Let’s Eat

 By Suzanne Norquist

People around America are planning Fourth of July festivities and other outdoor fun. Menus include hot dogs, hamburgers, corn on the cob, apple pie, and more. But are any of these foods really American? And what did the colonists eat to commemorate our country’s independence?

In 1776, the Founding Fathers celebrated at Philadelphia’s City Tavern. There wasn’t a hot dog in sight. Not a hamburger. Nor a watermelon. Legend has it that John Adams and his wife ate turtle soup, salmon, and peas.

The following year, in 1777, fireworks marked the first anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Revelers likely enjoyed these same foods, which became a tradition.

The soup remained on the menu for many years. However, with a decline in the turtle population, cooks switched to mock turtle soup (made with veal). However, this difficult-to-prepare dish didn’t taste the same.

In early July, the salmon run, and new peas are ready to harvest, making them a natural choice for the national celebration. Many New Englanders still serve the combination on Independence Day.

With wild pigs abundant in the south, barbequed pork joined the celebrations relatively early. It was an easy way to feed a large crowd. Other meats were barbequed as well. As settlers from the south moved west, they took the tradition with them.

Hot dogs didn’t come to America until the late 1800s. A German emigrant is believed to have sold the first hot dogs, called “dachshund sausages,” out of a food cart in New York. By 1893, they were a favorite at baseball games.

Hamburgers are also said to hail from Germany. However, a Danish restaurant owner claims to have cooked the first hamburger patty in 1900. Read the May 14th Heroes, Heroines, and History Blog for the whole story.

Another German dish to grace our tables is potato salad. It spread throughout Europe and came to the United States in the 1800s.

Dutch and German emigrants introduced apple pie. Which begs the question, why do we say, “As American as apple pie”? As the colonists distanced themselves from England, they left behind traditional English foods like scones and bread pudding and adopted new desserts. So, apple pie is considered American because it represents the break from the old kingdom.

Ice cream actually appeared in ancient Persia and made its way to ancient Greece and Rome. Later, it showed up in Europe and America. However, it wasn’t a treat for the masses until the invention of electric freezers.

Native Americans served baked beans before settlers arrived in the new land. The colonists adopted the dish—probably because it reminded them of pease porridge, a common English dish made from legumes.

We can also thank Native Americans for corn on the cob. They ate it before European settlers arrived. First cultivated by native people in Mexico, corn spread northward from there.

Ancient Egyptians harvested watermelon and selectively bred the unappetizing fruit until it tasted good. Over the years, it made its way around the world as a cherished treat in the dry seasons.

Americans came from many countries to create a unique culture. So, it is only fitting that we celebrate our heritage with a feast that blends many traditions. This melting-pot menu should be celebrated nearly as enthusiastically as our American heritage. Something to remember as you chow down and watch fireworks this year.

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”Mending Sarah’s Heart” in the Thimbles and Threads Collection

Four historical romances celebrating the arts of sewing and quilting.

Mending Sarah’s Heart by Suzanne Norquist

Rockledge, Colorado, 1884

Sarah seeks a quiet life as a seamstress. She doesn’t need anyone, especially her dead husband’s partner. If only the Emporium of Fashion would stop stealing her customers, and the local hoodlums would leave her sons alone. When she rejects her husband’s share of the mine, his partner Jack seeks to serve her through other means. But will his efforts only push her further away?

 

Suzanne Norquist is the author of two novellas, “A Song for Rose” in A Bouquet of Brides Collection and “Mending Sarah’s Heart” in the Thimbles and Threads Collection. Everything fascinates her. She has worked as a chemist, professor, financial analyst, and even earned a doctorate in economics. Research feeds her curiosity, and she shares the adventure with her readers. She lives in New Mexico with her mining engineer husband and has two grown children. When not writing, she explores the mountains, hikes, and attends kickboxing class.

Things That Go Boom in the Night

By Cindy Regnier

 It’s that time of year again, time to celebrate our country and our freedom. My family operates a fireworks stand so as we prepare for the 2021 holiday, I wondered just how long firecrackers have been around. Did someone invent them sometime after 1776 to be used in our Independence Day celebration? Nope. Turns out people were enjoying firecrackers centuries before our forefathers signed that Declaration.

Though no one really knows for sure, many historians think that fireworks originated around A.D. 800. Chinese alchemists mixed saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal to make a crude gunpowder, apparently in search of a recipe for eternal life. They packed the powder into bamboo shoots and threw them into a fire creating a loud blast. Once they realized what they had made, the Chinese came to believe that these explosions would keep away evil spirits. 

  These firecrackers were used in celebration of the most important events in life – a birth, a wedding, a death, holidays, and coronations. By the 10th century, the Chinese had figured out that they could make bombs with the gunpowder, and so they attached firecrackers to arrows that they shot at enemies. Within the next 200 years, fireworks were honed into rockets that could be fired at enemies without the help of an arrow, a concept still used today in firework shows.

Fireworks eventually spread to Europe to celebrate military victories and were later used in public celebrations and religious ceremonies. Legend has it that Captain John Smith set off the first fireworks display in the American colonies in Jamestown, Virginia in 1608. Furthermore, fireworks were likely used in the very first 4th of July celebration. John Adams wrote in a letter, "The day will be most memorable in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade … bonfires and illuminations [fireworks] … from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore." His prediction was right, and the tradition began in 1777 and every year since then.

You knew I couldn’t make it to the end of this blog without mentioning Laura Ingalls Wilder. Laura described the Fourth of July Celebration like this: The music was so gay; the bandsmen in their blue and red and their brass buttons tootled merrily, and the fat drummer beat rat-a-tat-tat on the drum. All the flags were fluttering and everybody was happy, because they were free and independent and this was Independence Day. ~Farmer Boy, by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

In the books, Independence Day was always glorious.The sun shone and everybody reveled in their pride in being American. Of course, life isn’t always like that. Take the 4th of July in 1881, for example. This is the year of the Independence Day Laura described in Little Town on the Prairie. In her version, the town gathered around the flagpole, where the Declaration of Independence was read and Star Spangled Banner was sung. There was free lemonade and horse races, and politician handed out firecrackers. All under a shining sun with a happy crowd. The 38-star flag flew over De Smet, and the rest of the nation, in 1881.

Illustration by Garth Williams, in Farmer Boy, c. HarperCollins

In actuality, July 4, 1881 was a wet, gloomy day in De Smet, South Dakota. Any readings, speeches, or singing took place inside the hardware store. There was no Pledge of Allegiance, because it hadn’t been written yet – that would come about a decade later. And the crowd wasn’t happy all day. President Garfield had been shot 2 days earlier. News of this tragedy and worry for the President’s life (he lived 80 days before dying of infection from the wound) would have dampened the spirits more than the rain.

But telling that story isn’t celebratory and surely Laura wanted the children who read her books to learn a sense of patriotism and freedom. Certainly, Laura would have enjoyed fried chicken and lemonade, rousing speeches and songs, horse races and fireworks on various Independence Days, so she drew on these experiences, combined them, and gave us an iconic vision of what the 4th of July should be.

How do you celebrate the Fourth of July? I’d love to hear about it in your comments.

 

Rand isn't looking for love. He'd ridden that trail. He needs a wife to care for his orphan nieces. Desperate, he places an advertisement and hopes for the best. Fleeing her former employer who would use her to further his unlawful acts, an advertisement reads like the perfect refuge to Carly. Escaping the danger to hide herself on a Kansas cattle ranch is her best shot for freedom. But sanctuary comes with a price.While marrying a man she doesn't know or love means sacrificing her dreams, it's better than being caught by the law. Or is it?

240 Years of Freedom

Blogger: Amber Schamel

July 4th, 2016 marks 240 years since the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Those 240 years have been filled with a lot of milestones. Tremendous history, inventions, battles, victories, losses, fun...so much to be attributed to our wonderful country and the American Spirit of innovation and patriotism. The very date of July 4 holds many notable events, so in honor of Independence day, I thought I would share a few of those tidbits with you. 

West Point Military Academy officially opened as a Federal Military school on July 4th, 1802.

 In 1826, on the 50th anniversary of the adoption of his famous document, Thomas Jefferson, the primary author of the Declaration of Independence, as well as the third U.S. President, dies of sickness at Monticello. John Adams, second U.S. President and co-author of the Declaration, died the same day.

New York, one of the states to begin the African Slave trade in America, abolishes slavery in the state on July 4, 1827.

Philidelphia is home to the first United States Mint. The cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1829. Today, there are 4 mints in the U.S.

Samuel Francis Smith was a student at the Andover Theological Seminary when his friend asked him to translate a song from German. Instead, he ended up writing his own patriotic lyrics to go with the tune of "God Save the Queen". It took him 30 minutes to write the lyrics. The song was performed for a children's Independence Day celebration on July 4th, 1831 in Boston.

During the Civil War, there were a lot of battles fought on July 4th, including the skirmish at Harper's Ferry in 1861. On that same day, Lincoln holds a special meeting of Congress to request 400,000 troops.

Calvin Coolidge, the man who would become the 30th President of the United States, was born on July 4, 1872.

Showcasing American innovation in 1876, the first electric light was exhibited in San Fransico

A victory in the battle for African-American rights, Tuskegee Institute in Alabama holds its first day of class with Brooker T. Washington as its teacher on Independence Day 1881.

Class at Tuskegee Institute

The colossal birthday gift of the Statue of Liberty is presented to the United States in Paris in 1884.

July 4th, 1888 in Prescott AZ marks the first organized Rodeo competition.

Katherine Lee Bates publishes America the Beautiful for the celebration in 1895.

In 1925, The Dreyfus Hotel in Boston collapses, killing 44 people.

U.S. Air offensive against Nazi-Germany began on July 4th, 1942.

On July 4, 1946, the Philipines gained their independence and thus share a national birthday with the United States of America.

To commemorate the 180th anniversary of Liberty, the Independence National Historical Park is formed in Philadelphia in 1956. This park includes the meetinghouse where the Continental Congress discussed and adopted the Declaration of Independence, as well as the Liberty Bell.

Another interesting note, on this same day, the most intense rainfall the U.S. has ever seen falls on Unionville, MD at a rate of 1.23 inches in a single minute.

Independence day of 1959 and 1960 were celebrated by adding stars to the American flag. The 49th star in '59 for Alaska, and the 50th star in '60 for Hawaii.

In more recent history, July 4th 1997, NASA's Mars Pathfinder becomes the first U.S. spacecraft after 20 years to land on Mars after traveling 120 million miles in seven months

America is an amazing country with a lot of amazing history and events, especially for such a relatively young country.

Now it's your turn! What eventful happenings have you experienced on July 4th? What is your favorite part of the celebration? 

Amber Schamel is the author of DAWN OF LIBERTY, a collection of short stories about Samuel Adams and the birth of America. Visit her at www.AmberSchamel.com.

June and July's Patriotic Holidays

Flag Day - June 14th

Flag Day is the anniversary of the Flag Resolution of 1777. It is not an official holiday, but it is a day of observance. Two schoolteachers, Bernard J. Cigrand of Wisconsin, in 1885, and George Balch of New York, in 1889; each promoted activities to remember the birthday of the flag, with their students, and in their communities. Such celebrations spread to other cities and throughout the states.

After many years of these patriotic observances across the United States, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed June 14th as a yearly national celebration in 1916. However, when President Truman signed an Act of Congress, June 14th became officially designated as National Flag Day.

For more history, including origins of the flag and proper flag etiquette go to:
www.usflag.org

The 4th of July – Independence Day


“When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another . . . We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness . . .”

I find it difficult not to ponder these words, the beginning of the Declaration of Independence, in conjunction with the celebration of the birthday of our nation. It took many brave souls who believed it was time to declare their independence from a tyrannical king and the mother country. Yet, these words were not penned lightly. The difficulties of resolving differences and declaring independence from Great Britain were hammered out prayerfully, and over much time.

Initially, the celebration was similar to that of a king’s birthday, which would have included, serious processions, bonfires and speeches. The political significance would not have been lost on the new nation’s citizenry. On July 4th, 1777, Congress celebrated the one-year anniversary of the Declaration of Independence with a parade, troop reviews, prayers, ringing of church bells, speeches, fireworks and a 13-gun salute!

Eventually, the 4th of July, became less political and more patriotic during the 19th century. While over the last century, it has become more of a day of leisure than one of national pride, we cannot forget the many who made sacrifices, so that we may be free to celebrate on the beach or at a barbecue.

I hope that this July 4th, you and yours have a blessed and peace-filled day, full of the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness our Founding Fathers (and mothers) fought for.

Kathleen Rouser has loved making up stories since she was a little girl and wanted to be a writer before she could even read. She desires to create characters who resonate with readers and realize the need for a transforming Savior in their everyday lives. 

She is a long time member in good standing of ACFW and a former board member of its Great Lakes Chapter. Kathleen has been published in anthologies, including the Amazon bestseller, Christmas Treasures, as well as in both print and online magazines. Her debut full-length novel, Rumors and Promises, was recently published by Heritage Beacon Fiction in April, 2016. 

Previously a home-school mom of three, she has more recently been a college student and sometimes a mild-mannered dental assistant by day. Along with her sassy tail-less cat, she lives in Michigan with her hero and husband of 34 years, who not only listens to her stories, but also cooks for her. Connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.