Wine Devils, Biscuits for Drinkers and other tavern fare

Superbowl Sunday means chicken wings and snacks. This year try some tasty tidbits from the past: Wine-devils (broiled gizzards and chicken legs), Anchovy Toast, Deviled Biscuit, Woodcocks underroasted, or the aptly named Biscuit for Drinkers, but not boiled mutton or stewed beef.

Selling sand in Regency London - for the kitchen, and more

"Sand O!" cried the street vendors in 1804.  Sand was used to clean kitchen utensils, store root vegetables and fruit, to clean floors or also form a layer like a rug to protect floors.  The red sand sold for "twopence halfpenny" while the white sand cost "five farthings per peck."  So next time you are driving behind that sand truck, think 'it could be worse' - you could be scrubbing the floor with sand...

The Dress Diet ... Georgian style

Perhaps this is the dress some of us should have worn over the holidays and to parties to eat less.  Or, from another viewpoint, the caption includes "Who'd not starve to lead the fashion?" Below is a 1786 fashion plate with only slightly less puff.

Auld Handsel Monday

In Scotland, the first Monday of the year or the Monday after Jan. 12th was a day for: presents (handsels); a breakfast of "roast and boiled, with ale, whiskey, and cake" for the farm hands and servants; visiting neighbors; Moving Day and even a day for hiring new workers.