Ready to try a soup that’s not made with a roux? Leek and potato soup is delicious and easy to make in under an hour. According to Mobilian Eugene Walter—novelist, cookbook author and family friend—in his book Hints and Pinches, leeks were grown in Gulf Coast regions prior to World War II, but then fell […]
Mary and Helen reporting. Today, our personal laptops are never far out of reach. A lady in the 18th and 19th centuries owned something very similar—but far more elegant—a lap desk. A fancy lap desk is an authentic accouterment of a fashionable Regency or Victorian lady. Made of mahogany, Brazilian rosewood—or of pine veneered with […]
Every family has a recipe for chicken soup. But the kind said to cure illness is often short on vegetables and chicken. It’s little more than broth, often as pale as the patients forced to eat it. Not this one. This soup, which begins with a roux, is thick and hearty. Served over rice, […]
It’s no secret Cleopatra wore green eye shadow and blackened her brows and eyelashes with kohl, a mix of lead, copper, ash and burnt almonds. The Greeks and Romans favored white lead paint on their faces with rouge of crushed mulberries. In England in the 1700s, the fashionable outdid themselves with powdered wigs, powdered faces, […]
Mary Reporting. November 1st is All Saints’ Day, a holy day in the Catholic Church. The faithful go to Mass on this day, which is set aside to honor all the saints. There are thousands of named saints, canonized through the centuries after much study and authenticated miracles. But clearly there are millions of unnamed […]
