Author Archives: heritagerecipebox

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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.

Finish Line of the Pieathlon with Cottage Cheese Apple Pie

Bloggers about retro food unite today under the leadership of Yinzerella at Dinner is Served 1972 to make a pie recipe published before 1985. Each of us found and scanned a recipe and Yinzerella sent us each one to try.

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In My June Kitchen

June greetings to everyone linking up kitchens around the world through Celia at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial. You know it’s spring in New England when you can easily find lobster

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Spring Frivolity: Vermouth-Cassis from the 1930s

So far, the recipes I’ve been reading in my grandmother’s cookbooks from the 1930s focus more on healthy family dinners than frivolity. My search for something more festive took me to the Chanticleer Society’s post for the top cocktails of … Continue reading

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A ‘Chilled and Freshened’ 1930s Canapé

As a housewife in the 1930s, my grandmother, Hanna, modernized her kitchen with the latest convenience: an electric refrigerator. The Silent Hostess Treasure Book (1932) from General Electric taught her how to use this new-fangled appliance

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For Mother’s Day: Grandma’s Chocolate Cake with a Surprise

When my Grandma Bertie was growing up in coastal North Carolina about 100 years ago, she dutifully wrote down recipes from her mother, her aunts, and the ladies of the town. She never baked this chocolate cake recipe for me, but … Continue reading

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In My May Kitchen

What a difference a month makes! Just four weeks ago, the snow had barely melted when I reported for this In My Kitchen forum, hosted by Celia at figjamandlimecordial. Now, the mint, chives, and sage have sprouted anew, livening up everything from smoothies … Continue reading

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‘Derby Fever’ Cure: A Mint Julep

Though the mint julep was once described as “a dram of spirituous liquor that has mint in it, taken by Virginians in the morning,” it became a signature drink of the Kentucky Derby in 1938, when it was served in souvenir glasses

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Funny Bunny Salad and Other ’60s Silliness

Forget broccoli-topped pizza and carrot sticks with yogurt dip. Recipes from the Easy-to-Cook Book from 1967 (Grosset & Dunlap) unabashedly rely on frozen vegetables, canned fruits, bacon, and butter. 

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1960s Casserole Magic

Casseroles built on cream of mushroom soup fed many families in the 1960s, when canned goods seemed ever so much more modern than cooking from scratch. The 1961 top seller, the Better Homes & Gardens Casserole Cook Book, put a … Continue reading

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In My April Kitchen

Let’s start this month’s post, hosted by the inimitable Celia at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial, outside with the welcome sight of crocuses pushing up through a soggy but snow-free lawn! My chives and rhubarb are sprouting (though neither is too photogenic yet). … Continue reading

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