richard-in-cincy
Well-known member
Mary lived in Lexington, 80 miles south of Cincinnati (aka, the "big city" in those days) and was known as the "Athens of the West." She presided over her Strawberry Teas that she moved to the White House when she moved to the District:
Mary Todd Lincoln's Strawberry Tea Menu
Selection of Teas, Sugars, and Cream
Kentucky Spiced Sour Cream Biscuits with Burnt Butter Glaze
Chocolate-dipped Strawberries
Coconut Macaroons
Kentucky Spiced Sour Cream Biscuits with Burnt Butter Glaze
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup sour cream
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons lard or butter
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup evaporated (tinned) milk
375F. Oven.
Sift dry ingredients into a bowl. Beat the eggs. Add the sugar and sour cream. Beat well.
Combine the dry ingredients into the sour cream mixture.
Drop by teaspoonsful onto greased sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes. Makes 50.
Brown Butter Glaze
Melt butter and brown in a saucepan.
Stir in confectioner's sugar.
Add the milk and stir until blended.
Pour over the hot biscuits and allow to cool and set.
Mary's Chocolate-dipped Stawberries
(adapted for modern American kitchens)
1 pint strawberries (Lexington strawberries during Mary's days for this recipe were big, ripe, red June strawberries with the stems attached.)
1/4 cup shortening
2 oz. bittersweet chocolate
Melt chocolate and shortening and remove quickly to prevent overcooking. Poor into dish.
Dip each clean, dry strawberry halfway into chocolate.
Place on paper to set. Refrigerate until served.
Coconut Macaroons
(adapted for modern American kitchens)
5 1/3 cups flaked coconut
14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons almond extract
350F. oven.
Combine all ingredients.
Drop by teaspoons full onto a foil-lined baking sheet.
Bake 8-10 minutes until the edges are browned and macaroons are set.
Remove to rack to cool.
You may dip the bottoms in melted bittersweet chocolate if preferred. Set on waxed paper to set.
Little known facts: The first Beethoven Symphony (I think it was the 6th, I could be wrong, but that has been known to happen a time or two) had its American premiere in the Lexington Opera House, organized by Anthony Philip Heinrich (1781 - 1861) the "Beethoven of Louisville" the year before Mary was born down around the corner from the Lexington Opera House on Main Street. The Lexington Philharmonic, of which I was a member for two years, still performs in the same Lexington Opera House. The opera house was one of the first air-conditioned buildings--ever. Pipes were installed in the walls and water chilled by blocks of ice from the ice house were piped through during performances in the sultry Lexington summers. The air-conditioning system has since been replaced during subsequent renovation.
And something I've always wondered: The study of ancient music is called "Musicology."
What is the study of ancient cookery called???
Mary Todd Lincoln's Strawberry Tea Menu
Selection of Teas, Sugars, and Cream
Kentucky Spiced Sour Cream Biscuits with Burnt Butter Glaze
Chocolate-dipped Strawberries
Coconut Macaroons
Kentucky Spiced Sour Cream Biscuits with Burnt Butter Glaze
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup sour cream
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons lard or butter
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup evaporated (tinned) milk
375F. Oven.
Sift dry ingredients into a bowl. Beat the eggs. Add the sugar and sour cream. Beat well.
Combine the dry ingredients into the sour cream mixture.
Drop by teaspoonsful onto greased sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes. Makes 50.
Brown Butter Glaze
Melt butter and brown in a saucepan.
Stir in confectioner's sugar.
Add the milk and stir until blended.
Pour over the hot biscuits and allow to cool and set.
Mary's Chocolate-dipped Stawberries
(adapted for modern American kitchens)
1 pint strawberries (Lexington strawberries during Mary's days for this recipe were big, ripe, red June strawberries with the stems attached.)
1/4 cup shortening
2 oz. bittersweet chocolate
Melt chocolate and shortening and remove quickly to prevent overcooking. Poor into dish.
Dip each clean, dry strawberry halfway into chocolate.
Place on paper to set. Refrigerate until served.
Coconut Macaroons
(adapted for modern American kitchens)
5 1/3 cups flaked coconut
14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons almond extract
350F. oven.
Combine all ingredients.
Drop by teaspoons full onto a foil-lined baking sheet.
Bake 8-10 minutes until the edges are browned and macaroons are set.
Remove to rack to cool.
You may dip the bottoms in melted bittersweet chocolate if preferred. Set on waxed paper to set.
Little known facts: The first Beethoven Symphony (I think it was the 6th, I could be wrong, but that has been known to happen a time or two) had its American premiere in the Lexington Opera House, organized by Anthony Philip Heinrich (1781 - 1861) the "Beethoven of Louisville" the year before Mary was born down around the corner from the Lexington Opera House on Main Street. The Lexington Philharmonic, of which I was a member for two years, still performs in the same Lexington Opera House. The opera house was one of the first air-conditioned buildings--ever. Pipes were installed in the walls and water chilled by blocks of ice from the ice house were piped through during performances in the sultry Lexington summers. The air-conditioning system has since been replaced during subsequent renovation.
And something I've always wondered: The study of ancient music is called "Musicology."
What is the study of ancient cookery called???