Culinary Historians of Washington, D.C. March 2018 Volume XXI, …chowdc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/MARCH-2018-CHoW... · 2016. 3. 8. · Unauthorized-Whovian-Cookbook/ dp/1481153684

Culinary Historians of Washington, D.C. (CHoW/DC)founded in 1996, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, educational organization dedicated to the study of the history of foodstuffs, cuisines, and culi-nary customs, both historical and contemporary, from all parts of the world. Donations are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.

www.chowdc.org

Save these futureCHoW Meeting Dates:

April 8, 2018(Cooperative Supper)

May 6, 2018_______________

The White House Egg Roll History

Speaker: Cecilia Glembocki Sunday, March 11, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Bethesda-Chevy Chase Services Center

4805 Edgemoor Lane, Bethesda, MD 20814

Culinary Historians of Washington, D.C. March 2018 Volume XXI, Number 6

Inclement Weather Advisory

If there’s a question about whether the weather will cause a cancellation of a CHoW meeting, first check your email.

A CHoW-DC Google group message will be emailed to members. If you are not part of the CHoW Google group or do not have email, call any Board member to learn of possible program cancellations due to weather (see page 8 for contact information).

Any decision to cancel would be made the night before, if possible, or no later than 10 a.m. on the day of the meeting.

Cecelia Glembocki (center) on the White House south lawn with two volunteers

costumed as “eggs”

In 1981, President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan hosted a hunt for wooden eggs that bore the sig-natures of famous people, and these soon became the official White House egg roll keepsakes. Today, the eggs, which reflect the special theme of each year’s event, bear the signatures of the president and first lady. Each child under the age of 12 is given one as he or she exits the South Lawn gates. These are from Cecelia’s collection.

Cecilia Glembocki, Executive Director of the Virginia Egg Council, has been involved in the White House Easter Egg Roll for 36 years,

organizing activities for the 35,000 guests and provid-ing spectaular floral displays and food for the volun-teers. Cecilia has worked with seven First Ladies on the White House Egg Roll and worked cooperatively with other industry groups to develop more egg re-lated programs. She has led the Virginia Egg Council in educational programs, promotion, research, and advertising for the egg industry in Virginia for the past 36 years. Cecilia holds a BS from the University of Connecti-cut Storrs and an MA from Cal State University, Long Beach. His Holiness Pope Francis presented her with the Pontifical Award Pro Ecclesia Et Pontifice (a gold medal and certificate for service to the Church and to the Pope), the highest award the Pope bestows upon laity.

Since 1878, American presidents and their families have celebrated Easter Monday

by hosting an egg roll party on the South Lawn. It’s one of the oldest annual events in White House history. First Lady Dolley Madison may have proposed a public egg roll. Some stories exist of informal egg-rolling parties at the White House dating back to President Lincoln’s administration. Cecelia will tell how the event has changed and evolved through the years as each First Family put its stamp on the popular public event. The Egg Roll is a race, where children push an egg through the grass with a long-handled spoon. Events can include White House personali-ties appearing in Easter Bunny costumes and cabinet secretaries reading from books.

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CHoW Programs 2017-2018September 10 John Kelly, “Small Plates: Historic Restaurant Tidbits from the Pages of The Washington Post”

October 8 Andrew Coe, A Square Meal: A Culinary History of the Great Depression

November 12 Susan Benjamin, “Survey of the History and Changes in Food as it Relates to Candy…with Tasting” December 10 John McQuaid, “The Evolution of Taste”

January 14, 2018 Tom Croghan, “Why the Mid-Atlantic will Rival Bordeaux and Burgundy as a Great Wine Growing Region” February 11, 2018 Paul Anthony Brazinski, “Food Practices in Early Christianity” March 11, 2018 Cecelia Glembocki, “The White House Egg Roll History”

April 8, 2018 Cooperative Supper, Alexandria House May 6, 2018 Sandra Gutierrez, “The Influence of Latino Immigration on Foods of the U.S. South”

What Happened at the February 11 CHoW Meeting?

How to Post to the CHoW Google Group

The CHoW-DC Google Group is for communicating culinary history matters ONLY. It is not intended to be an open forum.

You must be a member of CHoW, and your email ad-dress must be in the CHoW database.

It’s important to remember that if you change your email address, you need to inform the CHoW Membership Director so that it can be updated and you will continue to receive messages and newsletters.

The easiest way to post a message to the Group is simply through an email. Here’s how.• Open a new email• In the address line or “To” box, enter [email protected]• Enter a subject in the subject box• Enter the text of your messageo NOTE: If you are announcing an event, please make sure you include all relevant information, plus a website or phone number for additional information. • Please sign your message as a courtesy to everyone.• Add your email address for replies.• Send the message! DONE!

Whatzit: musubi maker

President Barbara Karth called the meeting to order at 2:08 p.m. Thirty CHoW members and six visitors were present.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:1. Barbara Karth announced that Beverly Firme will be leaving CHoW due to her move to North Carolina. Bar-bara thanked Beverly for her service to CHoW, which included Board duties, Outreach Director, field trip orga-nizer, restaurant explorers, and many other roles.

2. Judy Newton announced upcoming, behind the scenes fundraising tours of four of the Olney Farmers Market’s farms. The first tour on March 10 will take place at Shep-herd’s Manor Creamery.

3. Judy also announced that the Benjamin Banneker Muse-um is open to arranging an open-hearth cooking workshop for CHoW this spring. Anyone interested should send an email to Judy ([email protected]).

PROGRAM:Judy Mazza introduced this month’s speaker, Anthony Brazinski, who presented “Food Practices in Early Christi-anity.”

WHATZITS:Lauren Gilliam brought a flex-ible, insulated measuring cup usable in the microwave.

Jane Olmsted brought a mold for making musubi, a popular snack and lunch food in Hawaii composed of a slice of grilled Spam on top of a block of rice, wrapped together with nori.

Willis Van Devanter brought a grater/dipping bowl.

REFRESHMENTS:• Bryna Freyer – Cranberry orange apple bread from Grace’s Pastries• Amy Snyder – Red and pink dark and milk chocolate• Clara Raju – Brown sugar zucchini coffee cake hearts

DOOR PRIZES: Thank you to Claudia Kousoulas for donating two books for this month’s door prizes.

APRIL POTLUCK THEME:Please see page 3 for the themes proposed for April’s potluck dinner. Members will vote on the theme during the March CHoW meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:35 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,Sharon Shepard, Recording Secretary

Cooperative SupperApril 8, 2018

4–6 p.m. (Note time change)Alexandria House400 Madison Street

Alexandria VA 22314(Map and directions will be in

April CHoW Line.)

CHoW’s annual Cooperative Supper is a great time to relax, visit, meet new friends, enjoy wonderful food, and learn something about the history of the dishes that CHoW members have contributed. We will vote for the 2018 theme at the March 11 meeting.

All the themes suggested at the Febru-ary CHoW meeting are listed in the center column at right.

You can begin with an online search of the topic title, but here are a few more personalized resource suggestions.

Sephardic Foods (Sandy Hoexter)“I had in mind to make a Sephardic dish and give the history of the dish and its ingredients. I like the cookbook Sephardic Cooking by Copeland Marks as it lists the foods by six different re-gions of the world; for each country, it gives background to the dishes. Clau-dia Roden is also great food writer on the subject. Her Book of Jewish Food: An Odyssey from Samarkand to New York looks great. “It would be interesting to see how many New World foods have been in-corporated in this food of the diaspora as well as influences from the country where the Jewish people settled. If possible, compare the original dish in Spain with what is documented today as Sephardic.”

Foods from Fiction (Judith Newton) “There are so many cookbooks based on works of fiction! Here are some from my collection. The Pooh Cookbook by Virginia Ellisonwww.amazon.com/Pooh-Cook-Book-Virginia-Ellison/dp/0525374043It appears that the entire book is avail-able online as images. “From the fantasy genre, there’s A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Game of Thrones Companion Cookbook:

Resources for Proposed Supper ThemesSUGGESTED THEMES

1. Food in dough wrappers2. Recipes using products that can be specifically/uniquely manufactured3. Conflict and diplomatic cuisine4. Foods from fiction5. Foods of the Renaissance6. Sephardic foods7. Finnish foods8. Foods of the Thirty Years’ War

Members will vote on the theme dur-ing the March CHoW meeting.

www.amazon.com/Feast-Ice-Fire-Official-Companion/dp/0345534492 “Or from science fiction, Dining With The Doctor: The Unauthorized Whovian Cookbook has a few edible-sounding recipes, though many are firmly tongue-in-cheek.www.amazon.com/Dining-Doctor-Unauthorized-Whovian-Cookbook/dp/1481153684

“And we could do a whole supper based on books claiming a connection to Downton Abbey. On www.amazon.com, I counted no less than 11 cook-books with Downton in their name.

“Switching to mystery, one of my favorite book series, has a tie-in cook-book: Dining With Sherlock Holmes: A Baker Street Cookbook.www.amazon.com/Dining-Sher-lock-Holmes-Street-Cookbook/dp/0823212718Staying with the mystery theme, The Nero Wolfe Cookbook by Rex Stout was actually written by the author of the original books. It’s available for down-load on pdf.www.scribd.com/doc/82918740/The-Nero-Wolfe-Cookbook-Rex-Stout“You see the range here. There are many more to choose from – we may want to narrow the theme by genre or historical period, or just leave it wide open.”

Foods from Finland (Bob King)“Finnish foods are becoming more well known as the Nordic food move-ment becomes more popular. Finland celebrated its 100th birthday Decem-ber 6, 2017. The Embassy, a beauti-

ful LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold- certi-fied building open to the public, was the first green embassy building in the United States. It is located at 3301 Massachusetts Avenue N.W., Wash-ington, D.C .20008. www.finland.org www.foodfromfinland.fi/“Government-sponsored program to promote Finnish food, drinks, and the food industry” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_cuisine“Describes the importance of berries, such as cloudberries and lingonber-ries; fish such as salmon, herring, whitefish; whole-grain breads; root vegetables and forest mushrooms; and desserts. The article points out some similarities to Swedish and Germanic cuisines, and that Finns drink the greatest amount per capita of coffee in the world.” www.bing.com/search?q=recipes+from+finland&FORM=QSRE2Recipes from the New York Times, Food Network, Allrecipes and other sources for Finnish dishes such as meatballs, pancakes, and bread. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_cuisine foods, drinks and the food industry.

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Recipes using products that canbespecifically/uniquelymanufactured (Laura Gilliam) It is suggested that members con-sult the food product cookbooks that CHoW has donated to the Smithson-ian. (Contact information to follow in Google Groups mailing). I’m espe-cially not interested in products made for convenience (soups, powdered sauces) nor foods that were processed for preservation (canned, frozen, etc.) A few suggestions: Marshmallows (No) / marshmallow fluff (Yes); Catsup (N) /Chinese X.O. sauce (Y); canned hominy (N) / dried hominy (Y); pizza dough (N) / phyllo dough (Y). Obviously the product choice is very subjective. In brief talk at sup-per—discuss date product first intro-duced and uniqueness of product’s manufacture. Product websites are good sources and American Food and Drink edited by Andrew F. Smith has a number of entries about U.S. food products.

By Claudia Kousoulas

I’ve been working on a cookbook titled Bread & Beauty, A Year in Montgomery County’s Agricultural

Reserve. Along with interviewing farmers and agricultural advocates, attending events, and developing reci-pes based on Ag Reserve produce, I’ve had the great pleasure of researching in the Library of Congress. I’ve found some interesting bits of Montgomery’s Food history, some of which is not ap-propriate for the book, but is too good to leave in the stacks.

From the African American Heritage Cookbook, Heritage Montgomery, 2017.“Families living in houses with-out a cellar stored potatoes in “potato holes” or “preserving kilns.” Arnold and Joe Hawkins from Purdum say that such kilns were made by digging a hole in the ground below the frost line, covering the bottom with straw, and adding the potatoes or other tuber vegetables such as turnips and pars-nips or firm fruits such as apples or pears. Only one type of vegetable or fruit was put in each kiln. It was then covered with straw and a mound of dirt, and a circle was dug around it to keep the water from it.”

From A Grateful Remembrance, the Story of Montgomery County, Mary-land, Ray Eldon Hiebert and Richard K. MacMaster, 1976. In the mid-1800s, the County’s population was often ideologically and economically divided—urban/rural, conserva-tive/liberal, tobacco growers/farm-ers. Slavery was another division. In 1860, slaves made up one third of the County’s population. Josiah Henson became famous as the model for Uncle Tom in Uncle Tom’s Cabin. He was owned by Isaac Riley and held on land just off of Old Georgetown Road. In one of his three memoirs, Henson described his life. The “principal food of those upon my master’s plantation consisted of corn-meal, and salt herrings to which was added in summer a little buttermilk, and the few vegetables which each might raise for himself and his fam-ily, on the little piece of ground which was assigned to him for the purpose, called a truckpatch.”

Historical Notes on Montgomery County FoodwaysFrom A Quaker Woman’s Cookbook, William Woys Weaver, 1982. Weaver notes that this book captures the cultural diversification characteristic of the mid-Atlantic. From the Ameri-can Indians, there are ingredients like green corn, squash, and terrapin with home remedies from sassafras, lily root, and spicewood berries. From Africans, dishes like okra, gumbo soup, and Creole foods spread by the Mississippi river trade and railroads. Germans contributed apple butter, bacon dumplings, bologna sausage, scrapple, and gingerbread. And as Quakers were teetotallers, entertain-ments focused on evening tea parties with spreads of tea cakes, loaf cakes, currant breads, cookies, tea biscuits, lemon butter, cream cheese, and ice cream.

From American Vintage by Paul Lukacs, 2005. Searching for an Ameri-can grape suitable for winemaking, in the early 1800s, Major John Adlum developed a variety of vines, one from “cuttings secured from a widow liv-ing in Montgomery County.” No one knew their source, but they looked like those used to make Hungarian Tokay, but they were later found not to be a European strain. Adlum called them what the widow had: Catawba. The Catawba grape was eventually developed into a white wine and a pinkish sparkling wine, by a Cincin-nati winemaker who developed a German-style wine that had broad appeal and came to be called Cincin-nati Hock.

From the Montgomery County Story, newsletter of the Montgomery County Historical Society, August 1981. While the Cabin John Bridge was under construction, one stoneworker’s wife set up to feed the workers. As the longest stone span in the U.S. became a tourist attraction, they established the Cabin John Bridge Hotel. On the menu, circa 1870, was a specialty of the proprietress, Rosa Bobinger:“Maryland Fried Chicken is fried chicken in a white cream sauce with curled strips of bacon on top. The dish, said to have originated at the Hotel, was advertised as ‘fried spring chicken, Cabin John Style.’”

The food was the main drawing card. Noted The Washington Post: “…one could also go out the Conduit Road for breakfast or dinner at Cabin John, one of Washington’s established amusements, which every visitor to the Nation’s Capitol [sic] puts on his sightseeing programme…”. Dinners were served on custom ironstone dinnerware printed with an image of the bridge in the center of the plate. The hotel and its dining room reached its peak of popularity be-tween 1895 and 1907, and was visited by presidents Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson. It was eventually displaced by other hotels and amusements along Rock Creek and closed in 1925. It burned in April 1931, arson suspected.

From Home on the Canal, Elizabeth Kytle, 1983. Mary Colbert Mose grew up “boating” and recalls, “bean soup was the boatsman’s great meal. Bean soup and rivvels made with eggs. Fried chicken. Fish. Coffee. Anything at all. If we wanted to bake, we had our little baker—a regular oven.” She also recalls that when the boat arrived in Georgetown the children would be given a dime and head directly to Candy Kitchen on M Street where she had her first banana split. They’d buy blocks of taffy, licorice, and cough-drops bought in boxes for a Christ-mas treat, peanuts by the can. Back home they’d eat buckwheat cakes and butchered pigs to make pinehorst (scrapple).

From The Potomac Adventure, Ann Paterson Harris, 1977. The County’s many streams, were the site of mills that took in grain, wood, wool, and guano. The mills were centers of community activity and millers often became storekeepers as well. Lucy J. Pumphrey operated the old Glen Mill, built by Tom Peters about 1870 and lived in a stone farmhouse off Persimmon Tree Road occupied by family since 1853. An old business paper from the “Glen Roller Mills” titles her as “Manufacturer and Dealer in The Celebrated ‘White Daisy’ Patent and Consolation Flours, Best Stone Ground Corn Meal for Family Use.” Beneath this, “Pure Ground Rye, Corn, and Oats for Feed, Sawed Stove Wood, etc.”

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Upcoming Events

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“The Artistic Table” February 17-June 10Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens4155 Linnean Avenue, Washington, D.C. 20008Suggested donation: Adult $18, Senior $15 Tuesday-Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.202-686-5807www.hillwoodmuseum.org/exhibitions

Contemporary designers Timothy Corrigan, Barry Dixon, Charlotte Moss, Alex Papachristidis, P. Gaye Tapp, Hutton Wilkinson, and Josh Hildreth worked with Hill-wood curators to create table displays that explore the concept of artistically set tables, past and present. Drawing from the many and varied table wares at Hillwood or their own sources, designers drew from the el-egance of the European courts, Merriweather’s exceptional style, and their own modern aesthetic, as inspiration for beautiful and refreshing takes on setting an artistic table.

Table designed by Charlotte MossPhoto by Erik Kvalsvik

“Tea with Lady Washington”Saturdays, March 10 or March 24, 2-3 p.m.Mount Vernon3200 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway, Mount Vernon VA 22121, 703-780-2000www.virginia.org/listings/Events/TeawithLadyWashington/Fee: $35 Step back in time and join Martha Washington for a cozy tea as she shares memories of her and the General’s life as a young married couple, during the Revolutionary War, and at their beloved Mount Vernon. Hear Martha Washington explain the art and social his-tory of enjoying this refined beverage while being served fine tea and an elegant light fare prepared by the Mount Vernon Inn Restaurant. Following the program guests are invited to a self-guided exploration of the estate and Mount Vernon’s beautiful decorative arts collection. Menu: Light fare prepared by the Mount Vernon Inn Restaurant and afternoon tea.

“Cooking up History” at the National Museum of American HistoryNational Museum of American HistoryConstitution Avenue between 12th and 14th Streets, NWWashington, D.C20013http://americanhistory.si.edu/topics/food/pages/cooking-history

Once a month at the museum’s demonstration kitchen on the Coulter Performance Plaza, Cooking Up History show-cases a guest chef and NMAH resident food historian, Dr. Ashley Rose Young, preparing a recipe and talking about the history and traditions behind its ingredients, culinary techniques, and enjoyment. While museum staff are not permitted to serve food from the stage, you can try a dish inspired by the demonstration in the museum’s Stars & Stripes Café after programs as noted.

Saturday, March 17: Alon Shaya: An Odyssey of Food, My Journey Back to IsraelGuest Chef: Alon ShayaCooking demonstration: 1:00 p.m.Book signing: 2:00 p.m. 2018 marks the tricentennial of the founding of New Orleans and this program features one of the city’s most celebrated chefs, Alon Shaya. With his innovative inter-pretation of modern Israeli cuisine, Chef Alon has brought dishes ranging from Labneh to Schnitzel, not only to the forefront of New Orleans’ Creole food scene, but also to the nation’s. During this program, Chef Alon will prepare several dishes from his new cookbook, SHAYA: An Odys-sey of Food, My Journey Back to Israel, while speaking to food historian Ashley Rose Young about his professional and personal experiences with food. Books will be available for purchase at the program and after the demonstration Chef Alon will sign copies of his book.

Friday, April 6: Exploring the Mid-AtlanticGuest Chef: Lindsay Leopold, Sur La TableIn 2018 Cooking up History is introducing a new thematic series on regional foodways that will begin in April with Sur La Table guest chef Lindsay Leopold exploring spring-time traditions from the Chesapeake.

American Association of University WomenAnnual Book SaleFriday, April 13, 2018, 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.Saturday, April 14, 2018, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Falls Church Community Center, Falls Church, VA,223 Little Falls Street, Falls Church, just off Route 7.https://fallschurcharea-va.aauw.net/booksale/ A book sale for antiquarians, mystery lovers, cooks, historians, children, and bargain hunters. More than 40,000 books for browsing and buying. Huge selection of hard-back, paperbacks, fiction, and non-fiction of all kinds. Most books priced at $3 or less.Book sale profits fund scholar-ships for local high school girls and grants to local organi-zations helping educate girls.

BOOK REVIEWUnited Tastes, The Making of the First American Cookbook

by Keith Stavely and Kathleen Fitzgerald, University of Massachusetts Press, 2017, Paper, 351 pages, $32.95

Claudia Kousoulas is an editor, writer, and educator whose topics include architec-ture, urbanism, and culinary history. Her blog is appetiteforbooks.wordpress.com

1999 “The Legacy of Mary Randolph”2000 “Fabulous Fifties”2001 “Paris between the Wars”2002 “Foods of the Silk Road”2003 “Foods of the Chesapeake Region2004 “White Foods”2005 “Recipes from Julia Child2006 “Foods of the Caribbean: Caribbean Holiday”2007 “Virginia’s 400th Anniversary”2008 “Recipes from Community Cookbooks”

2009 “Good Food for Bad Times“2010 “Indigenous Pre-Contact New World Foods”2011 “A Book Report”2012 “North vs. South: Foods of the Civil War Era”2013 “Medieval Food History”2014 “Eating en Route”2015 “Foods from the Dutch East India Company.”2016 “Food Writers of the Twentieth Century”2017 “Symbolic Foods”

Amelia Simmons’ American Cookery is considered the first American cookbook, but little

is known about its author. In an effort to find her, Stavely and Fitzgerald circle the book’s historical context—its publishers, its recipes, and its read-ers.Their deep and intense research may not reveal the mystery of the orphaned author, but it does show how cookbooks can establish cultural positions.

American Cookery is often described as the first American cookbook because it includes recipes for new world ingre-dients: “pompkin,”“cramberries,” and cornmeal. But, as the authors point out, the book represents only the food of the Northeast and New England, not the Mid-Atlantic or Southern colonies. The authors expand that thought, pointing out the social opin-ions that were shaping Americans’ view of themselves—in this case that New England was superior, and in the opinion of Yale-educated Timothy Dwight, “the people of the Connecti-cut Valley were ‘better educated and more orderly.’” The authors point out that this was a line of intellectual thought that would eventually stretch to the founding of Case Western Reserve University, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s The American Woman’s Home, and even the design of country living in American suburbs.

But in fact, the recipes are more Brit-ish than American—roast meats, pies, puddings, and cakes—in some cases, adapted to new world ingredi-ents, like the cornmeal used to make

Indian Pudding. The first recipe is for Roast Beef, a dish that is a metaphor for America’s mother country. And while many of the recipes were lifted verba-tim from familiar English cookbooks by Elizabeth Raf-fald and Susannah Carter, Stavely and Fitzgerald point out that “borrowings” were common, and the concept of an original work by an author was not fully established.

But even with the “borrowings,” the authors see American Cookery as more than a kitchen handbook; they see it as a patriotic action. And as food always does, it was a way to define the emerg-ing social identity of Americans. Be-yond ingredients, the American table was described as exhibiting a “rational and moderate gentility,” enjoyed by people who were “modestly conviv-ial” and “polite in discourse.”

Stavely and Fitzgerald see the au-thor herself as emblematic of the new American nation. She describes herself as an orphan, not answerable to parent, much the way the U.S. had orphaned itself with the Revolutionary War. And Simmons is an aggrieved

orphan at that, asserting in the book’s front matter that her text has been subverted, a statement that the authors propose, makes her America’s first cooking personality.

Without much more personal information about Ame-lia Simmons, Stavely and Fitzgerald use social context to understand this first cookbook. Accordingly, they take a deep dive into the culture, pat-terns, and economics of printing and publishing.

Early settlers had a commitment to religious books and literacy, which eventually extended to secular publi-cations, including local newspapers. Those same printers would expand to book printing, including American Cookery, which was initially printed in Hartford, but quickly moved into editions throughout New England and the Hudson River Valley.

Like many industries, local printers were absorbed or overtaken by large enterprises, and publishing concen-trated in New York and Philadelphia. It was that, and changing dietary habits, that eventually meant American Cookery would come to be viewed as “an amusing curiosity.” That curios-ity remains, but here in a certainly less dismissive form, as Stavely and Fitzgerald use it to understand not only American cookery, but America itself.

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Themes for Past Cooperative Suppers are Listed Here to Avoid Repeats

Television, Blogs & Websiteshttp://afternoontea.mpt.org/monthly/

Maryland Public Television (MPT), in connection with their scheduling of British television programs in the afternoon, is hosted by Tea Lady Heather Sanderson. MPT offers an “Afternoon Tea” blog in which, occasionally, there are entries on a food or food practices that contain a certain amount of cu-linary history. For example, in a piece on “Chocolate Easter Eggs,” we learn that in 1873, the British chocolate company J. S. Fry & Sons, Ltd. developed the first chocolate Easter egg; Cadbury’s version arrived two years later. Over 80 million Chocolate Easter Eggs are sold annually in the U.K., although there is an increasing tendency to delete the word “Easter” in order to make the confection more of a year-round sweet.

http://afternoontea.mpt.org/monthly/apr2016/ Another short essay on chocolate—the author argues that Cadbury Dairy bar is better than [now] owner Hershey’s bar—can be found here: http://afternoontea.mpt.org/monthly/feb2015/

https://teachersandwritersmagazine.org/the-taste-of-home-food-themed-poetry-with-refu-gee-and-immigrant-students-3401.htmThis article and the link below to radio are related to the theme of Conflict Cuisine that CHoW members have been discussing this year and last. The article by Merna Ann Hecht is from the January 26, 2017, Teachers & Writers magazine. The author is formerly a teaching artist for the Seattle Arts and Lectures Writers in the Schools program who founded and co-directs the Sto-ries of Arrival Poetry Project. She also teaches humanities and social justice courses at the University of Washington, Tacoma. “Stories of Arrival: Youth Voices” is a community partnership project between Foster High School, Tukwila

Washington, one of the most language diverse high schools in the country; Jack Straw Cultural Center; the Institute for Poetic Medicine in Palo Alto, California; and KBCS 91.3 FM. Project Feast is this year’s special project partner for Our Table of Memories: Food and Poetry of Spirit, Home-land, and Tradition. “’Stories of Arrival’ works with high school-aged refu-gees and immigrants at the school and takes place in the English language learner (ELL) classes of my co-direc-tor, Carrie Stradley. Our goal was to celebrate our students’ culinary heritage by asking them to write about the foods and customs that sustain and nourish them, and to bring these stories to the wider community as a way of fostering mutual understanding across cultures.” For video and broadcast: www.jackstraw.org/programs/ed/youth/foster.shtmlThe book the students created can be found on Chatwin or amazon. Our Table of Memories: Food & Poetry of Spirit, Homeland & Tradition is a beautifully illustrated book of recipes, interviews, and food-themed poetry.

https://dceff.org/watchnow/ You can watch many great films from previous Environ-mental Festivals in the Nation’s Capital. For example, this 10-minute documentary, “50 Years of Farming: For Love & Vegetables,” is about the Newcomb family and their Potomac Farm Stand at Tysons Corner. “Bringing Back the Brooks—A Revival of the South’s Trout” is a nine-minute film from Freshwaters Illustrated that is “a poetic look at a forgotten native of Appalachia, the Southern Appalachian brook trout, which is being brought back from the brink… by hand.” This year’s festival is March 15-25 (see February CHoW-Line, Upcoming Events).

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At the CHoW Board meeting on February 12, we discussed our financial situation. Each year we are bringing in less than we spend, the primary expense being the cost for our meeting room.

Yet, our rental cost from Montgomery County for the BCC Services Center location is extremely low. Even with our qualifications as a non-profit, 501 (c)(3), the Silver Spring Civic Center Building where we needed to go for our January meeting cost twice as much, making a noticeable impact on our budget. We are hoping that this will not oc-cur again; however, we need to be prepared.

With all these factors in mind, plus the awareness that there had been no increase in dues for quite a few years, the Board made the decision to increase dues to $35 per household beginning in September. Dues are delinquent by the end of October.

We also have 13 people who have requested a hard copy of our newsletter delivered by mail. The extra $10 of dues for this service does not cover the cost. Therefore, there will be an increase to $15 per year. For those of you who want this extra service, please consider if it is possible for you to get the newsletter electronically.

Board Votes Necessary Dues Increase for 2018-19By Barb Karth, CHoW President

DIRECTIONS TO THE MEETINGCHoW/DC usually meets on the second Sunday of each month, September through May, from 2:00-4:00 p.m. at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Services Center, 4805 Edgemoor Lane, Bethesda, Maryland 20814.

DIRECTIONS: Bethesda-Chevy Chase Services Center is located at 4805 Edgemoor Lane in downtown Bethesda, Maryland, in the two-story County office building on the plaza level of the Metropolitan complex, above a County parking garage. The building is across the street from the Bethesda Metro station.

From the Metro Station, take the escalator from the bus bay to the plaza level, turn left, walk past the clock tower and across to the Metropolitan plaza using the pedestrian bridge. The Center’s street entrance at 4805 Edgemoor Lane (corner of Old Georgetown and Edgemoor) is marked with American and Montgomery County flags. Take the elevator to Level Two for meeting rooms.

If you are coming south on Old Georgetown Road (from the Beltway use exit 36) turn right on Woodmont Avenue - the entrance is the second driveway on the left.

If you are coming south on Wisconsin Avenue/Rockville Pike, turn right onto Woodmont Avenue, go south for approximately one mile, cross over Old Georgetown Road, and the parking garage entrance is the second driveway on your left.

Coming north on Wisconsin or west on Rt. 410, take Old Georgetown Road north, turn left at the second traffic light (Woodmont Ave.) and the garage entrance will be on your left. Take the elevators from the parking garage to the plaza level (P). The building is located at the center of the plaza. The American flag, Montgomery County flag, and the County seal mark the entrance to the building.

PARKING: Parking is free on weekends in the county parking garage. The entrance to the parking garage is marked with a large blue Bethesda Center parking sign.

8 CHoW Line