Melody's Pecan Pie

Enjoying a classic Civil Rights era treat!

Pecan pies have always been something of a mystery to me, as they're completely not my family's tradition when it comes to baked goods. Admittedly, maybe that shouldn't come as a shock: they are, after all, pretty iconically a southern food, and my family has lived in different parts of New England since they immigrated here. 

But because pecan pie is such a staple of southern comfort food, it shouldn't come as a surprise that it would have been a popular treat among Civil Rights leaders and activists. Soul food was an important part of the movement, as African Americans encouraged members of their community to embrace and celebrate their heritage by cooking things like collared greens. Martin Luther King Jr.'s favorite dessert was reportedly pecan pie, and so it seemed like a perfect choice for our Melody recipe this February. Read on to find out how to make a historic version of the pie in your own kitchen!

Melody's Tomato Watermelon Salad

A tasty dish with some difficult history.

Today we're featuring a recipe that involves some pretty dark moments in American history. This watermelon tomato salad from the Sweet Home Cafe Cookbook published by the National Museum of African American History and Culture is a very interesting, refreshing side dish to any summer get together, but features an ingredient that has a pretty complicated and often upsetting history in the Black community. Its reputation as such is the fault of white supremacists looking to put down Black entrepreneurs in the wake of the Civil War. They took a symbol of Black freedom and entrepreneurship and turned it into an icon of Jim Crow America. 

I'm speaking, of course, about the watermelon.

Melody's Arnold Palmer

The best way to relax and cool down after a long day outdoors!

Okay, this recipe might be cheating a little bit. I mean, it's really simple, is it really worth a whole blog post? 

My answer is yes, because I love Arnold Palmers. Is there anything more refreshing than something that's a little sweet, a little caffeinated, and a little tart? No. No, there isn't. 

Besides that, they do have some interesting trivia behind them, and they're very iconically 1960's. After a long day working on improving her community park or her own garden, Melody could kick back and enjoy this mocktail with her friends and family. Maybe she even would have made it herself!

Melody's Luau Lulu

A super unusual sandwich from 1960!

This last post in my Hawaii inspired series is one of the most unusual sandwiches I've ever eaten. I know the ingredients are probably going to be a bit of a hard sell to some readers - even I was pretty dubious about how it would actually taste! - but trust me, this treat from 1960 is definitely not to be missed. 

But I can't take credit for discovering this unicorn of a sandwich. I was first introduced to it by reading The Mid-Century Menu, one of my favorite historic cooking blogs. If you aren't reading Retro Ruth's stuff, you're really missing out! Check out her post about the Luau Lulu, and read on to see how our version turned out!

Melody Makes JFK's Fish Chowder

A favorite of a fan favorite president!

Although warmer weather has been periodically making a comeback in my neck of the woods all month, it's still been chilly enough to want a nice warm bowl of soup after work. Being from New England, the idea of a rich, creamy chowder is definitely a comforting thought on chilly days, and I've always been interested in trying to make one from scratch. 

This dish isn't the New England clam chowder my home region's famous for, but it was a favorite lunch snack of a certain mid century president! I've been wanting to spotlight this recipe for a while, but never could quite work out the best time to give it a shot. This year, I decided I wasn't going to let another winter go by without sharing it with all of you.

Melody's Triple Chocolate Layer Cake

A cake worth singing about!

One of my early goals when I started this blog was to make human sized replicas of various food items that showed up in the AG character's collections. I've been a little inconsistent in making that happen over the years, but decided to take on an interesting challenge (for me) to kick off the new year. 

I'm very excited to present to you with my version of Melody's birthday cake! Read on to see how I tried to bring this model cake to life.

Melody's Butterscotch Squares

Also known as blondies!

Now, I love chocolate. There’s nothing like having a fudgy brownie, fluffy chocolate cake, or slathering spoonfuls of Nutella onto crusty bread. Long time readers will remember that some of my favorite recipes I’ve ever done for this blog have involved chocolate, like that delicious flourless chocolate cake or my hands down favorite cake recipe for chocolate war cake. 

But not everyone shares my enthusiasm for chocolate. Of course there are people with allergies – my art teacher growing up suddenly developed an allergy to chocolate as an adult and was always sad she couldn’t indulge in one of her favorite treats – but others just don’t like it. We’d always tease one of my best friends growing up for hating any kind of chocolate, but still wearing her mom’s old sweatshirt that declared an undying love for the stuff. 

In honor of those people, I’ve turned to something with no chocolate in it at all, that’s also perfect for a summer bake sale.

Melody Tries Ghanaian Chocolate

Two bars, both delicious, what’s not to love?

Is there anything more fun than trying food from around the world? I don’t think so, especially when it’s different kinds of sweet treats. If only chocolate was as healthy for you as kale allegedly is. 

Last summer, my friend Ama surprised me with some chocolate bars from Ghana, which I was very excited to try and share with all of you. Read on to hear about how these tasty treats are not your average chocolate bar you’d find at your convenience store.

Melody Makes Lazy Jane's Weekend Casserole

A no fuss alternative to a French classic!

Colder weather has officially set in, which means it’s time to break out all those comforting, stick to your ribs dishes. (I say as if I haven’t made this dish in the summer time before…) 

Lazy Jane’s Weekend Casserole is a family favorite perfected by my grandmother, and it’s something I always eat way too much of when she makes it for me. When I asked for the recipe and what the history behind the dish was, she told me something that I really wasn’t expecting: it actually has a loose connection to one of the most famous trends in cooking in the 1960’s! Got any ideas what it might be?

Melody Explores the Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Celebrating 50 years of folklife!

In 1967, the first Smithsonian Folklife Festival was held in Washington, DC. Created as a means of encouraging cultural exchange, the festival has been held every summer for the last 50 years. Each year has a different theme, often centered around the culture of a particular country, region, or US state. They’ve managed to feature every region of the US, as well as 90 individual countries. That’s pretty impressive!

The festival is held on the National Mall between the US Capitol Building and the Washington Monument, making it a popular stop for tourists visiting the monuments, museums, and government buildings. Fourth of July is usually sandwiched more or less in the middle of the festival, which runs for two weeks. They’ve got programming running all day, with lots of vendors, artisans, and experts in their field. 

In honor of the 50th anniversary, the festival’s theme this year was more multicultural than usual: Circus Arts! Almost every culture in the world has a circus, right? It also featured programming about migration and the history of the festival. Want to check it out?

Melody Makes Rosa Parks' Featherlite Pancakes

The fluffiest pancakes you will ever eat.

So, I think it goes without saying that it's a really exciting time to be interested in Black history in Washington, DC. Everyone has been making a big deal about the opening of the new African American Museum of History and Culture - which I'm finally going to be visiting on Tuesday!! - and so there's a lot of efforts by different organizations to promote the museum, and raise awareness about the influence of Black Americans throughout history. It's been fun seeing other museums and institutions promote parts of their collections that might not have been on display recently, and see how they're working to teach people about an area of history that was (and still is...) too often underrepresented.

Take for example Rosa Parks' recipe for peanut butter pancakes, which is held in the Library of Congress and penned in her own handwriting! While a few of my friends and I were at the Library of Congress Book Festival last month, we happened to see a presentation that mentioned it, and immediately knew we had to find the recipe, get together and make them. So we did. We discovered they're basically the fluffiest, tastiest pancakes you could ever hope for, and are definitely something more people should know about.

It's Our Third Anniversary!: New Adventures, New Friends, and the Boston Cooler

Hey everyone! Long time no see! This is Grace stepping in to make sure this blog post actually gets out in time for our anniversary. Gwen's been sooo busy lately she's barely had time to look at our email, let alone cook (or bake! :( ) anything new and exciting, so me and the other dolls thought we'd do her a favor and write this year's anniversary post for her. Since Gwen likes to joke that I'm turning into her mini me, I get to be the one catching you guys up!

So, what have we been up to?

That's not my beautiful kitchen...

We've moved!