About this Book

Researcher and librarian Kathleen Collins scours the archives to show how cooking programs throughout the decades reflect America's changing cultural mores. From James Beard to Rachael Ray, TV cooking hosts have brought this intimate brand of entertainment into the home, moving from educating the general public on the finer points of home economics to coaching us on developing our inner creativity. Collins skillfully marshals her research, starting with radio programs sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the mid-1920s, featuring a fictitious Aunt Sammy to administer recipes in order to lift the level of American cookery. James Beard hosted the first postwar TV cooking show, I Love to Eat, short-lived and criticized for its blatant endorsement of commercial sponsors, while spawning numerous imitators.