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.
This post finds me more-or-less installed in the kitchen in my new (and downsized) home near Boston. I knew it would be quite disruptive to pack up every dish, glass, fork, serving bowl — and cookbook. I didn’t realize how … Continue reading →
Posted in cocktails, cookbooks, Food, history, History
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Tagged 1700s, colonial, grog, lime, New England, New Year, rum, tavern
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I’m in the midst of moving to a new home in the Boston area, which means I’ve temporarily lost track of my favorite cookbooks and family recipes. Yet in the midst of filling boxes, I’ve found unexpected treasures like this … Continue reading →
Posted in Food, History, memoir
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Tagged 1950s, Appalachia, apples, baking, cinnamon, Martinsburg, Mountain State Apple Harvest Festival, muffins, West Virginia
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Mrs. J. F. Banchor, the woman who contributed her recipe to Home Cookery: Collection of Tried and True Recipes from Many Households (1899), certainly lacked modesty but she didn’t lack baking skills.
Posted in cookbooks, Food, history, History
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Tagged 1890s, back to school, church cookbook, ginger, gingerbread, Massachusetts, molasses, New England, Newton Massachusetts, Newtonville
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When in doubt for what to bring to a pot luck, look in your refrigerator. I found a whole watermelon and some arugula. How could I put those together? This seemed like a job for a good salad dressing.
National Day of the Cowboy, this year on July 22, conjures up images of campfires and beans, but Recipes4Rebels gives the day a more interesting spin. This blog celebrates actor James Dean and the recipes that he and his coterie … Continue reading →
Posted in cocktails, Food, history, History
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Tagged 1950s, chocolate, cocktail, Cowboy Day Cook-Along, Hollywood, James Dean, Liz Taylor, Marfa, martini, National Day of the Cowboy, recipes4rebels, Rock Hudson, Texas, vodka
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Fruit, sugar and vinegar sound like a recipe for a yuck-face emoji, but 300 years of history suggest otherwise.
Posted in cocktails, Food, history, History
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Tagged 1700s, 1800s, blueberry, Buffalo NY, cocktails, Edible Western New York, lime, Lydia Maria Child, Merge bar, New York, shrub, sugar, temperance, tequila, vinegar
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When I was growing up in Richmond, Virginia, my grandmother always called green beans “snaps,” short for snap beans.
Posted in Food, history, History, memoir
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Tagged beans, chives, grandmother, lemon juice, picnic, Richmond, snaps, string beans, Virginia
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A visit to Mount Vernon in Virginia, one-time home to George Washington, brings you into the dining rooms where he entertained and the fields and gardens where he grew his food.
Posted in cocktails, cookbooks, Food, history, History
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Tagged cocktail, creme de cassis, France, George Washington, kir, Martha Washington, mexican, Mount Vernon, U.S. Presidents, Virginia
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An unruly but quite productive rhubarb plant grows in my yard in Boston, so I’m always looking for ideas beyond my standard strawberry-rhubarb jam. I found this one in Signs of Good Taste by Ann Meade Besenfelder (2000), a book … Continue reading →
Posted in cookbooks, Food, history, History, memoir
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Tagged 2000, asparagus, Fan District, ginger, Helen's Restaurant, Joe's Inn, rhubarb, Richmond, Signs of Good Taste, spring, Strawberry Street Cafe, Vidalia onion, Virginia
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Dates, nuts, flour, and eggs – what could be simpler and healthier than my Grandma Bertie’s Date Strips?
Posted in Food, history, History, memoir
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Tagged 1910s, bars, dates, grandmother, Jewish, Mother's Day, North Carolina, Pamlico Sound, pecans, Southern Jewish Historical Society, Washington Horse Exchange
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