In this very special guest episode, Nicole and Julia are joined by their friend and mentor Dr. Jennifer Cognard-Black, Professor of English at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Nicole, Julia, and JCB discuss the history of the recipe and the sharing of recipes as a feminist act. We also talk, like, A LOT about Fried Green Tomatoes, and play a very Victorian version of the “Is it Nail Polish” game.

Our theme song is “Red Onions” by Louie Zong, off of his album Vegetable Soul: https://louiezong.bandcamp.com/album/vegetable-soul 

We’re on Instagram @girlslunchpod. Nicole's website is nicolehylton.com. Have an episode suggestion or question? You can email us at [email protected] and we will add it to our chaotic list of future episode subjects.

Jennifer's Work:

• Books That Cook: The Making of a Literary Meal, ed. by Melissa Goldthwaite and Jennifer Cognard-Black
• Good Eats: 32 Writers on Eating Ethically, ed. by Jennifer Cognard-Black and Melissa Goldthwaite
• Margaret Atwood: A Modern Mythmaker, by Jennifer Cognard-Black (audiobook)
• Books That Cook: Food and Fiction, by Jennifer Cognard-Black (audiobook)

Additional Sources:

• "The Making of The Modern American Recipe," by Helen Zoe Veit
• Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, by Fannie Flagg
• Victorian Varnish Nail Polish
• The Victorian Cookbook, by Michelle Berriedale-Johnson
• The Victorian Way (Cookbook and YouTube channel)

Would You Like to Load Your Last Save File? >Yes. In Part 2 of our video game series, Nicole and Julia resume play in the 1990s, chronicling some of the great restaurant sims of the era. We play some browser-based flash games in the school computer lab instead of doing our math homework, invoke the flaming-eyed wrath of Cooking Mama by failing to separate an egg, and win back our grandparents' bakery from Generic MegaCorp by clicking lots of buttons. Mainly, our goal is to make Papa Louie proud. This episode sponsored by your local Pizza Syndicate, a legitimate business not affiliated with any criminal dealings and/or underground.

Our theme song is “Red Onions” by Louie Zong, off of his album Vegetable Soul: https://louiezong.bandcamp.com/album/vegetable-soul 

We’re on Instagram @girlslunchpod. Nicole's website is nicolehylton.com. Have an episode suggestion or question? You can email us at [email protected] and we will add it to our chaotic list of future episode subjects.

Links to sources:

• “King’s Candy Crush Saga Hits $20 Billion in Lifetime Revenue,” by Jeffrey Rousseau

• “Food Culture Has Invaded Video Games, and the Results Are Mesmerizing,” by Kat Thompson

• Papa’s Pizzeria website, Flipline Studios

• Delicious Pixels: Food In Video Games, by Agata Waszkiewicz

• Casual Games Market Report (2007), by Casual Games Association

• Venba website, Visai Games

Let's go to the arcade! In part one of our two-part series, Nicole and Julia take you through the cooking games leaderboard and introduce you to some of the genre's "top players" in the 1970s and 1980s. We'll see the formation of a lot of popular mechanics and gameplay that persist in cooking and food-related video games today. We'll also talk about girl(y) games, representation, and the time Julia was personally victimized at a GameStop circa 2008. Don't forget your quarters!

Our theme song is “Red Onions” by Louie Zong, off of his album Vegetable Soul: https://louiezong.bandcamp.com/album/vegetable-soul 

We’re on Instagram @girlslunchpod. Nicole's website is nicolehylton.com. Have an episode suggestion or question? You can email us at [email protected] and we will add it to our chaotic list of future episode subjects.

Links to sources:

• “Tapper,” Museum of the Game
• “Chili's Big Smasher BurgerTime Video Game Levels Up Fast-Food Face-Off with the Chance to Win Free Burgers for Life” Press Release
• Tweet by Garry Kitchen about the origin of Pressure Cooker
• High Score, dir. France Costrel
• “Short Order” review by NESFriend on YouTube
• “Why Doesn’t The Industry Make Good Girls’ Games?” by Moon Channel on Youtube
• Delicious Pixels: Food In Video Games, by Agata Waszkiewicz
• Gamer Girls: 25 Women Who Built the Video Game Industry, by Mary Kenney

We’re taking it back to where it all began with this one, and we mean that quite literally, because today we’re talking about baby food! In this special episode, Nicole and Julia prepare for Baby Andreas and learn about the history of how we humans have fed our babies throughout time. We also taste test some baby food and try not to gag. Whether you were a bottle baby or breast was best, this episode has something for everyone!

Our theme song is “Red Onions” by Louie Zong, off of his album Vegetable Soul: https://louiezong.bandcamp.com/album/vegetable-soul 

We’re on Instagram @girlslunchpod. Nicole's website is nicolehylton.com. Have an episode suggestion or question? You can email us at [email protected] and we will add it to our chaotic list of future episode subjects.

Links to sources:

• Maternal Breastfeeding or Wet Nursing? Religion, Persecution, and Ideology in the 17th Century

• 'NEW' BREAST MILK AIDS THE NEWBORN: Synthetic Is Found in Test on 171 Infants to Equal or Excel Natural Product

• News of Food: Baby Formulas Are 'Custom Designed' and Delivered Right to Your Door

• A concise history of infant formula (twists and turns included)

• Breast-Milk and the World Protein Gap

• Policy Statement: Breastfeeding and the Use of Human Milk

• These New Breastfeeding Guidelines Ignore the Reality of Many American Moms

• Food and Cookery for the Sick and Convalescent, by Fannie Farmer

• Inventing Baby Food: Taste, Health, and the Industrialization of the American Diet, by Amy Bentley

• “Baby Food,” FoodTimeline.org

Ever wondered why we have Hass avocados and Medjool dates at the grocery store? Or why there are Japanese cherry trees all around the Tidal Basin in D.C.? Well, we can thank the same man for both our grocery store produce and the nation’s pinkest attraction - American botanist David Fairchild. Join Nicole and Julia as they trace grocery store produce from their local Kroger back to the Gilded Age and the heyday of food exploration. But wait, there’s more! Tune in to hear about Jeanne Barat, a French botanist in the 1700’s with a bit of a secret…

Our theme song is “Red Onions” by Louie Zong, off of his album Vegetable Soul: https://louiezong.bandcamp.com/album/vegetable-soul 

We’re on Instagram @girlslunchpod. Nicole's website is nicolehylton.com. Have an episode suggestion or question? You can email us at [email protected] and we will add it to our chaotic list of future episode subjects.

Links to sources:

• “How Thai Food Took Over America,” by Francis Lam and Mark Padoongpatt

• “You Think You Understand Thai Culture Because You Eat at Thai Restaurants? Think Again,” by Alexandra Domrongchai

• “Thai Food for the World? -- Government of Thailand Plans To Open 3,000 Restaurants To Promote Nation Abroad,” by Robert Frank

• Stone, Daniel. The Food Explorer: The True Adventures of the Globe-Trotting Botanist Who Transformed What America Eats. 2019.

• Ridley, Glynis. The Discovery of Jeanne Baret: A Story of Science, the High Seas, and the First Woman to Circumnavigate the Globe. New York, Broadway Paperbacks, 2011.

Companion website: hotdogs.expert 

Hot dog, it’s a summer episode in the middle of winter! In this wien-derful successor to our hamburger episode, Nicole and Julia learn (literally) how the sausage is made and take a frank look at competitive eating. Hop aboard the Wienermobile and strap in for a journey down the Hot Dog Highway (destination: Joey Chestnut’s stomach).

Our theme song is “Red Onions” by Louie Zong, off of his album Vegetable Soul: https://louiezong.bandcamp.com/album/vegetable-soul 

We’re on Instagram @girlslunchpod. Nicole's website is nicolehylton.com. Have an episode suggestion or question? You can email us at [email protected] and we will add it to our chaotic list of future episode subjects.

Links to sources:

• Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs, by Jamie Loftus

• Man Bites Dog: Hot Dog Culture in America, by Bruce Kraig and Patty Carroll

• “The Sun Rises on Coney Island: Japanese Competitive Eaters, Sportification, and the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest as Global Spectacle,” by Zachary R. Bigalke, Journal of Sport History, 50 (3), Fall 2023 

• Origin of the Term “Hot Dog” by Gerald Leonard Cohen, Barry A. Popik, and David Shulman

• Japan, M. G. (2021, August 10). The History of Tempura. https://guide.michelin.com/hk/en/article/features/tempura_en 

• Encyclopedia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Tempura. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/tempura 

• Farley, D. (2022, February 25). The truth about Japanese tempura. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20170808-the-truth-about-japanese-tempura 

Does anyone else pronounce Tupperware as “Tubberware?” No? Just me? Well, in this episode Julia and Nicole travel back to the post-war 50s to learn about the one woman who’s responsible for your plastic leftover containers piled high in your kitchen cabinet. Along the way we’ll learn how to throw a Tupperware party, experience some real Sales Department shenanigans, and watch the rise and fall of the first MLM Queen — Brownie Wise. 

Our theme song is “Red Onions” by Louie Zong, off of his album Vegetable Soul: https://louiezong.bandcamp.com/album/vegetable-soul 

We’re on Instagram @girlslunchpod. Nicole's website is nicolehylton.com. Have an episode suggestion or question? You can email us at [email protected] and we will add it to our chaotic list of future episode subjects.

Links to sources:

• Kealing, Bob. Life of the Party. Crown Archetype, 12 July 2016.

• Clarke, Alison J. Tupperware: The Promise of Plastic in 1950s America. Washington, DC, Smithsonian Inst. Press, 2001.

• The Brownie Wise Papers, Archive Center, National Museum of American History

• “The History of EPCOT’s Defunct Kitchen Kabaret,” by Storybook Amusement

• “The Defunct History of Food Rocks at EPCOT,” by Storybook Amusement

Step right up, step right up! Feast your ears on a true spectacle of food and amusement history! In this episode, stroll through the fairgrounds with Nicole and Julia to learn about the history of the carnival, snack on some traditional carnival foods, and discuss 20th century American dating norms. Strap on your ill-fitting, definitely-not-up-to-code safety belt and get ready for a bumpy, possibly bruise-inducing ride!

Our theme song is “Red Onions” by Louie Zong, off of his album Vegetable Soul: https://louiezong.bandcamp.com/album/vegetable-soul 

We’re on Twitter at @girlslunch and on Instagram @girlslunchpod. Nicole is on Twitter @nicoleh262 and her website is nicolehylton.com. Julia is smarter than all of us and not on social media. Have an episode suggestion or question? You can email us at [email protected] and we will add it to our chaotic list of future episode subjects.

Links to sources:

• Inside the Live Reptile Tent: The Twilight World of Carnival Midway, by Jeff Brouws and Bruce Caron 
• “Circuses, Carnivals, and Fairs in America,” by Marcello Truzzi et al, Journal of Popular Culture 6(3), 1972

• “A Roundabout History of the Ferris Wheel,” by Defunctland

• “The Sticky-Sweet Story of Cotton Candy,” by Rebecca Rupp for National Geographic

• “Know Your Sweets: Funnel Cake,” by Sarah Baird for Serious Eats

• “Funnel Cake” entry in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, ed. Andrew F. Smith

• “Chicken Charlie, The Deep Fry King,” by Elina Shatkin for the Los Angeles Times

• “The History of Deep Frying Food at Fairs,” by Rebecca Strassberg for Thrillist

• Cheap Amusements: Working Women and Leisure in Turn of the Century New York by Kathy Peiss

• How Products are Made Volume 3, Krapp & Longe, editors[Gale:Detroit] 1994 (pages 276-277).

• Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 481)

• “Why is it a thing? Sweet potato, marshmallows,” by Lindsay Deutsch for USA TODAY Network

• “Why Do We Serve Marshmallows on Sweet Potatoes?,” by Michele Debczak for Mental Floss

Julia and Nicole (and David) return for the thrilling conclusion of the history of school lunches! We’ll wade through the Cold War, and then in the 60s, things really pop off for the school lunch program, feminists, and the Black civil rights movement. Like, seriously. Shit gets wild. So grab your Uncrustables and carton of milk and get ready to learn. Class is in session!

Our theme song is “Red Onions” by Louie Zong, off of his album Vegetable Soul: https://louiezong.bandcamp.com/album/vegetable-soul 

We’re on Twitter at @girlslunch and on Instagram @girlslunchpod. Nicole is on Twitter @nicoleh262 and her website is nicolehylton.com. Julia is smarter than all of us and not on social media. Have an episode suggestion or question? You can email us at [email protected] and we will add it to our chaotic list of future episode subjects.

Links to sources:

• Levine, Susan. School Lunch Politics: The surprising history of America's Favorite Welfare Program. Princeton University Press, New Jersey, 2008.

• Weaver-Hightower, M. B. Unpacking School Lunch: Understanding the Hidden Politics of School Food. Springer Nature Switzerland, Cham, 2022.

• Gaddis, J. E. (2019). The labor of lunch. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvr00xpk

• https://www.usda.gov/

Do you recall the halcyon days of your youth? The days spent in school, anxiously awaiting the bell, going to find your friends in the lunchroom, the same table every time? Surely you also remember the tasty lunches served to you in that room. Scrumptious salads with fresh vegetables, lovingly crafted sandwiches, bowls of gooey mac and cheese. No? Not sounding familiar? Your school lunch sucked?! Wow, pizza was a vegetable?! Gritty chicken nuggets! No, that can’t be right. All school lunches are delicious and nutritious! Unless… On this episode, we discuss the lengthy and opinionated history of school lunches, in all their infamy, with special guest David Cogswell (that’s me).

Our theme song is “Red Onions” by Louie Zong, off of his album Vegetable Soul: https://louiezong.bandcamp.com/album/vegetable-soul 

We’re on Twitter at @girlslunch and on Instagram @girlslunchpod. Nicole is on Twitter @nicoleh262 and her website is nicolehylton.com. Julia is smarter than all of us and not on social media. Have an episode suggestion or question? You can email us at [email protected] and we will add it to our chaotic list of future episode subjects.

Links to sources:

• “Eggo: The Waffle that Revolutionized the Frozen Food Industry,” by Mark Haney

• Levine, Susan. School Lunch Politics: The surprising history of America's Favorite Welfare Program. Princeton University Press, New Jersey, 2008.

• Weaver-Hightower, M. B. Unpacking School Lunch: Understanding the Hidden Politics of School Food. Springer Nature Switzerland, Cham, 2022.

• Gaddis, J. E. (2019). The labor of lunch. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvr00xpk

• https://www.usda.gov/