Podcast appearances and mentions of eliza leslie

Tonight, we'll read a selection of marmalade and sweetmeat recipes from Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book, published in 1857. A type of sugar confectionery, “sweetmeats” is where the term “sweets” comes from nowadays. Despite the name, they have nothing to do with meat—at least, not in the way we think of it today. The word “mete” in Old English simply meant “food” in general, which is why older texts sometimes use it in unexpected ways. In other words, we are talking about candy. Eliza Leslie, the author of this cookbook, was one of the most influential culinary writers of 19th-century America. Known for her precise, detailed instructions, she catered to middle-class households eager to refine their domestic skills. Her recipes reflected the evolving tastes of the time, blending European traditions with distinctly American ingredients and methods. From citrus preserves to candied nuts, the art of making sweet confections was a way to showcase both skill and hospitality. These historical recipes offer a fascinating glimpse into the past—not just in terms of flavors, but also in the way food was prepared and enjoyed in an era before mass-produced candy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A fun story by Eliza Leslie describing a mom and her two grown kids- allvery educated and ready to take their place in society as was the goal in "the upper classes" of the late 19th century, They are traveling through New York and a friend has referred two familes to them to stop by and meet on their way home.  They respond to both families and receive word back that yes, both families were looking forward to meting them and they are invited to visit the same evening. The accept the first invitation, which is not that descriptive, only to discover soon after accepting the first that the second invitation offers a much fancier evening with much more to do, entertainment,and the like. But as the agreed to the first, thats where they go.  And what an evening!  

A Morning News Update That Takes Into Account The News Stories You Deem 'Highly Conversational' Today's Sponsor: Blinkisthttp://thisistheconversationproject.com/blinkistToday's Rundown:Jim Jordan suffers defeat on first ballot for speaker race, leaving fate uncertainhttps://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/jim-jordan-suffers-defeat-first-ballot-speaker-race-leaving-fate-uncer-rcna120798 President Joe Biden will visit war-torn Israel on Wednesday, Secretary Blinken sayshttps://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/10/16/president-biden-to-visit-israel-following-oct-7-attacks/71210601007/ Britney Spears says in memoir she had an abortion after pregnancy with Justin Timberlakehttps://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/britney-spears-says-memoir-abortion-pregnancy-justin-timberlake-rcna120795 After ChatGPT disruption, Stack Overflow lays off 28 percent of staffhttps://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/10/after-chatgpt-disruption-stack-overflow-lays-off-28-percent-of-staff/ Prosecutors investigating Rust shooting intend to bring involuntary manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin before a grand juryhttps://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/alec-baldwin-may-face-involuntary-manslaughter-charge-rust-shooting-pr-rcna104138 Alex Murdaugh requests new murder trial, alleges jury tampering in appealhttps://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/10/17/alex-murdaugh-new-trial-requested/71216070007/ Wyndham rejects $8 billion unsolicited buyout offer after Choice Hotels goes public with its bidhttps://apnews.com/article/choice-hotels-wyndham-acquisition-merger-a0602a987106067f25f030870bdc0262 Maren Morris files for divorce from Ryan Hurd after 5 years of marriagehttps://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/maren-morris-files-divorce-ryan-hurd-160345163.html Website: http://thisistheconversationproject.com Facebook: http://facebook.com/thisistheconversationproject Twitter: http://twitter.com/th_conversation TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@theconversationproject YouTube: http://thisistheconversationproject.com/youtube Podcast: http://thisistheconversationproject.com/podcasts #yournewssidepiece #coffeechat #morningnews ONE DAY OLDER ON OCTOBER 18Joe Morton (76)Jean-Claude Van Damme (63)Zac Efron (36) WHAT HAPPENED TODAY:1867: The United States took possession of Alaska after purchasing it from Russia for $7.2 million.1898: The United States took possession of Puerto Rico.1925: The Grand Ole Opry opened. PLUS, TODAY WE CELEBRATE: Chocolate Cupcake Dayhttps://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/national-day/national-chocolate-cupcake-day-october-18 National Chocolate Cupcake Day on October 18th annually celebrates the sweetness of small chocolate cakes. Cupcakes can be traced back to 1796 when a recipe notation of "a cake to be baked in small cups" was written in American Cookery, by Amelia Simmons. The earliest known documentation of the term cupcake was in 1828 in Seventy-five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats in Eliza Leslie's Receipts cookbook

Welcome to January 27th, 2023 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate having your cake and eating it too and thinking like a Big Wig. Here in America, chocolate was consumed primarily as a beverage until the 1840s. According to the Dover Post, the chocolate cake was born in 1765 when a doctor and a chocolate maker teamed up in an old mill. They ground up cocoa beans between huge millstones to make a thick syrup. The liquid was poured into molds shaped like cakes, which were meant to be transformed into a drink. It wasn't until 1947 that a popular Philadelphia cookbook author, Eliza Leslie, published the earliest chocolate cake recipe in The Lady's Receipt Book. Then in 1947 Betty Crocker released their first dry mix cake. On National Chocolate Cake Day celebrate having your cake and eating it too. Today is National Big Wig Day, and in honor of the Look Good Feel Better Campaign, folks across the country host parties to raise money for cancer patients. It's a way for people to show their inner Big Wig by taking on the role of philanthropist. No matter how you make a living, today is your chance to pool resources with like minded people to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the cancer charities of your choice. Show your support on National Big Wig Day by sporting lovely locks and giving as generously as you can. I'm Anna Devere and I'm Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The history of cocktails in America is heavily skewed toward the male's tale when, in fact, that is only half of story of the cocktail's rise to social prominence. Women are largely absent from the tales of the cocktail until the late 20th century, but they were making, serving, and writing about the scene and its art long before Jerry Thomas's famed bartender's guide. Dr. Nicola Nice recognized the history gap while working in market research advising liquor companies. Now, along with her entrepreneurial gin liqueur business and website, she has extended her research to historical liquor literature in which she strives to fill that gap of the missing women. Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support A Taste of the Past by becoming a member!A Taste of the Past is Powered by Simplecast.

news birthdays/events places people used to be able to smoke if a toy company made an action figure of you...what accessories would it come with? news neighbor with a ton of christmas lights...we have have a griswold in our midst top baby names of 2020 game: outburst news what scares/bothers you as an adult that didn't as a kid? what's the weirdest thing your pet does? game: trivial pursuit news whose job would you like to have for just one day? women and their closets goodbye/fun facts....national cupcake day...The origin of the cupcake seems to go back as far as 1796, where cakes cooked in small cups were first mentioned, and the actual term cupcake was first seen in Eliza Leslie’s 1828 cookbook. For many years, cupcakes were known as one-two-three-four cakes because of their recipe: one cup of butter, two cups of sugar, three cups of flour, four eggs, plus one cup of milk and one spoon full of baking soda. This formula is still the traditional cupcake recipe that many people use today.

"Mediterranean Quarantine: Perspectives of a Person of Privilege" Etta Madden, Assistant Department Head & Professor of English at Missouri State University Etta Madden is Assistant Department Head & Professor of English at Missouri State University. Dr. Madden has served in various administrative capacities and taught courses in American literature, women's literature & gender studies, utopian literature & culture, and research methods. Her publications include books and articles on religious communities (Puritans, Shakers, Quakers, & earth-centered New Age groups in Italy), women writers (including Philadelphia cookbook author Eliza Leslie), and the history of science. She is the recipient of two LCP fellowships: first in 2000, when she researched Benjamin Rush and temperance, and more recently in 2013, when she researched Anne Hampton Brewster – the subject of tonight's fireside chat, "Mediterranean Quarantine: Perspectives of a Person of Privilege." This chat originally aired at 7:00 p.m., Thursday, April 23, 2020.

This week’s topic brings back memories of days gone by and just might stir up the desire in you to cook over an open fire. Well perhaps not you. Maybe someone you know. In any case, I thank you all for listening and hope you find this information useful. Thank you, thank you to all of you veteran homestead-loving regulars and welcome to all of you new listeners out there. Let me know what you’re interested in and I’ll see if I can come up with some compelling dialogue. Today’s Show Homestead Life Updates Cooking on the Hearth Mint Sauce (for Lamb Roast) Homestead Life Updates Cows Our newest addition, Butter, had her calf. Butter is a purebred Jersey with certified A2A2 genetics. If you are not familiar with what that means, well that’s a podcast for another time. The health benefits of raw milk from cows with A2A2 genetics are substantial. We have four calves now—with 2 more still to come. Sheep Finally, the last ewe had her lambs. She has a lovely set of twins. That brings our total lambs this season to 9. All are alive and well. Only one issue. But Lambert is doing well on his bottle. Every morning and afternoon I go out and call “lambikins” and he comes running. As soon as he has finished his bottle, he turns around and trots back to his mom and 2 siblings. Quail The quail have hatched. We have 24 baby quail in a brooder right now. They peeped a lot when they first hatched, but now they are as quiet as church mice. I’ve spent lots of time just watching them run around pecking here and there. In three weeks’ time they will be fully feathered and ready to move to their quail condo. By 8 weeks, the hens will be laying eggs and I will start the process all over again until we have the number of birds we want for breeding stock. Our goal is to raise all of the eggs we eat. Eggs and coffee are the only items I currently buy from the grocery store. Soon to be only coffee. Steers We have 3 steers soon to be up for grabs. If you are interested in a ¼, ½ or whole steer, please get on the list quickly. The first one will go to processing in late June and will be available for pickup around mid-July. We are always limited in the amount of grass-fed beef that we have available. Again, please get on the list early. Garden The tomatoes are in the garden. It was a bigger job than I thought, but I persevered and got them all in the ground. The beans are up. I still need to plant the green beans. And just today we got the sweet potato slips. Once the beans and sweet potatoes go in, I will have planted that entire garden. Oops, I almost forgot. I need to plant the sunflowers between the tomatoes. I’m amazed at how much I accomplished on my own with this garden. Sure, Scott did a lot of the heavy work with the mulch and initial fertilizer, but the rest was all me. I’ve never done that much on my own before. Diet and exercise is working wonders for me. Creamery Not much to report on the creamery this week. We’ve been tied up with other tasks and another week has slipped by with only a little progress. Life on the homestead is constantly filled with meaningful, fulfilling tasks. Scott really does have a lot on his plate right now. He’s doing a great job juggling all of his responsibilities. He is so awesome. Cooking on the Hearth In the Cooking Through the Ages FarmCast I finished up with a recipe for cooking cornbread on the hearth. There have been so many questions about hearthside cooking, I decided to do an episode on the techniques and knowledge that our great-great-great-great grandmothers used to cook meals for their families. When the United States was founded, all cooking was done over a fire. Most often it was done in the fireplace of the home. Knowledge of fire-building was a part of everyday life. There were specific tools and implements that assisted in the cooking process. I’ll talk about those as well. Today we see a fireplace is a charming optional feature for a home. In yesterday’s world a fireplace was absolutely essential to living and the virtual center of family life. It was the primary heat source, was a major source of light, and provided the means by which all food was prepared. We have a wood stove and perhaps you do too. Once the match was invented, fire building became pretty easy. We merely crumble up some newspaper, lay on some wood, then strike the match. Before this modern convenience, coals had to be carefully banked at night to ensure a ready fire was easily built for the next day’s meals. A “cold fire” meant using flint and steel to strike sparks in extremely flammable tinder, skillful application of air and carefully feeding small twigs, then larger and larger sticks into the flame. Fire Safety Another convenience of today that we may take for granted is our screened fireplaces. Together with normal precautions, fire hazards from sparks and coals hitting the floor are reduced to nearly nothing. In the past, the fear of fire meant constant vigilance. A coal of fire accidentally falling on the floor causing a fire was not uncommon in the days of large fireplaces with steadily burning fires and no protective screening. In fact, hearth injuries were second only to childbearing as the leading cause of death in women. Certain safeguards made the difference between a pleasurable, rewarding cooking and heating experience and possible tragedy. Some things kept on hand included having a bucket of water nearby and a woolen blanket that could smother flames. Long skirts would be tucked up and out of the way when working at the fire. Women often checked the lower hem of their skirts for smoldering cloth if their dress was dragged across live coals. Have you noticed how women wore hats in the past. Their hair was covered and no bare feet were to be found near the fire. Carefully thought out steps also guarded against accidents. The immediate area needed to be kept clear when moving hot coals. Heavy iron pots filled with simmering liquid or food were not easy to handle. Extreme care was taken in removing them from the crane or lifting them from the coals. Frying foods and roasting meats require care to avoid burns from splattering fat. Staying continually alert was the best protection against mishaps. Building a Fire Everyone has his or her own theory for “correct” fire building. Here is a relatively simple method that has worked quite well for us. Sometimes we have to start with a clean fireplace. However, old ashes provide insulation and helps to maintain heat. We usually crumple several sheets of newspaper on top of the existing ashes for kindling. In the 18th century scrapwood, bark or small and dry branches would be used in lieu of paper. Next, we lay the wood on the kindling in a grid pattern, starting with soft kindling wood such as pine. On top of the kindling, we lay a mixture of hardwood and softwood in slightly larger pieces. Next follows another layer of hardwood. At that point, we would simply use a lighter to make a flame on the end of a very small piece of pine kindling and light the newspaper at the rear of the fire. Starting the fire at the rear allows the fire to start warming the chimney. After the fire is well-established, we add large pieces of wood to keep the flames burning steadily. Hardwoods for this purpose include oak and hickory. Cedar has a tendency to “pop”, creating a possible fire hazard without the door on our stove or the fire screens I mentioned earlier. So no cedar in an open hearth. You can use fruit woods, such as apple and cherry, to provide a tantalizing aroma and impart a delicious flavor to roasting meats. Cooking on the Hearth The fire should be started well before actual cooking begins. You might think that Hearthside cooking is all done directly over a fire. Not true. Though flames are necessary for roasting and cooking on a crane (I’ll talk more about the tools next), the quantity of coals is more important. It will be at least two hours of preparatory fire burning before a large amount of coals is ready to be raked or shoveled into individual mounds on the hearth. Moving the coals around and piling them creates cooking areas something like the burners on your modern stove. Most hearth cooking—baking, frying, simmering—was done over glowing embers. The need for a steady supply of embers necessitates a continuously burning fire. Equipping a Fireplace Hearth for Cooking If this topic of Hearthside cooking is of interest to you as a hobby, there are tools are available still available for purchase. Artisans are producing ironwork, pottery, woodenware and tin-ware for reasonable prices. With a few basic implements, any fireplace can be made ready for cooking. The following are essential for open hearth food prep: A swinging crane Pot hangers—S-hooks, trammel, ratchets Dutch ovens—a minimum of two Long handled tools including spoons, ladle, meat fork, and spatula Trivets An iron pot Poker, tongs, and shovel The crane The swinging crane, a hinged device bolted into the side of the fireplace, was a major development in kitchen furnishings. Prior to the crane, the lug pole was used. It was a fixed device suspended across the upper portion of the fireplace and fitted into the brick itself. To use the fixed lug pole you had to step on the hearth and leaning into the fireplace to suspend or remove those heavy iron pots filled with food or water. At best, this was dangerous. The swinging crane brought new flexibility and safety since it could be swung out and away from the fire for use. Pots Hangers Pots were suspended from the crane by a variety of hangers. The simplest is the S-hook, which can be linked together with others to raise or lower a pot over the flames and thus regulate the amount of heat for cooking. I use a version of this to raise and lower the height of the lights over my plant seedlings. Other pot hangers included the trammel, basically a flat hanger with the hook and eye arrangement. The eye goes over the crane and there is a hook for the pot handle. The trammel is too long and cumbersome for modern fireplaces, but they were very important for the large fireplaces found in the days of colonial America. Dutch Ovens A Dutch oven is probably the single most important item for Hearthside cooking. It can be used to bake bread and desserts. You can use it to stew meats and vegetables or to brown foods. Standing on three short legs, the Dutch oven would be placed on a bed of coals and its contents would be covered with a tightfitting lid. Additional coals are then shoveled on top. Voila! An oven is created. The coals are replenished as needed. Generally, cooking times are equal to those given in modern recipes. With this most important piece of equipment, anything done in a modern oven can be duplicated on the hearth. Long Handled Tools A variety of long handled tools are needed for stirring, mixing, turning, basting, skimming, and labeling. Made of iron or wood, they include spatulas, meat forks, spoons, strainers, and ladles. You can find these today for use with outdoor grills. Trivets Trivets refers to a tripod used to elevate pots from the coals of an open fire. In fireplace cooking they were used to hold pots and kettles for cooking over the coals and for keeping already prepared foods warm. Iron Pot An iron pot, hung on the crane, is indispensable for soups, stews, and boiled puddings. Usually equipped with legs, the pot is also useful for simmering directly over the coals. Tongs, Poker, Shovel The same equipment used for our woodstove—tongs, poker, and shovel—are also needed and for the same purpose as times past. They are used to manipulate the wood and coals. Additional Utensils Hearthside tools could be supplemented with an endless array of additional utensils, especially those for roasting. For roasting meats and fowl, a pair of andirons or firedogs, fitted with hooks to hold an iron spit, is one such accessory. Food to be cooked is skewered on the spit and then suspended between the firedogs. The simplest of these spits has a handle at one end. The meat is turned on the spit for even roasting. A necessary adjunct to roasting is a dripping pan, generally made of iron. It is placed underneath the roasting meat to catch its juices. The juices are then used for basting and later used to make gravy. A long handled frying pan is another helpful utensil for open hearth cooking. Set on a trivet or made with three legs to stand over the coals, the frying pan is helpful for frying or sautéing. A griddle for baking over the fire is another useful kitchen utensil used to bake a variety of muffins, buns, and pancakes. Its handle is secured to the crane by a pot hanger. Also needed for baking are pie and cake tins and tart and biscuit pans. We’ve come a long way baby. It’s still fun to use some of these traditional techniques. They are applicable on your camping trips or backyard firepits as well.  A colonial meal would be composed of foods dictated by the season and the weather. In a future podcast I’ll talk about the traditional seasonal cuisine of Virginia. Eliza Leslie’s Mint Sauce Recipe We have lots of lamb. Cruise on over to our website www.peacefulheartFarm.com, and place in order. Then stop by the farm on Tuesday mornings between 10 and 12 or Saturday afternoons between three and five and pick it up. And to go with that lamb you might want to try making this wonderful mint sauce. This is Eliza Leslie’s mint sauce recipe in its original form. Take a large bunch of fine fresh green mint, that has been washed well. Strip the leaves from the stems, and mince them well. Put it into a pint bowl, and mix with it gradually some of the best cider vinegar. This sauce must not be the least liquid, but as thick as horseradish sauce or thicker. Make it very sweet, with the best brown sugar. Mix it well, and transfer to a small tureen, or a little deep dish with a teaspoon in it. Serve it up always with roast lamb, putting a teaspoonful on the rim of your plate. A quart or more of mint sauce, made as above, but with a larger portion of sugar and vinegar, will keep very well for several weeks, in a jar well corked. As I’ve said before, early recipes can really only be followed by the best of cooks. Here’s what the recipe looks like in our modern lingo. Makes approximately 1 cup 1/2 cup cider vinegar 1 tablespoon brown sugar (or more to taste) 1/3 cup minced fresh mint leaves Hearth: Combine vinegar and brown sugar in small saucepan. Set on trivet over hot coals and heat until warm. Remove from heat and add mint leaves. Stir well and set aside to cool. Pour into sauce boat and serve as accompaniment to roast lamb. Modern: Follow hearth direction 1, heating vinegar and sugar over low heat. Complete following hearth directions 2 and 3. Final Thoughts I hope you enjoyed this week’s traditional hearth cooking topic. The mint sauce recipe is available FREE for download at www.peacefulheartFarm.com/category/recipes/. You’ll find all of my other recipes there as well. And again, don’t forget to pop over to the online farm store to make your lamb purchase to go with that mint sauce. Speaking of lambs, we have been extremely blessed this season with nine healthy lambs. It doesn’t always happen that way and we are grateful. Remember to get on the list for purchasing ¼, ½ or whole beeves. As we get ramped up for our herd share program, we will be busier than ever. But we’re never too busy to listen to your input. Stop by website and leave us your feedback. We’d loving your ideas.  If you enjoyed this podcast, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and give me a 5-star rating and review. Also, please share it with any friends or family who might be interested in this type of content. As always, I’m here to help you “taste the traditional touch.” Thank you so much for stopping by the homestead and until next time, may God fill your life with grace and peace. Recipe Link Eliza Leslie’s Mint Sauce To share your thoughts: Leave a comment on our Facebook Page Share this show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram To help the show: PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW for Peaceful Heart FarmCast on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Google Play Music, TuneIn or Spotify Donate on Patreon Website www.peacefulheartfarm.com Patreon www.patreon.com/peacefulheartfarm Facebook www.facebook.com/peacefulheartfarm Instagram www.instagram.com/peacefulheartfarm/

In today’s show, we are going to talk about: Cooking Through the Ages. The conversation today – and every day – revolves around the value of tradition; traditional food prep and storage, traditional cooking, the new traditional farming practices, and of course, traditional artisan CHEESE. Topics discussed here are designed to create new perspectives and possibilities for how you might add the taste of tradition to your life. Today’s Show Homestead Life Updates Cooking Through the Ages Cooking on the Hearth – Mary Randolph’s Corn Meal Bread Homestead Life Updates It’s snowing again today. Sigh. Will this winter never end? Creamery Update The trough drains used to carry waste away from cows doing their thing during milking has a brand new cover. It is covered with molded fiberglass resin floor grates. These are strong, non-slip, non-rust grates; and they look pretty cool to me. Walls in the creamery are going up, slowly. Very slowly. It is still winter and the weather is impeding our progress there. The Orchard A regular winter task is pruning the fruit and nut trees in the orchard, trimming and repositioning canes in the blackberries and so on. Done!! Other projects interfering with getting the creamery done: We will be trying a new method of separating calves from moms this year. We need a calf pen to accomplish that. We eat a lot of eggs around here but raising chickens is still on the back burner. Instead we are going to raise quail for eggs and likely some meat as well. This decision is based on time restrictions in building the chicken infrastructure. Making quail cages is much quicker. The birds are easy to raise. Or so they say. We shall see. This is my project. Scott will build a couple of cages, but everything else will be up to me. The incubator is on its way. It will be here later this month. Cooking Through the Ages Now let’s take a very quick trip through thousands of years of history. How did we humans survive as a species? What kind of food did we eat and how did we preserve and prepare it? How did we get to where we are now? Let’s start with the Stone Age shall we? The Stone Age During the Stone Age, the Paleolithic period, or Old Stone Age (beginning as early as 750,000 BC), and the Neolithic period, or new Stone Age (beginning around 8000 BC), humans began to make and use stone tools and acquire a larger variety of foods in new ways. Paleolithic Tools and Foods Paleolithic tools include axes and blades for cutting and chopping. In order to survive during the Paleolithic period, humans hunted wild animals, birds, and fish and collected nuts, fruits, and berries. Artifacts show that people ate mammoth, reindeer, horse, fox, wolf, and tortoise. Cooking techniques included broiling or roasting food over an open flame or hot coals. Brazing in clay cylinders over ashes in a pit is also indicated. The Neolithic Food Revolution One of the most significant changes in human food habits occurred around 8000 BC, when people in the Near East began to grow food rather than gather it. This is the Neolithic period. Humans started raising cereal crops such as rye and wheat. We began keeping livestock, including pigs, cows, goats, and sheep. Archaeologists have discovered millstones in these areas, an indication that Neolithic peoples were grinding wheat and other grains to make flour for bread. Changes in cooking methods included using water brought to a boil in earthenware pottery. They also built the first closed ovens for baking. Now let’s move to the Bronze Age Early Civilizations – the Bronze Age Advances in food production and preparation in early civilizations had a broad reach. People in Northern Europe began to farm sometime after 3000 BC. Farming practices advanced with the invention of the plow around 3550 BC, and food production increased. In the Bronze Age, which began around 3000 BC in Mediterranean areas, people began to cook using liquid in pots made of copper and bronze. New tools and utensils also became available. Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt We were figuring out what it took to survive as a species. Banding together in larger and larger groups led to the early civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt. These two civilizations shared some food habits and traditions. Although beef, lamb, pork, deer, fowl (excluding chicken), fish, turtles, vegetables, and fruits were all part of their diet, grains were a staple food. Besides cooking cereals in water as a porridge and using ground grains to make bread, the Mesopotamian’s favored beer as a beverage for festive occasions. Inscriptions on Egyptian tombs -- “give me bread when I am hungry. Give me beer when I am thirsty” – bear witness to the heavy use of grain in the ancient Egyptian diet. Both the Mesopotamians and the Egyptians developed a system of writing early on and thus had the means to record recipes. The first known recipes come from Mesopotamia and date to the second millennium BC. Excavated tombs have yielded remnants of foods such as figs and bread, which were typical funerary offerings. Ancient Egyptian food preparation methods such as open hearth baking of unleavened bread and salt preservation of meats and fish are still common today. The Egyptians also dried and smoked foods and stored fruits in honey and fish in oil to preserve them. Greek and Roman Cooking As I mentioned in the History of Cheese FarmCast, the Greeks made cheeses. They also baked bread and produced wine. They became skilled in the use of seasoning and spices, made sauces using oil and cheese, and cultivated olives. Meat, such as rabbit, was added to the diet and gained popularity. Influenced in large part by the ideas of the great physician and teacher Hippocrates (ca. 460-377 BC), the Greeks, and later the Romans, focused on eating a healthful diet. Consuming food items for both medicinal and nutritional purposes, they viewed cooking methods, combinations of foods, drink, and seasonings as contributions to overall well-being. The Greeks introduced a tradition of lavish dinner parties or banquets, which were often followed by a symposium, the ritual consumption of wine. In the typical Roman kitchen, the master cook supervised food preparation from a platform at the rear of the room. Square hearth fires stood in the middle. Kitchen equipment featured pots made of bronze, brass, clay, or silver, as well as wood-fired ovens. Formal dining traditions were further developed during the Roman Empire. The Middle Ages and the Renaissance Roman traditions continued to dominate cooking and dining practices through the Middle Ages. During the Renaissance, advances in the culinary arts helped set the stage for the development of modern cookery. Medieval Ways Medieval kitchens typically stood apart from the main house to reduce the risk of fire. The traditional kitchen was crowded, noisy, hot, and smoky. Vents in the ceiling allowed the release of smoke and heat from the roasting spit and simmering iron kettles. Cooks kept food cold in cellars. Kitchen equipment included iron pots as well as various hooks, spoons, and knives. The Iron Age produced the cauldron. An iron vessel hanging from a metal arm over hot coals, was the main cooking pot. The typical chimney hearth could accommodate three cauldrons. The cauldron on the left side of the hearth was used for roasting, and the others were used for boiling. Breads and pies were baked in an oven on the side of the chimney. Renaissance developments The late 1300s marked the beginning of the Renaissance, an era of revival in the arts and sciences that spread across Europe from south to north. Italy dominated the culinary scene in the 1400s. By the end of the century, it had shifted to Spain, whose explorations and conquests in the Americas introduce new foods and methods of food preparation into Europe. Christopher Columbus and Hernán Cortéz as well as other explorers and conquistadors returned to Europe with tomatoes, chili peppers, potatoes, avocados, corn, vanilla beans, and cacao, the main ingredient of chocolate. These food items had a lasting impact on European cuisine. By the late 1500s, France rose as Europe’s culinary center. Let’s move on to America. American cookery While grand cuisine was taking shape in France, American cuisine was only in its infancy. There were no cities. European settlers in the Americas brought familiar cooking methods and some staple foods from the old world with them and combined these with culinary techniques and ingredients they found in the New World. From the start, American cookery has been a mosaic of ingredients and techniques from a variety of cultures. Native American food patterns When Columbus arrived in the Americas in the late 1400s, most Native Americans followed traditional practices. Their main crops were maize (corn), beans, and squash, but other valuable crops included potatoes and sweet potatoes. Domesticated animals were not a large source of food. However, in addition to cultivating crops, Native Americans fished, hunted, and collected other foods. Remember they were still in the Stone Age as far as their tools and equipment were concerned. They devised storage pits for grains, nuts, and other foods, used a variety of cooking techniques, including roasting and boiling in pots, and preserved some foods by drying and smoking. Again, refer back to the information on Stone Age cooking and tools. Colonial Food Habits European settlers learned a great deal from indigenous peoples about growing and preparing foods native to the New World. Native Americans taught newcomers from Europe the most efficient ways to cook outdoors and how to prepare beans and corn. Corn breads, succotash, and various soups and stews became part of the colonial cooking repertoire. For their part, Europeans changed the food supply in the Americas, introducing livestock such as pigs, cattle, and sheep, and plant food such as rice, wheat, barley, and broadbeans from Europe. Soon colonists were comfortable preparing a variety of foods using a blend of Native American and European techniques. Regional Cuisine in America Today During the vast land expansion in the 19th century, the American diet began to show variety from one geographic region to the next. Each part of the country developed its own regional cuisine – foods, ingredients, and cooking methods characteristic of that particular geographic region. Several factors contributed to the development of regional cuisines, including availability of local ingredients and the influence of cultural groups. Immigration the 19th century changed America as cities began to flourish. Nearly 5 million immigrants arrived in the United States in the period between 1830 and 1860. That’s just 30 years. Most were from Germany, Great Britain, and Ireland. Two waves of immigration after 1860 brought people from Scandinavian countries and from Italy, Austria, Hungary, Russia, Greece, Poland, Portugal, and Spain. Asian immigrants also began to make a home in America’s big cities. The various regional cuisines began to take shape. The Northeast was influenced by Native Americans, Englishmen, French-Canadians, Italians, and the Portuguese. Some of the regional foods they developed include meat pies, fish stews and soups, clam chowder, salt cod, chorizo and peppers, baked beans, succotash, Indian pudding, brown bread, maple syrup, cider, fruit pies and desserts, and cream dishes. Later cheese would become a valuable product for this region. In the Mid-Atlantic schnitzel, scrapple, sausages, apple butter, sauerkraut, slaw, pretzels, bagels, waffles, pork, and dairy products came out of the Dutch and German influences. Moving to the Midwest we find jerky, country hams, sausages, gravies, beef stews and pot pies, meatloaf, corn roasts, freshwater fish, cheese, potatoes, root vegetables, rye and pumpernickel bread, wild rice, pancakes, strudel, applesauce, apple juice, sauerkraut, nut candies, poppy seed cake, and lager beer. Influences there include Native American, Polish, Hungarian, Czech, German, and Scandinavian. The southern region is large and varied. Brunswick stew, country hams, red eye gravy, corn breads, biscuits, barbecue pork and beef, chicken wings, jambalaya, fried chicken, crab cakes, crab and crawfish boils, catfish, butter bean custard, peanut soup, peach pie, key lime pie, greens with fatback or salt pork, fried okra and okra stews, hominy, grits, gumbo’s, sweet potato pie, nut cakes, and rice. This wide variety is due to Scots Irish, English, Welsh, French, Creole, Cajun, and African influences. The west is even larger and more varied in its immigrant influences introducing cuisine from the Far East. What a variety. Native American, Spanish, Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, and Pacific Islands all contributed. Today you have barbecue, corn dishes, Tex-Mex food, chili con carne, citrus fruits, guacamole, olives, tuna, sourdough bread, steaks, game, grilled lamb, teriyaki, luau pork, salmon chowder, sashimi, fry bread, Asian noodle dishes, stirfry dishes, tortillas, tacos, quesadillas, chimichangas, pineapple, sugarcane, and chilies prepared and used in all sorts of ways. Changes in Food Production New ideas and technology in the 1800s had a great impact on agriculture and industry. Established cities were growing rapidly. Today it’s the trucking industry but back then it was the trains that were paramount to people in the city having access to food. Improved tools; new farming methods; and the development of various farm machines, including tractors, combines, and cultivators, increased the supply of food while decreasing the need for small farmers. The 19th and 20th centuries were a time of great change in the United States. The Industrial Revolution introduced machines that transformed farming and manufacturing. Large numbers of people continued to move to the city. The move from rural areas to the city accelerated and fewer and fewer farmers grew our food. The supply of food increased exponentially but more and more people became separated from the source of their nourishment. Electricity, gas, and the creation of modern appliances were the icing on the cake. Harvesting, storing and preparing food is a breeze today compared to days past. Hearth Side Cooking I took you through quite a journey very quickly. We went from primitive stone implements right up to modern cooking and preservation equipment. I want to step back a little and fill in a blank or two regarding cooking in early colonial America. Specifically regarding baking bread on the hearth. It will tie in with today’s recipe. Bread Making in Colonial Virginia Hot breads were presented as part of the elaborate meals served at Virginia plantations in the 18th and 19th Century. Guests often left descriptions of the foods they had enjoyed. Excellent wheat breads were highly praised but cornmeal breads predominated. White cornmeal was most often used in the South As part of the ritual of good food provided in plenty by wealthy Virginians, an array of well-made breads was essential. They were brought to the table to be slathered with fresh butter and eaten still warm from the oven. Let’s consider how formidable it was to make bread. There were no handy grocery stores to pick up a loaf on the way home, no packets of dried yeast. Preparing and baking bread was a time-consuming, arduous process, from making yeast to knowing when the oven was ready. Commercial yeast was not available until 1868, and recipes for yeast occupy a large part of the breadmaking sections in early cookbooks. Cook’s kept a starter on hand, made with ingredients that included hops, potatoes, sugar, flour, and water. Combined with more flour to make a “sponge,” the dough would be set to rise hours ahead of when it was to be eaten. Kneading was (and still is) a major part of the process, and its importance was emphasized. A Mrs. Smith, writes that “the best bread makers who I know knead for at least an hour, with all their might…” Eliza Leslie noted that “the goodness of bread depends much on the kneading.” While Miss Leslie’s statement holds true today, those lengthy times required for kneading are no longer necessary. The commercial yeast now available has shortened the process considerably. The actual baking was done in Dutch ovens or brick ovens built into the huge kitchen fireplace. A thorough knowledge of the process was vital. A fire was started in the brick ovens about two hours prior to putting in the loaves. Instructions were specific including the size and type of wood needed to get the proper oven temperature necessary to bake. “If you can hold your hand within the mouth of the oven as long as you can distinctly count 20, the heat is about right.” Alternatively, with Dutch oven baking it was necessary to preheat the iron kettle before putting in the prepared bread dough. Once filled and covered, the Dutch oven could be suspended from a crane and hung over the fire. Another method was to set the Dutch oven on coals to bake in a corner of the hearth. Additional hot coals were piled on top of the lid. Whatever the baking method, providing delectable breads was essential Let’s take a look at a colonial bread recipe and talk about how it would be prepared in a Dutch oven on a hearth. Mary Randolph’s Cornmeal Bread Recipe “Rub a piece of butter the size of an egg into a pint of cornmeal, make a batter with two eggs and some new milk, add a spoonful of yeast, set it by the fire an hour to rise, butter little pans and bake it.” Mary Randolph. This is typical of recipes of this era. Simple measurements of weight or volume, vague measurements such as a spoonful or “some” milk and so on, or no measurements at all. Which spoon? And what constitutes a “little pan”? You really had to know what you were doing. I just happen to have this recipe complete with a modern list of ingredients. You’ll be able to give it a try with confidence. The instructions for baking this bread on the hearth will be there for you as well – just in case you want a really big adventure in baking. What You Need 2 tablespoons butter, melted 2 cups milk 2 cups white cornmeal 2 teaspoons dried yeast 1 teaspoon salt 2 eggs On the Hearth: Heat butter and milk until milk is warm and butter begins to melt. Set aside to cool to lukewarm. Combine cornmeal, yeast, and salt in bowl. Stir in cooled milk and butter. Beat eggs lightly and stir into rest of ingredients. Blend well but do not overmix. Pour into well-greased baking pan and set aside to rise one hour. Carefully place filled pan in preheated Dutch oven on trivet, crane or hearth stone ashes. Bake, following general instructions for Dutch oven baking, for about 25 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean and bread is a rich golden brown. NOTE: I’m not including the “general Instructions for Dutch oven baking”. Email me if you want those instructions. Modern Method: Follow hearth directions one through four, using 8” x 8” square pan. Preheat oven to 450°F. Bake cornbread 20 to 30 minutes or until done. Final Thoughts I hope you enjoyed today’s FarmCast. We will keep plugging away at that creamery and living the life that fills us with wonder and awe. We love our cheese and can’t wait to share it with you.  Every one of the recipes you hear on the FarmCast is on our website as well as many others. Sign up on our mailing list so you can receive our monthly newsletter filled with more cooking tips and tricks. From the basics of how to boil an egg – in an Instant Pot – to creating really fantastic and fun dishes like that cheese fondue recipe. I’m going to shamelessly plug that. We had it just last week. It was a lovely romantic evening. While our creamery is modern, the methods we use are not. Striking that balance between using the traditions of yesteryear while taking advantage of modern technology is the best of both worlds. Life in ancient times or even just a couple hundred years ago was filled with all sorts of dangers and pitfalls. Food was scarce. It required lots of time and effort to prepare it. Tradition was extremely important. Tending your hearth properly meant the difference between living and dying – or at the very least losing everything you owned in a fire. Without modern food preservation, effectively using traditional techniques of preserving food were also the difference between life and death. The art of having safely prepared nutritious food year round meant you and your children might live to a ripe old age. Cheese making was a big part of food preservation. As were drying, pickling, smoking and salting. These ancient food preservation techniques made living through harsh winters possible. It’s so easy to take for granted what we have today and what we have endured to get here. I will speak on behalf of Scott and myself. Gratefulness fills our hearts as we reflect on the old ways. We look forward to continuing to share our passion for preserving life with you. As always, I’m here to help you “taste the traditional touch.” Thank you so much for listening and until next time, may God fill your life with grace and peace. Today's Recipe Link To share your thoughts: Leave a comment on our Facebook Page Share this show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram To help the show: PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW for Peaceful Heart FarmCast on iTunes. Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Google Play Music, TuneIn or Spotify Donate on Patreon Website www.peacefulheartfarm.com Patreon www.patreon.com/peacefulheartfarm Facebook www.facebook.com/peacefulheartfarm

We're sweet on all of you listeners, so this week we are talking about candy makers and chocolatiers that have made history! We don't know what gets us higher, the sugar rush or these historical babes. Join us and special guest Colin Parker (@ColinMParker) of the Scavengers Network to discuss Pierre Draps vs Eliza Leslie vs Oliver R. Chase! Show notes at historicallyhot.com/episodes/candy