Category Archives: History
Lemon Chess Cake: My Mother’s Special Request
In between the time that people traded recipes over the back fence and the internet, newspapers often published recipe exchange columns for readers. For my mother, the Richmond Times-Dispatch ran “Trading Secrets,” which let readers answer requests for everything from Greek Green Beans … Continue reading
Carrot-Raisin Salad for National Raisin Week
Name a food, there’s probably a holiday to celebrate it. That’s what I discovered at foodimentary.com, a site that tracks almost daily tributes, from the sublime-sounding National Coconut Cream Pie Day (May 8) to the somewhat ridiculous National Nutty Fudge Day (May 12). When … Continue reading
Beef Stew: Traditional Boston Marathon Finish Line Dish
After I managed to trudge through all 26.2 miles of the Boston Marathon at the pace of a tortoise having a rough day, I gratefully received a bottle of water almost as soon as I crossed the finish line. Wrapped … Continue reading
Matzo in the Mountains in Charleston, West Virginia
My great-grandfather, A.P. Silverstein, an immigrant from Lithuania, traveled through the central United States as a peddler in the 1890s. As family legend goes, his horse dropped dead and he couldn’t afford another, so he stayed in West Virginia. He … Continue reading
“Bunns” from the Boston Cook Book of 1883
This week, my quest for retro ways to carbo-load for the modern endeavor of marathon running brought me to the Boston Cook Book of 1883. Its author, Mary J. Lincoln, principal at the Boston School of Cookery, taught cooking as … Continue reading
Carbo-Loading: Sweet Potato Biscuits from Dr. George Washington Carver
Since I’m running the Boston Marathon in 2014 to raise money for Newton Community Farm, my neighborhood farm-to-table resource, I’m looking for ways to carbo-load with locally-grown produce. Early March is the nadir of the New England growing season, as … Continue reading
Mix-in-the-Pan Brownies From My ‘I Hate to Cook’ Mom
As a young mother in the 1960s, my mother never watched Julia Child – or any TV shows, for that matter. She preferred the humor and slap-dash directions in Peg Bracken’s I Hate to Cook Cookbook. This book, inspired by … Continue reading
Canned Peach Salad to “Heighten Appetites and Brighten Meals”
Blame the invention of canned food on Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1795, the French general – who proclaimed that “an army marches on its stomach” – offered 12,000 francs to anyone who could come up with a way to provide his … Continue reading
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