Maybe we want to eat the cake that these great men ate. If so, we can begin with Martha Washington's own cookbook:
In 1799, she presented the book to her granddaughter, Eleanor Parke Custis as a wedding gift when she married Lawrence Lewis. The cookbook was handed down from mother to daughter until 1892 when the Lewis family presented it to The Historical Society of Pennsylvania where it still resides today.
In 1940, the Society gave special permission to historian Marie Kimball to study the manuscript and prepare a cookbook entitled, "The Martha Washington Cook Book." Mrs. Kimball fully adapted Martha’s cookbook to practical, modern use. All the recipes were proportioned to our current practice of a formula for serving six people. Each recipe was tested. It is not only correct, but tastes great!
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| It was reprinted in a more limited edition in 2004 |
The earlier one (2008) is excellent: A. Lincoln Cookbook: A Cookbook of Epic Portions. It features "over 600 recipes, photos of Lincoln dishes and utensils, and a CD of areas of the museum off limits to visitors." This is the museum attached to the Springfield, Illinois Lincoln Pesidential Library and Museum.
Also of interest to historians of the era is Abraham Lincoln In The Kitchen: A Culinary View of Lincoln's Life and Times (2014). Among other things this one informs us how to serve barbeque at the political rallies of the day when there were neither paper plates nor paper napkins.
Just as I like reading works that describe the history of sheep raising, wool and the textile trade, I love historical studies of agriculture, gardening and cookery.
Happy Birthday, Mr Washington, Mr Lincoln!
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