Americans pride themselves in their knack for innovation, and nowhere has America's can-do attitude been more apparent than at the supermarket. Need a cheese that is virtually indestructible? Want to find a way to stretch a pound of hamburger into a hearty main course for a family of five? Hard pressed for time to throw together a home-cooked meal? In the early decades of the twentieth century, and from the world wars to the cold wars, food producers and everyday dreamers met these challenges with the same ingenuity and resourcefulness that launched the country to the moon and back, with groundbreaking packaging, new technologies, and improvements on Mother Nature. Better Than Homemade is food biographer Carolyn Wyman's freewheeling and entertaining cultural history of the innovative packaged foods that changed the way we eat. With dozens of archival ads and original product shots of Hamburger Helper, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, Minute Rice, Coffee-mate, Green Giant Canned Peas, Lipton Cup-a-Soup, Pillsbury Crescent Rolls-and many more revolutionary products-Better Than Homemade highlights the fascinating stories behind the food inventions; the histories behind the brands and icons that have become synonymous with them; the jingles that have made them such a large part of our popular culture; and the recipes that have tutored generations of homemakers and comfort food master chefs.
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"As a confirmed "foodie" I already have a full mental library of food facts from so many years watching "Unwrapped" This book filled in some of the gaps. Very entertaining and even had me laughing out loud. Fun Read!" — Brenda (4 out of 5 stars)
"As a confirmed "foodie" I already have a full mental library of food facts from so many years watching "Unwrapped" This book filled in some of the gaps. Very entertaining and even had me laughing out loud. Fun Read!"
" It's a fun read. It's not all that serious but it does make you think about what you're eating. It's broken up in segments so you can read a couple of pages, finish a section and come back to it later. "
" This is a flip-through, coffee-table style book with a light touch - nothing really serious. But it was entertaining and did make me think here and there. "
Carolyn Wyman is the author of Spam: A Biography and Jell-O: A Biography. Her nationally syndicated column, “Supermarket Sampler,” appears in more than one hundred newspapers nationwide. Her writing has appeared in the Boston Globe, the Christian Science Monitor, and the Los Angeles Times. She writes, heats, and eats in Philadelphia.
Nancy Wu has narrated audiobooks since 2004, winning three AudioFile Earphones Awards. A New York theater, television, and film actor, she has recorded in studios all over the world—from Italy to Switzerland to Thailand. Her credits include Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Hope & Faith, All My Children, Made for Each Other, and the Oscar-nominated film Frozen River.
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