Sugar Chest, Sugar Desk, Sugar Table

For bulk sugar storage, some beautiful pieces of furniture were made, particularly in the south.  Links to some detailed online articles [see below]. SUGAR CHEST at left.

Mustard Flour, Mustard Pots, Mustard Casters

After 1720, the processing of the mustard seeds in a mill resulted in a fine flour - the flower of mustard - known commercially as Durham Mustard. Interesting story is below.  Later, when the processing moved to Leeds, the name Durham was retained. The mustard was sold as dry powder or as a "paste"...

Mustard Balls and Cannon Balls

Mustard Balls were made from pounded mustard seeds, spices, and a binder such as wine, vinegar, honey or raisins. The balls were then dried in the sun or warm oven, and thus would "...keep better than mustard-seed or flour [ground mustard] at sea, and are easily dissolved." [Domestic, 1827] To use, thin pieces were sliced and soaked in vinegar, wine or verjuice. Tewkesbury was so famous for its mustard balls that Shakespeare mentioned it in a play. And cannon balls in the kitchen...

Puddin'

Home cooks in the past put bits and scraps of pork in a container and covered with grease/fat after each addition. It was a means of combining scraps and to preserve until ready to use...

Women and Medicine exhibit at the Folger, DC

Beyond Home Remedy: Women, Medicine, and Science exhibit at the Folger Shakespeare Library borrowed the manuscript book which Karen Hess used to make "Martha Washington's cookbook."  There is an audio tour, below.

Hard Apple Cider

Several heirloom apple orchards offer hard cider workshops.

Molasses Stew

Marion Harland, the pseudonym of Mary Virginia Hawes Terhune, was born (1830) and raised in Virginia. When married she moved north and continued writing fiction, nonfiction and cookbooks. The following is an excerpt from her book, Marion Harland's Autobiography: the story of a long life, 1910. This continues the Candy pulls and Candy stew posting HERE

Candy Stew, Candy Pull and other pull parties

Candy pulls, candy stews, molasses pulls, sorghum-stews, and a taffy-pulling were popular parties in the 19th century.  Numerous descriptions and recipes...

Navy Holiday Menus

There are several menus from ships and on-shore facilities listed at: Holiday Menus. Naval History and Heritage Command. DC Navy Yard 1905-1969

1864 Christmas in the south

Julia Johnson Fisher, 1814-1885, from Camden County, Georgia recounted their 1864 Christmas dinner.

Long neck pumpkins

How to cut a long neck pumpkin to make Pumpkin Pickles.

Hale and making Thanksgiving a national holiday

Last Thanksgiving I wrote a bit about Lydia Child, this time I'll present the more well known connection - Sarah Josepha Buell Hale (1788-1879). She worked for years to get Thanksgiving recognized and celebrated as a national holiday. Her description of a dinner in New England, 1827 and recipes...

Ten Mass. museums, more food history 2010

10  Symposiums, exhibits

Southern Maryland Stuffed Ham

The first time I tasted stuffed ham, I thought there was something wrong with the meat! It didn't taste at all like the ham and curried fruit my Mom prepared for Easter, rather, it had a spicy and a unique taste, not like country ham or corned beef, something different. In St. Mary's County, a corned ham must be used... with or without the bone (folks have their own decided preference about the bone)....

Beets

There are numerous ways to prepare beets. In addition to Pickled, Salad, or Harvard Beets, beets are delicious fried or used in baking. Some past recipes include Beet Pie (1860), Lombardy Tarts (1588), Crimson Biscuits (1727), To Fry Beets (1723), Pink Pancakes (1788) Beet Fritters (1889),  Beet Vinegar (1854) and a Stuffed Beet with rice and pecans (1919). Recipes for these dishes can be found at the end of this article.  The proper way to prep beets and whether to boil or bake...

Women's Suffrage - 90th anniversary

This year is the 90th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, ratified on August 18, 1920,which declared "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."  Illinois Constitutional Law before that had stated that "neither idiots, lunatics, paupers, felons nor women shall be entitled to vote." Suffragist cookbooks and a recipe for a Pie for a Suffragist's Doubting Husband...

The Blues - Blueberries, Huckleberries, Whortleberries

Although botanically different, the three berries were often used interchangeably by cooks, as seen in the following recipes. The White House Cookbook of 1887 used huckleberries in the title, then blueberries in the ingredients. Other recipes...

Cinnamon harvesting in Ceylon 1813

A marvelous description of the harvest of cinnamon from the book Oriental Commerce describes the twice a year barking, the rolling into 4 foot bundles and shipped amongst black pepper...

Kitchen in the Royal Pavillion at Brighton

In 1816, John Nash updated the Royal Pavillion at Brighton kitchen with state of the art steam features, while still containing a roasting hearth with long spits.

Salmagundy

Salmagundy is a layered salad with colorful greens, meat, anchovies, and eggs among the variety of ingredients, with a vinegar based dressing. Descriptions, recipes for salad and dressing, and types of lettuces. ...