Tag Archives: recipes

Newspapers, Food & Family: Just like Nonna, Nana & Grandma Used to Make!

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Introduction: Scott Phillips is a genealogical historian and owner of Onward To Our Past® genealogy services. In this guest blog post, Scott writes about how old newspapers helped to connect two of his favorite passions: food and family.

As a genealogical historian, I have always enjoyed the intersections of food and family! To begin with, meals frequently offer wonderful opportunities for sharing time together. It makes little difference if it is Thanksgiving (my personal favorite), Shabbot, Christmas, Rosh Hashanah, or simply Tuesday night. This is one of the main reasons I added a set of pages for food and recipes on my website at Onward To Our Past® and why my bookshelf (which you can see at LibraryThing.com) contains such titles as The Food of A Younger Land by Mark Kurlansky, The Best of Czech Cooking by Peter Trnka, and A Taste of Croatia by Karen Evenden.

In my own family tree I happen to have three very long, strong, and prominent branches. One is from Cornwall in the United Kingdom, one is from Bohemia (now Czech Republic), and my wife’s family branch which is from the Molise district of Italy. I love foods from all three family lines, but I am particularly partial to Cornish pasty, Bohemian kolache and Italian gnocchi.

photo of Scott Phillips and family members enjoying a “pasty party” over the holidays

Scott Phillips and family members enjoy a “pasty party” over the holidays. Photo from the author’s collection.

During the recent holidays my daughter, who has become quite a chef, asked me about my family food favorites. Just for fun, she and I grabbed the iPad and dug into GenealogyBank.com to have a look at what we might find in the way of interesting additions to these food favorites of mine. We were pleasantly surprised!

We started, since she tends to bend towards the Italian family branch, with gnocchi, a marvelous Italian potato dumpling. We put the term in the search box and in an instant we were reading hundreds of articles and recipes for this unique food.

One of the stories we liked best came from the Idaho Statesman.

How to Cut Down Your Food Bill and Still Live Well, Idaho Statesman newspaper article 22 September 1918

Idaho Statesman (Boise, Idaho), 22 September 1918, second section, page 9

We both enjoyed this story as it gave a very nice gnocchi recipe with the bonus of a delicious, easy accompanying sauce. However, we got a good chuckle out of the estimate that the meal described would only cost us “fifty cents.” Oh, and we decided to skip the step later in the article advising us to place some of our food on an “asbestos pad.”

My grandson must have heard us laughing and joined us. When we explained what we were doing, coupled with the fact that he is a bit of a dessert-hound, he immediately said “let’s look for kolache, Grandpa.” So we were off again. This time we were in search of kolache, a simple but delicious Bohemian dessert pastry. We began to scroll through some of the almost 2,000 articles that search term returned while I regaled my grandson and daughter with stories of my Czech Nana’s kolache.

The very first article we found was from my hometown newspaper, the Plain Dealer.

kolache recipe, Plain Dealer newspaper article 15 March 1951

Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio), 16 March 1951, page 16

This article was titled “Fancy Breads and Rolls Are Enjoyed by Family at Easter.” That sounded right to me as my Nana Vicha only made kolache for special events. Then something really caught my eye. Two of the fillings that were suggested were apricot and prune. These were the only two fillings my grandmother ever made. No one could quite understand how excited I was, but I was madly writing down every step of these recipes and calculating when I could get enough kitchen time to try them out!

By this time our group had grown to a family crowd of nine. Multiple ideas and suggestions were offered and requested. My son’s plea caught my ear when I heard him say “how about pasty, Dad?” Now we were off to see what we could find about this fine Cornish meal-in-a-crust!

My grandson was duly impressed when I came across, and read, an account found in the Stoughton Sentinel all the way back in 1876.

The Cornish Pasty, Stoughton Sentinel newspaper article 22 April 1876

Stoughton Sentinel (Stoughton, Massachusetts), 22 April 1876, page 1

This article is a fine backgrounder on the Cornish pasty—or, as it informed us, the “Cornish fiddle”—plus it offered such varieties as mackerel pasty and squab pasty. While it provided a general recipe, we needed something a bit more detailed for our use so we continued to look—since we all agreed we’d skip the squab.

It wasn’t long before I found this article from the Oregonian.

100-Year-Old Cornish Pasty, Oregonian newspaper article 2 April 1939

Oregonian (Portland, Oregon), 2 April 1939, page 74

This article, “100-Year-Old Cornish Pasty,” offered a recipe handed down for over 100 years (not actually about a pasty that was 100 years old—much to the dismay of my grandson!) This was great, but I soon realized that unless I had time for an extra run to the grocery store and a day in the kitchen, we would be pasty-less. Or would we?

I led my “gang” into the kitchen, pulled open the freezer drawer and showed everyone eight beautiful pasties ready for the oven (courtesy of the really awesome Lawry’s Pasty Shop in Marquette, Michigan). Although this bakery is all the way in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the good news is that they are willing to ship nationwide. I heated up the oven, and in a wee bit over an hour there we all were, having a “right proper” pasty party!

As I was putting my grandson to bed that night he drowsily said to me “Gee, Grandpa, who would have thought old newspapers could taste so good?”

I just smiled and agreed!

Newspaper Recipe Contests: Was Your Ancestor a Contest Winner?

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Introduction: Gena Philibert-Ortega is a genealogist and author of the book “From the Family Kitchen.” In this guest blog post, Gena shows how recipe contests that ran in local newspapers can turn out to be a surprisingly good source of genealogy information about your female ancestors.

Have you ever won a contest sponsored by your local newspaper? Newspapers run all kinds of promotions aimed at encouraging new readership and subscribers. Contests commonly run by newspapers include photo contests, recipe contests, writing contests and coloring contests. By participating in these newspaper contests you can win tickets to an event, have your artwork featured in a special edition, or even win a cash award. The added bonus of winning a newspaper contest is that your name and perhaps even your picture will appear in the newspaper.

Newspaper contests can include all generations. Many years ago my oldest son was one of the “winners” in a newspaper coloring contest. All of the winners had their picture taken with their award-winning entry, and these photographs were published in the local paper. Since that time I’ve had other adults tell me about winning coloring contests sponsored by their local newspapers when they were children.

Are you looking for genealogy records about female family members? A newspaper recipe contest may be the one place your ancestor had her name published—and possibly her picture.

In some cases the winning recipes would have been featured in additional publications after their initial run in the newspaper. Some newspapers even went on to publish a cookbook featuring the recipes submitted from their contest winners.

The Daily News Cookbook, 1896, title page

The Daily News Cookbook, 1896, title page. From Google Books.

The Daily News Cook Book (1896) is a cookbook of menus originally contributed to the Chicago Record newspaper’s daily contest for “menu for a day.” Many of the menus end with the name and street address of the woman submitting it. The recipes in this cookbook were contributed not only by women from the Chicago area, but also from other parts of the United States—as shown in the following example, a contribution from a Mrs. Tebbetts in San Diego, California.

The Daily News Cookbook, 1896, page 12

The Daily News Cookbook, 1896, page 12. From Google Books.

The Los Angeles Times was another newspaper that conducted recipe contests and then published cookbooks based on entrees. According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, A. L. Wyman was one of their food writers and tested over 7,000 entrees for their 1923 recipe contest. Entrees, both the winning and the losing, were then compiled into the Los Angeles Times Prize Cook Book.*

The great thing about recipe contests was that even women who lived out of town, and for that matter out of state, may have been featured. This is a good reminder that while it is important to search for your ancestor and their place of residence in a database, sometimes a search on a name alone without a location may yield unanticipated results—your ancestor’s name may pop up in a source far from home.

This 1922 newspaper article points out that the week’s recipe winners included those from other Louisiana cities in addition to New Orleans. The two winners from New Orleans, one winning for her deviled kidney dish and the other for her Bordelaise sauce, had their names and street addresses published.

Recipe Contest Honors Divided by Housewives, Times-Picayune newspaper article 23 December 1922

Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana), 23 December 1922, page 19

While newspapers held their own recipe competitions, they also reported on other recipe contests. This 1928 newspaper article reports on a contest held by the food company Libby, and says that winning recipes would be published in future advertisements for that company. The winner’s names and addresses are provided—key clues to help you trace your family history.

Local Women Win in Recipe Contest, Riverside Daily Press newspaper article 19 October 1928

Riverside Daily Press (Riverside, California), 19 October 1928, page 7

All kinds of food companies sponsored recipe contests. Consider this one from Sapphire Sardine Company, offering cash prizes for recipes that featured sardines as the principal ingredient.

$50 Prize Recipe Contest!, Evening Tribune newspaper article 12 April 1923

Evening Tribune (San Diego, California), 12 April 1923, page 8

While newspapers documented the times and events in our ancestors’ lives, they also served a social function. As you research female ancestors, consider the activities they may have pursued in looking for mentions of their name. Are recipe contests a source of genealogy? Yes, they place your ancestor in a specific place in time. Like more traditional genealogical sources they are a names list that can be used to pursue other leads.

*“The Wyman Test,” by Leilah Bernsteon, July 5, 2000 available online http://articles.latimes.com/2000/jul/05/food/fo-47809

On Thanksgiving Day, Tom Turkey Is a Member of Everyone’s Family

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Introduction: Scott Phillips is a genealogical historian and owner of Onward To Our Past® genealogy services. In this guest blog post, Scott begins his Thanksgiving celebration early by searching on “Tom Turkey” and looking through some of the more than 12,000 historical newspaper articles his search returned.

Happy Thanksgiving 2012! I will freely and readily admit that Thanksgiving is my all-time favorite holiday. I particularly love that it is noncommercial and focused on family, thanks, and food. What an awesome combination, especially for us genealogy and family history fans.

I was looking up a family member just the other day when thoughts of my upcoming Thanksgiving Day menu crept into my head. Since we have 20 family members coming from across the U.S. to share the holiday with us, I have been thinking a lot about Thanksgiving lately. Because I cook our turkeys outdoors on our barbeque grills, the name of “Tom Turkey” popped into my mind. Struck by this inspiration, I decided to do a search for this temporary family member in GenealogyBank’s online historical newspaper archives. Wow: I was treated to over 12,000 hits, and in I dove!

The first article I opened offered advice that farmers should “Keep One Tom Turkey for Every Six Hens.” Now, even my love of Thanksgiving isn’t going to lead me to open a turkey farm in my backyard, so while I’ll keep that advice in mind, I also decided to keep on reading.

Keep One Tom Turkey for Every Six Hens, Jackson Citizen Patriot newspaper article 1 February 1922

Jackson Citizen Patriot (Jackson, Michigan), 1 February 1922, page 7

Next I came across something quite useful, an article entitled “Return Engagements for Mr. Tom Turkey.” Naturally it was a delicious-looking set of recipes and ideas for leftover turkey, and I copied them down and am going to try one of them out this year. That is, if there actually are any leftovers on Friday after our Thanksgiving feast!

Return Engagements for Mr. Tom Turkey, Dallas Morning News newspaper article 29 November 1953

Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas), 29 November 1953, page 6

Then I discovered a very enjoyable old newspaper article entitled “Thanksgiving Advice.” It suggested that I should look for a “young Tom Turkey,” that I should skip the “5 cents a pound” premium price for a “Little Rhody turkey” from Rhode Island, and instead go for birds from Vermont or maybe Michigan. Plus the article told me that I need to look for “small red pumpkins” for the best pumpkin pie for our Thanksgiving dessert.

Thanksgiving Advice, Times-Picayune newspaper article 25 November 1906

Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana), 25 November 1906, page 6

Soon my heart softened as I read a wonderful story entitled “Tom Powers and the Turkey.” I encourage you to read it—it’s a truly delightful story about the spirit of Thanksgiving. I still smile as I think back on it.

Tom Powers and the Turkey, Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper article 22 November 1891

Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 22 November 1891, page 14

I could have gone on and on, but I have some tough decisions to make about whether or not to add the gizzards into the turkey stuffing. Plus I have to decide where best to place the tape recorder so that I can capture our Thanksgiving blessings around the table for future generations.
Happy Thanksgiving 2012 to everyone and have a delightful day with Tom Turkey in your family!

The World Was Your Ancestor’s Oyster: Food in Family History

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Introduction: Gena Philibert-Ortega is a genealogist and author of the book “From the Family Kitchen.” In this guest blog post, Gena explores one of her many interests: the connection of food and cooking to family history, revealing how much oysters were part of our ancestors’ diets.

What did your ancestors eat? Is this something you ever ponder? As family historians, the actual everyday activities of our ancestors can help to bring the dates and places we research to life.

In some cases the food our ancestors ate is quite different from what we are accustomed to today. With the lack of refrigeration and transportation, it’s no surprise that there were regional differences in cuisine. Considering the limited ability to transport and preserve ingredients, the variety of what was available to harvest locally, and the food preferences of local ethnic/immigrant populations, it is not surprising that the food that was served in various areas could be extremely different. A specialty enjoyed by those living in one region of the United States was all but unknown in another. While to some extent this is still true of modern cuisine today, as you can travel to different regions of the United States and taste local favorites not served where you live, these food differences are not as dramatic as they were 100 years ago.

So what were some food commonalities? Well there were many American foods that were feasted upon across the regions. One such food that was enjoyed by almost all Americans in the nineteenth century was oysters. Today oysters, depending on where you live, are usually a delicacy because of the price they command. It would also not be unusual to find people who have never even tried an oyster, raw or cooked.  In the nineteenth century oysters were everyday food items that were inexpensive and plentiful. They were the food of the common person.

Newspaper advertisements hint at the massive amounts of oysters available to our ancestors. Consider this 1874 newspaper advertisement from the Oregonian which lists several places to eat and obtain oysters.

Old Vintage Advertisement for Oysters - Oregonian Newspaper 1874

Oregonian (Portland, Oregon), 16 October 1874, page 5.

Street vendors, oyster houses, saloons, restaurants and home cooks prepared oysters in various, often creative ways. Oysters were served in every way imaginable including ways we are familiar with today like raw and fried. Interesting ways to serve oysters could be found in the era’s cookbooks including pickled oysters, oyster ketchup and one recipe that called for oysters to be served with shortcake.[i]

Consider this newspaper article which provides 11 ways to cook oysters that “if adhered to will bring cheer to the family board.” Note that this article was printed in a Kentucky newspaper—not exactly known today for its seafood. Yet this historical 1913 article tells “how best to serve the succulent bivalve [oysters], perhaps the most universally popular dish of the American table.”

How To Cook Oysters Old Recipe - Lexington Herald Newspaper 1913

Lexington Herald (Lexington, Kentucky), 19 October 1913, section 4, page 3.

There were also “mock oyster” recipes for those who were unable to obtain oysters. These oyster recipes substituted different ingredients for oysters including corn, mashed potatoes, tomatoes, and eggplant. Women could cook dishes such as “Mock Oyster Soup,” “Mock Oyster Sauce,” “Mock Oyster Stew” and just plain “Mock Oysters.” While the appearance of a “mock” recipe in a cookbook might connote that the item was difficult to obtain or expensive, this was not necessarily so in the case of the oyster.

As oyster beds became contaminated and overfished in the early 1900s, oysters began to cease being eaten as an everyday food and became more of a delicacy. No longer was the oyster part of America’s everyday diet.

To learn more about America’s love affair with oysters see the history The Big Oyster. History on the Half Shell by Mark Kurlansky.

[i] Stavely, Keith W. F., and Kathleen‎ Fitzgerald‎. America’s Founding Food. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press, 2004, pg. 108. Viewed on Google Books 1 July 2012.

Julia Child (1912-2004)

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This week the nation is remembering Julia Child – how much she contributed to our lives and how much fun she was to be with – via her books, newspaper columns, TV Show – The French Chef and interviews.

Julia Child was born Julia Carolyn McWilliams – this week – August 15, 1912 in Pasadena, California and died this week – August 13, 2004 in Montecido, California. She married Paul Cushing Child over a long Labor Day weekend – 1 September 1946. She had met Paul Child while stationed in Sri Lanka with the OSS during World War II. The OSS is now known as the CIA. For her life’s work she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in 2003. She was 92 years old.

She is celebrated in Meryl Streep’s new movie – Julie & Julia


and she is in GenealogyBank too – from her numerous recipes; articles about her books & TV series; numerous obituries published in newspapers across the country and her death record in the SSDI.

Cook like Julia Child

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Happy National Doughnut Day!

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My days of eating doughnuts are long gone – but it was 70 years ago that the first Friday in June was designated National Doughnut Day!

Captain Hanson Gregory (1831-) of Camden, Maine gets the credit for inventing the modern doughnut – or at least the hole.
He was a ship’s cook at age 16 in 1847 – when he experimented with ideas to solve the problem of the uncooked centers of doughnuts.

It was verified :) in a Wrigley chewing gum cartoon strip “Fun Facts” illustrated here (see above) from the Dallas Morning News Feb 7, 1971. and it was often repeated in news accounts like this humorous one that appeared in the Kansas City Times Jan 11, 1920.

You can search GenealogyBank for millions of articles from over 3,500 newspapers – find over 1 billion of your ancestors and discover the details of their lives…
…even the old recipes for making doughnuts.

Sign up now and ask your friends to join with us in bringing more records online – It’s only $9.95 – click here.

Anna Barrows, Boston YWCA Lecturer on Cookery, wrote a terrific article giving multiple recipes for doughnuts. I have inserted this article from the Philadelphia Inquirer Feb 18, 1894. Click Here to see a larger version.
Let’s celebrate the day and use the old recipes to prepare some homemade doughnuts.
Click Here to see a larger version.
Happy National Doughnut Day!