Reviews of and recipes from Colonial, American, and Mid-century cookbooks from my own collection. Cookbooks provide insight to how we lived and survived.
Do you know what Hygeia salad dressing is? Neither did I until I saw it referenced in several salad recipes in a 1910 cookbook and went on a hunt to discover its ingredients. Eugene and Mollie Griswold Christian In 1910, Eugene and Mollie Griswold Christian published “250 Meatless Menus and Recipes”, one of several healthy…
Have you ever wondered what we ate 100 years ago? These loaded twice baked potatoes are topped with a gooey cheese sauce remade from a frugal 1920 recipe.
Many years ago, I ran across the Antique American Cookbooks collection printed by Oxmoor House in 1984 when I discovered one of the eight volumes in a resale shop. Since then, I grab one up every chance I get – they aren’t easy to find. One of my favorites is Mme. Begué and Her recipes:…
When I cook my Grandma’s red cabbage recipe, it always brings memories flooding back of times long forgotten. We didn’t eat it a lot – it wasn’t a favorite, in all honesty. As an adult, however, it is one of my go-to recipes when comfort food calls. It is also a recipe that reminds me…
This post is inspired by the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge by Amy Johnson Crow. The 2019 Week 1 challenge is “firsts”. There are a lot of “firsts” in genealogy … the first moment you fall in love with family history … the first time you break through a brick wall … the first unsolved mystery you uncover … then solve! There is…
I love this article and video about puffed eggs from Colonial Williamsburg’s historic food blog. I’ve eaten eggs many ways for many meals, but I haven’t seen eggs made this way before! Eggs weren’t just for breakfast in the 18th century. In fact, they were often a side dish to a meal, and not just…
This group of interesting coffee recipes was published in the November 15, 1915 edition of the Daily Public Ledger in Maysville, Kentucky. We think of coffee as being that hot or iced drink that gives us the necessary kick in the morning to get moving … or, maybe that kick to get through the mid-afternoon…
I’ve recently started rifling through my recipe clippings from my mom, grandma, and JD’s grandma. I have recipe boxes … and Christmas shirt boxes full of them! Some are “back of the box” or brand name recipes while others are simply recipe clippings from newspapers and old magazines. I’m trying to archive the ones I…
Can you imagine eating Graham mush for breakfast? While heritage cookbooks are a great way to understand our food history, newspapers offer both the “what we ate” along with the “how we lived” aspects of life during days gone past. This example of a 19th century menu is from The Tennessean newspaper, Tuesday, September 24,…
Illinois Senator Samuel Casey is my husband’s 1st cousin 5x removed … and he liked catfish. Senator Samuel Casey Samuel King Casey was born on June 27, 1817 in Smith County (now White County), Tennessee to Zadok Casey and Rachel King. Later that same year, the Casey family moved to what is now Jefferson County in…
I recently discovered a cookbook titled “Fifteen Cent Dinners for Families of Six“, an 1877 version of a budget friendly cookbook for immigrants living in New York City. Originally published by Juliet Corson, this cookbook is now part of the American Antiquarian Society’s cookbook collection. Corson, the founder of the New York Cooking School, published…
If you were to ask me what my favorite pie is, I’d say raisin … or strawberry-rhubarb … or raisin. It’s a toss-up between the two! Raisin was also my grandpa’s favorite pie. I don’t recall my grandma ever making it, but I certainly remember my mom baking one at least once a year so…
It always seems odd to refer to grandparents as ancestors. I suppose that’s because I’ve been raised around them or grown to know them well in my adulthood. They’re people who have helped me become who I am in ways that “dead people” ancestors haven’t. Alas, grandparents are ancestors, so this week I’m writing about…
You probably have concluded that I have an attraction to “old” cookbooks and cookbooks about “old” food. I have always found the cookbooks are one of the best ways to peak into history and learn about the daily life of our ancestors … certainly of our female ancestors. I picked up this little gem online…
My mom and I frequent the antique stores in Murphysboro, Illinois. We’re almost never looking for anything specific … but almost always find something interesting. On our most recent trek, I found a 1946 edition of The Joy of Cooking that seemed to call to me from the bookshelf. Have you ever had that feeling?…
When I was a little girl, portraits of my dad’s grandparents and great grandparents hung on the wall outside my bedroom. These are from the early 20th century and earlier … a time when it wasn’t appropriate to smile in photographs like it is today. These portraits scared the crap out of me! Especially the…
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays … and it is, of course, all about the food! Okay, it’s not totally about the food. Our family has a lot to be thankful for and we celebrate that on this holiday by coming together and taking time out just to be with each other. There will…
I must confess, I have an addiction to cookbooks, especially those published in the 19th and early 20th century. I love how they are written – the language is beautiful – and they are so simply done. The recipes and the narrative around them give us a glimpse of what life was like during a…