The Cup That Cheers 
Clothing the Californio: The Lecture -- part of CoCoVid and Virtual FrockCon 2020, and other news
Elizabeth Urbach inCalifornio costume. Hello again! I have a few pieces of news to share! First thing: The Cup That Cheers is now a YouTube channel! I've gotten some messages over the years, telling me that some readers wish they could see me make the historic recipes and some of the historic costumes, that I've written up and posted here on the blog, and this spring and summer's time
This is another entry for the Historical Food Fortnightly project, which is now being continued on Facebook. Artichokes, Italian Style. From _El Cocinero Espanol_, 1898. Photo: Elizabeth Urbach. The Challenge: April 22-May 5: Flower Power. A dish that is floral, flowery, or flour-y, as you desire. A month late in posting, but better late than never! It took me a while to decide what
Blogging during the Quarantine
Image from FreeDigitalPhotos.com Oh my goodness! So much has changed since the last post! I think that everyone in the world (or almost everyone, at least), is going through this unprecedented experience: just about the whole world is shut down (or just opening back up), and most of us are sheltering in place by not leaving our homes except to get groceries and attend to other emergencies,
Posting again after a year ...
Image from http.clipart.edigg.com I haven't entirely forgotten this blog ... really .... So many things have changed since I last posted -- on December 31st of 2018! Most important among the changes is another new place to live. I moved in about 6 weeks ago, but I'm still unpacking things; I have almost all of my possessions out of my storage unit, however, and I need to get another
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
Historic Cooking: Fourth of July Pudding from 1916.
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