The Spirit of Seventy-Six!
In honor of the 250th birthday of the Declaration of Independence, all recipes through August 16, 2026 are from Centennial and Bicentennial cookbooks and the 1796 first American cookbook. Enjoy this look at the (gastronomic) spirit of ’76 as we enjoy the sestercentennial!
I’ve also published a Sestercentennial Cookery with recipes and photos.
The idea of using potato chips to add saltiness and texture to cookies probably wasn’t a difficult one. But if you’d like to be difficult, consider using flavored potato chips. I’ve made this with both jalapeño potato chips and with sour cream and onion potato chips. Both were a hit with me, and the sour cream and onion version was even a hit among my friends. (I never shared the jalapeño version.)
Incidentally, in both cases I used potato chips that were well past their expiration dates. In the case of the jalapeño chips, they were almost exactly one year past their expiration date. Potato chips are probably a good choice for looting after the apocalypse.
Besides being close to National Potato Day (August 19), today is the anniversary of the Battle of Bennington (if you’re seeing this in the first go-round, anyway), and from this point on I’ll be moving back to recipes in general. I hope you’ve enjoyed my seven-and-a-half-month peek into the recipes of 1976, 1876, and 1796!
This is what enjoying life is all about. To be together. Food, family, friends. Wine. — Jacques Pépin (Heart & Soul: Fete Des Boules)