A Scottish Halloween spell - by Robert Burns

Robert Burn's poem Halloween had several 'spells' for young folks to do on All Saints eve to foretell their future.  The sketch of a Scottish peasant's cottage interior is from an 1812 book published in Edinburgh. The three dishes on the hearth contain clean, dirty, and no water.

Pumpkin waffles made with yeast

... then dipped in melted butter and rolled in cinnamon sugar.  Once again it is time to dig into my hundreds of old recipes on pumpkins. For the past few years I've tried this 'newer' 1906 recipe, and not been successful so far. Does any one have ideas on historic pumpkin waffles with yeast? or without? 

Smithsonian Food History live stream and Have-A-Cup interactive pages - water, tea, chocolate, whiskey

If you are unable to attend this year's Smithsonian Food History weekend in Washington, D.C., you can live stream the round tables on Friday October 28 (9:30-4). Long list of speakers, times HERE

The first floating mill in America

A flour mill on boats on the Ohio River was built in 1791 by early settlers in the "Northwest Territory" due to low water and fear of attacks by Native Americans.