Pecan is both the name of a tree and the nut it produces. A member of the walnut and hickory family, the pecan is native to North America. Its name is derived from the word for nut in Algonquian, a Native American language... Read more
A corn dog is a hot dog or sausage that has been dipped in a cornmeal batter and deep fried. Along with cotton candy and funnel cakes, corn dogs are traditional fare at county and state fairs... Read more
Pistachio nuts grow on the small pistachio tree. It is related to the cashew. It lives in dry, warm places and is thought to be native to Iran... Read more
The cherry is a small, bright red fruit that grows on a tree. It is often used in desserts such as pies, in drinks, or as a topping on ice cream... Read more
Ice cream is a symbol of summer and a favorite treat of both children and adults. Traditionally, it is made from milk and sugar. Today, many non-dairy versions are also available, often made from nut "milks."... Read more
Christmas pudding, also called plum pudding or figgy pudding, is a traditional holiday desert, especially in the United Kingdom and Ireland.... Read more
"Don't cry over spilt milk." "There's no use crying over spilled milk." The above idiom in its various forms is often used to mean "don't worry about something that has already happened and that you can't change. In its current form, the phrase first appears in print in... Read more
Cakes are sweetened bread-like pastries. They may include fruits, nuts, or sugary icings. Cakes of various types have been made and consumed throughout history.... Read more
What is Thanksgiving? In the United States and Canada, this holiday celebrates "the harvest and other blessings of the past year." In the U.S., the holiday is linked to a legend of a feast shared by the English colonists and the Wampanoag Native American people in 1621... Read more
Beans are the seeds of plants in the legume family. Worldwide, many varieties of beans are cultivated for food. They are rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals. Often, the seeds are dried for later cooking; sometimes the entire seedpod is eaten, as in the case of green beans... Read more
Fruitcake is both lauded as a holiday gift-giving tradition and loathed as the butt of jokes and as a synonym for "crazy." What is a fruitcake? It is a very heavy spice cake filled with candied or dried and sugared fruits and nuts. Some recipes also contain alcohol. Fruitcake is known for lasting many years due to the preserving qualities of the sugar and alcohol... Read more
Wine, the fermented juice of the grape or other fruits, has been a revered alcoholic beverage since ancient times. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, the grape "was being cultivated in the Middle East by 4000 BCE and probably earlier." Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, the Bible, and other documents show that grapes were used to make wine thousands of years ago... Read more
The peanut is a favorite salty snack, often linked with childhood memories of circuses or airplane rides, where roasted, salted peanuts are provided as snacks. Peanuts are also called groundnuts, earthnuts, monkey nuts, or goobers... Read more
Spoons are utensils for cooking, eating, and serving food that consist of a small bowl and a handle. Its companion the fork is made up of at least two prongs and a handle. Together, forks and spoons are known as flatware... Read more
When some people think of chicken, they envision feathered fowl pecking around the barnyard. Others picture golden-brown fried drumsticks and wings on a plate! The chicken, native to the jungles of Asia, has long been "the most widely domesticated" bird, "raised worldwide for its meat and eggs."... Read more
Bread is a dietary staple throughout much of the world and has been throughout history. This food can be made from the flour of grains such as wheat, corn, spelt, rice, millet, rye, or barley, or from nuts including almonds and coconut... Read more
A tea cup or teacup is a type of drinking glass especially designed for serving hot tea. Teacups are generally shorter but wider than coffee mugs. Morning tea cups may be larger than afternoon tea cups. Oriental tea cups are often smaller still and lack handles. Teacups are generally part of a tea set for preparing and serving the beverage. Such a set may include a teapot, saucers, teaspoons, and other paraphernalia... Read more
Starbucks is a chain coffee shop known around the world. The company was named after a character in Herman Melville's Moby Dick. Its logo is a "twin-tailed mermaid, or siren as she's known in Greek mythology." The green color represents the college of the founders... Read more
The term grape describes about 80 species of vining plants native to the northern hemisphere. The plants grow quite large, reaching lengths of 56 feet (17 meters) or more... Read more
Wine has left an indelible mark on human history and culture. This fermented beverage has been consumed since ancient times. Some historical references to wine date back more than 6,000 years... Read more