VINTAGE RECIPES HAVE long been a fascination of ours on The Sister Project. (see my commentary on my grandmother’s treasured tripe dish, for example.) The recipe box, after all, is one of the ways women have stayed connected across generational boundaries. So of course, I was delighted to read about a vintage cuilinary adventure that writer Wency Leung recently embarked on–an adventure far more interesting than just reading through your grandmother’s old recipes.

Inspired by Michael Pollan’s advice to not eat “anything your great-great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food,” Leung decided to do just that. Usuing archival recipes that The Globe published during the 1910s, she spent a week only cooking (and eating) food from a century ago.

You can read the hilarious (and, not suprisingly, harried) results of the experiement here. Spoiler alert: obscene amounts of butter and cream were ingested.

I’m definitely impressed by Leung’s ardour. (She only broke her challenge once to eat a few jelly beans and peanuts!) And even the description of gray, gelatinous ham didn’t keep me from feeling charmed by the narrative potential of old recipes, I’m just glad that Leung has written about sampling these century-old treats so that I will never have to.

(photo via)

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WE’VE TALKED GIFTS before on The Sister Project. (Here’s a great post from Marion on the subject.) But this winter, I thought I’d do a little gift guide for the many sisters and one big brother in my life. This week: (mostly) handmade goods under $40 for your adorable sister-friend!

She’s cute and crafty and puts up with way too much of your complaining on long video gchats. (Er, well at least my bestie does.) So here are some holiday gift ideas that are as sweet and stylish as she is (clockwise from top left):

1. Big Ol’ Bow Earwarmers for warmth in the wintry North.

2. 2011 Astrology Wall Calendar Prints, functional and dreamy.

3. Leather Mini-Clutch–perfect for nights on the town and for holding essentials at school.

4. A batch of the most delicous homemade molasses chocolate chip cookies!

5. Striped spear embroidered necklace (This would have to be a Happy 2011 gift since it’s made to order.)

6. RGB nail polish (DBP free!) in purple-y gray color “Haze.”

7. A Cuddly Cloud Cushion for lonely times in her apartment.

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I‘M SO VERY GRATEFUL TODAY to have such a fantastic community here on The Sister Project. Merci for reading! It means so much to me. And now a few things I suggest doing on this Thanksgiving day:

• Watch Hannah and Her Sisters. (Don’t you love the Thanksgiving scenes in this movie?)

• Eat some unexpected food. (Seaweed anyone?)

• Make some silly crafts. (Nothing like taking out all that family-induced stress on a piece of felt!)

• Share an unhappy holiday story. (Sometimes you need a good cry. I call mine “The Thanksgiving That Wasn’t.”)

Enjoy!

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SPEAKING OF CRAFTS, I thought I’d share a photo that sums up how I’ve been spending the bulk of my free time lately. That’s right: I’ve been canning. It all started with this recipe for refrigerator pickles that Margaret Roach, founder of The Sister Project, posted on her gardening blog. I love how the simple steps of canning–sterilizing the jars; boiling a brine; gathering the perfect combination of spices–connects me to Margaret even though we’re separated by a thousand miles, and also connects me to the many women in my family who have done this very activity over the past hundred years. This women’s work is powerful stuff, eh?

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Photo by Stephanie Foley for Gourmet

STRAWBERRY SEASON MIGHT be waning south of the Mason-Dixon but since I know it’s still going strong up north, I thought I’d share my new favorite strawberry-centric recipe that I’ve been perfecting during the recent months. (And I say “perfecting” because I’ve made it and then ate all of it more times than I would like to admit.) It’s a strawberry dumpling. Yes, dumpling. And it’s delicious.

Strawberry Dumpling (Originally from Gourmet):

• 1 qt strawberries, trimmed and thickly sliced (about 4 cups)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 2/3 cup whole milk

Stir together strawberries and sugar in a 4-qt heavy saucepan and let stand, stirring occasionally, until juicy, about 15 minutes. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Blend in butter using a pastry blender or your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps. Stir in milk until just blended, then add mixture to boiling berries and stir once or twice. Tightly cover saucepan and reduce heat to low. Cook, undisturbed, until dumpling looks dry on top, 15 minutes. Let stand off heat, uncovered, 5 minutes before serving. Serve with whipping cream or a dollop of vanilla ice cream.

P.S. The dumpling tastes a lot better if you’ve picked the strawberries with a friend!
Bon appetit! And happy summer!

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THIS WEEKEND, MY FRIEND Erin’s parents are driving up from New Orleans with 70 pounds of crawfish. We’re all going to contribute our favorite summer side-dishes (I’m bringing the potato salad), get a keg, and have a ruckus outdoor crawfish boil! I’ve never eaten crawdads (have you?), but apparently this kind of neighborhood crustacean boil is a bayou tradition. I think it’s a perfect way to wrap up the semester. And until then, I’ll be practicing my Louisiana Waddle, a la the lovely NOLA native Boswell Sisters.

(I’ll post pictures of the big boil next week…stay tuned!)

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