As early as 1869 the Sunday parade of fashion on Fifth Avenue had become a feature of New York life. The Easter Parade still continues, but the fine equipages, with spirited horses and uniformed footmen, have given way to the automobile. Another notable feature of former days was the driving in Central Park. Here might be seen old Commodore Vanderbilt, driving his famous trotter, “Dexter”; Robert Bonner, speeding “Maud S.”; Thomas Kilpatrick, Frank Work, Russell Sage, and other horsemen driving to their private quarter- or half- mile courses in Harlem; leaders of society and dowagers in their gilded coaches; and even maidens of the “Four Hundred” driving their phaetons.

~ Fifth Avenue: Glances at the Vicissitudes and Romance of a World-Renowned Thoroughfare (1915)

NEWS: Site updates will be at least once a week, if not twice a week, from now on. Bear with me as I and the site go through a transition, but I definitely will not abandon you all. I usually post interesting links on the Facebook page even if I’m not writing blog posts, so that’s an option if you’d like to receive history news, videos, et al.

Less opulent than Buckingham Palace, less iconic than Windsor Castle, and definitely less bombastic than Balmoral, the royal residence of Sandringham House in Norfolk was built for privacy and simplicity. Here, on his own country estate King Edward VII could relax from the formalities of his rank, he could romp with his family and close friends, and he had full control over the workings of the household. Though as King, he did not have as many opportunities to travel to Sandringham as he had when he was merely the Prince of Wales, Edward more than made up for his absence during Christmastime.

At Sandringham one could expect the holiday to be celebrated in a good old-fashioned style, “uniting all the mighty feasting, the sports and merriment, the decorative use of flowers and evergreens which trace back through centuries of our history past the Christian story into Druidical mists, to the pretty customs of the Christmas tree, with its adornment of tinsel, flags, crackers, and flaring tapers, and the midnight invocation of Santa Claus, which were brought over from Germany by the Prince Consort.” The guests consisted only of members of the Royal Family, who purchased their presents in advance in London, or selected items sent to Sandringham by the most fashionable tradesmen and department stores. In the ballroom was the great Christmas tree upon which hung the presents for King Edward’s grandchildren and every other member of the household, down to the humblest governess.

On Christmas Eve, the King and Queen distributed joints of beef and other substantial foodstuffs to the labourers, workmen, and cottagers on the Sandringham Estate. In addition, gifts such as warm garments, toys, and other useful items were sent around to the cottages. On Christmas morning, the adults were wakened by the State Piper, who played his bagpipe as he walked around the house. Of course the children were awake and full of glee, and there was much excitement when the adults went down for breakfast in the Dining Saloon. The presents were passed around as everyone ate–or tried to eat–breakfast, and to that purchased by the family members for one another at Sandringham were the piles and piles of gifts posted or sent by rail from the many relatives abroad.

After this, everyone tramped from room to room, examining the decorations of holly and mistletoe put up by Queen Alexandra, her daughters, and members of the household, and then went upstairs to dress for church. The King and Queen led the way on foot across the park to the church of St. Mary Magdalene, which was also decorated by Alexandra. The Royal Family sat within the chancel, and the rest of the church was filled with “the suite and servants, some of the children of the Royal Schools, and a few visitors”. The sermon, in accordance with the King’s wishes, never exceeded twenty minutes, and once the service ended, the congregation rose and remained standing until the whole of the Royal Family had departed.

The children were left to eat luncheon (a concession to the holiday was the flambeed pudding!), while the adults spent the afternoon out of doors, motoring, driving, ice-skating, walking, riding, and visiting the kennels. After tea, the children were herded downstairs and into the saloon, where their presents hung from a blazing Christmas tree. Everyone spent a few hours in games with the junior members of the Royal Family until they were tired out and sent to bed. Later that evening, everyone who pulled a ticket were summoned to the ballroom, where a table circled the Christmas tree was laden with presents. Courtiers, tenants, and servants received gifts from the King and Queen, usually comprising of “handsomely-bound books, articles of jewelry, etc from the King, and books, art pottery, art needlework, wood carving and silk dresses from the Queen–the latter being chosen as presents to the upper servants.” Edward delighted in this activity, and Alexandra threw herself into the spirit of the day, flinging packets of crackers and sweets to queue of people.

The crowning ceremony of the day was Christmas dinner. At 8:45 Sandringham Time, the guests and all members of the Household commanded to dine with their Majesties assembled in a large drawing room about fifteen minutes before the appointed time to settle who was to take whom in to dinner. Three minutes before the clock chimed, everyone passed through the drawing room two by two, in order of precedence, and took their seats at the series of oval tables laid in the Grand Dining Saloon. Servants clad in splendid liveries of scarlet coats and waistcoats trimmed with gold braid, wearing gold stocks in place of collars, white satin breeches, stockings, and shoes stood at attention, and there were special footmen immediately behind the chairs of the King and Queen, to whom the regular footmen brought dishes from which these special footmen served Their Majesties. The tables were laden with gold and silver plate, rare flowers, and a pure white china service decorated with the Royal Arms and the Garter. The menu comprised of barons of beef, cygnets, turkeys, plum puddings, mince pies, etc, of which everyone had to consume within the hour allotted to dinner.

At the end of dinner, the Queen signaled the most exalted guest and everyone rose as the ladies retired to the drawing rooms. The King and the gentlemen followed suit in twenty minutes (Edward, when Prince of Wales, found dawdling over port and cigars with men tiresome, and shortened that postprandial interlude drastically), after which there was either a dance or a Command Performance of that season’s most fashionable play or musical comedy, or perhaps simple pleasures such as bridge, parlor games, music, or a turn in the American-style bowling alley. This intimate Christmas celebration lasted into the wee hours of the night, and the following day was when the servants’ had their Christmas dinner, where certain favored guests were issued invitations, and they and the King and Queen joined the merriment belowstairs.

The next few days after this were usually devoted to a shoot. Four to six crack shots were invited to Sandringham to enjoy what was considered the best shooting in England. All farm machinery was at a standstill so as not to disturb the birds, and farmhands with blue and red flags, attired in smocks and with red bands around their hats, were taken to their places by the gamekeepers. Game carts were sent to the places where the firing was likely to the “hottest,” and when all was ready, the vehicles carrying the King and his guests rumbled across the estate. The guns were out all morning, booming and crackling across the sky. At one pm, the ladies were expected to grace the luncheon tent with their presence, where everyone dined on plain and simple dishes like Irish stew, roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, or boiled beef and batter pudding. By the close of December, the celebrations at Sandringham had ended; however, King Edward and Queen Alexandra always extended their holidays with their annual New Year’s house party hosted by the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire at Chatsworth, where they enjoyed the same degree of intimacy and privacy as at Sandringham.

Sources
“Christmas with the King and Queen” by Mary Spencer Warren, The London Magazine, 1904
“How They Spend Christmas at Sandringham” by J.M. Carlisle, The Windsor Magazine, 1899
King Edward As I Knew Him by Charles William Stamper
“Royal Homes of Sport: Sandringham” by Alfred E.T. Watson, The Badminton Magazine of Sports & Pasttimes, 1904
“The World’s Pageant” December 26, 1906, The Bystander

Instead of turkey, we decided on cornish hens, and to give it an extra kick, I used the recipe for Peruvian Garlic-Lime Chicken from the March 2011 issue of Cook’s Illustrated. Since I live in California, I was able to find a jar of huacatay paste in a local Asian grocery store, but the Cook’s Illustrated recipe helps you approximate the taste of Peruvian black mint if a) you cannot find the actual paste or b) you’d rather follow a recipe as it is. Needless to say, the cornish hens were superb–crispy, flaky skin, tender and flavorful meat…just yum!

Appetizers:

Hasselback Garlic Cheesy Bread (homemade bread is not yet my strong suit, but this turned out really tasty)

Spinach Artichoke Dip (Applebee’s has nothing on this!)

Cheesy Garlic and Onion Stuffed Mushrooms (a surprise hit with my family)

For side dishes:

Cheesy Skillet Scalloped Corn (a great twist on corn)

Creamy Stovetop Mac and Cheese (Gouda is amazing)

Sourdough Boudin Sausage Dressing (cheated a bit by substituting Andouille)

Creamy Mashed Red Potatoes (sooooo incredibly easy to make, and sooo delicious)

Sweet and Sour Bacon and Green Beans (I’ll never eat green beans out of a can again!)

Trader Joe’s Gravy

Trader Joe’s Fresh Cranberry Sauce

Desserts:

Apple Galette (I am officially the queen of flaky, buttery pie crust)

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe in the World

Mini Molten Chocolate Cakes (My family ate these before I had a chance to taste!)

Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Cheesecake

Needless to say, I made, I ate, I conquered. I’d like to thank all of you who visit Edwardian Promenade; your growing interest inspires me to not only blog, but to complete this book!

Check out my photos of the spread.

Battle of Puebla

The turn of the century witnessed America’s adventurous palate, and restaurants serving ethnic cuisine and cookbooks showing how to cook these new dishes sprang up in abundance. In 1914, Bertha Haffner-Ginger published the California Mexican-Spanish Cookbook to clue in the average American woman how to prepare such “exotic” fare as frijoles and tamales. Because most affixed the more genteel term “Spanish” to anything made with chiles, beans, or tortillas, Haffner-Ginger takes pains to explain “it is not generally known that Spanish dishes as they are known in California are really Mexican Indian dishes. Bread made of corn, sauces of chile peppers, jerked beef, tortillas, enchiladas, etc., are unknown in Spain as native foods” before jumping into recipes ranging from salads to tacos to side dishes. Here is a peek at some of the recipes from the book.

Sopa de Frijoles (Bean Soup)

Cook one pint pink beans in two quarts beef stock till tender. Add one cup chopped onions, two green, two ripe chiles (fresh or canned), one quart canned tomatoes, two tablespoons chopped parsley. Cook all thoroughly. Drop in Spanish meat balls and serve with Spanish cheese fingers.

Modern Way to Prepare Corn for Tortilla and Tamales

Put one gallon of shelled corn in enough water to cover; dissolve one-half cup lime in a little water and add to cover; boil fifteen or twenty minutes; remove from fire, pour off first water and add fresh cold water; rub with hand to remove husk. Rinse in another water and it is ready to grind. Don’t wash too much or it will not be pasty enough to make tortilla.

Tortillas No. 3

Corn meal and coarse flour half and half, wet to stiff dough, salt and lard.

Enchiladas

Make Tortilla. Chop one cup onions very fine, slice and chop one-half cup olive, cook in little lard; have cup grated cheese ready, dip tortilla in hot salted large, dip in chile sauce, spread with grated cheese, put in center tablespoonful of cooked onions, tablespoon chopped hard-boiled eggs, two tablespoons chopped chicken, six seedless raisins soaked in claret, level tablespoon chopped onions, a sprinkle of cheese and fourth cup chile sauce, fold both sides, one over the other, pour chile sauce over all, put tablespoon cooked onion on center of top of each and several large pieces of cheese and three whole olives. Place in hot oven till cheese is melted, serve very hot.

Mexican Meat Cakes

Mix pork sausage and hamburger equal parts to two cups meat add one cup wet bread, add one egg, one-fourth cup onion, teaspoon salt, tablespoon green chile pulp, mix and make into cakes one inch thick, put one cup prepared sauce in pan and heat, place meat in sauce, cover, simmer till done.

Spanish Rice

Fry heaping tablespoon chipped bacon, add one garlic, stir, cook few minutes, add one cup washed and dried rice, one can tomatoes, salt, add one-half cup chile pulp, cook slowly; when about dry, add meat stock or hot water to finish cooking, but just enough to have rice dry and grains separated when done.

Spanish Stuffed Potatoes

Rub lard on large smooth potatoes. Bake until soft; cut off a slice and cut out center of potatoes, add two tablespoons butter, one tablespoon of finely cut parsley, two tablespoons of pimiento–chopped–cucumber, chopped–one-fourth teaspoon chile powder, two tablespoons hot milk, one-half whipped egg; beat up until light, fill potato shell. Place two strips of bacon on top, set in oven until bacon is crisp. Garnish with stripe of pimiento and parsley.

Spanish Chocolate Cake

Get the Spanish chocolate, a little round cake about three inches across, flavor different from other chocolate. Melt two cakes, add one-half cup butter, one cup brown sugar, separate four eggs, and beat the yolks and the whites. Mix yolk into chocolate, butter and sugar, beat this mixture well, pour one cup milk on top, the beaten egg white on top of milk, and three cups flour with two tablespoons baking powder. Stir all together, add teaspoon vanilla, and bake in loaf or layers. Make icing of melted Spanish chocolate cake, add tablespoon butter, one-half cup brown sugar, cook. When cool spread on cake or use as filling.

Read California Mexican-Spanish Cookbook by Bertha Haffner-Ginger online

Since Mardi Gras celebrations had begun to distance itself from the Church, it descended into what many longtime residents of the city considered “chaos.” The Mystic Crew, or Crew of Comus was founded in 1857 by six New Orleans businessmen as a secret society which would observe Mardi Gras in a less crude fashion. This society was soon joined by rivals–the Argonauts (1891), Atlanteans (1891), Krewe of Proteus (1881), Momus (1879), and Rex (1880), whose members were also made up of businessmen in high society. With the appearance of these secret societies, and the accompanying exclusive balls, floats and parades, Mardi Gras lost a fair bit of its wildness and openness by the turn of the century.

Nevertheless, the customs of these secret societies became a high point of the celebrations, particularly for women and debutantes, who were selected as maids and Queens for each society’s float. Of most importance was Rex, king of the carnival, who came up the river on his private yacht, which was decked out from stem to stem with many colored flags and was saluted by visiting battleships with twenty-one guns. The local militia would meet “His Majesty” on the landing and a grand military parade would lead Rex to the city hall, where he was presented the keys of the city by the “Duke of Crescent City” (the mayor). In the evening, the Krewe of Comus would throw a ball at the old French Opera house, where “all the kings and their queens, representing all the carnival societies, were in the opening quadrille, all crowned and robed and with their splendid suites.” At midnight, all of the masked men would disappear and return in evening dress, but as they were required to show their invitations, it was impossible to discern whom was masked as who.

Another old custom was the “King Cake” or gâteau du Rois. Though associated with the festival of Epiphany in the Christmas season, the French and Spanish colonists brought their traditions to the New World and it morphed into a Mardi Gras custom, since the King and Queen of krewes were chosen on King’s Day, or Twelfth Night. The King cake is a ring of twisted bread topped with icing or sugar dyed the traditional Mardi Gras colors of purple, gold, and green, and whomever found the trinket baked within its folds was required to provide the cake for the following year’s celebration.

When the clock struck midnight, it marked the end of Mardi Gras and the beginning of Ash Wednesday, the day of repentance. Many of the celebrations and traditions of Mardi Gras of the 19th century remain, so when you get the chance to visit New Orleans during the festivities you will notice the connection between the present and the past remains strong!

Further Reading:
The Picayune’s Guide to New Orleans (1903 edition)
The Picayune Creole cook book (1922)

Why Some Folks Eat Collard Greens on New Years'

One of the traditions which arose from America’s culinary melting pot is the consumption of Hoppin’ John and collard greens. Deriving from the Gullah people of coastal Georgia and South Carolina–by way of West African cuisine and the French and Spanish Middle Ages custom of eating beans on New Years Day–the dishes are thought to bring good luck to the new year, with the black-eyed peas in Hoppin’ John symbolizing pennies, and the collard greens symbolizing money. Regional variations of the tradition included the use of grits and peas in Alabama, the use of rice and peas in South Carolina, and some adding rice (for health) and cornbread. Either way you choose to fix them, they are a reminder of the unique, but shared heritage of African-Americans.

Further Reading:
Hog and Hominy: Soul Food from Africa to America by Frederick Douglass Opie
Stirring the Pot: A History of African Cuisine by James McCann
What the Slaves Ate: Recollections of African American Foods and Foodways by Herbert C. Covey & Dwight Eisnach