Here’s the review of the book, by Jane and Michael Stern (the king and queen of the road when it comes to Americana foodie-writing).  Enjoy!

Here’s a link to the Kansas City Star Sunday magazine cover story on Fred Harvey, with an exclusive excerpt from the book and over a dozen photos (including some we didn’t use in the book) in an amazing online gallery.

This very kind blog post from the editor of the Village Voice, Tony Ortega, kicked off a truly wonderful Fred-fest last night at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, my home away from home in New York. Thanks to my colleague David Hajdu for the wonderful intro, my longtime Nora-pal Miriam Arond for being MC and gentle interrogator, and all my friends, colleagues, Freditors, family members, and students–current and former–who were there to support me and the book (which just went into a second printing.) After that, and the wonderful, warm launch party in Philly the night before, we are ready to hit the road next week for the “One Nation Under Fred” train tour, beginning at the Chicago History Museum April 5. All aboard!

As my father always said–quoting the great philosophers in Bye Bye Birdie–the day I knew would come at last has come at last. Appetite for America has been published! It should be in your local bookstore now (if it isn’t, ask someone why not) and can also be ordered online at amazon.com, B&N.com, indiebound and others. I’ve been working on this book for over six years, and I can’t wait for you to read it. And once you’ve finished–or even while you’re reading–I hope you’ll reach out through this blog. Whether you are a longtime Fred-head getting a chance to read in-depth about him and his revolutionary family business for the first time, or a Harvey newbie, I’m looking forward to hearing from you.

And, somewhere Fred (pictured here in the last known photo take of him) is reading with you.

stephen

First review of Appetite for America–in the Wall Street Journal.  Read it here

One of my most delicious jobs in researching Appetite for America was finding archival Fred Harvey recipes. The book features over 50 of these in an appendix, most never-before-published, and here are two to start with–both from El Tovar in 1930. The recipes are in the formats (and spellings) Harvey chefs used: just paragraphs, with no separate ingredient listings.

FLANNEL CAKES
Combine one pound flour, one quart water and one small yeast cake. Set to
raise and work in three beaten eggs, one ounce melted butter, a pinch of salt
and two ounces of maple syrup. Let raise again and cook very thin, flannel- like pancakes on hot griddle iron.

BULL FROGS SAUTÉ PROVENCAL
Remove skin, dismember bull frog, cut into desired pieces, season with salt and pepper, dip in flour and sauté in butter and one crushed garlic kernel, a few minced shallots, one chopped onion and three sliced fresh mushrooms. Add a few fresh tomatoes, peeled and diced. Let simmer until frog legs are tender, season with salt and pepper and finish sauce with chopped parsley and olives. Serve in chafing dish.

One of the best parts of writing Appetite for America was getting to know the Harvey Girl enthusiasts–like Brenda Thowe at BNSF, the queen of the Harvey Girls, who will give a talk on her work with HG history at our event in Santa Fe on April 11 at La Fonda. I’ve also met a lot of Harvey Girls and their families at the reunion in San Diego, and through research–we tracked down many new/old photos that had never been seen, and even a few diaries. I hope the living Harvey Girls and their families will use this section of the blog to stay in touch!

and as soon as I figure out how to do it, I will, too

s

Starting April 5 in Chicago, I will be traveling along the original Santa Fe route by train to promote Appetite for America, and meet Fred Harvey fans old and new. I’ll also be blogging from the train, as my wife, Diane, and I take in Fred Harvey’s America (as we did several years ago, by train, when researching the book.) You can meet us along the way in Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, Topeka, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Phoenix, Winslow, Grand Canyon and Los Angeles–updated schedules and information are here, or at my facebook author page where I’d be pleased to have you as a fan.

When I first started researching Fred Harvey over five years ago, I was amazed at how little information was available online besides reference photos of buildings, and promised that when/if the book ever got finished, I’d set up a blog site to remedy that. So my book Appetite for America, comes out March 23 and today, one week before, we open One Nation Under Fred, a place for Freddists, Harvey Girl enthusiasts, Santa Fe trainiacs and others fascinated by all the worlds touched by Fred Harvey can meet, talk, share stories and pictures, and have a cup of coffee (I’ll post the original FH recipe.)

If you want to read an excerpt from the book, there is one posted here. If you want to come hear me speak about the book during our train tour, there’s a schedule here. If you want to buy a book, you can do it here. And if you just want to write and discuss your Fredilections and Harveynalias, you now have a place to do so.

May Fred be with you,

Stephen