The Kale Family In America

On one of Kathy’s visits home that fall, she asked her mother, “What is our heritage?” To which her mother replied, “Why honey, you’re a Texan!” I am not sure that was the answer Kathy was looking for, but, to my knowledge, she never questioned her mother’s response. However, at that time I decided that some day I would research our Kale Family history so Kathy would know her family heritage beyond being a proud Texan. I hope she and her children, Julia Marie Routh and John Michael Routh, will come to appreciate their German heritage after reading about the Kehls who came to America in 1731. They and their descendents helped form this great nation.

Born out of the popular blog Kale & Caramel, this sumptuously photographed and beautifully written cookbook presents eighty recipes for delicious vegan and vegetarian dishes featuring herbs and flowers, as well as luxurious do-it-yourself beauty products. Plant-whisperer, writer, and photographer Lily Diamond believes that herbs and flowers have the power to nourish inside and out. “Lily’s deep connection to nature is beautifully woven throughout this personal collection of recipes,” says award-winning vegetarian chef Amy Chaplin. Each chapter celebrates an aromatic herb or flower, including basil, cilantro, fennel, mint, oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme, lavender, jasmine, rose, and orange blossom. Mollie Katzen, author of the beloved Moosewood Cookbook, calls the book “a gift, articulated through a poetic voice, original and bold.” The recipes tell a coming-of-age story through Lily’s kinship with plants, from a sun-drenched Maui childhood to healing from heartbreak and her mother’s death. With bright flavors, gorgeous scents, evocative stories, and more than one hundred photographs, Kale & Caramel creates a lush garden of experience open to harvest year round.

This three-volume encyclopedia on the history of American food and beverages serves as an ideal companion resource for social studies and American history courses, covering topics ranging from early American Indian foods to mandatory nutrition information at fast food restaurants. The expression "you are what you eat" certainly applies to Americans, not just in terms of our physical health, but also in the myriad ways that our taste preferences, eating habits, and food culture are intrinsically tied to our society and history. This standout reference work comprises two volumes containing more than 600 alphabetically arranged historical entries on American foods and beverages, as well as dozens of historical recipes for traditional American foods; and a third volume of more than 120 primary source documents. Never before has there been a reference work that coalesces this diverse range of information into a single set. The entries in this set provide information that will transform any American history research project into an engaging learning experience. Examples include explanations of how tuna fish became a staple food product for Americans, how the canning industry emerged from the Civil War, the difference between Americans and people of other countries in terms of what percentage of their income is spent on food and beverages, and how taxation on beverages like tea, rum, and whisky set off important political rebellions in U.S. history.

On April 28, 1946, a small group of American wives and children arrived at the port of Bremerhaven, West Germany, the first of thousands of military family members to make the trans–Atlantic journey. They were the basis of a network of military communities—“Little Americas”—that would spread across the postwar German landscape. During a 45-year period which included some of the Cold War’s tensest moments, their presence confirmed America’s resolve to maintain Western democracy in the face of the Soviet threat. Drawing on archival sources and personal narratives, this book explores these enclaves of Americanism, from the U.S. government's perspective to the grassroots view of those who made their homes in Cold War Europe. These families faced many challenges in balancing their military missions with their daily lives during a period of dynamic global change. The author describes interaction in American communities that were sometimes separated, sometimes connected with their German neighbors.

In the first cookbook to encompass the full spectrum of Latin American cooking all across America today, Himilce Novas and Rosemary Silva offer 200 enticing recipes that have been drawn from the home kitchens of Americans with roots in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Jamaica, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Guatemala, and nearly every other corner of Latin America. Spicy, colorful, and full of surprises, Latin flavors are the latest rage with Nuevo Latino chefs from New York to Los Angeles. But here the exotic is translated into wonderful everyday dishes that home cooks can easily master. For starters, Novas and Silva give us luscious Chilled Roasted Sweet Red Pepper and Coconut Soup or Orange-Scented Roasted Pumpkin Soup and appetizers known as antojitos ("little whims")--Bayamo's Fried Wontons with Chorizo and Chiles or a Costa Rican Black Bean and Bacon Dip. For main courses, there are hearty delights like Piri Thomas's Chicken Asopao or a Heavenly Potato Pie with Minced Beef, Raisins, and Olives. Center stage in many a meal are the rice and bean dishes with countless delicious variations on the theme, like Gallo pinto, Red Kidney Beans and Rice, and "Jamaican coat of arms", also called Rice and Peas (which are actually small red beans). And to satisfy the Latin appetite any time of day, also included here is a rich array of tamales, empanadas, and other turnovers, like Little Brazil Shrimp Turnovers stuffed with shrimp and hearts of palm. From Cristina, the Cuban American talk show hostess in Miami, to U.S. Representative Henry B. González of Texas, from film producers and opera singers to young students and grandmothers, the authors have gathered, along with the family recipes and their origins, stories of the past and of the good times celebrated in America. Novas and Silva also offer invaluable information on Latin American chiles, on the earthy appeal of plantains and tubers like yuca and taro, and on other special foods that give these dishes their unique character, along with mail-order sources for hard-to-get ingredients. An exuberant one-of-a-kind cookbook that will add a new dimension to the American table.

At the turn of the twentieth century, M. E. Ravage set off in steerage for America, one of almost two million Jews who, like millions of others from eastern and southern Europe, were lured by tales of worldly success. Seventeen years after arriving on Ellis Island, Ravage had mastered a new language, found success in college, and engagingly penned in English this vivid account of the ordeals and pleasures of departure and assimilation. Steven G. Kellman brings Ravage's story to life again in this new edition, providing a brief biography and introduction that place the memoir within historical and literary contexts. An American in the Making contributes to a broader understanding of the global notion of "America" and remains timely, especially in an era when massive immigration, now from Latin America and Asia, challenges ideas of national identity.