Sunday Drive: In an 18th Century Drawing Room

The Reception by Arturo Ricco
Click to enlarge.

I'm sure this charming piece is a swing version of a classical tune, but I can't remember what the original was.  Little help, fellas?

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Colonial Cookery

M.P. is taking a little holiday from cooking this week, so the other night he asked me to come up with something for our dinner.  I was glad to oblige, and after a few seconds' thought, grabbed a couple of frozen chicken legs and dropped them in the crockpot, then poured about half a small bottle of BBQ sauce over them.  

Six hours later, without further attention, they were super tender and delicious, meat falling off the bones, no fuss or muss required.  To round out the meal, I heated up a can of collard greens on the stove, also a can of candied yams, and made some Jiffy Mix cornbread muffins (just add an egg and a splash of milk).  None of this required any culinary skill, of course, but M.P. gobbled it down like there was no tomorrow.  I'm always glad when I can fix him something he enjoys, when he is always cooking up wonderful things for me.

It occurs to me that the crockpot is the modern-day equivalent of the Dutch oven, which has been a very handy piece of cookware for centuries. So here is a playlist of Dutch oven recipes from John Townsend, the go-to 18th century expert, who really knows what he is doing when it comes to colonial-era cookery.  Enjoy - and thank your lucky stars we don't have to cook over an open fire anymore!

P.S. - we do have a 5-quart cast iron Dutch oven for large recipes; but many times we prefer to use the smaller 3-quart chicken fryer, so called.  I call it a deep skillet.  Very handy for all sorts of things, and it has a convenient handle, unlike the Dutch oven.

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What I'm Watching: Building a Log Cabin

Townsends YouTube channel is a cornucopia of fascinating videos all about life in 18th-century colonial America, including lots of recipes about cooking over a campfire, on a hearth, or in a homemade oven.

But lately I've been engrossed in watching the building of an honest-to-God log cabin from the ground up, using only 18th-century tools and a lot of elbow grease.  Of course I've known all my life the general idea of how such things were put together - but it's different watching it go up log by log.  

Even if you're not into living off the grid - and your Head Trucker is certainly not about to try such a damnfool thing - you might learn something from these vids.  I've selected four out of the playlist of 20 to share with my truckbuddies here. So get a move on, boys, and get your cabin ready for winter!

Your Head Trucker loves the sound of David Cadle's voice in this last video - that's the authentic sound of the past.  Awesome beard, too.  And pretty blue eyes.  

Bonus:  At the end of the day, how are you gonna feed all those hungry, hairy, sweaty men?  No problem.  While they're working on the cabin, you could be building an oven out of mud and straw.  When the sun goes down, they'll love your hot buns.

 

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The Crumpet Controversy

Tempting, yes - but is this a real crumpet?
Picture from King Arthur Flour Company.

Just to show that the Blue Truck remains undaunted in its mission to shed light upon the pressing issues of the day, and to follow fearlessly wherever the pursuit of Truth may lead, we now take you to the wilds of Indiana for this revealing exposé.  Viewer discretion is advised, depending on how you really feel about pikelets and barm.




More 18th century cooking videos can be found at James Townsend's YouTube channel.


Bonus video: Are your crumpets too heavy? Maybe you're overdoing the flour.

Carved with Love: The Extraordinary Thomas Chippendale

A fascinating and highly informative BBC documentary, part of a series on British woodwork, first aired last year.