The Spirit of Seventy-Six!

In honor of the 250th birthday of the Declaration of Independence in the United States, all recipes through July 4, 2026 will be from bicentennial community cookbooks. Enjoy this look at the (gastronomic) spirit of ’76 as we head into the sestercentennial! I’ve also published the Sestercentennial Cookery with food from 1976, 1876, and the first American cookbook in 1796.

Carrot Pudding: Carrot Pudding, from Amelia Simmons’s 1796 American Cookery.; carrots; pudding; eighteenth century; 1700s

You can make rosewater by just steeping rose petals in steaming water until the water cools, straining, and storing in the freezer until needed. I recommend trying it at least once to see if you enjoy it. It was very common in the era, and until vanilla became widely available.

Drop in again soon for another vintage recipe! I’ll have a different recipe every Sunday afternoon throughout the year. Keep an eye on this page or subscribe to the RSS feed for further details. You can also browse past featured Club recipes as well as some of the vintage promotional cookbooks I’ve used as sources. And I collect many of these recipes in A Traveling Man’s Cookery Book.

Recipe blogging:

Originals:

Inspirations:

Archives:

Happiness is macaroni. — Eddie Doucette (Macaroni Menu Magic)