
Monday, April 16, 2018
Flour as a war target

Monday, April 9, 2018
Secret communal bread ovens during the French Revolution
Some revolutionary period bake ovens still remain in the Dordogne area. Before the French Revolution began in 1789, rural ovens were owned by the wealthy overlords, then clandestine ovens were built in the woods to feed the peasants.
Monday, April 2, 2018
Birds in the kitchen: 16th through 18th century bird cages
Monday, March 26, 2018
Left over jelly made into drinks
Monday, March 19, 2018
Easter scratched egg with the Battle of Bunker Hill
Germans in Pennsylvania and Maryland dyed their eggs in brown onion skins or logwood, then scratched designs on the shells to give as gifts. A young Capt. Wm Beatty carved the Battle of Bunker Hill on an egg!! The fabulous design was described by a British officer prisoner in 1781 Frederick, Md. Eggs in photo were made by Tom Martin of Landis Valley museum.
Monday, March 12, 2018
Stew stoves (or stewing stoves) in two Hamptons
Monday, March 5, 2018
Food History Conferences, Symposiums, Exhibits and Writings 2018
Symposiums in England (Leeds, Oxford), Amsterdam, Australia and USA.
Monday, February 26, 2018
Native Americans making maple sugar described by Chateaubriand
Monday, February 19, 2018
Apple Tansey

Fried apple slices dipped in a batter of eggs, cream, sugar, nutmeg and
rosewater or apples chopped fine in a batter thickened with flour are delicious
fried. Tanseys are an old recipe, and
appear in cookbooks by La Varenne (1673), Smith (1730) and cooking manuscripts from the 1600s (William Penn's wife and Martha
Washington's Custis inlaws - both their apple recipes are delicious). The herb 'tansey' is no longer used in the recipe, but the name lives on.
Monday, February 12, 2018
Tortillas made in 1800s Mexico and Hondorus
Monday, February 5, 2018
"Tiddy-Doll" - famous London gingerbread street vendor
The flamboyant seller of gingerbread was "hailed as the King of itinerant tradesmen." Dressing "like a person of rank" the tall Ford (his real name) wore gold lace, white stockings and a white apron. He would harangue the audience at "fairs, mob meetings, Lord Mayor's shows, public executions" and holiday festivities; and include in his 'cries' Tiddy tiddy dol.
Monday, January 29, 2018
Andrew Jackson's Great Cheese Levee

Jefferson was given a 1,600 pound cheese from Cheshire, Mass. Every farmer brought his curd to be poured into a large cider press to make the huge variegated cheese. A large round of cheese from New York was given to President Jackson, kept in the vestibule of the White House and finally cut in 1837. "The air was redolent with cheese, the carpet was slippery
with cheese."
Monday, January 22, 2018
Queen of the Kitchen: a collection of old Maryland receipts by Miss Tyson
In 1870, a charity cookbook was compiled by "Miss Tyson" to fund a new church building for the Protestant Episcopal Church in Oakland (western Maryland). The first edition was so successful that the church building was built. Enlarged and no longer for charity, the cookbook went through three more editions by a publisher in Philadelphia. So who was "M. L. Tyson"?
Monday, January 15, 2018
James Hemings turns down Thomas Jefferson
In 1801, newly elected Thomas Jefferson wanted his former (freed in 1796) slave James Hemings (1765-1801) as his presidential chef, but Hemings wanted Jefferson to contact him personally and said he was busy with an engagement with Mr. Peck, a "Tavern Keeper" in Baltimore. William Evans, the owner of the Indian Queen, a block away on the same street as Peck's Columbian hotel, was the go-between for Jefferson and Hemings. James had accompanied Jefferson to France where he took lessons on French cooking.
Monday, January 8, 2018
Francatelli bombs
In last year's first season of the TV series "Victoria," chef Francatelli created a Bombe Suprise from ice cream and chocolate. The real chef included a list of bombs in his Royal English and Foreign Confectioner, 1862.
Tuesday, January 2, 2018
Bonbons - gifts on New Year's Day in France
It was the custom in 18th & 19th cen. France for people to visit their relatives and
friends with gifts of bonbons very early on New Year's Day. The containers varied from paper to elaborate hollowed vegetables, fruit, books, balloon even lobster made of confectionery. These gifts could add up. "Parisian of 8,000 franc a year to make
presents on New Year's Day which cost him a fifteenth part of his income."
Monday, December 25, 2017
Plum pudding for Old Christmas Day
Tuesday, December 19, 2017
Flowering fruit tree branches as Christmas trees
Although fir trees were the most popular, small cherry or apricot trees were planted in pots, or branches were cut and put in water so the blossoms appeared during the holiday. The picture of a flowering tree decorated with ornaments and candles is from 1790 Nuremberg Germany.
Monday, December 11, 2017
Luciadagen or St. Lucia Day breakfast
Monday, December 4, 2017
Belsnickel or Pelznichel
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