African American foodways virtual talks

There are many upcoming talks - 42 so far - and tapes of talks to celebrate Black History Month. Dolly Johnson (1852-1918), chief cook of the White House kitchen is pictured c1890. She started working for President Benjamin Harrison and stayed on. Andrian Miller will talk about his book The President’s Kitchen Cabinet: African American chefs who have fed the first families. Check out the variety of interesting talks -

Medical and culinary manuscripts digitized

Recipes and Remedies: Manuscript Cookbooks is a new Digital Collections & Exhibits website at the New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM). Manuscript Cookbooks Survey is a great source to find manuscripts in libraries, his. soc. and museums.

Archive 2 - listing of past virtual food history talks Jan-Feb 2021

The first archive of links is filling up since several months had over 200 talks. The original calendar post will maintain the current month of virtual talks listing Calendar of virtual talks. This post is to "archive" all (including not taped) virtual talks on the events list from the past months.  Many talks are not taped (only a fourth of the talks are) and marked in red as Tape Those which are taped will be placed in the various categories when I have time. 

Streaming from the hearth - virtual hearth cooking and baking in ovens

Some cooks and museums have done virtual demos of bake oven and cooking over the fire. But. There should be more! People are curious about the unusual activity, and it's a unique way to get donations. Links to tapes of hearth cooking and bake oven are below, and upcoming virtual demos.

So hearth cooks out there... grab your laptop or smart phone and share the fun you are having at the hearth.

Eating and sleeping in the Capitol at the start of the Civil War, April 1861

To honor our troops now sleeping on the floor of the US Capitol and visitor's center to protect it from another terrorist assault...

Tea Talks

It is National Hot Tea Month with 15 talks. Saved the taped talks from 2020, 2021. Blog Post on Ice/Iced Tea HERE

Twelfth Night cakes in shop windows

Elaborate window displays for Twelfth-day cakes in bakeries and confectioneries, like this 1836 image, showed off a huge cake "on large and massy salvers" with many other sizes at the window and on shelves, lit by "argand-lamps and manifold wax-lights."

Cookbooks and Manuscripts virtual talks tapes

Taped talks on cookbooks and manuscripts: Medieval and Renaissance, US, Suffrage ckbks, Mexico, Ireland, India, Medical books with recipes, Manuscript ckbks, Folger & Newberry symposium. 2020 was the celebration of 100 years since women earned the right to vote, resulted in three tapes on suffrage cookbooks. Manuscripts are a rich source of culinary and medicinal recipes.
Upcoming talks at the end.

Hard Sauce and taped Christmas talks

Brandy Sauce or Hard Sauce is a butter and sugar mixture flavored with Brandy, Rum, Sherry or wine and put on Plum Pudding or Mincemeat pies.
Also, some holiday talks - upcoming and taped.

15th cen. Boar's Head poem, Medieval manuscripts digitalized

The Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries (PACSCL) digitalized all 160,000 pages from Medieval works held by member libraries. HERE
A fifteenth century Carol about the boar's head at a Christmas feast.

Turkeys to market

This year, when most of us will not be having a large turkey or many family members, I give this post to the turkey of Christmas past. And in the past I have written several times about turkeys. The most fascinating aspect, I think, is how all those turkeys got to market.

Salem's "Old Bakery" and bean pots

The Old Bakery of Salem, Mass. was originally built in 1683 as a home by Benjamin Hooper, a cordwainer, became a bakery from c1865 at 23 Washington Street and moved in 1911 to the House of Seven Gables complex.

Holiday virtual talks 2020

The upcoming holidays - Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, and a special day - 'Stir-up Sunday' to make Plum Pudding for Christmas - are the subject of many virtual talks this year.

Uncle Sam is depicted cutting the turkey for Thanksgiving dinner with various naturalized citizens following the ratification of the 14th Amendment in 1868.

British foodways virtual talks

There are many upcoming talks on British foodways and tapes of talks: Queen Victoria, Stir-up Sunday Christmas Pudding (Nov 22), Colonial sugar trade, Scottish food and many more. Once I find the tapes of talks after they are given, this post (and other topic posts) will only keep the talks with tapes.

King George III toasting muffins, satire by James Gillray in 1791.

Civil War bake ovens in the US Capitol

First and foremost, thanks to all Veterans and those who are serving now.

Following the attack on Fort Sumter in April 1861, four thousand soldiers moved into the newly remodeled Capitol. Men from Mass. quickly built two ovens in the basement to make the bread portion of their rations. Other ovens were built, producing 65,000 loaves a day (24/7) for a year and a half.

Being Human: A Festival of the Humanities, UK - 11 food history talks

Food history events, listed below, and many more interesting talks (over 200) in this UK festival from Nov 12 to 22. HERE

Adobe ovens photos; Bread, flour, oven talks

Location, location, location. The ovens were on the ground... or on a building... or in a building... or on wheels (apologies to Dr. Seuss). Next week will be a talk baking in an adobe horno! Two talks are by bakers who use clay ovens, one portable on wheels. Below the pictures are talks on breads, flour and a very good talk on the history of making salt in Scotland and England.

Day of the Dead - Dia de Muertos

Sugar skulls were sold in market stalls (1908 image). Other items for the family alters include candles, Pan de Muerto (a sweet yeast bread), mole and other foods. Several upcoming virtual events are listed below. Some give history and make one of the items such as a sugar skull artist. Dia de Muertos is Nov 2 with activities beginning on Oct 31.

Acorn Mush cooked in basket

Incredibly, the steam was from a rock heated in a fire, then stirred in the Wiiwish... IN a basket. The pounded acorns and water eventually thickened and the basket was not burned.

Notice to Milkman!

Quarantine sign tacked to the front door during the Typhoid Fever epidemic of 1911, ordered that the milk bottles were not to be exchanged or the milkman would be fined $5 to $100 (currently $75 to $1500).