Colonial Christmas Cooking

by Patricia B. Mitchell

Colonial Christmas Cooking will assist those wishing to plan a Yule-themed dinner, as well as anyone interested in learning about historic foodways. Descriptions of different styles of celebrating the birth of Christ are presented - from the Moravians' devout joyousness to the Anglican's bubbly merriment. (And then there was the Puritan non-participation in the celebration....) Recipes for "Wassail," "Joy Tea Cakes," "Jamestown Sweet Potato Pudding," etc., will definitely put one in the holiday mood.Published 1991, revised from the original 1990 edition. Contains 52 authentic, interpreted (redacted), and commemorative recipes; 95 research notes; and 127 numbered pages including index. This and other books by Patricia B. Mitchell were first written for museums and their patrons. Each of her books summarizes a food history topic, using quotations and anecdotes to both entertain and inform. She carefully lists her references to make it easy for others to launch their own research. Since the 1980s Patricia Mitchell's work is a proven staple of American museum culture. Her readers love to share her ever-present sense of discovery. Her sales are approaching a million copies, and she is widely known by her web identity FoodHistory.com.

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Patricia Mitchell began foodwriting as a contributor to The Community Standard magazine in the French Quarter of New Orleans in the early 1970's. After she and her husband Henry returned to their hometown of Chatham, Virginia, in 1975, Patricia put her writing on the “back burner” while restoring an old home (the Sims-Mitchell House, which the Mitchells operated as a bed and breakfast for over twenty years) and starting a family (now her collaborators Sarah, David, and Jonathan). In 1986, requests from B&B guests helped motivate Patricia to compile some of her recipes into book form. In a providential turn of events, a visiting museum director asked to purchase some of the little books for resale in his museum's shop. Soon a re-order came, with suggestions for an even greater emphasis on food history.

Through the years, the resulting Inkling Series has included over a hundred titles, selling over three-quarters of a million copies at museums, historic sites, bookstores, and shops in 49 states and internationally.

Poring through diaries, letters, microfilmed records, and mountains of old books, Patricia spends endless enjoyable hours in her search for clues to Americans' eating habits and cooking techniques of years gone by.

Reviews

[Michael C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wide margins, and a large typeface: This book could have been less than half this length with a better layout, but then the publishers would have to charge less for each copy. The book is inconsistent as to how much focus is given to any given recipe or subject. Some dishes are given stories and history behind them, some are given recipes, and others are only given the briefest of descriptions. The connection between the dishes and Christmas aren't always given. It's definitely an interesting subject, but the book needs to expand the details of the context and recipes of the dishes.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting little book but nothing that I would truly call Christmas recipes. The recipes in there were ones that would be seen in basic recipe books from the era.