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![Want to get a head start on historic Thanksgiving recipes? check out Sturbridge Village’s Marlborough Pudding recipe (among others) at http://www.osv.org/explore_learn/recipes.html; Todd Gray’s Historical Menu from Washingtonian.com http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/recipes/2340.html; a variety of recipes from Pilgrim Hall http://www.pilgrimhall.org/thanksrec.htm; Robert W. Pelton’s book Historical Thanksgiving Cookery: Favorite Recipes from the Revolutionary War through the time of the Civil War (Infinity Publishing Company, 2002)
Are you interested in open hearth cooking and live somewhere between Philadelphia and Trenton? Mercy Ingraham (in Hulmeville, PA) offers a variety of courses from September through December 2009 on colonial cooking; details can be obtained from her site: http://www.openhearthcook.com/schedule.htm
Ever wonder what Henry VIII and his court ate? Well, here are links to two very interesting clips about food during the Tudor reign that are worth a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwr68gROYM0; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLdGNiqPPog
Looking for some basic, cheap recipes in these economically-challenged times? Check out Clara Cannucciari’s Great Depression recipes; you can find the link to all her recipes on our blog. Buono Appetito!
If you are interested in recreating authentic 18th to early 20th century American recipes, we suggest you check out http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/cookbooks , a project of Michigan State University; there you will find an online collection of “some of the most influential and important American cookbooks” from that time
For those of you who enjoy cooking classes and happen to live in the vicinity of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Susan McLellan Plaisted, the owner and operator of Heart to Hearth Cookery, a food history business, offers cooking demonstrations of 17th through 19th century Colonial American and European cooking methods and practices. Her website is: http://www.hearttohearthcookery.com
Alice Ross offers similar historic cooking classes and demonstrations in Smithtown, NY: http://www.aross.binome.com
How about a Chinese-Japanese cookbook for Americans published in 1914? Here’s the link to the recipes: http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/cookbooks/books/chinesejapanese/chin.pdf
Here are some recipes from the 19th century through WWII that recently have been tried by a number of individuals -- enjoy: http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Holidays-and-Events/Events-and-Gatherings/Special-Themes/History/Top.aspx
If you can’t make Oktoberfest in Munich and are interested in trying some authentic German recipes, check out http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes/german,historical-traditional for a variety of specialties
Interested in Civil War-era recipes? Here’s a link to some found at Civil War Interactive: http://www.civilwarinteractive.com/cookbookindex.htm
Want to learn about China and its regional cooking? Check out Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duquid, Beyond the Great Wall: Recipes and Travels in the Other China (Artisan, 2008)
Below are some books containing historical recipes brought “up-to-date” for the modern chef both young and older:
Helen McCully editor, American Heritage Cookbook (1964)
Rae Katherine Eighmey, Hearts and Home: How Creative Cooks Fed the Soul and Spirit of America’s Heartland, 1895-1939 (Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2006)
__________., Prairie Kitchen: Recipes, Poems and Colorful Stories from the Prairie Farmer Magazine, 1841-1900 (Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2007)
Joanne Lamb Hayes, Grandma’s Wartime Kitchen: World War II and the Way We Baked (St. Martin’s, 2003)
Barbara Swell, Children at the Hearth: 19th Century Cooking, Manners and Games (pbk, Native Ground Music, 1999)
Barbara Swell, Farmhouse Cooking: Rural American Recipes and Farm Lore (pbk, Native American Music, 2003)
http://www.bartleby.com/87 provides a link to Fanny Farmer’s, The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book (1918), that offers nearly 2,000 recipes.
Suzanne Barchers & Patricia Marden, Cooking Up U.S. History: Recipes and Research to Share with Children (pbk 2nd edition, 1999)
Joan D’Amico & Karen Drummond, The U.S. History Cookbook: Delicious Recipes and Exciting Events from the Past [for ages 9-12] (2003)

Stuart Cookery: Recipes & History (Cooking Through the Ages) by Peter Brears
$12.95

Shakespeare's Kitchen: Renaissance Recipes for the Contemporary Cook by Francine Segan
(8) $23.10

Georgian Cookery: Recipes and History (Cooking Through the Ages) by Jennifer Stead
$12.95

Medieval Cookery: Recipes and History (Cooking Through the Ages) by Maggie Black
$12.95

The Medieval Kitchen: Recipes from France and Italy by Odile Redon
Also check out the more recent book by Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, Near a Thousand Tables: A History of Food (Free Press, 2002)
http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/cookbooks offers you the opportunity to actually view historic cookbooks and their recipes.
Here are two interesting sites for those of you who wish to try your luck at preparing historical recipes:
www.godecookery.com (also visit their http://youtube.com/GodeCook) -- an interesting medieval cookery website with visual and written recipes
http://www.historycooks.com offers lesson plans for cooking food from the American West as well as individual recipes from The Food Journal of Lewis and Clark
Cinco de Mayo:
Contrary to popular belief, Cinco de Mayo (5th of May) does not refer to Mexican independence day -- that happened on September 16, 1810 -- but rather to the day on which the Mexican army achieved victory over its French occupiers at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. The Mexican-American War of 1846-1848 and Mexican civil war known as the War of the Reform(1858-1861) left Mexico in financial disarray. As a result, its President, Benito Juarez, elected in March 1861, announced that Mexico’s treasury was depleted and that he would be forced to suspend all of Mexico’s foreign debt payments for two years. In October 1861 England, Spain and France, however, refused to honor Juarez’s debt moratorium and jointly invaded Mexico along the coast in Veracruz to obtain their money by force. After negotiations with Mexico, British and Spanish forces withdrew their troops from the country; Napoleon III of France, however, refused to engage in further diplomacy, hoping to reestablish an empire for France in Mexico. Texas-born Mexican General Ignacio Seguín Zaragoza and his roughly 4,500 poorly-armed troops were victorious over French general Laurencez and his 6,500 men in Puebla (located about 100 miles from Mexico City) on May 5, 1862. The victory, however was short-lived, because Napoleon reinforced his troops and installed his own relative, Maximilian of Austria, as a puppet ruler (1864-1867). Finally, with U.S. assistance in 1867, Mexico regained its independence and Maximilian was executed.
Want to celebrate the event with sopas, guacamole, carnitas, and pollo? Try these websites for recipes:
http://www.world-food-and-wine.com/cinco-de-mayo-food.html ;
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/et_hd_cinco_de_mayo ;
http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/ff/Cinco
Halloween Recipes:
Interested in trying some different recipes for the holiday?
How about baking a traditional Irish barmbrack? You can find a recipe for it by Caroline Workman at: http://www.uktvfood.co.uk/index.cfm?uktv=recipes.recipe&ilD=570933
Here’s one for colcannon: http://www.schooloftheseasons.com/newletters/news103103.html
Perhaps Pan de Muertos (bread of the dead) is more to your taste. If so, recipes for this treat are available at:
http://bread.allrecipes.com/AZ/PandeMuertosMexicanBreadof.asp
http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/recipes/puebla/kgpandemuertos.html [the recipes are available in both English and Spanish]
If you prefer less traditional and more contemporary cuisine for Halloween, try some recipes from the Foodnetwork. http://www/foodnetwork.com (find under “Holidays & Parties”, “Halloween”)](Recipes_files/shapeimage_2.png)
