“Railroad Cake”, an Historic Recipe from Haile Homestead, and Sarah Rutledge Takes a Back Seat

Esther Serena Chesnut Haile, born in Camden, South Carolina in 1827, migrated to the Florida frontier with her husband Thomas Haile in 1854. As was the case with many women in those days, Serena bore many children over her reproductive years, 15 to be exact. I suspected that perhaps Serena might have carried a copy … More “Railroad Cake”, an Historic Recipe from Haile Homestead, and Sarah Rutledge Takes a Back Seat

Keep on Feasting! For Lovers of “Game of Thrones”

Fans of the popular TV series “Game of Thrones” must be feeling bereft. And why shouldn’t they? The curtain finally fell on the last episode of that long-running megahit. Unless they love reruns, that’s it for those fans. I, on the other hand, have barely made it through the first episode so far, “Winter is … More Keep on Feasting! For Lovers of “Game of Thrones”

“A Hastiness of Cooks”: A How-to Handbook for Lovers of Historic Cooking and Cookbooks

You’re probably wondering what “A Hastiness of Cooks” means. Read the following definition and you’ll see why the phrase inspired me in writing my new book, “A Hastiness of Cooks“: A word game, popular in the great households of late medieval England, had at its heart the creation of collective nouns. In the lists of … More “A Hastiness of Cooks”: A How-to Handbook for Lovers of Historic Cooking and Cookbooks