Back when I first started this blog, I learned a few things right away about historical cooking. First, some old recipes are very similar to their modern counterparts (like pie). Second, animal fat is wonderful. From salt pork to lard, it's all delicious.Lard may have fallen out of favor with the onset of fat-free food,… Continue reading How to render suet for cooking
Category: health
Why I love historical recipes
I've been chronicling my adventures in historical cooking for almost two years now (!), but it wasn't until recently that I began to wonder why. I love history, isn't that enough? Well, yeah, but what's the bigger picture? Why does it matter to cook from old recipes?Here are a few of the answers I've come… Continue reading Why I love historical recipes
Old-fashioned remedies for everyday illnesses
hyssopFor the past week I've been battling a stubborn cold, drinking gallons of tea and piling up the tissues like Typhoid Mary.* Apparently it's impossible to avoid being sick when you work with middle school children, and all the more impossible when those students like to hang out with the toddlers on their snack break.… Continue reading Old-fashioned remedies for everyday illnesses
Nutrition, 1903 style (II)
Yesterday I posted some of my fan-girl thoughts on Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food and presented a nutritional table from The "Settlement" Cook Book. Now I'd like to think about what this 1903 table has to do with our eating habits today.The interesting thing about The "Settlement" Cook Book is that it's just the beginning of nutritionism,… Continue reading Nutrition, 1903 style (II)
Nutrition, 1903 style (I)
Now that we've gotten comfortable with the sorts of recipes available in The "Settlement" Cook Book, I'd like to take a look at the book's attitude towards food. Before this project (and before I did some serious thinking about food and health), I hadn't thought much about the different ways a person could view food.… Continue reading Nutrition, 1903 style (I)
Abby Murphy 