My original editor and I once had a conversation about history. "It's the small details," he said, "that make history feel real in fiction." And I agree. When you're establishing a sense of place and time, it's the little things - stuff that's specific to that city or town or time period or whatever. Like this Italian beef sandwich with two kinds of peppers that I just ate in Chicago at a place called Bobo's on West Irving Park. We had - very sadly - come into town for a funeral. Husband's mom had passed away very suddenly, adding to what has already been quite the long, long summer. But even with death, there is food. In fact, in my experience - always with death there is food. And if you need an Italian run hot dog joint to establish a Chicago setting, think of this sandwich. There were french fries, too. But they didn't make it into the picture.
