Ice harvesting in 19th and 20th century America

Early 1900s films, recent tapes and zoom talk tapes show the various processes of ice harvesting on lakes and rivers: horse teams to plow the snow, score then saw the ice, then send the 'cakes' of ice up a conveyor into huge ice houses. It was done by small farmers to large scale operators, such as Bostonian Frederic Tudor the "Ice King" who shipped the New England ice to India.

Mary Randolph's 1825 Refrigerator

Mary Randolph included a sketch of a refrigerator in the 1825 2d edition of The Virginia Housewife.  It was a wooden box within another wooden box with crushed charcoal in-between.  It was described in 1815, but not the first refrigerator...

Ice house 1854 and a pile of ice kept above ground for a year

Although the ice house image and description are nice, the second paragraph is intriguing. Ice piled on the ground, covered with a layer of firewood, then a layer of straw, then thatch as the outer layer. It should be on "dry ground (the north side of a hill being preferable), in a conical form, of a considerable size, in winter during a hard frost..."

Thomas Jefferson and Ice Cream

Balls of ice cream encased in warm pie crust made by Jefferson's French chef were novel enough to stir comment by TWO Congressmen attending a Presidential dinner.  Among Jefferson's few handwritten recipes is one for vanilla ice cream. A 1786 French book of ice creams, an early British cookbook with recipe - which he owned - ice cream freezer in his inventory, and more...

Neapolitan or Harlequin ice cream

The tri-colored Neapolitan ice cream was/is generally white, pink/red and chocolate like the 1806 Naples flag or other colors.  Add pistachio ice cream to make Harlequin ice cream.

Baked Alaska - Alaska Bake, "Alaska, Florida," Baked ice-cream, Hot Ice Cream, Roasted ice, and Glace meringue au four

Alaska, a state for 60 years (Jan. 3) - only 60?! - was bought from Russia in 1867.  Soyer's may have been the first recipe in English, Delmonico's in NYC the first to use "Alaska" as it's name, "Alaska Bake" appeared in a Phila. cookbook in 1886, "Baked Alaska" 1896 and Thomas Jefferson...

Frederick MD working hearths ... Museums by Candlelight

On Saturday, December 9, there will be 26 sites open for free with music, activities, and crafts in Frederick and the County. Several homes have squirrel tail ovens (in small section in photo) and other interesting features. Always fun. If you are nearby, go visit.

Ice Tea, Sweet Tea history

Iced tea was given out free at a Tea Store in Macon, Ga, in August 1896 (ad below).  Ice or Iced tea in the second half of the 19th century was made with green or black tea, or both - blended.  Although generally brewed, there were early recipes for the tea made in cold water.

Early references to Ice Tea dealt with its immense popularity in Russia in the 1840s; and by 1860 it appeared in American books.  The Russian influence was noted in recipes labeled Russian Tea or Tea a la Russe.  

A northern cookbook contained the first recipe in a cookbook to brew sugar with the hot water – sweet tea – before the usually cited Old Virginia cookbook of 1877.  Another early sweet tea appeared in a medical recipe. ...

Dining at Jefferson's White House

Quotes from people who dined with the President. Honore Julien (1760/1–1830) was Thomas Jefferson’s French chef for both terms (1801-1809). Image 1807.

Mary Randolph's Peach ice cream

Mary Randolph's Virginia Housewife, first published in 1824, included many ice cream recipes - peach, vanilla, coffee, chocolate, cocoa nut, iced jelly, strawberry, raspberries, lemonade iced, citron melon, almond and... oyster.

Elder flowers to make ... Grape Water Ice

The other year I noticed while doing a blog post HERE on the 6 cookbooks (describe freezing pots/tubs and sabotieres) by people who worked at Negri’s, then Gunter’s tea shop; that half (Nutt, Jarrin, Jeanes) included an ice made from elder flowers... called Grape Water Ice. And yet, grapes could also be used to make Grape Water Ice.

Selling Ice Cream in 1850s Philadelphia - Street criers, Saloons, Parkinson, and Isaac Newton

Isaac Newton - not the Sir Isaac one - was a farmer, owned an ice cream saloon, and later became the first Commissioner (Director) of the Dept. of Agriculture in DC, created by Lincoln in 1862. He was a competitor of the more famous Parkinson family: Eleanor wrote a cookbook in 1844 and opened a saloon in 1818, and her son James a famed restaurateur, created a $1000 dinner, and for 20 years wrote in the Confectioners' Journal.

Mary Randolph's refrigerator described by Harriott Pinckney Horry in 1815

On the trip north from her South Carolina plantation the 67 year old made a point to stay at "Mrs. Randolph's" - a renowned boarding house.  It was full, but Mr. Otis (from Boston) gave up his room and Horry was able to write in her journal about the refrigerator and a table fan.

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.

Ice Box Cookies or Refrigerator Cookies

During the 1920s, dough was chilled in rolls or logs in the ice boxes, then sliced and baked. With more electric refrigerators, the variety increased. Links to other historic cookies are below.

Whipped ice cream - Iced Froths or Mousses Glacees in 1869

Jules Gouffe (1807-1877) was born to a Parisian patisserie (pastry shop) owner and spent seven years with the great Careme.  In his 1869 cookbook he tried to popularize the lighter Iced Froths served in jelly glasses.  They were "superior to either Ices or Sorbets" during "this transition period" and thus "improve the indifferent quality of the refreshments now served at evening parties." The frothing stick and sieve were needed to make his 5 flavors: Chocolate, Coffee, Strawberry, Maraschino and Almond Milk.

Jelly and fruits

Three centuries of fruit in jelly and jelly shaped as fruit.  The early receipts used a base of jelly from calves feet, issinglass or hartshorn.  One jelly using "a Gang of Calf's Feet" from 1769 is given at the end of this posting.  Powdered gelatin, created about 1840, made the process less laborious. 

Squirrel tail ovens

These are very long ovens with the flue at the back that then crossed over the top of the oven, like a squirrel's tail, so the smoke and heat could exit into the chimney in front. First example is at Rose Hill Manor in Frederick, Maryland. Many in PA, and a few in NC.

Zoom talks on Sugar & porcelain, Ice, Coffee, Pigs, Anchovy, Medieval Arab Kitchens, Egypt, Spain, Ireland and more.

James Hemings turns down Thomas Jefferson

The Baltimore connection. In 1801, newly elected Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) wanted the formerly enslaved (freed in 1796) 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 nearby larger Indian Queen, was the go-between for Jefferson and Hemings.

Dr. Clarissa F. Dillon - One Cool Colonial series

Clarissa F. Dillon, the authority (she wrote the book!) on 18th century kitchen gardens, is introducing us to unusual plants and their uses in true quarantine fashion - virtually. We get to follow along as she tends her period correct garden at the 1696 Thomas Massey House, see the end results (medicinal, cosmetic, and yes, as food) and delight in Clarissa’s vast knowledge, sharp wit and great sense of fun. She is One Cool Colonial... in 10 minute episodes.