Abby Murphy

  • Kitchen garden (III)

    Dropped in to share this exciting development in the kitchen garden: three pea pods have appeared, with more on the way! I am half-tempted to name them, but the rational part of me reins in that enthusiasm. I’d been amazed… Continue reading

  • Boiled coffee

    Anyone who knows me well can tell you that I love coffee. It’s the first thing I turn to in the morning, and while I appreciate a good cup of Earl Grey, the lure of a freshly-brewed cup of coffee… Continue reading

  • History 101: 1900’s Wisconsin

    Time Period The nice thing about The “Settlement” Cook Book is that it has an actual publication date (1903). This makes our job of contextualizing the recipes much easier. Downtown Milwaukee, c. 1900 America’s early 20th century is often called the… Continue reading

  • Entire wheat bread

    Growing up, my parents shared parenting and household responsibilities pretty equally. But there were a few things that only my dad did (and still does): grill tap trees and boil sap for maple syrup (though we all helped) bake bread… Continue reading

  • One year

    Dear blog, You are one year old today. To celebrate, I doctored this photo of a decidedly unhistorical chocolate beet cake. I hope you like it. It’s been quite a year! In one year of blogging, I have… worked with two cookbooks… Continue reading

  • Book Three: The "Settlement" Cook Book

    We’ve gotten to know colonial Williamsburg pretty well, so I figured it might be time for a new cookbook. We’ll still return to colonial (and perhaps prairie) days, though, so don’t worry. Our next book is The “Settlement” Cook Book by… Continue reading

  • Kitchen garden (II)

    An update on the garden: The tomatoes are flourishing, after being re-potted to deeper pots and staked with bamboo and sisal. (I think it looks rather pretty, don’t you?) However, I originally planted three per pot, and since none of them died… Continue reading

  • Chowder, a sea dish

    Despite the cold, rainy weather (in June, no less), I have summer on my mind. The beach, in particular. Having grown up in Ohio, where the only large body of water was Lake Erie (of questionable cleanliness), I was excited… Continue reading

  • Tips for housekeeping in the 18th century

    1. Save all your wood ashes. You can gather them in a barrel and pour water over them to create lye. (See no. 2.) 2. Save all your cooking fat. You can boil it with the lye to make soap! Yes,… Continue reading

  • Corn pudding

    There’s nothing that says summer quite like corn. Corn on the cob, scorched with grill marks, dripping with butter. Husks that remind me of bark stripped off a tree. Corn silk that seems to get stuck everywhere, from your teeth… Continue reading