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 and started a thirdlearned what salt pork isdiscovered the joys of cooking with animal fattried and failed to… Continue reading One year
Category: williamsburg cookbook
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 to move to a place called the "Ocean State." Little Rhody is such a tiny state… Continue reading Chowder, a sea dish
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, people really got clean with this kind of soap.3. Dip the hem of your skirt in… Continue reading Tips for housekeeping in the 18th century
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 to the counter where you've been working.And isn't it a beautiful vegetable? Just right for… Continue reading Corn pudding
How to keep your own hearth fires burning
Even though I've thoroughly distanced colonial cooking from its original hearth application, I thought it would be useful to look at some of the tools used in hearth cooking. You know, in case you had a hankering to put your fireplace to good use.1. Of course, you couldn't get anywhere without your fireplace. Technically, this… Continue reading How to keep your own hearth fires burning
To butter shrimps
Last weekend it felt like summer. 80 degrees, not too humid (so, more of an ideal summer than a real one), sunny. I spent Saturday afternoon setting up my tomato and pea plants outside, in a sheltered spot with plenty of sun. Josh and I took our time at the farmers' market, grilled some corn… Continue reading To butter shrimps
Mount Vernon
About a month ago, I chaperoned my tenth-grade class to Washington, D.C. on their annual five-day field trip. Not only did I lead the trip, but I also had spent the entire year planning and preparing for this adventure. Therefore, the trip entailed:33 teenage girls4 chaperones (including me)1 long-suffering bus driver1 viewing of National Treasure and… Continue reading Mount Vernon
Supposedly delicious
Every now and then I flip through the Williamsburg cookbook, looking for my next culinary adventure, and one of those recipes jumps out at me. You know, the ones that are a little, well, too adventurous.After the steak and kidney pie disaster, I've become much more hesitant about leaping into the unknown. I'll consider a recipe… Continue reading Supposedly delicious
Cheese biscuits
Yesterday Josh and I had a simple night in. Cooking dinner, watching the latest New Girl episode, talking about our days. As part of our goal to become more mindful, healthful eaters, Josh made a delicious vegetarian chili, chock-full of sauteed veggies, onions, and spicy peppers, ladled over brown rice.Before he started cooking, I thought about what… Continue reading Cheese biscuits
History 101: Colonial Virginia
This little blog has always been something of an experiment; heck, it's even in the name! And like the way my students pepper me with questions when I haven't taught a lesson clearly enough, for some time now this space has been nagging me (in my own mind) for more clarity. I jump from cookbook to… Continue reading History 101: Colonial Virginia
Abby Murphy 