Blaire's Dairy-Free Chocolate Chip Brownies

Or more accurately, Eli's Dairy-Free Chocolate Chip Brownies!

I don’t often devote blog posts to the Girl of the Year dolls, mostly because this is meant to be a historical cooking blog, and current food history isn’t always as exciting as trying out Abraham Lincoln’s favorite cake. Sometimes exceptions are made, though, and so today’s recipe is inspired by and from Blaire’s second book Blaire Cooks Up a Plan. 

Blaire Wilson is the Girl of the Year for 2019. She’s from a fictional town in upstate New York, and lives on her family farm with her parents, younger brother, and grandfather. She’s recently discovered she’s lactose intolerant and trying to figure out how to cope with that, while also helping a family friend plan a wedding and learning about food insecurity, or when people are in the position of not being sure when, where, or what their next meal will be. 

It’s a lot to cover in two books, and I have some thoughts and opinions on how well it’s tackled. Read on to find out more, as well as a review of the dairy free brownie recipe featured in her books!

Nanea's Lomi Lomi Salmon

A classic luau side dish that's easy to make no matter where you live!

Last year, I told you all about my research project about the history and influence of tiki bars. In that whole long, exhausting, fun, frustrating process, I ended up finding out quite a lot about the history of how Americans have interpreted and interacted with Hawaiian food over the years. Something I found very interesting - although not necessarily surprising - was that at the height of the tiki culture craze in the 50's and 60's, there tons of recipes and cookbooks being published saying they were examples of authentic Hawaiian recipes, but most of them were written by white Americans, most of whom had very little interaction with Hawaii themselves. 

The recipe I'm about to share with you today is one of the major exceptions to that rule: Hawaii Cookbook & Backyard Luau by Elizabeth Ahn Toupin. It's one of the many vintage cookbooks I acquired to write my article, and I've been dying to crack it open and try out some of the recipes. This past weekend, I finally had the time to do just that and I'm very excited to share the results with you guys!

Jane's Tart of Green Peas

An Elizabethan classic that makes for a fun modern side dish!

Jane has been a great addition to the blog because experimenting with Tudor and Elizabethan recipes can be a lot of fun. Sometimes, the flavor profile is just a little bit off from a modern perspective, and some recipes I'm not sure I'm brave enough to ever try myself, but a lot of the recipes I've posted about here are actually pretty tasty, as well as being interesting. 

Take this pea tart for example! I was clued into this recipe from Joyce White's A Taste of History blog, which I've shared with you guys before. Joyce is a really talented food historian and the past recipes I've tried from her arsenal have come out pretty well. This pea tart - actually a pea pie - is adapted from a 1596 cookbook by Thomas Dawson entitled Good Housewife's Jewel. It's a really easy recipe to try out in your own home, and with the exception of one key ingredient, you won't have to look high or low for most of the components. 

What's that ingredient, you ask?

Rebecca's Matzo Balls

A hearty meal, perfect for Passover or a rainy spring day!

Springtime for Rebecca and her family meant they would soon be celebrating Passover, the holiday commemorating the liberation of the Jews from slavery in Egypt. This year, it begins on April 19 and ends on April 29, which means we're getting a bit of a head start on the holiday with this post. 

Although Passover involves a lot of food history, arguably the most famous food associated with it is matzo, or matzah or matza depending on the spelling, a large, cracker like baked good that symbolizes the unleavened bread the Jews ate when they fled from Egypt. 

During Passover, chametz or leavened foods are forbidden, so matzo is eaten in its stead. Growing up, many of my Jewish friends would complain about being forced to eat matzo over and over again during Passover because it was boring, while others thought it was cool that they were eating a food that had such a long history. Others looked forward to the season because it meant their parents or grandparents would be breaking out recipes like matzo ball soup, a comforting, hearty dish that turns the bread crumbs into thick dumplings. Read on to see how you can make your own tasty matzo balls.

Lily's Chicken Ramen Bowl

A cross cultural favorite with some interesting connections to World War II!

I love ramen. For a carb lover like me, it’s hard not to be excited about a massive bowl of hot noodles swimming in salty or spicy broth. The meat and veggies are good too of course, but for me, it’s definitely all about the carbs. 

As it turns out, those carbs – and more specifically, what kind of carbs – are responsible for why ramen enjoys such international fame. Although this dish originated in Korea, it became intensely popular in post war Japan because the noodles were made of wheat flour, not rice. Read on to find out why that was so crucial, and how to make a yummy bowl of ramen in your own home.