Samantha's Snickerdoodle Cookies

An unusually named cookie with an unusual story!

My sister started college about a week before I got the idea for making this blog, and so she's been trapped far away from home listening to everyone talk about all the fun stuff we've gotten to eat without her. I've promised I'll do something nice for her when she's home on break, but since she asked my mom for some stuff she wanted from home to be shipped to her, I decided hey, why wait until Thanksgiving to make her something? And while I was at school, getting baked goods in the mail was always, always a fun thing.

Kirsten's Fried Pork Chops with Gravy, Biscuits and Root Vegetables

Scene stealing gravy and biscuits!

I've mentioned before here that I am absolutely not a fan of frying things. Don't get me wrong, I love to eat fried things! But hot oil and I have not been friends in the past, and it wasn't exactly something I was excited to try again after my last attempt ended in a smoky house and burns on my hands.

But as I've said time and time again on this blog, I'm trying to get more confident in the kitchen, and that requires doing some things I never thought I'd want to do again. So, without further ado, here's our latest pioneer themed post.

Felicity's Spice Cakes with Lemon Glaze

Easily one of the best from scratch cookies I've ever made!

This weekend was my hometown's town fair. It's been a tradition for over a hundred and fifty years, and it's basically the biggest event that goes on all year. Town fairs have been a tradition that goes back pretty much to the dawn of civilization in one form or another, but considering they're almost always a big deal for small towns like mine, I felt like I had to do something in honor of it being fair weekend.

These cakes (what we know as cookies!) turned out to be the best possible way to bring a little bit of festivity and history into the weekend, and are definitely going to be added into the regular rotation.

Kaya's Blackberry Chocolate Cake

Making the best of the end of blackberry season!

I discovered this recipe largely by accident, and have been impatiently waiting for a chance to make it for a little over two weeks now. I knew I needed to get it done before October, because blackberries are usually pretty sour and nasty after that point, but when I went shopping for supplies yesterday, it turns out I was probably smart to do it now instead of waiting another week. There were no blackberries at all at the grocery store, and there were only six containers left at the farmer's market.

I might have bought all of them.

Felicity's Barley Soup

Or, the meal that was almost an utter disaster, but ended up working out okay.

My parents were out of town tonight, which meant my brother and I were left to our own devices for dinner. I decided instead of eating some frozen dinners or something similarly easy, I felt confident enough in the kitchen to think no, I'm going to do something different. I'm going to make a healthy, delicious dinner without anyone else helping me out in the kitchen, and no one and nothing is going to stop me!

Read on to discover how I thought my overconfidence would end in disaster.

Emily's Roast Beef Tea Sandwiches, Cheddar Scones and Short Bread Cookies

A great excuse to break out the china!

My grandmother loves tea. Actually, she really loves a lot of British - and specifically English - things, but tea is probably her favorite, so when I decided I wanted to do a tea for Emily's first feature on the blog, my mom suggested that we invite her and a couple other people over to try out the recipes with us.

This also means that this post features our first official guest appearance! Read on to hear what we decided to do.

Felicity's Chicken the French Way

Disappointing sauce, but overall, not a bad meal!

Felicity is probably the character I probably have the most cookbooks and recipe ideas for, so when it came down to actually picking something, I sort of had a bit of an over saturation issue. I couldn't decide what we should make, or where I should even start looking for something, really, which made deciding what I should pick to feature colonial America kind of difficult.

Steak and Potatoes with Kaya

 Practice makes perfect!

After a discouraging day of job searching, I was tasked with making dinner for myself and my younger brother. Initially, I was very discouraged to hear that my mother had purchased steak, considering the last time I made it, I managed to burn myself pretty badly, flooded the entire downstairs with smoke and charred the meat so badly that it was almost inedible.

But if anyone understands what it's like to make a mistake and try to redeem yourself for it anyway instead of just accepting people's scorn, it's Kaya, and that encouraged me to give it a try.

Rebecca's Rosh Hashanah Dinner: Brisket, Kugel and Apple Cake to Celebrate the New Year!

Shanah Tovah from Rebecca!

In what is probably going to be one of the more ambitious meals featured on this blog (at least for a little while!), I decided to try and tackle a meal for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. I was pleasantly surprised to discover although I spent most of the day cooking, the results were a delicious and festive meal and not a tale of woe and disaster. Read on for the full story!

 

Kirsten's One-Pan Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie

The perfect thing for a campfire, or a cold, rainy Labor Day cook "out"

When it came time to pick the first recipe for the blog, I thought it was only fair to let Kirsten go first. I've had her the longest, and warm, comforting pioneer food seemed like a good idea for a cold, rainy Labor Day. Since we were also having people over for a cook out, it seemed like a good idea to find something that would make enough for a lot of people.

An Introduction to A Peek Into the Pantry!

Welcome to the blog from Kaya, Felicity, Kirsten and Emily!

So I have a confession to make: although I like baking, I’m not a very good cook. In fact, I used to kind of hate cooking. Anything that was more complicated than heating something up in the oven was often an involved, messy and sometimes dangerous process, and let’s just say I wasn’t too enthusiastic to try anything new when it seemed like I might actually set the house on fire one day.

But then I had an idea. I might not know much about cooking, but I do know a lot about American history, which is definitely partially because of my early affinity for a certain historical doll line. I thought what if I combined these interests with cooking and used the dolls, their cultures and their points in history to encourage me to try new recipes, and hopefully learn a little bit in the process?

Thus, A Peek Into the Pantry was born! In each post, I’ll:

- Pick a recipe (or a few I suppose, if I’m feeling particularly ambitious) that has something – no matter how obscure – to do with one of my American Girl Dolls

- Give a bit of historical background into the dish if I can find something about it

- Show work in progress pictures and the final result of the recipe

- And finally, a review on how it tastes!

Of course, not every dish is going to be historical, and the ones that are and come from a pre-electricity period aren’t going to be cooked the traditional way – I don’t have a baking oven in my fireplace to cook pies! But I’ll try to get as close to authentic as possible, and I’ll explain the differences as best I can if and when they come up. I’ll also try to cook recipes from the American Girl cookbooks and cooking studios when I can get my hands on them, but that’s definitely not all that’s going to go on here.

If you've got any questions or suggestions, feel free to comment on one of the posts, or email me at intothepantry@gmail.com, and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible!

- Gwen