A series of curated dining events about food memories and culinary heritage.
// a partnership between Cuisine en Locale and Terroir Studio //
all primary materials courtesy the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University
ONCE in Barre is now a month behind us, and we’re still putting together our documentation of the wonderful results. Keep an eye out for oral history recordings by Liz Donovan, some thoughts on our recipes, and more photos by Alykhan Mohamed. If you have memories of the day that you want to share, do let us know!
Just a couple photos of ONCE in Barre: a table setting, and our afternoon savories before service. Stay tuned for more documentation of yesterday’s incredible Mother’s Day!
Marble Cake
Light Part is a white cake, dark part is a spice cake!
NOTE: This recipe calls for sour milk, but don’t let your regular supermarket milk go bad and use that! Only raw milk “sours”; pasteurized milk spoils. So unless you have access to raw milk from some happy cows, like the Rice ladies did, use buttermilk instead. In fact, pasteurized milk became common right at the time of this recipe. Want to learn more? Here’s a good overview.
Solving the popcorn cookie mystery: they WERE a variation of the cookies to the left. And they taste like popcorn!
By far one of our favorite recipes so far…introducing mini Mock Cherry Pies (Mary’s Rule).
FILLING: 1 c cranberries cut in half, 1/2 c raisins, 1 c sugar, 1 tbsp flour mixed in 1/2 c of cold water, 1/2 tsp vanilla
Bake in deep plate with two crusts (be are making mini-versions, so they will look like this instead…)
It’s a newly discovered wild item and people are messing up bushes, stripping them of the blossoms to make syrup and wine, and then there are no berries for the poor birdies."
cooking from heirlooms.
| Us: | Friends, a Mother's Day mystery for you all. Popcorn cookie: sugar, butter, hot water, soda, and vinegar. We are baffled! |
| Mark: | Perhaps it's a modification for the recipe to the left ("Cookie")? |
| Us: | Could be! A lot of the recipes in the cookbook seem to talk to each other. |
Dear “Shish”-
This money for the knitting has laid here on the table for so long — am sending it up with this. I don’t feel that it pays you for your time — wish I could double it.
And thank you — lots.
When I got my ingredients ready I found I had “much too many” blossoms prepared — and I wondered if you’d like to try a rule of it? Mrs. Allen tells me it is very dela in flavor — pale amber color and well worth making.
They say the wine made from the blossoms is much nicer than from the berries.
From the “sample” I think it will be very nice. Here’s the rule and if you don’t feel like using them — throw them out!
Please excuse writing — very aware is unclear today. Hastily, Edith
Elderberry blossom wine
1 qt elderberry blossoms. Packed tight and some extra.
9 lbs sugar
1 yeast cake
3 gal water
3 lbs raisins - seeded
1/2 cup lemon juice.
Pick blossoms from stems and fill qt measure. Pack tight
Put sugar and water over fire. Stir until sugar is dissolved and let come to boil without stirring.
Boil 5 minutes.
Skim and add blossoms, as soon as blossoms are well stirred in take from fire and cool.
When lukewarm add dissolved yeast and lemon juice
Place in earthen jar and let stand 6 days — stirring 3 times a day
On seventh day — strain through cloth and add raisins — seeded
Put in glass jars and seal. Do not bottle until January.
Edith Rice’s letter to her sister, with a recipe for Elderflower Wine, recorded by Liz Donovan.
Sister Emma comes alive, in this recording by Liz Donovan for the Culinary Heirloom Project.
Elizabeth Donovan studied Oral History in the deep south and learned to tell stories in northern New England. She currently lives and works in Boston, MA. Her work has been featured at the Smithsonian Folkways Festival and on NPR.
