Hoopskirts

Winter is such a wonderful, satisfying time for soup!  My entry for the Historical Food Fortnightly Challenge "Downstairs Dinner" is A Plain Cheap Soup. The Challenge  Historical Food Fortnightly Challenge Season 4, Number 2:  Downstairs Dinner.  Make a dish of the working classes. The Recipe This recipe comes from The Practical Cookbook (Philadelphia, 1850) What I Did / The Method Ingredients   Leftover meat bones:  I used the carcass of a roast chicken Two large carrots, peeled and chopped Three small turnips, peeled and chopped One large yellow onion, peeled and chopped 2 whole cloves salt and pepper water Method Being used to making soup from scratch on a frequent basis, this concept felt very easy and familiar.  I placed the chicken carcass in a large pot and liberally covered it with water, then let it cook for several hours until the meat fell off the bones. At this po...

Pancakes for Shrove Tuesday, from Mr Francatelli's recipe Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday - traditionally a day of fried cakes, doughnuts, and pancakes, all ways to use up fats before the 40-day fast of Lent.  I did not grow up celebrating the day, and, as a result, have no traditional food associations.  When my children were little I started looking for ways to celebrate ordinary and traditional days.  Shrove Tuesday seemed like a fun thing to celebrate!   Not being much of a Mardi Gras person and being a huge fan of breakfast, I settled on pancakes.   When I moved to the Chicago area I had discovered puffed pancakes  - the German apple pancake and the Dutch Baby, and over the years my Shrove Tuesday dinners moved in that direction. This year I was thinking a Dutch baby pancake sounded about perfect for our meal.  AND THEN... .... I read a cookbook by Mr. Charles Francatelli.  If you have watched the PBS series Victoria,  the...