KC Hysmith, PhD

"Cake shaming is weird" A cake scholar's thoughts on The Cut's "Ugly Cakes" article

The concept of “unskilled labor” is a classist myth and cake shaming is such a strange use of energy. Wrote about the latest online cake drama in my latest newsletter:

Tariffs give the U.S.’s only native caffeinated plant a shot at stardom Yaupon, a holly plant long used by indigenous groups, gets new attention thanks to tariffs on tea and coffee.

Hello! Very excited to have my first byline in the
@washingtonpost.com about an indigenous consumable plant near and dear to my Texas/Southern heart. wapo.st/4nTb1Cq

CHOPPING BLOCK: Baking By Feel by The Sweet Feminist A Could-Be-Banned Cookbook Q&A with Becca Rea-Tucker

Chatting with @thesweetfeminist.bsky.social about feelings, cookbook bans, and what she’d bake her worst enemy (can you guess who it is?) in the latest issue of CHOPPING BLOCK!

Moderated my first in-person book talk! It was a pleasure to discuss An American Girl Anthology: Finding Ourselves in the Pleasant Company Universe with co-editors @justineodashs.bsky.social and @kchysmith.bsky.social at @portersqbooks.bsky.social in Cambridge on Friday.

Meet An American Girl Anthology My first not-food book and the food history that helped shape it

Happy pub day, An American Girl Anthology! Sharing a bit about the book process and my feelings about writing my first not-food book (and the food history that helped shape it) in my latest newsletter with fellow food scholar/co-author @emartin.bsky.social!

Loved having @maryburke.bsky.social's smart thoughts and wit in this amazing anthology!

The 🇫 key on my keyboard keeps getting stuck which is very rustrating because I write about ood and also now I can’t type out the word “ uck” as oten as I’d like. This ucking sucks.

A fun fact about me is that my full name is Katherine and any time I’m in the writing groove and type out a word with a “th” in the middle I inevitably type the rest of the letters as my name. Gatherine. Togetherine. Southerine.

A (Very Abridged) History of May Day Cake Fertility rites, labor strikes, and buttercream all in one bite

Happy May Day! Here's to workers' rights and cake!

Bring your dolls!

“Eating breakfast like it’s 1774”: Culture and Identity-Making in the American Girl Universe — Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD) On Thursday, May 22, join MOFAD, Samantha, Molly, Kirsten, Addy, Josefina, Kaya, and co-editors KC Hysmith and Justine Orlovsky-Schnitzler in conversation with material culture enthusiast and cookie m...

hey, NYC! ⭐️
@kchysmith.bsky.social and I are coming to MOFAD on May 22nd!

www.mofad.org/calendar/ag-...

Cut-Up Bunny Cake The faithful bond between Easter baking and shredded coconut

New newsletter just in time for holiday baking this weekend!

Bring your dolls!

"Get the boys a bag of spuds" The Irish food-filled masterpiece that radicalized me

This and reading A Modest Proposal in high school English.

Pink paisley background with two blocks of white with black text: “oh, you beautiful doll”: childhood, gender and play; “American girls, nostalgia, and the pleasant company universe (streamed online panel) chaired by Halle Singh and featuring me + Dr. KC Hysmith

So excited to present at this conference next week with @kchysmith.bsky.social —big ups to the Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies (GSWS) program at Pitt ❤️‍🔥

AN AMERICAN GIRL ANTHOLOGY book. Molly sits on it, Nanea sits next to it, and Felicity, Rebecca, Kit, & Kirsten look up from sitting on the floor.

congratulations @justineodashs.bsky.social @kchysmith.bsky.social et al 🥳🎉

LOVE IT! Thanks for sharing!

Pancake Politics The sociocultureconomics of American syrups

Hot takes here! Fresh off the griddle!
penknife.substack.com/p/pancake-po...

Our FDA: she's imperfect, but she tries a food history refresher on the importance of food regulation

I wrote this historical perspective on the importance of the FDA on day 10 of the HHS public comms freeze (which was supposed to end on 2/1). Today is day 15.

substack.com/home/post/p-...

The cornbreads!

Shared some food history perspective (it's never just about food) with a group of folks from Wayne Co. NC at an event called Finding Common Ground. We used cornbread to talk about our differences and our similarities and next meeting they're going to make a community cookbook together!

Our FDA: she's imperfect, but she tries a food history refresher on the importance of food regulation

Spoiling your Friday with some food history perspective on the current FDA public communication freeze. penknife.substack.com/p/our-fda-sh...

Welcome to Penknife Where the mighty hungry are at home

With the big changes on social media and in our society last week, my little newsletter received a number of new subscribers. I put together a new welcome post to introduce folks to my work and to remind longtime readers that Penknife is never just about food, because food is never just food.

Ha!

Congrats, Chef Ricky! So grateful I got to help share your story in THE SALTBOX SEAFOOD JOINT COOKBOOK!

Food Scholars Predict 2025 Food Trends Out: Seed Oils. In: Snake Oil.

Out: Seed Oils. In: Snake Oil.

The Progressive Era Hallowe'en Party Table a short post from the archives with vintage recipes for today

The spooky vegetable masks, a cauldron filled with wool smoke and fortune telling walnut shells, squash blossom dolls with salted almond baskets! Nary a chocolate bar in sight! A short post for Halloween!
penknife.substack.com/p/the-progre...

Spooky Food Histories Monster cereals, weeny witches, and raisins!

Babe, you okay? You've barely touched your festive Halloween Weeny Witch. 🌭🧹https://penknife.substack.com/p/spooky-food-histories

Posset Goes Viral (Again): The Instagrammification of a 17th-Century Dessert Lemon posset has been all the rage this summer on social media—only the latest instance of the dessert’s periodic popularity.

Spent the end of my summer getting lost on #lemonpossettok. Thank you @ahahistorians.bsky.social and @lmansley.bsky.social for the chance to write this fun #foodhistory piece!

If you don't have to haul out the mixer then it doesn't count as labor.