Addy's Alphabet Cookies

Bringing the books to life!

I've talked before about how Addy's mom is one of my favorite American Girl characters. Ruth Walker is an extraordinarily brave woman who always seems to make the best of a bad situation in a way I - an eternal worrier and pessimist - really admire. Her embarrassment about not knowing how to read and Addy offering to teach her by shaping dough into letters in their small room over Ford's Dress Shop is one of my favorite scenes in the series, and Ruth tucking specially made cookies that spell "love" in Addy's lunch pail as a treat on the day of her spelling bee is a really sweet (literally and figuratively) end to Addy Learns a Lesson. 

To recreate this moment, I wanted to find the perfect period recipe, and finally tracked down a good one that's great for leaving creative notes to friends and family. Read on to find out how to make them yourself!

Addy's (Mini) Sweet Potato Pies

An awesome alternative to pumpkin pie!

I know I said in my first post for Marie-Grace and Cécile that I probably wouldn't get another doll until I got a decent job, but once again providence intervened in my favor, so I probably should just stop saying this is the last one, I swear! I've been impatiently awaiting Addy's arrival, and started looking for something worthy of being her first post on the blog since right after I placed the order, but thanks to work wiping me out and bad timing by the post office, today was the first day I had a chance to sit down and cook in almost a week.

Some of my more eagle eyed readers might notice a familiar book sitting next to Addy, and might be wondering why I didn't look for a recipe somewhere else, after our last adventure with the Party Book didn't exactly go well. Honestly, even with the issue I had making the jam tart cookies, there are still a lot of recipes in the Party Book I want to try! And I'm happy to report that this turned out to be a lot more successful, and overall was a pretty easy dish to make.

Addy's Cherry Pie

You weren't the only one who had to celebrate their birthday in quarantine this year...

Alright, so, my plans for this post are definitely not what they originally were. Actually, my plans for this entire month (and the rest of the foreseeable future!) have been really thrown off, and I bet we all can guess why. 

(COVID-19, for anyone who's reading this years in the future, or jumping forward in time to 2020 and wondering where everyone is.) 

I had grand plans for this month, with lots of cool historical recipes to share, and then grocery stores started emptying of the supplies I needed, my job was threatened by closures of repositories and libraries we use to conduct research for our clients, and everyone got a little worried about going outside for any reason, meaning last minute trips out to get one or two niche ingredients seemed ill advised at best and generally really, really irresponsible. Needless to say, I've also been pretty bummed out, and mental health struggles makes doing stuff that requires a lot of energy - like making content for this blog! - hard. 

But I'm lucky that I'm still healthy right now, currently still (fingers crossed) employed, and am quarantined with my awesome wife, who made Addy this awesome birthday pie I'm going to take a minute to share with you. Read on to see some more pictures and some pie facts.

Addy's Sweet Potato Pudding

A super tasty historic dish that you've definitely got to try!

Next up on our holiday adventure is Addy! Like most of the other original (or at least, pre-2011) historicals, Addy has a well defined holiday story and an easily identified dish to prepare, and I have to say, hers was the one I was most curious to try.

I don't make puddings often unless it's the kind from a box, and the last pudding I made wasn't exactly tasty. I was also curious to see if it would taste anything like the sweet potato pies I made a few weeks ago, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that not only was this not a terrible failure, but also was incredibly tasty without just tasting like the pie without a crust. I'd definitely recommend giving it a shot if you're looking for something super tasty that doesn't often make its way onto modern tables or menus, and it's easy enough to make that I feel very confident in saying this is an official American Girl recipe that's a real winner.

Addy's Potato Salad

A Memorial Day weekend staple, but perhaps not quite as 1860's as American Girl would have you believe.

Memorial Day weekend means a lot of things to a lot of people: cookouts, trips to the beach, eating out at their favorite fried fish stand, sales, a much needed day off from work, free shipping, parades, and 100% most importantly, honoring those who gave their lives while serving their country. Although I enjoy all of the less serious parts of this holiday, it's the last bit that's got the most weight for me. I spend a lot of time learning about America's military history and honestly know too many sad stories about young men and women (or older men and women) who gave everything to keep their friends, families and country safe. This year, I definitely wanted to take some time to talk about this holiday and why we celebrate it when we celebrate it, because I think the origin story is pretty interesting and not very well known.

Of course, I wasn't going to give you a history lesson without breaking out a dish to try! I bet most of you who had get togethers this weekend had some version of potato salad on your menu, so it seemed like a totally fitting selection. This recipe for potato salad comes directly from Addy's Cook Book, which means you'd think it's verified to be something she and her family definitely would have eaten, right? As it turns out, this might be an example of AG needing to do their homework a little more.

So, what makes this an Addy themed post, and why wouldn't she and her family have actually eaten this version of potato salad in 1865?

Addy's Hoppin' John

Starting off the New Year with some good luck!

Kicking off 2016, today we made Hoppin' John, a dish straight from Addy's Cook Book. Although it's a dish you can make and enjoy year round, the cook book's introduction to Addy's dinner specifically says that Addy's mother would make a big batch of it for everyone in the boarding house to enjoy on New Year's Day. Addy's Auntie Lula would make it for their family on the plantation, just like many other slaves did, as they believed that eating a humble meal on New Year's Day would bring them good luck in the coming year. This was a tradition that Addy and her family continued in freedom, and likely introduced to their Northern neighbors who weren't familiar with the custom.

Black eyed peas are originally from Africa, and it's believed that they were brought along with some of the first slave ships from Africa to the New World. Some food historians believe that Hoppin' John might be similar to food that was given to the slaves en route to America, or could just be based on recipes from several West African countries that people preserved when they were ripped from their homes and forced into enslavement on a new continent. Black eyed peas on their own are also considered symbols of good luck because they were one of the only foods Union soldiers didn't steal from Confederate food supplies during the Civil War, which was a huge help to starving troops and civilian populations when the Union Army used scorched earth tactics. This belief has crossed regional and ethnic boundaries, and has led many people to believe eating them on New Year's Day will bring you luck, just like Addy and her family did.

Hoppin' John is still enjoyed by many people in the south regardless of background, as former slaves brought the recipe with them when they moved to different parts of the country and introduced it to people who had never had it before. But who exactly is Hoppin' John?

Addy's Ice Orangeade

A refreshing historical treat that's perfect for the middle of summer!

I promised this wouldn't be the last you saw of my ice cream maker, didn't I? After waiting to use it for so long, I'm trying to make up for lost time by actually experimenting with it. The freezer bowl has become a permanent resident of our freezer, and I keep getting ideas and suggestions for bigger and better things to make with it.

The recipe I'm featuring today I stumbled upon almost by accident. Although there are a lot of options out there for Civil War era food, I was having a difficult time finding anything really summery that wasn't strawberry shortcake - and nothing against that, honestly, but I wanted to do something a little less obvious - and then discovered this archive of Civil War era recipes on American Civil War Story for ice orangeade. What's ice orangeade you ask?

A tasty, citrusy sorbet that's really not that hard to whip up in your own kitchen!

But before we get into that, we're going to talk a little bit about the history of ice cream makers.

Addy's White Almond Cake

Featuring a favorite president's favorite cake!

Today is the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War. Can you believe that? I sure can't, which I know sounds pretty silly, but considering how much time I spend researching and reading about different periods in American history, it's pretty startling to think just how far away some of those times actually are, even if the issues then are still present now, albeit in different ways. Overall, I've been pretty disappointed in how little attention this anniversary - and the anniversaries of all the major points in the war - have gotten from the press and seemingly anyone but the institutions that already celebrate the history, like the National Parks Service or the Smithsonian, so I've been planning on doing something in honor of today for a long, long time. Pretty much since I came up with the idea for this blog!

Today also marks Addy Walker's 160th birthday! In Addy's stories, Addy and her family aren't certain of what day she was actually born. Slaves weren't allowed to celebrate birthdays the same way a free person would, so while they knew she was an early spring baby, the actual date was unknown. In Happy Birthday, Addy! Addy is encouraged to pick a day to be her birthday, and when news comes of the surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, Addy chooses that day: April 9th, making her birthday April 9th, 1855.

So, I got to thinking. What would be a good enough recipe to highlight both Addy's birthday and the end of the most costly conflict in American history?

The answer could only be Abraham Lincoln's favorite cake.

Breakfast from Addy's Cook Book

A peek into Ruth Walker's kitchen!

Next up in my slow, slow attempt at cooking everything in the original Pleasant Company historical character cookbooks are the breakfast offerings from Addy’s Cook Book. After 2017’s success at making everything on Samantha’s breakfast menu, I decided a long term goal for the blog would be making the full course meals included in these cookbooks. It’s quite an undertaking, and so I don’t think I’ll be churning out one every month, but it had been a while since I’d featured an Addy recipe and decided she seemed like a good candidate for the full course meal treatment. 

Like Samantha’s breakfast, Addy’s menu is filled with things that are both historically something the character might have eaten for a fancy, full breakfast, and are still largely familiar items to modern Americans: grits, sausages, gravy, biscuits, fried apples and scrambled eggs. I enlisted the help of my wife to help me prepare everything and we invited two of our neighbors over to enjoy this peek into dining in the past. Read on to see how it went!

Addy's Peach Pie

The secrets of making a good pie crust will be revealed!

I know I've kind of fallen off the face of the earth around here over the last week or so. You can blame a certain Marvel movie for that - and if you haven't seen Captain America: The Winter Soldier yet, what are you doing? Go see it! - because this is the first time one of my genuine favorite characters of all time has had a more central role in the film, and not been entirely unrecognizable. You go, Bucky! Now if only DC would give me the Nightwing movie I've been waiting for my whole life.

Anyway, last Friday was not only the premiere of my new favorite movie, but also my grandfather's 80th birthday! I've mentioned before that he is quite the fan of pie, and since his birthday and Addy's are relatively close together (Addy's was on the 9th), I decided I couldn't pass up this opportunity to give piemaking another shot!

Even if I was more than a little intimidated by the process.

Addy Visits the National Museum of African American History and Culture!

Say hello to the newest Smithsonian!

I have a really cool announcement for anyone who's been living in a cave for the last couple years: there's a new Smithsonian on the Mall, and it's basically the best thing ever.

Plans for a Smithsonian focusing on African American history and culture have been in the works for a long time, and for the last several years, visitors to Washington could watch as a massive, unique structure was erected right next to the Washington Monument to house the collection. I know I've been impatiently waiting to see what the museum's like for what feels like forever, as every time I visited the city over the last five years or so the building looked closer and closer to being complete.

Well, the wait is finally over, and let me tell you, it was definitely worth being patient for.

DISCLAIMER: The following post contains images that may be upsetting to some viewers. Specifically, Addy has been photographed "touring" the exhibits and galleries at the museum as though she is a sentient being and is visiting it in the same way I have done past posts on site at historical sites and museums. I am but one white person, showing images that many people at this time cannot see for themselves, and I took Addy with me as the American Girl representative since she is the oldest black character AG has released and the most well known. The images contained are actual items, and they are brutal, but true, and are the kind of history that we, as people who claim to be interested in history, need to see. Because American history is not just pretty food and fancy dresses, it is brutality and oppression and ugly but if we do not look at it at the past, then we will never be able to see how not to perpetuate these things.

Addy's Strawberry Shortcake

The secret origins of one of my favorite summer time desserts!

While there are a lot of different fun summer time desserts, nothing feels more summery to me as strawberry shortcake. This is probably because while I usually don't stick to seasonality with my food - I'll happily eat spice cookies any time of the year, thanks very much! - this is a treat that was exclusive to summer when I was a kid, and it's something I always looked forward to. My grandma is the strawberry shortcake master in my family, and without her, I'm honestly not sure I'd have ever gotten to try this yummy combination of biscuit, cream and berries. I don't tend to order fruity desserts at restaurants and don't remember any of my friend's families being especially fond of shortcake, so I think it's fair to say she's responsible for my enthusiasm for this treat.

Because it's been a part of my life for so long, I'd never really thought about its origins until I came up with the idea for this blog. Now I think about the history of basically any food that's put in front of me, because this is what happens when I get interested in something. It's difficult to shut my brain up! This is another dish I've wanted to explore the origins of basically since starting A Peek into the Pantry, and for whatever reason, I didn't get around to it until this month. Better late than never!

Although variations of this dish were popular before 1864, Addy gets to host this post because the shortcake really came into its own in the mid 1800's. It's absolutely a dessert she and her family would have enjoyed in their home or at church gatherings, and I'll bet it was a family favorite. How could it not be?

Addy's Chicken Shortcake

Not quite chicken pot, chicken pot, chicken pot pie!

One of the things I've always wanted to do was work my way through the American Girl cook books, and whenever I'm home by myself, I find myself turning to them to try and find something quick to feed myself for dinner, while also getting something new and exciting to feature on the blog.

Of course, I don't always follow through on this. I'm one of those people who loves flipping through cookbooks, but often winds up never actually cooking any of the things I say I want to. Even though I love cooking for the blog, I'm lazy when it comes to feeding myself when I'm home alone. This past weekend, I decided to buckle down and throw together something that seemed like it would be easy, filling, and still a fun look back at how one of my favorite fictional characters ate back in 1864.

Addy's Field Trip: Happy Birthday Frederick Douglass!

Looking pretty good for a 199 year old man!

Well, I'm part of the way through semester two, Jessi has gone home (we got engaged!!) and the weather has been crazy nice here for the last few days. That means I've been on the look out for fun new places to visit and things to do, and thanks to my friend Ama, I've got a little field trip post for you guys!

February 20th might be President's Day this year, but it was also the birthday of one of the most important figures in the Abolitionist and early Civil Rights movements: Frederick Douglass! To celebrate, the Frederick Douglass House held a variety of events at the house itself and the Anacostia Art Center to tell people about Douglass's life and the world he lived in. My friend Ama heard about the events, and invited our friend Jenna, Addy and I to come along with her. Read on to find out more!

Addy's Strawberry Nut Loaf

A treat Addy, Abraham Lincoln, and Jane Austen might have enjoyed!

In my experience, one of the many benefits of going to grad school is making a whole bunch of fun new friends who share similar dorky interests to you. These friends are then always willing to hook you up with cool things they discover that might catch your eye, leading to a whole lot of fun collaboration on hobby projects as well as actual academic research. 

Take today's post for example: this delicious tea bread comes from a cookbook I was gifted by a good buddy of mine for my birthday... two whole years ago. Sorry it took me so long to try something out, Ashlee! I promise it was worth the wait. Read on to discover the inspiration behind this perfect summer tea treat and the cookbook that clued me into it.

Addy's Apple Pudding

A really interesting hybrid of two popular pies!

Despite my enthusiasm for the Boston Red Sox, I am not actually a sports fan in the slightest, and yet I somehow am being forced to watch the Super Bowl. Or the "Big Game", I don't know if the NFL will come hunt me down if I call it by its proper name over here.

The one good thing that came of this is that I had lots of people over to taste test some new recipes, and this one in particular I think was a hit. It's very similar to the sweet potato pudding I made for Addy at Christmastime in terms of construction, but since the recipe treats it more like a pie, it actually has a lot more in common with a pumpkin pie than what we'd think of as a pudding. It was a nice, low key dessert to make, especially so soon after making the nian gao, and while it's definitely not a traditional sports party treat, I still think we made a good choice in deciding to give it a shot.

Addy's Coconut Tea Cake & The Liebster Award!

A yummy cake that totally deserves the fame and popularity of any other tea cake!

As you can see by the title, this post is going to be something of a joint one! I've already discussed my fondness for coconut at length, so when I discovered this recipe for Emily Dickinson's Coconut Cake from The History Kitchen, my interest was piqued! The History Kitchen is a great blog that produces a ton of exceptional material from the pictures to the incredibly well researched recipes. Someday, I hope my blog can be that successful and polished!

I thought this recipe in particular was interesting because I've never heard of coconut being a tea cake option before, and because I had no idea that Emily Dickinson was such a prolific cook! While it's true that she spent most of her adult life in seclusion, she apparently still baked, cooked and sent out goodies to her neighbors with some frequency, making her a beloved figure even if people didn't know her personally. Because she spent so much of her life isolating herself from others, her poetry didn't become popular until after her death. The first collected edition of her work was published in 1889, and the first largely unedited edition was published in 1955.

Because of this, I spent a long time debating which character should host this post and had the best connection to Dickinson's life, and decided to go with Addy because while she might not have read any of Emily's works until she was an adult, they were still contemporaries (Emily would have been in her thirties when Addy was ten) and this recipe is not far off from a cake Addy might have enjoyed or made herself. It's certainly not a complicated one, and apart from the coconut, the other ingredients are extremely basic and are probably already in your pantry!

Part two of the post (which is actually what I'm going to be starting off with) is a slightly unusual topic for this blog, but there was no way I was going to sit out on the fun! I was awarded by Robinhoo from Audra's Elements of Style with...

Addy's Turkey Stuffing

Just in case you feel like being a little more adventurous than Stove Top this year...

When it comes to Thanksgiving, I don't think I'm alone in being more into the side dishes than I am into the main meal itself. I don't have anything against turkey, don't get me wrong! But I'm more likely to try and run off with the entire bowl of mashed potatoes than I am to start a fight over what pieces of turkey I get.

Certain other family members feel the same way about stuffing, and while I'm not sure this is going to replace Stove Top for some of them, I have to admit, this authentic Civil War era recipe for turkey stuffing was pretty tops, if I do say so myself. It won my heart for being easy to make, tasty, and flexible enough to go with just about any entree if you make it on a random day to accompany whatever else is being made for dinner.

What can I say? Thanksgiving is still a couple days away, we're not making two turkeys this week!

Cécile's Chicory Coffee

Bringing New Orleans to your kitchen!

Happy Black History Month! Ever since I started the blog, I wanted to try and do a Black History month feature, but AG's less than perfect track record when it comes to spotlighting Black characters meant for a long time, that would mean just Cécile and Addy themed recipes all month. Not a lot of period diversity there. 

After Melody came out, things looked a little better, but the plan still didn't happen for various reasons (namely, grad school), and we're off to a slow start this month for reasons I won't bore you with. But I promise I have a recipe lined up and ready to go for Cécile, Addy, and Melody, plus a surprise character whose tastes are a little more modern. Any guesses as to who it might be? 

Today we're going to be looking at something I've been wanting to feature on the blog for a long time, but wasn't sure I'd be able to get my paws on it without a trip down south or paying ridiculous shipping for something I don't actually like drinking: coffee. More specifically, chicory coffee, a New Orleans specialty that can be hard to find outside of Louisiana. 

The combination of having a coffee drinking wife and stumbling upon the real deal in our very own grocery store meant I could finally justify sharing the interesting history of this regional favorite with all of you. Read on to discover why people decided to pair coffee with this unusual root.

Kirsten's Prairie Teacakes

Tiny lemon cakes with a citrus glaze? Yes, please.

As many of my followers know and as many of you likely have guessed even if you haven't checked out my FAQ page, I have been into American Girl since I was pretty small, and Kirsten was my first doll. While I know this is something nostalgia addicts like to claim without really meaning it, I can genuinely point to this toy line and Scholastic's Dear America book series (and their spinoffs) as the reason I'm so interested in history, and American history in particular, which has had its ups and downs. I often joke it's too bad Pleasant Company didn't make science themed dolls and stories, because I was really into biology as a kid, and that... has kind of died off. And might have opened doors to more lucrative professions!

But I really don't have many regrets. I'm proud I got my BA in what I did, and if nothing else, I have a lot of good cocktail party stories, so long as I remember to tone down on some of the more upsetting topics I've become passionate about raising awareness of.

What does all this have to do with cake, Gwen? I'm getting there!

This post today is intended as kind of an homage to my enthusiasm for American Girl, which really kind of is responsible for where I am today, and a throwback to my ninth birthday party, which happened about fifteen years ago this month. Growing up, I was lucky to have a mom who went a little over the top creativity wise for birthday parties, and this recipe is the slightly more complicated version of what she and my grandmother put together for my birthday, with a little help from a book I've talked about here before.