, I listed some of my favorite posts up to that point, with a picture from each. HERE

A baker’s dozen of the most popular posts (from the stats) –

Snap-apple Night HERE

Calendar of virtual food history talks HERE

Queen Cakes and patty-pans HERE

Thomas Moore’s 1802 refrigerator HERE

Puddin’ (not pudding) HERE

Washington Pie HERE

Lydia Child’s Thanksgiving connection HERE

Sugar Production, mills and plantations HERE

Neapolitan or Harlequin ice cream HERE

Selling cook stoves was like selling new and used cars HERE

Campaign Tables HERE

Peacock Pye and Swan Pies HERE

UPCOMING TALKS

Jul 7 Mon 7 Heal the Beasts. Author and veterinarian Philipp Schott. Chelmsfords Public Library HERE. TAPE may be HERE

Jul 7 Mon 7:30-9 Interpreting Canadian Indigenous Cuisine. Shane Chartrand author of tawâw - Progressive Indigenous Cuisine. Culinary Historians of Canada. CA$26.35 HERE

Jul 9 Wed 7-8:30 A History of Activism Through Cookbooks. Abolitionists, Suffrage, LGBTQ pamphlets of 1960s, Incarcerated. Sarah Lohman. Hermann-Grima + Gallier Historic Houses. HERE

Jul 10 Thu 8-9:30 Quenching Gotham: History of New York City's Water Supply. Dave Gardner. Replay for one week. New York Adventure Club $12 HERE

Jul 16 Wed 12 Hardtack and Hard Times: Civil War Food and the U.S. Army. National Army Museum HERE

Jul 16 Wed 8 The Meathead Method: A BBQ Hall of Famer’s Secrets and Science on BBQ, Grilling, and Outdoor Cooking. Meathead Goldwyn. Culinary Historians of Chicago. HERE TAPE may be HERE

Jul 23 Wed 10:30AM The Montgomery County Poor Farm: Its History and People. Julianne Mangin. Washington Metro Oasis. Hybrid $12 HERE

Jul 28 Mon 7 Dinner with King Tut: How Rogue Archaeologists Are Recreating the Sights, Sounds, Smells, and Tastes of Lost Civilizations. author Sam Kean. Chelmsfords Public Library. HERE. TAPE may be HERE

Jul 29 Tue 7AM Striking Inwards and Downwards: A Celebration of International Bog Day through Seamus Heaney’s Poetry. National Library of Ireland. HERE

Peat or turf for hearth fires. Past blog posts HERE. Short film clip TAPE HERE

Jul 30 Wed 7 History of New England Sweets: Doughnuts, Bonbons & Whoopie Pies. Author Susan Mara Bregman. Chelmsfords Public Library. HERE. TAPE may be HERE

Au 14 Thur 12 Iowa Brewing: A Complicated History. Doug Hoverson. State Historical Society of Iowa HERE. TAPE may be HERE


CALENDAR OF VIRTUAL FOOD HISTORY TALKS HERE

©2025 Patricia Bixler Reber
Researching Food History HOME