Revolutionary recipes: Founding Mothers share culinary tips with Daughters of the American Revolution

Members of a local historical service organization took a literal taste of history last week, conjuring the spirits of some of America’s Founding Mothers to serve up confections and culinary tips.

During Thursday’s meeting of the Donegal chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution, historical figures such as author Louisa May Alcott and first ladies Dolley Madison, Abigail Adams and Martha Washington walked among the tables in a meeting room at the Willow Valley Communities Cultural Center.

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Wearing Colonial-style dresses and caps, these women — portrayed by members of the local DAR chapter, who are all descended from men who fought in the American Revolution — were there to swap recipes connected with the famous names and personas they’d temporarily adopted.

They also spoke about dishes they’d have served, to family or company, during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Three of the dishes for which recipes were provided to the DAR membership — Lady Baltimore cake, Dolley Madison’s almond cakes and Louisa May Alcott’s apple slump — were prepared for sampling by the culinary team of Willow Valley Communities.

Chapter member Jenne Renkin portrayed Alcott, and presented a recipe for apple slump — a pastry dish said to be a favorite of Alcott’s.

The author, best known for her book, “Little Women,” lived at Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts.

“But her homestead actually got the nickname Apple Slump,” after the dish, Renkin says.

Suzanne Landis, of Columbia, portrayed Washington and talked about how her husband, our first president, was partial to chicken pie.

“It is the most popular among all of our guests to Mount Vernon,” Landis says. She calls the dish “a savory combination of diced chicken, flour, cream and butter ... cooked beneath a delicate batter crust.”

“George adores a ham and chicken combination,” Landis adds, as the first first lady.

Molly Pitcher, the legendary Revolutionary War battlefield assistant possibly based on a soldier’s wife named Mary Ludwig, came to life courtesy of Renee Schuler, of Lancaster.

Schuler had Pitcher talk about how a tough cut of beef could be used in sauerbraten, a dish typical of Ludwig’s German heritage.

“You have to have something to break down that connective tissue to make it soft,” Schuler says. “They would soak (the beef) in vinegar for almost five days” before cooking it with onions and carrots.

Jean Logan, of Willow Valley, talked of how a favorite dish of her historic figure, Abigail Adams, was “baked Indian pudding, that was served to me as a child, and which I liked to serve at White House dinners.”

Sue McClure, of Lancaster, touted first lady Madison’s acclaimed food preparation skills before sharing a recipe for her 19th-century almond cakes.

Audrey Hallgren, of Lititz, took on the persona of Joan, Lady Baltimore, the second wife of George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore.

Calvert oversaw the colony of Avalon in Newfoundland in the 17th century; his heirs were early proprietors of land in present-day Maryland.

The provenance of the cake bearing Lady Baltimore’s name is somewhat murky. It is said to have originated at the Lady Baltimore Tea Room in Charleston, South Carolina, in the early 20th century.

Following in the footsteps of the famous women that visited their meeting, the DAR chapter members submitted their own family recipes.

“We plan to make them into a cookbook,” Landis says. “Our goal is to have it (put together) by our April luncheon to sell copies of it. We might even make it available through our website.”