The Kentucky Fried Chicken Corporation has something to crow about. They've just launched a brand new website in honor of founder Colonel Harland Sanders, and they're inviting his devoted fans to share their stories and memories of the man behind the brand.

“Sanders had an impact on people. They remember that interaction when they met him,” says Rick Maynard, public relations manager of the KFC Corporation.

The idea to start ColonelSanders.com came from a meeting with franchisees who have been with the company for many years. “One day they were all telling these amazing stories of the Colonel. Our goal is to capture the stories before they’re forgotten, “says Maynard.
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Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia (CNN) - Driving cross-country in small-bus-size hot dog is kind of a big deal.

Between 1,000 and 1,500 college seniors apply for the 12 posts piloting Oscar Mayer’s six Wienermobiles. Hopefuls have been applying for the position since 1988.

“The lucky dogs who cut the mustard are known as ‘hotdoggers,’ ” said Reese Brammel, a hotdogger who just graduated from the University of Kentucky with a degree in “Economnomnomics,” according to his bio on the hotdogger blog.

Brammel, who plans to apply to law school after his year-long tenure with Oscar Mayer, will face much more forgiving acceptance rates at even the most selective schools.

Brammel and his co-hotdogger, Lauren Oliver, are part of the 24^th class of Oscar Mayer hotdoggers, but the Wienermobile is much older. In fact, it is 75 years old today.
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After opening more than ten restaurants encompassing Spanish, Greek, Turkish and Mexican cuisines, receiving the prestigious James Beard Award and popularizing tapas for Beltway patrons, Chef Jose Andres has a new role as culinary historian.

"I'm going back to 16th, 17th, 18th-century books, because books to me are a very important way to say, 'This began here on that date and this is the first book that ever published that recipe with corn or that recipe with pawpaw," said Andres gesturing to an imaginary book in his hand.
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Food says so much about where you’ve come from, where you’ve decided to go, and the lessons you’ve learned. It’s geography, politics, tradition, belief and so much more and this week, we invite you to dig in and discover the rich, ever-evolving taste of America in 2011. The week will culminate with a Secret Supper in New York City, and Eatocracy invites you to participate online starting Monday July 11th at 6:30 p.m. E.T.

There's nothing quite so American as gathering your friends and family to celebrate Independence Day with a classic cookout.

We polled Eatocracy readers a while back, and nearly 38,000 votes later, it seems that the ultimate summer menu would consist of a burger (cooked medium and topped with cheese, lettuce and onions), potato salad, corn on the cob and watermelon, washed down with plenty of ice cold beer.

Only in the U.S.A., right?

Well, not quite. While those dishes may now be synonymous with American life, liberty and the pursuit of a really great picnic, like most of the citizens themselves, often their origins are elsewhere.
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This summer, CNN's Defining America project will be traveling the country with the CNN Express bus to explore the stories behind the data and demographics that show how places are changing. This week, CNN brings you coverage from North Carolina.

There was a time when every North Carolina family loved – or at least knew – liver mush. It's the cuisine of grandma's house, snow days and simpler times, a local delicacy some natives defend with the same loyalty they have to Carolina barbecue and Cheerwine.

Back then, it was the economical way to get some meat in your diet when times were tough, a high-iron addition to a kid's lunch, or a fried-till-crispy comfort breakfast beside fat slices of tomato and muskmelon.
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Cara Reedy is an Executive Assistant at CNN. She previously wrote for Eatocracy on being a small cook in a big kitchen.

I grew up in St. Louis, MO which is considered the Midwest, but has some clear southern leanings. Barbecue and fried chicken were always around. One of my favorite meals as a child was a one-pot meal consisting of potatoes, green beans, carrots and cabbage boiled with a ham hock. My parents served it with a fresh batch of corn bread to soak up the juices - often called pot liquor or potlikker.

I never really thought anything about this meal other than I liked it. When you're a kid, you generally don't analyze your food that deeply. It’s either like or can’t stand. Flash forward to adulthood, when I started doing some personal research on the African American slave diet. I suddenly realized that what my parents were serving was the original soul food.
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