This mouth-watering journey through America's culinary evolution provides fascinating insights into the vibrant array of foods we savor today. In 100 tantalizing bites, ranging from blueberries and bagels to peanut butter, hard cider, and Cracker Jack, O'Connell reveals the astonishing ways that cultures and individuals have shaped our national diet and continue to influence how we cook and eat. The American Plate introduces you to America long ago and the recent past, through anecdotes, research, memories, and recipes. Each chapter and each “bite” stands alone, so you may read it from front to back or just pick a time or food that interests you. It can inspire meals for traditional holidays or observances. The book is also a way of fleshing out the chronology of America with stories – some very short, some longer narratives – based on eye witness accounts and other records. Covering a wide variety of food and drink, from Algonquin pemmican to colonial syllabub to 20th-century TV dinners, with 15 recipes and illustrative menus, this book serves as a food guide to that other country we call America’s past.