Category Archives: History
‘Magic’ Chocolate Pie from 1939 World’s Fair
When I received an invitation to a pot luck dinner with novelist E.L. Doctorow, I was honored, of course, but also saw it as a challenge to find a recipe that would complement one of his novels. I chose World’s Fair, … Continue reading
A Taste of Germany in Richmond: Family Kuchen Recipe
It’s hard for a Southerner to pronounce the word kuchen, which means cake in German. It ends up sounding like kook or cuckoo – not exactly the impression you want to make when baking a dessert for others. But I … Continue reading
Blueberry Cake from the Land of the Pilgrims
Americans always think of the Pilgrims at Thanksgiving, but the first English settlers in Plymouth, Massachusetts ate a far more extensive diet than cranberry sauce and turkey. The Plimoth Colony Cook Book, published in 1957 by the Plymouth Antiquarian Society, … Continue reading
Beef Stew from a $4 Crock-Pot and 50 Cent Cookbook
Decorated with a fruit-and-flower motif in a yellow border, the Crock-Pot on the yard sale table looked straight out of the 1970s, when this kitchen appliance first hit the market. I wondered if it would work, but the price was right … Continue reading
Friends by the Lake: Mrs. Henry Ford and Mrs. Thomas Edison
Lake. Hills. Sky. That’s my view at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York, where I work all summer. This region is most famous for Welch’s grape juice (made from grapes grown in Lake Erie terroir), Buffalo wings, and an … Continue reading
Raise a Glass of Strawberry Soda for Juneteenth
Growing up in the South, I drank a sugar shock-inducing amount of garishly colored Nehi grape and orange sodas, but I never heard of a strawberry soda. Maybe that’s because I hadn’t yet heard of Juneteenth, which each year on June 19 … Continue reading
‘Top Knot’ Cookies for a Birthday Girl
My grandmother, Hanna, launched a generation of young Richmonders by baking birthday cookies for them at the nursery school she directed. She topped each birthday boy or girl’s cookie with a Hershey’s chocolate kiss, making a special treat for a … Continue reading
Finders, Keepers: Rescuing a Discarded Recipe Book
When I found a red, three-ring notebook of someone’s favorite recipes in the magazine swap bin at my local library, I knew I had to bring it home. I would value a stranger’s carefully clipped and pasted recipes that no … Continue reading
Rum Punch and Rice Pudding to Honor the Nation’s First Memorial Day
Memorial Day honors all who sacrificed their lives while serving in the U.S. military, but it started as a Civil War remembrance. In the spring of 1866, a year after the war ended, people in towns in the North and in … Continue reading
heritagerecipebox 