Victorian Gingerbread Recipes

Victorian Gingerbread Recipes

“Gingerbread” may immediately cause visions of cookie-and-candy houses dripping with icicles made of brittle white icing, but gingerbread’s Victorian history is so much more than that. Perhaps this broader history is why the National Day Calendar says today, June 5, is National Gingerbread Day.

Victorian Oatmeal Cookies

Victorian Oatmeal Cookies

Today, April 30, is Oatmeal Cookie Day!

Who knew?! “Everyone” online claims Fannie Merritt Farmer’s oatmeal cookie recipe (1896) to be the FIRST published (FALSE!)… but I found fourteen Victorian-American recipes in vintage cook books and newspapers beginning in 1883. How did history (mistakenly) favor Fannie?

Peanut Butter in Victorian America

Peanut Butter in Victorian America

Today, January 24th, is the United States’ National Peanut Butter Day. On March 1st, calendars declare the day National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day.

Who first invented peanut butter? Doctors worried about elderly patients’ nutrition, right? Sometime in the nineteenth century?

Uh, no. Not exactly.

But peanut butter–an “All American” spread–was enjoyed by our Victorian-American ancestors. Read vintage articles instructing knowledgeable housewives of the many dietary uses of the peanut, vintage recipes instructing the proper making of “peanut paste”, the inclusion of pulverized peanut (paste, flour, finely chopped), and ultimately, advertised brands to buy at their grocers’ markets.

Victorian Homemakers Present Tapioca Pudding

Victorian Homemakers Present Tapioca Pudding

Victorian Americans favored many different kinds of puddings for desserts, during all seasons of the year. One type was tapioca–which hasn’t changed much in the intervening hundred-plus years. See many similar recipes in vintage era cook books and newspapers; plain, apple, peach, (and early in the 20th century, caramel).

Victorian Apple Dumplings

Victorian Apple Dumplings

As today is National Apple Dumpling Day, I rounded up vintage apple dumplings recipes from various sources (19th century cookbooks and 19th century newspapers) that illustrate different cooking methods and a variety of “dumpling” options, including different sauces and serving methods. Welcome, Autumn!