Title: Watching What We Eat: The Evolution of Television Cooking Shows
Author: Kathleen Collins
Genre: non-fiction, food history, American history

Think lack of cooking skills is a recent, generational problem? Think again! Americans have been culinary-challenged since the early-to-mid twentieth century and in this book Kathleen Collins explores the combination of media and culinary skills.
While we have Food Network, our grandmothers listened to home ec radio shows to get their cooking tips. When TVs became a "must-have" household item, the home ec radio shows evolved into visual cooking shows. Cooking shows in the 1950's to 1970's were more somber and educational than they are now. Cooking shows as entertainment didn't come to fruition until the 1990's- when the Food Network was created. The various cooking shows over the past five decades have helped the American palate to become more sophisticated and more open to a variety of flavors and cuisines.