The Cup That Cheers 
Historic Cooking: Fig Bread Pudding from 1907 and the history of Figgy Pudding.
From AntiqueClipArt.com. Happy New Year! "Time flies ..." and all that. I have settled in to my new place -- a vintage Airstream trailer from 1967 -- but haven't got the oven up and working yet (it runs on propane and involves open flame every time you use it ...) so the only historic cooking I've done so far has been on the stovetop (also propane, involving open flame) and I haven't
Fourth of July Pudding. Photo: Liz Raven. The Redone Challenge: Today in History (June 29-July 12, 2014) Make a dish based on or inspired by a momentous occasion that took place on the day you made it. Get creative - you would be surprised by all the interesting things that happened every single day! The Recipe: A Fourth of July Luncheon. To be served buffet style or on the porch. By
Historic Cooking: Hannah Glasse's Rich Cake from 1774.
Hannah Glasse's Rich Cake from The Art of Cookery, 1774. Photo: Elizabeth Urbach The Redone Challenge: #21: Party Foods (October 7 - October 20, 2016) If there’s a party, there has to be food! Pick a dish meant to be served to a crowd, or at a festive gathering, and show your work! At the school where I work, the 5th-grade classes spend a whole school day studying the Revolutionary War
Historic Cooking: Californio-style Chocolate from ca. 1777.
A cup of Californio-style Chocolate. Photo: Elizabeth Urbach. The Redone Challenge(s): Sweet Sips and Potent Potables April 5 - April 18, 2015, and History Detective (January 29 - February 11, 2016) Foodways from the Spanish and Mexican colonization period of California’s history is not a very widely-talked about subject. The documents that contain the information about food during this
Historic Cooking: To make a brown Fricasey from 1777.
Hannah Glasse's Brown Fricasey. Photo: Elizabeth Urbach. The Redone Challenge: If They’d Had It… (November 2 - November 15, 2014) Have you ever looked through a cookbook from another era and been surprised at the modern dishes you find? Have you ever been surprised at just how much they differ from their modern counterparts? Recreate a dish which is still around today, even if it may look a
Historic Cooking: Halloween Fruit Cake from 1920
Halloween Fruit Cakes. Photo: Elizabeth Urbach I realized, as I was going through my past food history posts, that while I have made various recipes from the 1920s (like cheese straws and Club sandwiches), I had never written them up or taken photos. While I will have to re-create the cheese straws and Club sandwiches at another time, I recently discovered a cookbook on VintageRecipes.net:
Historic Cooking: Chicken Saltato con Fungi from 1916
Chicken Saltado con Fungi ingredients. Photo: Elizabeth Urbach Since the Historical Food Fortnightly Challenge project officially ended, and no new challenges will be posted, those of us who have completed some of the challenges in the past decided that we would continue the project on an informal basis. We choose a challenge from the whole list of previous themes, and either complete them
Historic Cooking: Moss Rose Cake, ca. 1948.
Orange flower water. Photo: Elizabeth Urbach. I recently had a birthday, and as I have been doing for the past several years, I decided to make my own birthday dessert. My family means well, but for most of my life they always got me those cakes from the grocery store bakery section, which always tasted stale and chemical-y, and I really dislike them; I would always be "forced" to take home
Historic Cooking: Capon with Oranges, 1596.
Capon (Chicken) with Oranges. Photo: Elizabeth Urbach In the History of Royal Food and Feasting course last week, we took a look at the 16th century, and English aristocratic and royal food of Elizabeth I's court. I was able to complete one of the suggested recipes: Capon with Oranges. Here is the original recipe: Take your capon and set him on the fire as before with marrow bones and
Historic cooking: Fylettys en Galentyne, c. 1430.
Fylettes en Galentyne. Photo: Elizabeth Urbach. So, I signed up for the History of Royal Food and Feasting course on FutureLearn, again, in the hopes that I will be able to complete the recipe challenges/assignments this time around! After all, it is the 3rd time I've taken it, and I get a few more done each time ... Week 1 focuses on the Tudors, and the court and kitchen of Henry VIII
2017 is up and running, and the 2017 Cat Rescue Tea Fundraiser was a success!
Alexander Hamilton vs. Aaron Burr (1804), from a paintingby J. Mund ca. 1904. Wikimedia Commons. Hello everyone! I hope you've found a lot to be thankful for in this new year! I am one of those people who didn't have high hopes for the outcome of the recent U.S. presidential election (no matter who won), and I am also thoroughly sickened by the way Americans have turned on one another
Soft Gingerbread from _The Bride's Cook Book_, 1915.
Photo: Elizabeth Urbach. Since I've had this week off between Christmas and New Year's I've had a bit of time to do some baking. There is construction going on in the kitchen, so I have to wait until the workers go home in the evening before I can clean up all the dust and grime, and cook anything; I've also been fighting a bad cold for over a week anyway, so I've been spending my time
A long-awaited update!
Me and two friends in 1920s costume at the local Egyptian Museum, September 2016. Photo: Ann Morton. Hello everyone in blog-land! "I'm not dead yet!" as goes the line from Monty Python's _Holy Grail_ ... As you may have surmised, things have been changing around here, but hopefully I'll be settled for a good while and can get back to my cooking, costuming, and general historical nerd-ery. I
Slowly catching up ...
Photo from www.e-Cobo.com. AUTUMN DAYS. BY LOTTIE LINWOOD. ‘Tis Autumn time! the summer flowers Have faded ‘neath its golden feet; The birds have left their shady bowers, And winds chime mournfully and sweet; The maple boughs, whose folded leaves Have whispered through the summer days Like bright-winged birds, around the eaves Are flitting in the sun’s pale rays; I hear
Historical Food Fortnightly and A History of Royal Food and Feasting -- Tartes owt of Lente
Ingredients for Tarte owt of Lente. Photo: Elizabeth Urbach. So, I haven't exactly fallen off the end of the earth (again), but I haven't had much energy after working all day at the school. Now that summer has arrived, though, I'm only working half-days at the summer school, and also taking two online classes through FutureLearn. One class is called The History of Royal Food and Feasting