Cooking with an Italian Grandma

 It was so cold today ("32 degrees, but feels like 22") that my Grandmom cooked my Mother and I a warm Italian meal: Peppers and Eggs.Peppers and Eggs is a popular meatless, Italian meal eaten during lent. It was also popular with Italian immigrants in the 1900s. 
 
My Grandma is so hardcore, that she uses cast iron pans for everyday cooking-- that are circa 1950. These pans are not like the cast iron of today. They are lighter with soft worn edges. They used to belong to her sister, who was married when she was 16.  (That's my Grandmother in her kitchen with her co-chef, Sparky.) My Grandmom also doesn't use recipes, so it is very hard for me to get one out of her! (Although, when I was little, if I asked her to cook something too often she would threaten me with "I'll give you the recipe and then you can cook it yourself! But she never did.)

Grandmom's "Recipe" for Peppers and Eggs:

Ingredients:
-Frying Peppers ( Make sure they are the frying variety)
-4 Eggs
-Sandwich Rolls
-Olive Oil
-Salt and Pepper to taste
-Cheese if wanted

Directions: Chop enough peppers to fill the bottom of your pan. Heat up enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Fry the peppers until soft. Whist eggs in a bowl with a little water. Pour into the fried peppers. Stir
until done. Add cheese to the mixture if desired. Remove from pan and put a few spoonfuls onto sliced sandwich rolls.

*Note: When I was taking these pictures my Grandmom implored that I "wait until she got her hair done!"
 

More Precise Recipe
The Soprano Family Cookbook  The recipe is surprisingly in this book.

A recipe from Good Things to Eat by Rufus Estes (1911) pg. 55:

Rufus Estes was born in 1857 as a slave in Tennessee. After the Civil War, he moved in with his grandmother, where he only attended one term of school before getting a job in a restaurant at age 16. He eventually became a cook for a prestigious line of railway cars. He cooked for many prominent figures of his time. He wrote "Good Things to Eat" in 1911, as a collection of personal recipes and advice for kitchen help. It was one of the first cookbooks written by an African American in the United States.   

Never Stop Playing

"We do not stop playing because we get old; we get old because we stop playing." -George Bernard Shaw

Yes, we are all getting older and yes, it is still important to play. When you get older, why is it you suddenly don't have the time to play the board games you used to love as a child? Or have the time to put together a puzzle? Or put on your galoshes and take a walk in the rain? Do we push ourselves so fast in life that we don't have an hour to feed the birds or snuggle on the sofa with a loved one? We should live life to the fullest, and that may mean slowing down. Don't cram your schedule and waste time worrying over your lack of time to do everything.

To quote the movie Tuck Everlasting:  "For some time passes slowly, an hour can seem an eternity. For others there's never enough. For the Tucks, it didn't exist...It seemed to Winnie that the Tucks lived in a way the rest of the world had forgotten. They were never in a hurry and did things the slow way. For the first time Winnie felt free to explore, to ask questions, to play."

Playing will keep us from getting angry when we spill a bowl of whipped cream on the floor and replace our angry feelings with laughter. 

An excerpt of "What Shall We Do Now?" (1900):

*Note: The first etching came from the February edition of Godey's Lady's Book (1861.) I think it is really lovely, not only because the boys will soon be enjoying an old-fashioned day of fun but because you can see the book strap carrying the boy's books (which he so wantonly left in the snow) along with the basket lunch that was prepared for him.
 

Waniyetu Wowapi: Lakota Winter Count

 Tonight we had our first snow. For the Lakota Native American tribe in the Northwestern United States, this would mark a new year, and a picture representing the past year would be painted on a communal calender.

The Lakota had no written language. Waniyetu wowapi or "Winter Counts," were pictoral records used in conjunction with extensive oral histories to create a community record. For the Lakota, one year was from the first snowfall to the next first snowfall after a spring, summer and fall. Each year one event, not necessarily the most important event which occurred, but the one that most people of their society would remember and identify with, was chosen to be painted to represent the year. This picture would represent the entire year and any other events which occurred that year would be identified by the event in the picture.

The Lakota are best known for their participation in the winning of the Battle of Little Big Horn in 1876. 

I think that the first-snow-starts-a-new-year concept is purely magical. It is neat that the new year is unpredictable, it can happen at any time. When it started yesterday, I was knitting with my friends in a cozy atmosphere. What a good way to start off a new year?

I have decided to start my own collection of Winter Counts, in the Lakota tradition. I had hoped to have finished my Winter Count in time for the new year, but I am not done yet. The event I chose is personal and would not represent the best identifiable event to all American people. I concluded that my Winter Counts would only represent my family unit. I have included my unfinished Winter Count and will hopefully finish it soon: it represents the trip to Ireland that Andy and I  took and the new instrument we acquired there. Enjoy the new year!   

The Smithsonian has a lovely online exhibit about Lakota Winter Counts.

What is a Winter Count is a good site that describes Winter Counts much better than I do.

Native American Radio This site offers a station filled with Native American musicans and music (traditional and modern.) It is worth a listen if you like Native American music.


*Note: Turning Bear's death (by train) is being added to a Winter Count in the first picture. The second picture is of Rain-In-The-Face, a Lakota warrior who participated in the Battle at Little Big Horn. Sorry my drawing is blurry, I had to photograph it.

Braum Brose: Medieval Vegetable Broth from Ireland

In Ireland, Andy and I went to a Medieval style banquet at a real castle. It was the first castle I had ever seen or been in. Ascending the cold stone spiral staircase was fun but inviting. Everyone was cheerful and there were costumed ladies pressing mead into the hands of the unsuspecting visitors at the top. I naively didn't know what it was and, when told, handed it back instantaneously. The next room had real Medieval tapestries, furniture from Medieval times and costumed performers playing the harp and the fiddle and proposing toasts to the king.

Dinner was held in a banquet room, down the stairs. There were many long heavy wooden tables and benches for us as well as glazed clay plates, bowls and cups. There was no silverware.

In Medieval times, small knives were frequently brought to banquets by the diners to do the work that both the knife and the fork do today, anything eaten with a metal spoon today was drank straight out of a cup or bowl or less commonly, eaten with a wooden or horn spoon. Two-pronged forks were used for cooking but forks for diners did not come into popularity in  Western Europe until the 14th century, starting in Italy.     

At our banquet, vegetable broth (Braum Brose,) chicken, potatoes, honey-glazed ribs and a dessert that couples had to feed to each other was served. The whole experience was not as hokey as we thought it would be. When we saw it on the itinerary, we imagined a "Dixie Stampede" style dinner with bad food and entertainment, geared toward little kids. However, It was a lovely atmosphere with good performers and relatively good food. We especially loved the Braum Brose, which was not quite like any broth we had ever had before. Andy asked the waiter what it was and we searched frantically for a recipe for it when we got home but nothing came up for it. We did a lot of research and ended up recreating it exactly, we were most pleased! Even though we have the food, we would recommend seeing the performance, it was very worthwhile, just disregard the zippers on the performers outfits and you will have a delightful night!

Our Recipe for Medieval, Irish, Braum Brose:

 Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons Butter
2 Parsnips (peeled and diced)
1 Onion (peeled and diced)
1 Potato  (peeled and diced)
1 Clove Garlic (crushed or minced)
1 teaspoon Curry Powder (add more to taste)
1/2 teaspoon Ground Cumin
1-2 sprigs of Parsley (chopped fine) 
4 cups of hot vegetable broth (cans or cubes)
1/4 cup of Light Cream
2 or 3 dashes of White Pepper

Instructions:
Peel and dice the parsnips, potato and onion. Melt the butter in a large pot, add the parsnips, potato and onion. Cook covered over a low heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft. Add the garlic, parsley, curry and cumin and cook for a few minutes. Pour in the hot vegetable stock and simmer until the vegetables are tender. Puree mixture in a blender until smooth, and return to pot and add the pepper and the cream. Do not allow the soup to boil after the cream is added. Serve and Enjoy!

Recipes for Honey-Glazed Ribs similar to those served at the banquet:
Pork Ribs with Honey
Restaurant Recipes: Pork Ribs

Other Medieval Recipes and Cooking Resources:
Medieval Recipes
Medieval Cookery
Medieval and Renaissance Food
Medieval Cooking Recipes ( A good collection that covers food from all over the world.)









 *Note: Andy took the lovely photo, second from the top. He is also in the picture on the right, enjoying the soup.

Tin Whistles, Penny Whistles, Irish Whistles and Fifes

           I have always loved the sounds of flutes and whistles. I learned to play the flute in Middle school and was so bad, I was asked to leave the band. I have to say, I don't like modern flutes as much I love tin whistles, Irish flutes and fifes. They have such an old-fashioned, simple, and romantic sound. The tin whistle is rather easy to learn. The fife and Irish flute take a little more practice of breath control but they both have the same finger positions as the tin whistle.  Fifes started to be used for military moral-lifting and for military commands in the 1600s and were highly utilized by Napoleon.  Tin whistles (also known as penny whistles, flageolets, and Irish whistles,) have been used at least since the 1500s. They were historically used by vagabonds and urchins in street performances but were not made of tin until 1843. By the 1860s whistles were popular children's toys and an adult amusement popular in Irish music.  

For those who wish to learn, I have charted out the finger positions and some simple songs to start out with. A lot of people have fifes and tin whistles but have never learned to play.

Some good resources to learn online are: 
Whistle Away

Whistle This (A really good site for hearing different renditions and playing styles that does not get updated anymore.)
Tin Whistle This site has videos on how to play.

Resources for Historical songs:
O' Neill's Music of Ireland This site is good because it has the sheet music as well as MIDI files to listen to.

 Old Fort Snelling Instruction Book for Fife With Music of Early America by Donald Mattson and Louis Walz
in whistles, but have never learned to play.

The songs I have diagramed are simple and recognizable tunes that everyone can learn easily. All of them were written before 1870:

Mary Had a Little Lamb is probably one of the most recognizable songs in American history. It was said to have been written by Sarah Josepha Hale (of Godey's Lady's Book) as a poem and later put to music. It was based a true story about Mary Sawyer who took her Lamb to school and the havoc that ensued. It was so widespread that Thomas Edison used the first stanza of Mrs. Hale's poem to test his invention, the phonograph, in 1877.  

Yankee Doodle  is said to originally have been written by British officers to mock the Colonial commanders that they served with during the French and Indian War. The Macaroni mentioned in the song refers to the prestigious Macaroni "Club" in England which consisted of educated, over-fashionably dressed lads with enormous hairstyles who were known for their drinking and gambling. In the song, the British made the remark that the Colonists were so low class that they thought someone who had a feather in their hat was of this elite high society.       

The Rising of the Moon, was written in 1866 to the tune The Wearing of the Green (1798.) The Wearing of the Green described the uprising  in 1798 in County Kildare in Ireland.Green was the color of the Society of United Ireland who wished to end British rule in Ireland. Rebels wore green shamrocks in their hats to proclaim their dissatisfaction with British rule.