Tag Archives: Food

Watermelon, baked beans and picnics… oh my!

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When I found out that this article would be posted near July 4, I knew I wanted to talk about holidays! So, then began my research into what holidays are in July. The most known American holiday in July, of course, is the Fourth of July! The Fourth of July, also known as Independence Day or July Fourth, became a federal holiday in 1941. Celebrating the Fourth of July dates back to July 2, 1776, when the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence. Two days later, delegates for the 13 colonies adopted the Declaration of Independence, a historic document drafted by Thomas Jefferson. From 1776 to the present day, July 4 has been celebrated as the birth of American independence, with celebrations like parades, cookouts, picnics and fireworks!

Did you know that there are hundreds of daily, weekly and monthly holidays in July? I sure didn’t! The unique national month-long holidays in July that caught my eye are National Baked Beans Month, National Blueberry Month, National Hot Dog Month, National Ice Cream Month, National Picnic Month and National Watermelon Month! When I think about the Fourth of July, all of these things come to mind, but I’m going to talk a little about the history of picnics.

The English word for picnic comes from the French word “pique-nique.” The French word originally referred to a meal where everyone paid for or contributed a share of the food, but it later came to mean a meal eaten outdoors. In England and France picnics became popular in the 18th century among the upper class, but they were held indoors. It was closer to the 19th century when picnics were taken up by the emerging middle class and moved outdoors. The outdoor picnic then made its way to the United States. It wasn’t until the early 20th century that outdoor picnics prevailed over indoor. During that time picnic baskets started being produced for the mass market.

Will you be celebrating the Fourth of July at a picnic eating hot dogs, baked beans and watermelon? I’ll be at my family cookout with this blueberry cake and vanilla ice cream! Happy Fourth of July!

The following recipes are from “Celebrating Indiana Hospitality Picnics, Potlucks & Prizewinners with 4-H Families and Friends” (ISLI 641.5 P597P).

Easy Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream (yield six servings)
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
4 cups half and half
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions: Combine the condensed milk, half and half and vanilla in the ice cream freezer container and mix well. Freeze according to manufacturer’s instruction.

Berry Batter Cake (yields six servings)
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries or blackberries, raspberries, or strawberries
¼ cup lemon juice
1 ¾ cups sugar, divided
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon nutmeg (optional)
½ cup milk
¼ teaspoon almond extract
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8 or 9-inch square or 7×11 inch baking dish. Arrange the berries over the bottom of the dish. Drizzle with lemon juice. Combine ¾ cup of the sugar, flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg in a large bowl and mix well. Add the milk, almond extract and vanilla, stirring just until blended. Spread evenly over the berries.

Combine the remaining one cup sugar and cornstarch and mix well. Sprinkle over the batter. Pour boiling water over the top. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden and bubbly. Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

This blog post was submitted by Lacey Klemm, Northwest regional coordinator in the Professional Development Office of the Indiana State Library.

Resources
“July 2024 Official, Fun, Crazy and Bizarre Holidays” (brownielocks.com)
“Fourth of July – Origins, Early Celebrations & Traditions” | HISTORY\
“Celebrating Indiana Hospitality Picnics, Potlucks & Prizewinners with 4-H Families and Friends” (ISLI 641.5 P597P)
“The Picnic Book; 100 Outdoor Recipes” by Marian Tracy (ISLM 641.5 T762P)
“The Picnic: a History” by Walter Levy (ISLM GT2955 .L48 2014)

Using food as a cultural touchstone in genealogy

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I have a cookbook that was my grandmother’s. The cookbook, “Food for Two,” was acquired during her engagement to my grandfather. I also have handwritten recipes from another grandmother. These items are among my most treasured family heirlooms.

I have memories of my grandmothers making gingerbread cake, johnny cakes in the pan – fried in lard, beef and homemade noodles. Saturday evenings I watched my great grandmother make communion bread for Sunday’s service.

Though my life is surrounded by living memories of sharing food and life with family, I have also wondered what my ancestors’ lives were like. What their occupations were, what their environments – the places they lived – looked like, what music they listened to and I wondered what did my ancestors eat? All the things that make a life full.

My family has no sheen of the gentry on it and some of them lived in London. My ancestors who lived in London lived near the river Thames, and the river provides. And what does it provide? Eels. Eels from the Thames river. Cooked eels, eel pies and jellied eels.

Like many Midwesterners, I have plenty of Irish heritage, too. I have wondered: What did the Irish eat?

Even though corned beef is often associated with our Irish ancestors, it was not beef they were eating – that was for the wealthy British landowners. Potatoes – also often associated with our Irish ancestors – were brought in to feed the poor, Irish tenant farmers. Of course, when the cheap food source of potatoes failed in Ireland; many Irish migrated to America.

But when families have plenty of food, they use food to show love, celebrate, tell stories and heal.

Recently, foodways were used to bring healing to the native peoples in Minneapolis during the COVID pandemic.

Family foodways can turn into family businesses and then influence and change the surrounding culture as the Chili Queens of San Antonio did.

Food can be about survival, too. Michael W. Twitty explored his family’s experience of slavery through food.

Sometimes the recipes and the food are a clue in family history, as it was for Cuban-American, Genie Milgrom.

What will your family foodways tell you about your family history?

Books about foodways in the Indiana State Library’s collection to explore:
“Dellinger family : American history and cookbook,” ISLG 929.2 D357M
“Keaton Mills family cemetery, Egeria: an era: family stories and cookbook,” ISLG 929.2 M657MA
“Weesner family favorites: a recollection of old and new recipes,” ISLG 929.2 W3983R
“The cooking gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South Twitty,” Michael W., available as an e-book
“Historical Indiana cookbook,” ISLI 641.5 K72H
“Farm fixin’s: food, fare & folklore from the pioneer village,” ISLI 641.5 F233
“Aspic and old lace: ten decades of cooking, fashion, and social history,” ISLI 641.5 B295
“Pennsylvania Dutch cookbook of fine old recipes: compiled from tried and tested recipes made famous and handed down by the early Dutch settlers in Pennsylvania,” ISLM TX721 .P46 1971
“Quaker cooking and quotes,” ISLI 641.5 B655q
“Cooking from quilt country: hearty recipes from Amish and Mennonite kitchens,” ISLI 641.5 A215C
“The Catholic cookbook; traditional feast and fast day recipes,” ISLM 641.5 K21C
“Consuming passions being an historic inquiry into certain English appetites,” ISLM TX645 .P84 1971
“Rappite cookbook,” ISLO 641.5 no. 29

Online Sources about foodways to explore:
Jellied Eels
What the Irish Ate Before Potatoes
Is Corned Beef Really Irish?
Medieval Cookery
The Sifter A Tool For Food History Research
Historic Cookbooks on line
Generations of Handwritten Mexican Cookbooks Are Now Online
Mexican Cookbook Collection
Recetas: Cooking in the Time of Coronavirus

This blog post is by Angi Porter, Genealogy Division librarian.

Kitchens, Cookery, and a Touch of Scandal

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You might not know it but the General Collection at the Indiana State Library has an incredible collection of books on food and cooking, or cookery in cataloging terms. There are books with recipes from different ethnic groups and geographic areas including Himalayan Mountain Cookery, The Art of Caribbean Cookery, and Rattlesnake Under Glass: a Roundup of Authentic Western Recipes, which contains this actual recipe for rattlesnake, yum!
Fried Rattlesnake
If you are looking for healthy options, we have items such as the 1960 The Low Sodium, Fat-Controlled Cookbook, the 1979 Low Blood Sugar Cookbook, and the 1961 Cooking for Your Heart and Health. The United States Air Force Nutritional Medicine Service put out a book in 1987 called the Fat Controlled, Cholesterol Restricted, Calorie Restricted, Sodium Restricted Diet. I haven’t tried the recipes in this book, but from the title, I think I’d rather have the rattlesnake.

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