The history of Election Day as a major holiday in Hartford, Connecticut, and a scaled down 18th century recipe of any Election Day table: election cake

The controversial (but brilliant?) naming of Baby Ruth candy bars, and a popular recipe from the 1940s for Baby Ruth cookies that appeared on the wrappers of the time

What happened when the Carpathia docked in New York with the 705 survivors of the Titanic, and an early 20th century recipe for a dessert served aboard the Carpathia the last day aboard the ship

The history of brownies from elf-like creatures to decadent chocolate baked good and a recipe from 1904

Rationing and food on the home front in the US during WWII, and a recipe for a mock steak made out of ground beef and Wheaties

The dramatic story of the Kellogg brothers and the original recipe for Corn Flakes

The horrific conditions in Civil War prisons, and a mock apple pie recipe from a Confederate cookbook

The sordid origins of the deep dish pizza, and original recipes from the 1940s

I chat with Brent Underwood, whose channel, Ghost Town Living, documents his efforts to bring the abandoned mining town of Cerro Gordo back to life, and make a whiskey cocktail that could have been served at one of the town’s saloons

The food of the California Gold Rush and an 1881 recipe for biscuits with salt pork milk gravy

The sometimes surprising and sometimes familiar aspects of saloons in the Old West, and a recipe for pork and beans from 1886

The history of barbecue and two 19th century recipes for barbecued pork and a vinegary sauce

The food for Allied troops before, during, and after D-Day, and recipes recreating the last meal before the landing

How food in space has evolved and a recipe from the 1960s featuring Tang

The history of food on airlines and three recipes for a full meal from the Golden Age of air travel

What cooking and eating was like on the Oregon Trail (it was rough), and a 19th century recipe for johnny cakes

The real-life story of Chef Boyardee and a likely recipe for his original spaghetti with meat sauce

What it was like on Ellis Island in the early 20th century, and two recipes for dishes that appeared on an Ellis Island menu in 1920

Ship kitchens and the cooks who manned them, and a recipe for a hearty stew thickened with hardtack (clack clack)

Special guest culinary historian Michael W. Twitty joins me to cook hoppin’ john, a dish that is said to bring good luck in the new year, and he shares the history of hoppin’ john and its roots in Africa and the enslaved population of early America