A donated collection of artifacts and literature on gastronomy forms the core of the Longone Center for American culinary Research at the University of Michgan’s William Clements Library.
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A blinking sign advertising “lump crabmeat $12.50 a pound” caught my eye last evening on my way home. I almost caused an accident as I made a quick turn into the near-empty parking lot of the seafood shop. Had I misread the sign, did it really say $21.50, was it an April Fool’s joke that hadn’t been taken down? I opened the door to the shop and practically yelled “I’ll take two pounds of crabmeat!”
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Long before the Cajuns arrived, Native Americans had been harvesting and eating crawfish. However it wasn’t until July 14, 1983 when Louisiana’s governor approved law that made the crawfish the state crustacean. In doing so, Louisiana became the first state to adopt an official crustacean. Louisiana leads the nation in crawfish production with about 100 million pounds per year.
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Tomorrow is April Fool’s Day and you just might want to make a fool for yourself. A “fool” is an old-fashion English dessert made with cooked, pureed fruits (usually gooseberries) that are chilled and folded into whipped cream.

Dame Nellie Melba, world famous operatic soprano had two foods named for her - Melba Toast and Peach Melba. Escoffier is believed to have been created and named both.

P.S. Today is National Melba Toast Day

Wanna make your own Melba toast? My grandmother did. She simply used very thinly sliced bread, cut individual slices in half and baked them on a cookie sheet in a 300-degree oven until golden brown. Simple.

Haul out the potato chips and French onion dip - it’s National Chip and Dip Day!

It is believed that the first Easter chocolate eggs were made in Europe in the early 19th century. Seventy-six percent of the people in the US eat the ears on the Easter chocolate bunny first.
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Already planning my weekend brunch, I checked into this meal that’s not quite breakfast, not quite lunch, to discover that as a British invention from 1895, brunch originated as a meal taken late in the morning or just around noon to make life brighter for Saturday-night carousers. While the practice of having brunch did not catch on in the United States until the 1930s, today it is major part of many hotel and restaurant weekend menus.

Yep, that’s right, today is National Potato Chip Day. Not as if anyone needed an excuse to indulge on potato chips (you really can’t eat just one), but I recall some very adventurous recipes for homemade potato chips slathered in bleu cheese or covered in a ragout of duck and mushrooms - heaven.
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The lollypop was created in 1909 by an employee, George Smith, of a Connecticut candy maker. He named it after a popular race horse at the time—Lolly Pop.