I think a lot about the impact of digital documents on interpretation of history. Which items are and are not easily available to online inevitably steer the course of my research and my writing. For example: at some point someone in the New York Public Library decided to scan “Tested Maryland Recipes.” The public domain…
There has probably been no greater force for the dissemination of recipes developed by home cooks than recipe contests. State and county fairs in the 19th century hosted many cooking contests as a part of their “ladies” programming. These fairs were an opportunity for women gather and to show off their “domestic arts”, from needlework…
This belated Christmas Cookie recipe from the Lovely Lane Methodist Church in Old Goucher is inadvertently my third post in a row related to places I’ve lived. Lovely Lane has produced at least two cookbooks that I’m aware of – one from the 1990s and one from 1936. Both are called “Lovely Lane Cook Book.”…
Laurie Boucher told me that she always knew she wanted to study law. The vocation brought her from Pennsylvania to Baltimore, where she now resides. When Boucher needed more time to take care of family, she scaled back on lawyering, enrolled in culinary school, and began to master the art of pasta-making. As she shared…
Somewhere in the history of nearly every church, there was a cookbook. The authors usually intended to raise money for their church or auxiliary group, but from my vantage point, their efforts would amount to more than just the funds they generated. Church cookbooks are documents of social networks and culinary trends. Sometimes they even…