Historical Cooking

Ever wonder about cooking in colonial days? I do. Imagine having to keep the fire going all day and spending every waking moment preparing food and doing laundry, never mind taking care of the kids and sewing their clothes. Oh, and did I mention taking time to be with your husband?

I watched a TV mini-series special on PBS once about life in colonial times. It used to seem interesting until I saw the show and realized how physically challenging it was. I would still like to try it sometime, but I don't think I could do it alone.

But, the recipes are still very interesting. Many stews, soups and pot roasts using all sorts of game meats. Long cooking times helped tenderize tough game and also spread the food out to last longer and feed more. Every day bread was risen and baked.

Cookbooks

I have been collecting cookbooks for over 40 years.

I have two categories that are my favorite. First I love the science books, like Shirley Corriher's Cookwise. They cover the chemistry reasons why recipes work or don't work.

I also love the historical ones.

I have one called the Last Dinner on the Titanic. It has the menues and recipes for the food served on the Titanic.

And, I also have quite a few about regional foods and time periods, for example: The Foxfire Book of Appalachian Cookery.

Welcome to my Cooking and Eating Blog

I have been itching with the idea of starting my own blog for a long time. There are so many cooking blogs out there, why would anyone want to read mine? Well I decided that even if no one else read mine it would make a good food diary for myself. So here I am!