Author Archives: heritagerecipebox

Unknown's avatar

About heritagerecipebox

I am named after my great-grandmother, who only prepared two dishes, according to anyone who remembers. Somehow I ended up with a cooking gene that I brought with me from Richmond, Virginia to my current home in Boston, Massachusetts. I have worked as a journalist and published three cookbooks plus a memoir and a novel. This blog gives me a chance to share family recipes and other American recipes with a past.

Freshly Picked and Marinated

Marinated vegetables usually remind me of mushrooms dripping with oil, plus already-soggy white bread on the side. Yet a 1980s recipe from the Richmond Times-Dispatch tempted me because in the past month, I’ve eaten enough crudités to feel like Peter … Continue reading

Posted in cookbooks, Food, history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Hot Day, Warm Cucumbers!

When someone left a box of free garden-grown vegetables in the plaza at Chautauqua, I couldn’t resist stashing a few in my bag. Grateful that a generous stranger shared the August bounty, I challenged myself to do more than slice the … Continue reading

Posted in cookbooks, Food, history | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Candied Virginia Tomatoes From a Surprising Source

Inside a booklet that promised nothing more than Great Ideas for Barbecues & Summer Meals (Family Circle, 1983), I ended up finding a recipe for Thomas Jefferson’s Candied Tomatoes sent in by someone I knew quite well — the mother of my … Continue reading

Posted in cookbooks, Food, history, memoir | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

In My August Kitchen

Greetings from my summer kitchen in Chautauqua, New York! Thanks, always, to Celia at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial for hosting this international forum. My summer headquarters, about 10 miles south of Lake Erie, is located in prime Concord grape growing … Continue reading

Posted in cookbooks, Food, memoir | Tagged , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

An Updated 1970s Cocktail

On a hot day, you can’t go too far wrong with lemon juice, lime juice, mint, and something fizzy.

Posted in cocktails, cookbooks, Food, history | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

One hour, 400 Mushroom Sandwiches

A grilled sandwich with cooked mushroom filling may not sound like a must-have lunch, but tradition always rules at the Chautauqua Institution

Posted in cookbooks, Food, history | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Waldorf Salad with a Midwest Twist

My summer base in western New York puts me closer to Cleveland than to the east coast, so I have a new radius for recipes to try. Since Empire apples are already being sold at the farm stand down the … Continue reading

Posted in cookbooks, Food, history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A soggy dessert recipe from Eleanor Roosevelt

My quest to make another U.S. President-inspired July 4 recipe started out promisingly enough when I found First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt’s contribution to The All American Cookbook: Favorite Recipes of Famous Persons.

Posted in cookbooks, Food, history | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

All-American Corn Soup from 19th U.S. President and “Lemonade Lucy”

The upcoming July 4 holiday inspired me to look back at recipes from U.S. Presidents for alternatives to unimaginative menus of hot dogs, hamburgers and potato salad.

Posted in cookbooks, Food, history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Rhubarb Bars from a ‘Culinary Time Capsule’

When the town of Weston, Massachusetts celebrated the 300th anniversary of its founding in 2013, the Friends of the Weston Public Library asked people for their recipes and recollections. The result, Flavors of Weston, is filled with stories about traditions from times … Continue reading

Posted in cookbooks, Food, history | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment