Here We Go

We are on the road.  It seems like a blur---Maryland, then Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.  This morning, Alabama.  Every place has a different story in my family tree and another set of stories and meanings for the Ancestors who lived in each state and county.  I am overwhelmed with the thought of …

That Cotton Thing…and Food….

Friendly Reminder:  Sunday May 6th at 11:59 pm our campaign is done.  Its going to mean cutting places, venues, community service opportunies, and losing time to do genealogical research if we don't make our goal--so please please please don't take my work here for granted and all the sweat our team has put into this …

Are You Really What You Eat? Or are You the Meals that You Cook?

"Over Yonder" Cooking at the GreenmarketWe have four days left to raise some 3,000 plus for our campaign.  Over 600 people viewed this blog yesterday.  If only 180 had made a contribution to our Campaign of 18$ or more, the Campaign would have been an overnight success…We need you—Now.  Please contribute 18 or more today:  www.indiegogo.com/The-Cooking-Gene-Project-The-Southern-Discomfort-Tour When I …

Meet Edward Booker, Aged 112

Name: Edward Booker Relation: Great-Great-Grandfather of Michael W. Twitty through his paternal grandmother, Eloise Booker Born: 1839 Died: 1953 Where:  Prince Edward County, Virginia around the town of Prospect. Occupation: Former enslaved indivdual on the Booker tobacco plantation, Freedman and landowner, and tobacco farmer I need help telling his story--and finding out more about him …

From the Family History Files: Appomattox, April 9, 1865

On April 9, 1865, in Appomattox, Virginia my great-great Grandfather Elijah Mitchell was standing with his brother when he witnessed the surrender of Lee to Grant...and this is how he found out that he was free...as copied from a family history file left to my Father: "Appomattox County is a historical place in the commonwealth …

We are Featured on the CNN Food Blog: Eatocracy

Great Feature over at Eatocracy Please check it out and share it.  And remember only 6 days left to help donate to the Cooking Gene Projectand there are many great gifts still left to be claimed. Enjoy 🙂 AND SHARE AND SHARE AND SHARE AND SHARE---- 6 days until our campaign ends--even if you can't give …

The Cooking Gene: Our Press Release

For Immediate Release: Contact: Michael W. Twitty  E-mail: thecookinggene@gmail.com Phone: 240-330-9291 Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? “Southern Discomfort" Tour Back to the Old South An African American Culinary Historian Searches for his Family’s Food Roots and Slaveowners. Washington, D.C. –From May through July 2012, culinary historian Michael W. Twitty will travel from Maryland to Louisiana tracing his ancestry across …

Meet Andi Cumbo: “You Will Not Be Forgotten”

Writer Andrea (Andi) Cumbo has a project in the same family of The Cooking Gene entitled "You Will Not Be Forgotten,"  a fascinating project that examines the history of the plantation where she lives in Fluvanna County, Virginia.  It just so happens that Andi knows people with the surname Booker, which represents a large group …

Watch Blair Underwood/The Nike Galaxy Shoe/And Why I Want this Project to Succeed

"African Americans are innately wired to want to know who we are. Its almost being like an adopted child."---Sharon Malone, commentator, "Slavery by Another Name." A few days ago I almost gave up on The Cooking Gene.  I will admit, I am an impatient man.  I am not attracting significant support from African Americans.  I …

The Cooking Gene in the Media

I hope that the many people viewing this blog--we are going about a hundred views a day--know about The Cooking Gene (www.cookinggene.com) and the Indiegogo.Com campaign we've been launching ( http://www.indiegogo.com/The-Cooking-Gene-Project-The-Southern-Discomfort-Tour )---we REALLY need your help! You don't have to be a big spender to donate--donations start at ten bucks! However, the more you donate …