Intro -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Tuna Casserole -- Part I. Setting the Table -- Chapter 1 Food Is a Weapon -- Fear of Hunger Leads to World War II -- Food Shortages during World War II -- Feeding the Military Machine -- Military and Humanitarian Chocolate -- After World War II -- Coffee Mallow -- The European Recovery Program (April 1948-December 1951) -- The Soviet Blockade of West Berlin: The First Major Crisis of the Cold War (1948-1949) -- A Cookbook Is Created in Blockaded Berlin -- Mary's Cornbread -- 1953: Nobel Peace Prize for Marshall -- Chapter 2 From the Factory to the Suburbs: New Social Roles for Women -- Women Are Encouraged to Leave Their Wartime Jobs for a New Life in the Suburbs -- Bess Truman's Cocoanut Cookies -- Chapter 3 Little Girls Make Fluffy Jell-O Desserts: Little Boys and Their Fathers Grill Steaks -- Jiffy Stew -- The Backyard Barbecue-A "Man's World" -- Nadine's Boston Baked Beans -- Barbecued Fish -- Bullshot -- Barbecue Sauce [For chicken] -- Part II. Sitting Down and Unfolding Our Napkins -- Chapter 4 "If I Knew You Were Comin', I'd Have Baked a Cake": Cookbooks, Cooks, and Cooking -- Mainstream Cookbooks -- Pound Cake -- Irma R. Rombauer and The Joy Of Cooking9 -- Mushrooms Under Glass -- Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book19 -- Potage St. Germaine -- Charity Cookbooks -- Cinnamon Muffins -- Sukiyaki -- Southern Regional Cooking -- Shrimp Jambalaya -- Quail on Toast -- Southern Hopping John -- Red Snapper -- Chapter 5 "Honey, I'm Home. What's for Dinner?": The 1950s American Diet, Part I -- Canned Foods -- Casseroles -- Tomato-Crab Bake -- Casserole of Savory Spanish Rice -- Frozen Foods -- Boxed Cake Mixes -- Aerosols -- Dehydrated Foods -- More Processed Foods: Some Fun, Others Not So Fun -- Packaged Macaroni Dinner -- "Some More" -- Baked Sweet Potatoes Marshmallow.

Mamie's Million Dollar Fudge -- Chapter 6 SPAM® and Jell-O Tell Their Stories While We Sit Back and Enjoy a Cola: The 1950s American Diet, Part II -- SPAM®, Jell-O, and Carbonated Drinks Demonstrate Their Versatility -- More about Canned Food: SPAM® -- The Hormel Girls, aka the "Spamettes" -- New with Spam! New with Bisquick! -- Spam "Around the World" Dinner Casserole (1959) -- Egg and SPAM® Et Cetera Abroad -- SPAM® Appropriates the Foreign Enemy -- Spam 'N Noodles Romanoff -- Jell-O Tells Its Story -- Cherry Coke Salad -- Butterscotch Pudding -- Jell-O: A Quivering Mound of Flavored Gelatin or an Accomplice to Treason? -- After a Meal of SPAM® and Jell-O, Now I Am Really Thirsty -- Challengers to Coca-Cola: Other Popular Carbonated Drinks -- Pepsi-Cola -- Ginger Ale -- Arctic Cooler -- Gingerale Salad -- Root Beer -- Seltzer -- Whisky Sour -- The Last Word on Processed Foods -- Chapter 7 Fancy Appetizers, Beef Stroganoff, and an Atomic Cocktail: Fun and Elegant Entertaining in the Suburbs, Part I -- Canapés and Hors D'oeuvres -- Green Cheese Ball -- Cocktail Meat Balls in Wine Sauce -- Meat Ball Sauce -- Tiny Wiener Appetizers -- To Cilantro or Not to Cilantro? That Is the Question (a Word about Avocado Spreads or Dips, aka Guacamole) -- Guacamole -- Avocado Canapes, II -- Drinks -- Martini-Medium Dry -- Russian Cocktail -- Strawberry Punch -- Atomic Cocktail -- Atomic Cocktail -- Oppenheimer Martini -- The Formal Dinner Party and Buffet Dinners -- Miracle Cherry Pie -- The Holy Trinity of Suburban Fancy Dishes: Beef Stroganoff, Chicken Divan, and Lobster Thermidor -- Beef Stroganoff -- Beef Stroganoff -- Lobster Thermidor -- Lobster Thermidor -- Chapter 8 More Parties, the Cult of the Chafing Dish, and the Suburban Luau: Fun and Elegant Entertaining in the Suburbs, Part II -- Brunch and Luncheon -- Ham and Eggs -- Chicken a La King.

Deviled Egg and Shrimp Casserole -- Teas -- Good Neighbor Gatherings -- Entertaining and the Cult of the Chafing Dish14 -- Lobster Newburg -- Welch Rabbit -- Setting Your Food on Fire -- Cherry Jubilee -- Theme Parties -- The Backyard Hawaiian Luau -- Tiki: The Beginning of a Movement -- Hollywood Movies, Forbidden Sex, and the Sultry Landscapes of the Tropics -- Island Cocktails -- La Florida Daiquiri No. 3. -- Decor, Food, and Entertainment for the Suburban Luau -- Island Beach Boy Morsels (Bacon Wrapped Chunks) -- Pork Hawaiian -- Pineapple Sticks -- Chapter 9 Foreign Foods? Chop Suey, Tamale Pie, Chef Boy-Ar-Dee, and Some Curry -- Mainstream and Specialty Cookbooks Tackle Foreign Foods -- International Dishes Turn into Suburban Casseroles -- Americans Take On French Cuisine -- Famous Champions of Gourmet Cooking in America -- Duckling With Peas (Canard Aux Petits Pois Bonne Femme) -- Coquilles St. Jacques En Escalopes (Baked Scallops) -- Fillet of Sole En Papillote -- Italian Food in America -- Veal Parmigiana -- Chinese Food in America -- Chow Mein Loaf -- "Translation" of Chinese Culture and Cuisine for American Cooks -- Red-Cooked Meat Proper: Plain -- Chop Suey: Chinese or American? -- The ABC of Casseroles (1954) -- Chop Suey -- Tex-Mex: The Rise of a New American Cuisine -- Chili Con Carne -- Mexican Tamale Pie -- Curry: Exotic South Asian Food or an All-American Delight? -- Dried-Beef Curry on Rice -- Ek-Aur Chingra Korma -- Part III. Indigestion -- Chapter 10 Selling Plymouths to Men, Electric Can Openers to Women, and Televisions for All -- Racism Sells Pancake Mix -- Segmented Advertising -- Men Purchase Cars and Women Purchase Electric Can Openers -- Electrical Servants -- Changes in the Kitchen -- Kitchen Appliances and Advertisements Find Beauty in Strong Colors -- Television, the Permanent Dinner Guest34.

Snacking While Watching TV -- Clam Appetizer Dip -- Popcorn -- Chocolate Popcorn Balls -- Potato Chips -- Pretzels -- Hot Dogs -- Snacks as Real Food -- Frankfurters in Casserole -- Television, Food, and Cooking Shows -- Gelatin Easter Egg Salad -- Chapter 11 Step Away from the Donuts: The Importance of Staying Healthy (in Case the Cold War Turns Hot) -- A Bulwark of White European Civilization -- Further Investigation of Calories -- US Government Food Guidelines -- Postwar USDA Food Guidelines -- Sugary Cereals Add Pounds to the American Body -- Fast-Food Restaurants also Add Pounds to the American Body -- Weight Gain Becomes an Obsession -- What Did the Cookbooks Say? -- Eggless-Butterless-Milkless Cake -- Quackery -- But What about Exercise? -- Stuffed Bell Peppers [Vegetable Salad] -- Combination Salad [Fruit Salad] -- Part IV. Watching History Unfold with an After-Dinner Drink -- Chapter 12 The Kitchen Debate: Vice President Richard M. Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev Meet in a Lemon-Yellow Kitchen, July 24, 1959 -- The Soviet Exhibition, New York City -- The American National Exhibition -- The American Kitchen -- Minted Peas and Carrots -- Captive Nations -- Nixon and Khrushchev Meet -- Buckwheat Blini -- Veal and Cucumber Salad -- Booze Diplomacy -- Nixon Enjoys His Mai Tais -- Mai Tai -- Shrimp Canape -- Barbecued Spareribs -- Epilogue -- Frozen Lemon Pie -- Notes -- Index.