A Festive Cena: Evening Dining with Rome’s Elite

by Liisa Eyerly

In ancient Rome, how—and what—you ate was one of the clearest markers of where you stood in society—food drew one of the sharpest lines between power and poverty. Roman Feast by Roberto Bompiani, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

For the elite, dining was a spectacle. Every meal, especially the evening banquet, was a stage, every dish a declaration. Imported spices, rare fruits, exotic meats—these weren’t just foods, but symbols, proclaiming wealth, influence, and control. Servants, silver and gold dinnerware, and ceremony transformed eating into a performance of dominance.

For the poor, food meant survival. Their tables held plain bread, humble grains, and whatever olives, vegetables, or scraps could be afforded. No luxury, no variety—just the bare essentials to endure another day of labor.

Two worlds shared the same city, but not the same table.

Supper or Cena (Main Meal) late afternoon to evening.

Poor—when they returned home from work, often after dark.
Elite—known for their socializing and dinner parties that could last several hours, with reclining couches, entertainment, and wine. An elaborate procession of gustatio–prima mensa–secunda mensa. Three (or more) courses - Appetizer - Main course - Dessert. Often followed by an after-dinner drinking party.

No Guests, No Showmanship
Anonymous Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Even wealthy Romans didn’t stage a banquet every night. When it was just the family, Cena was:

✨ 1. Smaller in Scale
Fewer courses—often just two (a main course and a simple dessert).

✨ 2. More Comfortable and Intimate
Reclining was still common, but the atmosphere was relaxed.
Family members ate together without the pressure of political theater.
Fewer slaves were needed for serving—maybe just a couple instead of a full staff.

✨ 3. Traditional, Not Showy

Without guests to impress, Roman elites didn’t waste expensive delicacies. Nothing that required exotic ingredients or hours of preparation—just good household cooking.
Instead of flamingo tongues or peacock, they might eat:
· Grilled fish or chicken
· Vegetables like cabbage, leeks, or lentils
· Bread and cheese
· Fruit in season
When not entertaining, even the elites did not eat tons of meat, but when they did, fish, seafood, poultry, smoked pork liver sausage, roasted goat, boiled hare, and baked scrambled eggs were common. Vatican Museums, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

✨ 4. Even on a Modest Night, the Meals of the Elite Were Still Better Than the Poor.
· The oil was of better quality – pressed from their own olive groves
· The bread was fresher – baked daily at home
· The produce was more varied – harvested from their personal farms and orchards
· The meat was regular, not rare – supplied from their own farms, often just outside the city or town
· Spices like pepper or coriander were used freely

Some of these foods sound surprisingly modern until you discover recipes from the Roman chef Apicius, for fish liver pudding, stuffed dormice, brain-stuffed squash fritters, and rose patina, a baked dish of scrambled brain and eggs, flavored with roses.

Three of the Strangest Foods Elite Romans Actually Ate

1. Stuffed Dormice  
These little rodents fattened on nuts and acorns. The elite stuffed them with minced pork, pepper, pine nuts, and honey, then roasted them to a golden crisp.
A luxury delicacy—but to modern diners, the idea alone is… memorable.

2. Flamingo Tongues (served at a dinner party in book three, “Powers of Death”)
Yes… flamingos. Elite Romans prized the bird’s bright feathers and considered the tongue the true delicacy. Cookbooks describe boiling them with dates, wine, pepper, and vinegar.

They weren’t eaten for taste so much as for shock value—proof that the host had the means to serve the rarest, most impractical foods.

3. Jellyfish and Sea Urchin Custard
Recipes based on Apicius’s Cookbook IX (1st–4th-century cookbook in modern wording), include recipes for cooked jellyfish dressed with vinegar, oil, and herbs, and for sea urchins mashed into a thick custard. Part seafood, part dessert: this savory-sweet, custard-like dish was meant to impress (or intimidate!) dinner guests.
Alexcooper1 at English Wikipedia (Alex Pronove)  

Apicius’ Sea Urchin Custard.
Ingredients:
Fresh sea urchins (whole)
Eggs
Pepper
Liquamen or garum (Roman fish sauce)
Passum (sweet raisin wine) or another sweet wine
Optional: a little oil 

Directions:
· Pierce the sea urchins and blend their contents with eggs.
· Season with pepper, liquamen, and sweet wine.
· Pour the mixture back into the shells—or small clay dishes
· Gently cook in hot water in its shell (or in a small dish) until set like a custard mixture
· Serve warm with a sprinkle of pepper

Romans didn’t necessarily love it… But they loved showing they could afford it. Remember, food wasn’t always about taste—it was about wealth, novelty, and the status of serving something rare and difficult to prepare. A true marquee item for a lavish Roman feast. Next month, we’ll delve into the rich world of Roman wines.

For more authentic ancient Roman recipes for modern kitchens, including garum and Roman cheese cake, you can visit Laura Hauser’s website 18 Authentic Ancient Roman Recipes for Modern Kitchens - Recipes For Life

SECRETS OF EPHESUS SERIES

The award-winning series unveils gripping historical mysteries set in the perilous world of ancient Rome. In Obedient unto Death, a scribe is murdered during an illicit Christian gathering. Sabina, a fearless believer, navigates a treacherous world of deceit and betrayal to discover the killer.

In Fortunes of Death, our sleuth returns—risking everything to expose murder, magic, and corruption beneath the empire’s glittering surface. Reviewer Deborah Anne raves: “Murder mystery—Intrigue—Love—Fellowship through Christ. This series has it all! Eyerly is wonderful! If you’re tired of boring—read this series! I love a good mystery!” Prepare to be hooked!

Liisa’s books have been called a cross between Agatha Christie and Francine Rivers. Her mystery, Obedient Unto Death, won the Eric Hoffer First Horizon Award for a debut novel and first place in the Spiritual Fiction category. The sequel, Fortunes of Death, continues the Secrets of Ephesus series, weaving fascinating Christian twists into the historical mystery genre of the first-century Roman Empire. Liisa’s travels to Turkey, Greece, and Italy have enriched her stories with vivid depictions of New Testament culture, history, and people.

Over the years, she’s been a teacher, small business owner, librarian, and lifelong learner. She and her husband live in northern Wisconsin, where she channels her love of history, faith, and mystery into writing captivating and inspiring novels.

Purchase her books at:
Crossriver Media https://www.crossrivermedia.com/product/fortunes-of-death/
Amazon book page https://amzn.to/3Di2gyQ

Visit Liisa at:
Her website www.LiisaEyerly.com
Author Facebook page at Liisa Eyerly Author page

Every day is a Holiday: The Dining of Rome’s Privileged

by Liisa Eyerly

The Roman Empire stretched across continents, and with every conquest came new flavors, ingredients, and culinary habits. Exotic foods from distant provinces—spices from Arabia, fruits from Persia, seafood from North Africa—filtered into Roman kitchens. All classes tasted some of this diversity, but it was the elite who truly indulged. They embraced costly delicacies not just for pleasure, but for display—sometimes eating strange or downright unappetizing dishes simply to flaunt their wealth or their access to rare foreign goods.

(Just ask any Roman about garum, the infamous fermented fish sauce produced in massive coastal factories like the one depicted in the archaeological museum at Nabeul!)

If you’ve watched Roman-themed films or read some of my other posts, you know that for the upper classes a meal wasn’t just nourishment—it was theater. A feast was a social event, a political performance, and a declaration of status. As you climbed the social ladder, the food, spices, and preparation became increasingly elaborate, turning the dining room into a stage where power and prosperity were on full display.

Breakfast or ientaculum (sunrise to 8am, later for elites)

Poor - The poor needed calories for their workday and probably had very little variety in their day-old bread, cold barley or spelt porridge, and handfuls of olives augmented with occasional dates, raisins, or onions, and washing it down with cheap diluted wine or posca (a vinegar-water drink common for soldiers and the poor.)

Elite – Despite their wealth, even elites kept breakfast modest, saving extravagance for the midday prandium or the evening cena. A tasteful Roman wasn’t expected to gorge themselves at sunrise!

· The warm, tempting scent of fresh bread that Sabina, my sleuth, breathes in during her early morning walks past the public bakeries would drift just as richly through the private kitchens of the wealthy. Long before sunrise, their cooks and slaves were already kneading dough by lamplight, preparing the daily loaves that would be served with honey, costly olive oil, or soft cheeses from goat, cow, or sheep. Codrin.B / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA-3.0,2.5,2.0,1.0 & GFDL

· Porridge: although a staple on all tables, the elite would enrich theirs with honey, nuts, milk, and of course, fruit, which also topped pancakes and filled pastries.

· Fresh fruit: both local and imported would be piled on platters, cooked into jams, and squeezed into juice; fresh figs, grapes, pears, pomegranates, apples, exotic Syrian cherries, Persian peaches, and citrons, a rare citrus symbolizing status and luxury for the ancient Roman ruling elite. Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
· Eggs: boiled, fried, and in omelets made from all sorts of poultry were a common breakfast protein. Chicken, duck, goose, and rare but served as a sign of status—pigeon, dove, and peacock eggs.
· Cooked meat: Usually reserved for lunch or the evening meal but cold sausages, meat pies from the previous day, and fish was served.

This fresco is on a wall of a hallway of a Pompeii home that had a bakery in its annex. The fresco depicts a goblet of wine and various fruits, that include a pomegranate and a likely date. The pizza-like bread appears to have moretum, a cheese spread with herbs that was popular in ancient Rome. (see recipe link below)

Lunch or Prandium (Midday Meal) — (11 a.m.–1 p.m.) The Romans did not enjoy eating a large meal in the heat of the day. Lunch was generally light and informal—even for wealthy households. It was often eaten: * Sitting on a small stool * At a simple household table *Standing in the kitchen courtyard

Poor – cold meal to keep up energy – leftovers, bread (olive oil), carrots, turnips, and congealed porridge. Posca or cheap water-down wine.
Elite —
· Cold meats from last night’s dinner
· Grilled fish, shellfish, or poultry 
· Salads of lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, herbs, and olive oil
· Light pastries or sweetened nuts
· Egg dishes, omelets and custards
· Imported fruit like cherries, peaches, or figs
· Bread with honey, olive oil, and cheese
· Drinks: Diluted fine wine, Mulsum (wine with honey), Herbal drinks, and flavored waters

· Moretum —a Roman cheese spread made by mixing goat cheese with herbs, nuts, and olive oil using a mortar and pestle. It was eaten on flatbreads, much like modern dips or spreads. Some versions had garlic, resembling early pesto, while others used fruit for sweetness.

recipe https://recipes-for-life.com/ancient-roman-recipes/ 

Self-photographed by User:Bullenwächter, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

For elites, lunch was a chance to refresh and socialize—never a feast, but decidedly pleasant.

We’ve now worked our way toward next month's blog post - the grand finale: cena, the evening meal—where elite Romans truly put their wealth, refinement, and ambition on display. If you’d like to dive deeper into the fascinating world of Roman dining, I’ve explored these topics in earlier blog posts on my website, liisaeyerly.com.

In my August 2020 post, If You Eat With Your Fingers, You Might Be a Roman, I walk through the elaborate structure of elite dinners, including the ideal number of guests and the strict seating hierarchy that governed every triclinium.

And in February 2021, Grilled Sow’s Belly for Dinner, Anyone?, I highlight some of the most extravagant foods ever served at a Roman feast—among them one of my personal favorites: tender, milk-fed snails.

Together, these posts offer a vivid look at the rituals, extravagance, and surprising delicacies that made a Roman dinner an unforgettable social event.

SECRETS OF EPHESUS SERIES

Obedient Unto Death opens a gripping historical-mystery series set in the perilous world of first-century Rome, where early Christians walk a razor’s edge between faith and survival. In Fortunes of Death, fearless Christian sleuth Sabina returns—risking everything to expose murder, magic, and corruption beneath the empire’s glittering surface. With rich historical detail and powerful spiritual themes, author Liisa Eyerly delivers intrigue, danger, and hope in equal measure. Reviewer Deborah Anne raves: “Murder mystery—Intrigue—Love—Fellowship through Christ. This series has it all! Eyerly is wonderful! If you’re tired of boring—read this series! I love a good mystery!” Prepare to be hooked!

Liisa’s books have been called a cross between Agatha Christie and Francine Rivers. Her mystery novel, Obedient Unto Death, won the Eric Hoffer First Horizon Award for a debut novel and first place in the Spiritual Fiction category. The sequel, Fortunes of Death, continues with fresh intrigue and devilish twists. Liisa’s travels through Turkey, Greece, and Italy bring authenticity and color to every page, enriching her mysteries with vivid depictions of New Testament culture, history, and the people who shaped it.

Over the years, she’s been a teacher, small business owner, librarian, and lifelong learner. She and her husband live in northern Wisconsin where she channels her love of history, faith, and mystery into writing captivating and inspiring novels. Liisa’s journey into writing proves it’s never too late to follow your dreams and share your passion with the world.

Purchase her books at:
Crossriver Media https://www.crossrivermedia.com/product/fortunes-of-death/
Amazon book page https://amzn.to/3Di2gyQ

Visit Liisa at:
Her website www.LiisaEyerly.com
Author Facebook page at Liisa Eyerly Author page

Bibliography:
Wikipedia.com
Grokapedia.com
What did the ancient romans eat for breakfast? - Ancient Rome - February 24, 2023 by Ellen Hunter

Poor vs. Wealthy: Dining in Ancient Rome (part 2 0f 2) by Liisa Eyerly

Last month, I dove into the street food culture of ancient Rome, where the scent of fish stews and sizzling vegetables drifted through narrow alleyways. In a city where most residents lived in cramped insulae—apartment buildings where cooking fires were a deadly hazard—home kitchens were often banned. Instead of stirring a pot at home, Romans flocked to their neighborhood thermopolia—bustling takeout counters lined with steaming clay jars—or to lively tabernae, where mugs of wine, dice games, and gossip flowed late into the night.

These humble establishments kept the city fed and fueled, dishing up far more than survival fare: they offered flavors, fellowship, and a taste of the empire’s diversity in every bite.

What Was on the Menu for the Poor

Specialties—Thermopolia had large clay jars called dolia set into counters, kept warm over embers, ready to ladle out hearty fare: see menu.

• Taberna/tavern Favorites—Taberna catered to travelers and locals alike with portable foods:
• Bread: Flatbreads or round loaves—panis—sometimes topped with cheese, garlic, or herbs—think of it as ancient proto-pizza.
• Olives, Cheese, and Nuts: served alongside bread.
• Cured Meats: Ham, sausages, or salted cuts for those on the go.
• Stuffed Pastries: Filled with honey, dates, or minced meat for a sweet or savory treat.

For most Romans, eating out wasn’t a luxury—it was a daily necessity.

Dining Like the Wealthy
While the working class dined on the go, the wealthy elite lived a completely different culinary life. Their homes featured fully equipped kitchens with ovens and fireplaces for roasting and boiling, as well as servants or enslaved cooks to plan, purchase, and prepare elaborate meals. Dinner parties usually included reclining on dining couches.

Luxury households included:
Imported Ice from mountaintops to chill wine and delicacies.

Maintained gardens for fresh herbs, vegetables, and flowers.

Owned farms, orchards, and vineyards, supplying their homes with meat, poultry, olives, nuts, fruit, and wine.

Stocked preserved goods: pickled vegetables, cured meats, and rare spices imported from across the empire.

For the elite, a meal was a feast, a social event, and a statement of wealth and power.

What You Wouldn’t Find on Any Table—Pasta
Despite Rome’s influence on Mediterranean cuisine, pasta as we know it didn’t exist:

Durum wheat was known, but dried pasta dishes didn’t appear until the Middle Ages, influenced by Arab cuisine. The closest Roman creation was lagana, thin sheets of dough layered with fillings—an ancestor of lasagna, but without tomato sauce or mozzarella.

Whether dining at a crowded thermopolia counter or reclining at a lavish banquet, Romans—rich or poor—shared one thing in common: a love of flavorful, well-prepared food. Their meals tell a story not only of class divides, but also of ingenuity, trade, and the rhythms of urban life two thousand years ago.

Fortunes of Death

In the bustling streets of ancient Ephesus, fortunes can change in an instant. When one of the city’s wealthiest citizens is found crushed beneath his own triumphant memorial, the powerful elite demand justice—but at what cost? Enigmatic investigator Sabina faces her most perilous case yet. As secrets unravel and enemies close in, she must navigate political intrigue, dark sorcery, and forbidden love to uncover the truth. In a city where everyone has something to hide, who can be trusted? And how far will Sabina go to solve a mystery that could cost her everything?

Liisa’s books have been called a cross between Agatha Christie and Francine Rivers. Her mystery novel, Obedient Unto Death, won the Eric Hoffer First Horizon Award for a debut novel and first place in the Spiritual Fiction category. The sequel, Fortunes of Death, continues the Secrets of Ephesus series, weaving fascinating Christian twists into the historical mystery genre of the first-century Roman Empire. Liisa’s travels to Turkey, Greece, and Italy have enriched her stories with vivid depictions of New Testament culture, history, and people.

Liisa’s journey into writing proves it’s never too late to follow your dreams and share your passion with the world.

Purchase her books at:

Crossriver Media https://www.crossrivermedia.com/product/fortunes-of-death/

Amazon book page https://amzn.to/3Di2gyQ

Visit Liisa at:

Her website www.LiisaEyerly.com

Author Facebook page at Facebook

The Surprising Origins of the Sunday-Dinner Tradition

Whether pot roast, baked chicken, or a simple stew bubbles in the pot, Sunday dinner is not so much about food as family and friends. This well-loved tradition is as American as apple pie, right?

The Surprising Origins of the Sunday-Dinner Tradition

Yes—and no. The practice actually originated centuries before the United States declared its independence, during the reign of King Henry VII. The Brits consumed a lot of meat back then. Now, Americans love a good steak, but the English appetite for beef was (please pardon the pun) a cut above. It earned them the national nickname of “Roast Beefs” from the French. The royal bodyguards became known as “Beefeaters,” a title they retain today, in the 15th Century.

Two theories exist on the British Sunday roast tradition. It either originated in the late 1400s or the late 1700s, depending on who you believe.

The first theory states that in medieval England, village serfs who served their squire six days each week could take Sundays off for church. Afterwards, they engaged in war games and feasted on an oxen roasted on a spit. A variation of this holds that after attending Sunday services, medieval English villagers would congregate around large communal ovens to roast meat (usually oxen) they’d hunted during the week. The villagers lacked large enough fireplaces to do this at home. Once the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century introduced enclosed ovens into homes, Sunday roast dinner took a more intimate form.

The second theory places the origin sometime after 1760, during the British industrial revolution. Before church, families could start a roast in the oven early, and then add in vegetables on their way out the door. This worked much like our modern slow cookers. They returned home to find dinner waiting and time to enjoy one another.

Whichever opinion is correct, it’s fun to continue this centuries-old tradition.

Gathering for Sunday dinner has become somewhat challenging in today’s far-flung world. No matter how few chairs are around the table, taking the time and trouble to reconnect with loved ones is always worthwhile. Cherishing our families and ourselves on Sunday creates peaceful interludes, which is all the more important in the hostile world in which we live.

I’ve recently begun following this tradition myself. Sometimes there are only two chairs at the table, but my husband and I still enjoying spending special time together. If you’d like to start or revive the Sunday-dinner tradition in your own household, let me know in the comments. Taste of Home features a collection of vintage recipes for Sunday dinners that look pretty amazing.

What’s New with Janalyn Voigt

Getting back to work after so much time off during the holidays is difficult, but I’m gaining momentum. If you also have trouble with transition, I’d love to know how you counter the inertia after a vacation. Or do you come back, recharged and raring to go? In December, we went to Leavenworth with family. If you don’t know, the town was remodeled by its residents to look like an alpine village in Bavaria. This was a tourist move, and it worked out. Leavenworth now draws upwards of a million international tourists per year. Not too shabby for a town that began as a frigid mountain community named “Icicicle.” This week, I’m moving back into regular office hours and am working on an editing project for a publisher. I’ll also plan future writing projects. It’s a time of prayer for direction. 

Learn more about Janalyn Voigt.

Fall in love with the Wild West. Discover Montana Gold.

A Victorian Christmas Dinner Menu

At Christmas, the line between past and present blurs. You notice it when carolers, ice skaters, and horse-drawn sleighs adorn greeting cards. It stands out as women in long dresses and men in elegant attire enjoy candlelit dinners, theater performances, and strolls through the park. You can't miss it whenever families gather for merriment, fond reflection, and good food. That's when it doesn’t take a huge stretch of the imagination to picture yourself in Victorian times.

Back then, dinner highlighted Christmas day. Cooked from scratch, it provided guests with the very best a host could offer. Tradition took its place at the head of the table, decreeing favorite decorations and dishes to produce another memorable feast.

Evergreens, holly, and mistletoe bedecked dining rooms. Fine cloth, candles, and floral centerpieces adorned tables. At every place, floral boutonnieres or breast-knots awaited guests who sat down to the household’s finest china. An array of forks, knives, and spoons awaited them, along with a fine napkin, salt cellar, a bread plate, and the best stemware. Christmas dinner arrived in courses, planned well in advance. The following menu comes from “The Boston Cooking-School Cookbook,” popularly known as “The Fannie Farmer Cookbook,” first published in 1896.

A Menu for Christmas Dinner

· Consomme and Bread Sticks

· Olives, Celery, and Salted Pecans

· Roast Goose, Potato Stuffing, and Apple Sauce

· Duchess Potatoes, Cream of Lima Beans

· Chicken Croquettes with Green Peas

· Dressed Lettuce with Cheese Straws

· English Plum Pudding with Brandy Sauce

· Frozen Pudding, Assorted Cakes, and Bonbons

· Crackers and Cheese

· Café Noir.

Consomme and Bread Sticks

Soup or salad? This dinner includes both, but it begins with soup. Some Victorians preferred oyster bisque, which neatly combined two courses for those who considered a fish course essential. Fannie Farmer dispensed with the fish course entirely, which no doubt catered to those who felt that cooking a lot of courses didn’t suit Christmas day.

Consomme, or clarified broth, is time-consuming to make. The broth might be made from a variety of meats--chicken, beef, veal, lamb, pheasant, or even turtle. It required the cook to boil the broth with a “clearmeat” of egg whites, cut vegetables, and ground meat. The result was a beautiful concentrated soup with superior flavor. Today, you can buy canned consommé, but that is often broth with gelatin added. You can find instructions for homemade consommé in the Fannie Farmer cookbook.

Olives, Celery, and Salted Pecans

Some Victorians served small delicacies at this point, while others offered them alongside the salad. Other tasty morsels included pickles, radishes, melon spiced with nutmeg, sweet- pickled grapes, and beets on a bed of mayonnaise-dressed lettuce.

Roasted Goose, Potato Stuffing, and Applesauce

Fannie Farmer’s menu is simple compared to others of the day. Besides roasted goose, a Christmas table might groan under the weight of a standing rib of beef, a turkey with cranberry sauce, and a boar’s head or ham. Goose is quintessential Christmas fare, of course. Just ask Tiny Tim in Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” Whatever the main dish(es), the host carving the meat before his guests was a cherished tradition.

Applesauce needs no introduction, but potato stuffing was new to me. According to some, serving potato stuffing makes mashed potatoes redundant. I can get behind anything that eases that last-minute scramble to get everything to the table while it’s warm. I’m no expert, but a recipe at the New England website looks promising.

Duchess Potatoes and Cream of Lima Beans

Any overachiever should love Duchess Potatoes, or Pommes Duchesse as the French call them. The recipe has been around since it first appeared in La Nouvelle Cuisinière Bourgeoise (1746). In her Boston Cooking-School Cookbook, Fannie Farmer suggested piping the potato-egg mixture into interesting shapes—baskets, roses, pyramids, crowns, leaves, and the like. What’s not to love?

I never thought I’d say this, but I’m looking forward to trying Cream of Lima Beans. Read the comments to the recipe and you might want to make them too. The dish sounds easy and surprisingly delicious.

Other vegetables graced Victorian Christmas feasts: sweet potatoes, salsify, rice, creamed spinach, minced cabbage, creamed tomatoes, cauliflower au gratin, to name a few.

Chicken Croquettes with Green Peas

Victorians liked to make a dish that combined bits of meat, fruit, bread, grains, and/or vegetables in a fried crust. Croquettes were a thrifty way to use up leftovers or cuts that otherwise might not be eaten (such as brain or sweetmeat), Chicken croquettes with peas sound fairly safe, and might even get children to eat their peas.

Dressed Lettuce with Cheese Straws

By this point in the meal, diners were slowing down but anticipating dessert. One more course remained before that happy event. Wise cooks offered a simple salad course of lettuce with French dressing, enlivened by cheese straws and a few small delicacies (perhaps radishes, beets, and nuts) on the side.

English Plum Pudding with Brandy Sauce

At last arrived the grand finale. Plum pudding, or Christmas pudding, originated in the Middle Ages. At first a savory dish, it had transformed into its present sweet form by the Victorian era. Plum pudding has concluded traditional English Christmas dinners for centuries. Doused with brandy and set alight, it would be carried by the hostess into the dining room amid cheers and applause.

Despite its name, this pudding contains no plums. It features raisins, which used to be called “plums.” Currants, figs, and citron are included in Fannie Farmer’s English Plum Pudding recipe. Suet (a kind of beef fat) was chopped fine and incorporated into the batter. Although suet is an unfamiliar ingredient to Americans, cooking with it is not that different from using lard or shortening.

To buy suet in the United States, check with a butcher. If you want to experiment with a substitute, the Times Colonist website has advice for you, It also offers a pudding recipe that doesn’t call for suet. The steamed cranberry pudding with raisins, currants, and walnuts contains no alcohol and takes about twenty minutes to prepare. It cooks in under two hours. Victoriana Magazine has a selection of Christmas pudding recipes.

If you use shortening in your pudding, please make it a healthy version with no transfats. Butter has a lower melting point, so the texture will vary, but I did notice comments stating that it turns out delicious.

The pudding is steamed in a mold (available online). Good Housekeeping explains how to steam plum pudding. The traditional time to make plum pudding is the first Sunday of Advent. We’re a little late this year but early for the next.

Fannie Farmer’s cookbook has you covered for pudding sauces, by the way. If you're not into the traditional brandy sauce, you can choose another.

Frozen Pudding, Assorted Cakes, and Bon Bons

From what I can tell, Victorian “frozen pudding” was much like ice cream frozen in a mold. One example is Nesselrode pudding. A chef working for Russian Count Nesselrode created a decadent chestnut pudding and named it for his employer. A fancy dessert in Victorian times, Nesselrode Pudding remains popular today.

Victorians enjoyed a variety of cakes, as we do today. Folks are still raving over Mary Berry’s Christmas cake, a fruitcake-like confection.

Victorian bon bons were small candies, often covered in chocolate (because why not?). They were much like the boxes of chocolates we indulge in today. A list of homemade bon bons at Victorian Voices describes caramel walnuts, chocolate almonds, chocolate caramels, coconut ices, and something known as “American sweets,” which contained a variety of fillings.

Crackers and Cheese

“Salt after sweet!” an aunt of mine was fond of proclaiming. Her words had the ring of something she’d brought forward from childhood. I blame Grandma for instilling this mantra in her and, by osmosis, in me. I can’t eat a piece of cake without wanting potato chips. I’m kidding, mostly. Actually, crackers are considered a palate cleanser, and cheese contains casein, which strengthens tooth enamel and prevents acidic foods from damaging your teeth. They knew a thing or two in Victorian times.

Café Noir

Fannie Farmer’s Christmas dinner menu concludes with black coffee to let the meal “settle.” Many people believe that drinking coffee after a meal aids the digestion, and it does have certain beneficial effects. It is known to balance blood sugar after eating, which increases energy levels.

Conclusion

This menu is more attainable in terms of labor and resources than the Victorian Thanksgiving menu I wrote about last month. I do like the idea of hosting a Victorian Christmas dinner for friends and family. I'll try a few of the dishes this Christmas and next year go gung-ho. How about you?

What's New with Janalyn Voigt

I am enjoying a brief lull in my schedule to allow for the holidays. This is something I've wanted to do since my writing career blossomed. This is the first Christmas in a long while that it has worked out. I'm thankful for my blessings, and more time for my family and myself is one of them. Bedtime reading is in the picture again, and I couldn't be more ecstatic. My years judging literary contests and reading books for review meant that I read to a schedule. I can't think of anything more likely to kill a passion for reading. Fortunately, it's back, and I intend to guard it well. If you are struggling to read, I understand. One thing that helped me is getting excited about putting together a reading corner in my home. The plans, much delayed by Christmas, are in the works. Speaking of Christmas, have a lovely one. 

Janalyn Voigt is the author of the Montana Gold western historical fiction series and the Tales of Faeraven medieval epic fantasy series. Learn more about Janalyn Voigt.

Cookbooks and Sugar Rationing During WWII

By Marie Wells Coutu

During a recent visit to my hometown, my sister and I made our favorite dessert from childhood—chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Although we both have handwritten copies, we dug out Mother’s old cookbooks to find the original recipe.

The tattered pages of this 1945
cookbook are a testament to how
much my mother used it

It came from a cookbook produced for Lever Brothers’ Golden Jubilee in 1945 that promoted the use of Spry vegetable shortening. The cover of “10 Luscious New Cakes” touts that these recipes feature Spry’s “amazing new one-bowl method.” Spry’s spokesperson, the fictional character Aunt Jenny, is quoted as saying “It’s easy now to get lighter, more delicious cakes—even if you’re short on sugar.”

The first shortening made entirely from vegetable oil was introduced as Crisco by Procter & Gamble in 1911. It provided an alternative to lard, which is made from animal fats. Both helped cooks produce tender and flaky pie crusts, biscuits, and other baked goods.

Lever Brothers introduced Spry in 1936 as a competitor to Crisco, and within only three years it had gained 75% of Crisco’s market share. This success has been attributed to aggressive marketing using “Aunt Jenny.” I suspect the widespread distribution of numerous Aunt Jenny recipe books contributed, as attested to by the collection my mother had.

I don’t know how many of Aunt Jenny’s recipes she actually used, but the Fudge Bar Cake and Minute Fudge Frosting became our family’s favorite. In our home, chocolate cake automatically meant this cake and frosting, and it was always requested for birthdays and other special occasions. [Confession: in her later years, Mother would use a cake mix, but she always made the frosting from this recipe.]

The notation on the cover about the recipes being delicious “even if you’re short on sugar” made me curious about sugar shortages. Of course, I knew about World War II rationing, but I didn’t know the specifics about how sugar was affected. According to the National Park Service [Sugar: The First and Last Food Rationed on the World War II Home Front (U.S. National Park Service)], imports from Hawaii and the Philippines stopped following the Japanese invasion in December 1941, and German U-Boat attacks limited shipments from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Sales of sugar in the U.S. were halted in late April 1942, and rationing began. Even after the war ended, the global supply of sugar was limited due to disruptions from the war and low crop yields. Sugar rationing in the U.S. continued until June 1947.

In May 1945, the ration of sugar was cut to 15 pounds per person per year. The chocolate cake and frosting recipes each call for one cup of sugar for a single layer. Making a two-layer cake would have used nearly all the sugar ration for a family of four for one week. No wonder cakes were made during the war only for special occasions!

Mother saved a number of other free Spry cookbooks, including “Aunt Jenny Starts a Bride Off Right,” “Good Cooking Made Easy,” and “Enjoy Good Eating Every Day the Easy Spry Way.” I even found a copy of “Aunt Jenny’s Favorite Recipes” among Mother’s cookbooks. That one was reprinted under the public domain in 2018 and is also available to download from the Internet Archive.

If you want to try out any of the recipes, however, you’ll have to use Crisco or another brand of vegetable shortening, since Lever stopped producing Spry sometime in the 1970s.

Aunt Jenny offered recipes and
techniques for cooks during WWII

Multi-award-winning author Marie Wells Coutu finds beauty in surprising places, like undiscovered treasures, old houses, and gnarly trees. All three books in her Mended Vessels series, contemporary stories based on the lives of biblical women, have won awards in multiple contests. She is currently working on historical romances set in her native western Kentucky in the 1930s and 1940s. Her historical short story, “All That Glitters,” won honorable mention in the 2023 Saturday Evening Post Great American Fiction Contest. You can find more about Marie and her novels at her website, MarieWellsCoutu.com.

Truth is messy. But will their shared secret destroy his political career—or sabotage their marriage? After a whirlwind romance, beautiful Shawna Moore marries Hunter Wilson, the governor of Tennessee. Now, she wonders if the governor ever loved her or only hoped to avoid a scandal.
In this modern re-imagining of the biblical story of Bathsheba and King David, an investigative reporter is asking questions. If he discovers the truth about Shawna’s baby, Hunter’s chances for reelection, as well as Shawna’s reputation, will be ruined. Will Hunter’s choice mean the end of his political career or his family?

What do Dutch Windmill Cookies have to do with Christmas?

If you’ve ever bitten into a home-baked speculaas, or Dutch windmill cookie, you need no convincing that every Christmas should include these tasty treats. What do Dutch windmills have to do with Christmas? More than it may seem. 

To understand the connection, let’s go back to the fourth century, when the real St. Nicholas gave away his substantial inheritance to feed people in need. Nicholas of Patara became Bishop of Myra, a town that was then in Greece but is now part of Turkey. Nicholas devoted himself to God at a time when that was dangerous. He suffered for his faith under the brutality of the Roman emperor Galerius, who wanted to stamp out Christianity. Nicholas’s many kindnesses became the stuff of legend and eventually inspired the modern-day Santa Claus.

Every year, In parts of northern Europe, folks celebrate the life of this noble man. On St. Nicholas Eve (December 5th), children put out letters for St. Nicholas and put out shoes, stockings, or plates in anticipation of the gifts that will fill them. Before retiring, they offer carrots or grass for St. Nicholas’s donkey or horse. The children wake on St. Nicholas Day to speculaas cookies, candies, and other gifts in the vessels they set out the night before or under their pillows.

But why bake windmill cookies for Christmas? 

According to tradition, Nicholas lived in a windmill by the sea. By this simple reminder, the people of Holland honor the memory of a noble man who sought to live humbly, like his Savior, who was born in a lowly manger. 

The history of speculaas cookies is wonderful, but I would bake them for the taste alone. If you’ve ever eaten a bland, commercially-baked windmill cookie, you don’t really know what true speculaas tastes like. 

Some people lump speculaas in with gingerbread cookies and some confuse the recipes. Speculaas does contain ginger, but its flavor is much more complex. The dough is laced by a centuries-old spice mixture known as speculaaskruiden (speculaas spices), which includes cinnamon, cloves, mace, ginger, pepper, cardamom, coriander, anise seeds and nutmeg. You read that right. Speculaas cookies contain pepper. Don't knock it before you try it. In telling you, these cookies are heavenly. 

Various theories exist as to why Dutch windmill cookies are called speculaas, which probably came from the Latin “speculum,” which means mirror. Pressing the dough into wooden molds or imprinting it with an embossing roller does create a mirrored pattern. Those are two traditional practices, but you don’t need special equipment to make these time-honored treats. Using regular cookie cutters works just fine, as I can attest. Other options are to cut the dough with a knife, or form it with your hands. This year, I ordered a windmill mold which I’m a little nervous to try. Dusting the mold with rice flour before adding the dough does the trick At least, it did in the online video I watched.

I can’t recommend this speculaas recipe enough. I’ve used it for years. Baking the cookies makes my house smell like Christmas, and my family's eyes light when they come out of the oven. Why not add this delightful treat to your own Christmas celebration?

Over to You

What is your favorite Christmas cookie? What memories does it bring back for you?

What’s New with Janalyn Voigt

I’m almost finished shopping and decorating for Christmas. Between attending events and visiting with friends and family, I’m stealing away to read through the manuscript for The Whispering Wind one last time. My publisher gives me the opportunity to proofread my work after all editing changes are finished. Such careful scrutiny requires patience and the ability to focus. I’ll have more of both once the Christmas tasks are finished. Meanwhile, here’s me wishing you a very Merry Christmas. See you next month.

Janalyn Voigt

Explore faith, love and courage in the American West. 

 Discover Montana Gold

THE HUMBLE PLATE

 

By Mary Davis

Have you ever looked down at your plate and wondered from whence it came?

This simple invention is one of the best. We have dinner plates, bread plates, butter plates, and dessert plates.

People didn’t always eat off of such vessels. So when did this practice start? What were they made of? What did the first plates look like?

The earliest plates were those made by nature; a large leaf, a shell, a hunk of wood, most anything which could hold food. These early plates were communal dishes everyone ate from.

Early individual plates were known as trenchers and were made of two-three inch slices of bread that had been set out to dry for four days or so. The hardened bread made out of coarse flour would be piled with the food offerings for that meal and people ate it with their hands. The “plate” (hunk of bread) wasn’t eaten, but rather it was given to the dogs or the poor. The juices and such that had soaked into the bread had actually turned it into a semi-nourishing and filling meal.

These trenchers worked well until the invention of the fork near the end of the Middle Ages (mid-1400s-ish). As people stabbed at their food with this new utensil, the dry bread got punctured and the juices seeped through too quickly. This was solved by putting the bread on a wooden base. 

Eventually the bread trencher was discarded altogether, leaving the diner to eat off the wooden base. An indentation was carved in the wood to contain juices from the food. These wooden trenchers were sold in sets of twelve and painted with flower designs.

The wealthy didn’t like eating off of wood, so more expensive materials were used like silver, gold, and pewter. Dishes and flatware made of these precious metals were a sort of savings account. During hard times they could be sold or melted down. Even kings melted down their plates when they needed to raise funds in a hurry finance wars.

The trouble with pewter was it contained lead back in the day. With particularly acidic foods like tomatoes, the lead would leach out giving the diner lead poisoning. For a long time, people believed it was the tomatoes which were poisonous.

The poorer people eating off their wooden trenchers weren’t any better off. Wood can harbor bacteria on the best of days, and the custom was to not even wash them from one meal to the next. Between the bacteria from unhygienic practices and worms from the wood, people developed mouth sores.

Eventually, Europeans desired to set their tables with delicate porcelain china. Soon decorated china became coveted across Europe. By the 1850s, middle class people could afford china. For a bride in the 1860s, choosing a china pattern was a rite of passage.

Today, in addition to most of the previous materials, we have plates made out of clay, glass, plastic, and paper. Speaking of paper plates, in the early 1900s, Martin Keyes noticed workmen eating off of pieces of veneer, which gave him the idea to mold paper pulp into pie-plate shapes. He patented his idea and opened a small factory in 1904. With the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco, the market for disposable plates exploded. The company continues to make disposable plates which include the Chinet brand that so many of us have used.

Now All 3 QUILTING CIRCLE Books are Available in Audio, as well as Kindle and paperback!

Book 1: THE WIDOW’S PLIGHT A single mother steps out of the shadows of abuse and into the sunshine. But will a secret clouding her past cost her the man she loves? Book 2: THEDAUGHTER’S PREDICAMENT (Placed 2nd in the Selah Awards) As Isabelle’s romance prospects are turning in her favor, a family scandal derails her dreams. Can a patient love win her heart? Or will a forced marriage be the end of her romantic dreams? Book 3: THE DAMSEL'S INTENT  Can Nicole learn to be enough of a lady to snag the handsome rancher? Nicole Waterby heads down the mountain to fetch herself a husband, not realizing women don’t wear trousers or carry a gun. She has a lot to learn. Book 4: THE DÉBUTANTE’S SECRET releases August 2021 

MARY DAVIS is a bestselling, award-winning novelist of over two dozen titles in both historical and contemporary themes. Her latest release is THE DAMSEL’S INTENT (The Quilting Circle Book 3). The Quilting Circle Book 4, The Dèbutante's Secret, will release August of 2021. Some of her other recent titles include; "Holly and Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection, Courting Her Amish Heart, The Widow’s Plight, Courting Her Secret Heart , “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in The MISSAdventure Brides Collection , and Courting Her Prodigal Heart . 2019 titles include The Daughter's Predicament and "Bygones" in Thimbles and Threads. She is a member of ACFW and active in critique groups.

Mary lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband of over thirty-six years and one cat. She has three adult children and three incredibly adorable grandchildren. Find her online at:

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