Category Archives: cookbooks
Potato Soup with a ‘Teacupful’ of Rice
Call this Civil War Potato Soup comfort food from the 1860s. Thickened with rice as well as bread, the recipe from Godey’s Lady’s Book puts a triple helping of starch in a bowl. It promises nothing fancy and delivers nothing but soothing warmth.
Abraham Lincoln’s Favorite Cake
Because this year marks the 150th anniversary of the end of the American Civil War, I’m immersing myself this month in recipes from the 1860s. Most women of that time started married life knowing how to make a few dishes. … Continue reading
Arctic Weather Calls for Hot Spiced Rum
How low did Boston temperatures plummet this week? Officially, 2 degrees below zero. With wind chill, make that 30 below. It made my down coat feel like a light sweater. After 10 minutes of walking my recalcitrant and baffled dog, … Continue reading
A Sunny Cocktail for the New Year
Mimosa? No, thanks. Even on a day for Champagne, fizzy orange juice seems to start the day off with static. I found and adapted a calmer but still festive orange juice cocktail in Charleston Receipts (1950), recipes collected by the Junior … Continue reading
Just Add Crab and Crackers to this Dip
One of my favorite sources for quick party appetizers comes from a private school in Richmond, Virginia. With its yellow and green plaid accents, the cover of the cookbook, The Stuffed Cougar (1973) from the Collegiate Schools looks the part … Continue reading
A Chocolate Mint Tea Room Treasure
Before malls swallowed up main streets, department stores reigned during the Christmas season. People lined up at display windows around the country to gawk at elaborate renditions of Santa’s village as well as mannequins in sequined party wear. The tea rooms … Continue reading
Caffeinated Cake with a Nod to the Boston Tea Party
Coffee became a patriotic drink after Bostonians dumped tea into the Boston Harbor to protest high import taxes that Britain imposed on its colonies. With the anniversary of the original 1773 Boston Tea Party coming up on Dec. 16 – … Continue reading
Road Trip for ‘Green Rice’
Even before President Dwight Eisenhower signed the Highway Act that created the interstate system in 1956, Americans ventured out on road trips. In the early 1950s, they piled into the Mercury Monterey (nicknamed “the bathtub”), the Lincoln Cosmopolitan, and the … Continue reading
Puritan Pumpkins: ‘Fruit of the Lord’
Pumpkin pie will grace most Thanksgiving tables this week, including mine. Yet at the first Thanksgiving in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621, the pumpkin would likely have been stewed, not baked.
In My November Kitchen
This Japanese maple in my yard shows the season in New England right now – the opposite of some readers, but that’s what makes this monthly forum, started by Celia of fig jam and lime cordial, so much fun.
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