Eve’s Pudding

May 19, 2023 Little Dorrit1 Comment

This recipe comes from Catherine Dickens, the wife of Charles Dickens. While her husband is better known for his writing career, Catherine Dickens made her own foray into authorship with the cookbook What Shall We Have for Dinner?. The book was first published sometime before 1851 (the date of the first edition is unknown), and was reissued in several revised editions over the next few years. Catherine published her book under what is probably the best pseudonym ever – Lady Maria Clutterbuck – the name of the character she had portrayed in an amateur theatrical production of the play Used Up.

Chocolate Chip Honey Cookies

April 30, 2023April 23, 2023 Little Dorrit1 Comment

Last year, I made Ruth Wakefield’s original recipe for Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookies. Invented in the 1930s, these cookies became so popular that by 1939 Nestlé developed chocolate chips specifically for use in the cookies. Nestlé continued to promote chocolate chips and chocolate chip cookies during World War II, such as in this poster suggesting that a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies would be the perfect gift to send a soldier.

To make Pease Soop in Lent

April 2, 2023March 31, 2023 Little DorritLeave a comment

Unlike many 18th-century soups, this soup is (mostly) vegetarian so that it can be eaten during the fasting period of Lent. Instead of using meat, the soup is flavored with anchovies, since fish was often considered acceptable to eat during Lent.

Another Irish Country Dish (Colcannon)

March 17, 2023March 12, 2023 Little Dorrit1 Comment

Colcannon is a traditional Irish dish made with cabbage or kale and potatoes. The name comes from the Gaelic phrase “cal ceannan,” which means “white-headed cabbage”.

Cinnamon Rolls or Schnecken

March 5, 2023March 4, 2023 Little Dorrit1 Comment

These buns are named for their spiral shape like a snail’s shell – the word “Schnecken” means “snails” in German.

A Cheap Seed Cake

February 7, 2023February 6, 2023 Little Dorrit1 Comment

“It was the pleasantest tea-table in the world. Miss Clarissa presided. I cut and handed the sweet seed-cake — the little sisters had a bird-like fondness for picking up seeds and pecking up sugar; Miss Lavinia looked on with benignant patronage, as if our happy love were all her work; and we were perfectly contented with ourselves and one another.”

-Charles Dickens, David Copperfield, 1850.

Spice Roll

January 22, 2023January 21, 2023 Little Dorrit2 Comments

This recipe comes from The Settlement Cookbook, first published in 1901. The book was initially created as a charity cookbook to raise funds for the Jewish Settlement House in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and was so successful that the proceeds of the first two editions were enough to purchase a site for the new Settlement House. The cookbook presents a variety of recipes influenced by German, Eastern European, and Jewish cooking, reflecting the culinary traditions of the immigrants served by the Settlement House.

A Christmas Cookey

December 24, 2022December 23, 2022 Little Dorrit1 Comment

Amelia Simmons’ 1796 cookbook American Cookery, the first cookbook written by an American to be published in the United States, was also one of the first English-language cookbooks to use the word “cookie.” While British cookbooks used the terms “small cakes” or “biscuits,” in America the word “cookie,” derived from the Dutch word “koekje,” came to be used instead.

Braune Lebkuchen (Brown Gingerbread)

December 11, 2022December 10, 2022 Little Dorrit3 Comments

Lebkuchen is a type of gingerbread traditionally made in Germany. There are many different varieties of Lebkuchen, with different specialties in different regions, but they are typically made with honey and spices. This version is one of several Lebkuchen recipes in the 1803 cookbook Augsburgisches Kochbuch.

Cranberry Pudding Supreme

November 27, 2022November 26, 2022 Little Dorrit1 Comment

Before cooking shows on television, Americans turned to the radio for all their culinary infotainment.

History in the Making

recreating historic foods and crafts