How to Eat Breakfast Like a 17th Century Swedish Satanist

I wrote about the breakfast habits of 17-century witches for Extra Crispy, possibly giving the anti-grain contingent a bit of ammo in the process. St. Anthony’s Fire sounds fucking dreadful.

Berries: A Global History

  My latest book is now available, and I really hope you’ll read it! “Berries are our food, our drink, our medicine; they get us high, they tell our lore, they underscore our social identities. Though they be diminutive and endearingly sweet, they should not …

If You Ain’t Blue, Then You Ain’t Tru

What’s the deal with blue raspberry, anyway? I talk all about it in my latest piece for TASTE.

How the Father of Oregon Agriculture Launched a Doomed Quaker Sex Cult

I wrote a feature for this month’s Portland Monthly Magazine. It’s about the crazy life of Henderson Luelling, whose orchard was the birthplace of the Bing cherry, and who went on to launch a doomed free-lovers colony on Tiger Island.

In the 1970s, Pizza Joints Pulled Out All the Stops

Remember eating pizza with your family while the dulcet tones of Pinball Wizard tore loose from a Wurlitzer pipe organ? The 1970s were real special times. I wrote about the Organ Grinder and the history of pipe organ pizza joints for Taste.

Portland’s Vice Clique Scandal Began in a Gents-Only Dining Room

I touched on this subject a little in Portland: A Food Biography, and was happy to write about it a bit more for the Portland Mercury. The Louvre was the original home of the nude portrait that currently hangs behind the bar at Jake’s Famous …

It’s a Mystery: A History

What is up with people’s fascination with foods disguised as other things? I tackle that question in my latest piece for Taste.

Taste Top Stories of 2017

I’m extremely flattered that Taste has included two of my stories in their Top Stories of 2017 and three of them in their 15 Favorite Food and Drink Histories!

Not Ready for This Jelly

Molly and Kai had me back on Make Me Smart to make a prediction for 2018! You heard it here first, folks: aspic is going to make a comeback.  

Thought for Food

Why don’t Americans eat brains like we used to? It’s not *just* because of Mad Cow Disease. I wrote all about it for Taste.