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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Marvelous weaving together of food and family history., April 14, 1998
By A Customer
Mix together some spicy ingredients of Southern history, add "receipts" (aka recipes) for food, plus personal memoir, and a fascinating book is ready for you to devour or to send to friends as a gift. What a marvelous, brilliant weaving together of the family history of the Robert E. Lee family, along with insider Civil War history, social history, food history, family characters and so on, have been put together by Anne Carter Zimmer, who gives us recipes one longs to try. I definitely want to attempt the Charlotte Russe and certainly the Sally Lunn. (Wish I had the courage for the oyster dish where, halfway throughout, you throw out one batch of oysters and add a fresh batch.) When I read the book's first line, "We didn't make much of ancestors when I was growing up," (this from the great-grandaughter of Robert E. Lee), I knew I was in touch with an authentic voice and that I would love this book. And love it I did.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ann Carter Zimmer has done her great-grandmother proud., March 14, 1998
By A Customer
"THE ROBERT E. LEE FAMILY COOKING AND HOUSEKEEPING BOOK" is by Ann Carter Zimmer, Mrs. Lee's great-grand-daughter. It is a delicious read, and exactly what it says it is. First you get to know the family, the Washington - Lee connection. Robert E. Lee married Mary Custis, the daughter of George Washington's stepson. The branches of Mount Vernon and Arlington are closely entwined. Robert's father, "Light Horse" Harry Lee, was a hero of the revolution and a good friend of Washington, but died a debtor. "Robert inherited his military talent, but little else. Mary Custis was raised with more indulgence than her husband and in more comfort than Fort Monroe, offered the newlyweds, living in two rooms with dirt floors." Nevertheless the marriage endured and enfolded an ever growing family. Then the Civil War engulfed them all. After the family comes the cooking. Here's a sampling: "The Receipts" Creamed Terrapin. "Terrapin, the common marsh turtle, was so plentiful that slaves rebelled against being given so many to eat. When I grew up, the name described a land, or box turtle, that was served at least once during the meat rationing of World War II. When my mother asked where (our hostess) had found the main ingredient of her delicious lunch, Madame answered sweetly, `under the kitchen steps, my dear.' "(Substituting chicken for terrapin). Cut up a cold, chicken (roasted or boiled) into very small pieces, being careful to take off the skin, put into a skillet with a wine glass of cream, a good sized piece of butter rolled in flour & season to taste with cayenne pepper, a little mace & salt. Have ready 3 hard boiled eggs cut into small pieces & a wine glass of flavorful sherry or Madeira. When the chicken has come to a good boil, stir them in & in two or three minutes it will be ready to serve. "Precious Jellies For hundreds of years, cooks made elegant `jellies' of clear liquids stiffened with gelatin. Well into the 19th century people continued to extract Jell-O's ancestor painstakingly from deer antlers (hartshorn), sturgeon bladders (isinglass), and even powered ivory, which was boiled all night. By 1824 the calves foot jelly had become popular. Syrup of violets or syrup of gilli flowers and currant, quince and raspberry juice dyed the jellies. "The best and most simple arrangement for straining jelly is to invert a small table, fold an old table cloth four double, tie each corner to a leg of the table, set a bowl under the bag thus formed,.with another bowl at hand to slip under the bag, as will be necessary, the first run never being transparently clear. Shut up the room and let it drip. The jelly will run through the bag more rapidly if the cloth is first scalded. "Wine Jelly One box of gelatine makes one gallon of Jelly. "To one box of gelatine put one pint of cold water, let it stand an hour, add to it the juice of three lemons, 1&3/4 lbs of sugar, one pint of wine, a wine glass of brandy and enough boiling water to make with the other things a gallon of jelly." "No wonder the Lee ladies bought boxed gelatin by Cox, Nelson and Cooper after the war! "Throughout her adult life Mrs. Lee suffered from severe bouts of rheumatoid arthritis. Here are two of her "cures": "(1) "Get 12&1/2 cents worth of sarsparilla, 1 handful of lignum vitae sawdust, 1 stick of licorice, put these in one gal. of water and let it boil down to ½ gal, strain it & take three wineglasses full a day. When it is taken, no spirits should be drunk." "(2) " Pour brandy on porkberries, let it stand, shake it up well & take a wineglass full three times a day." (The author cautions that neither of these "cures" should be attempted by the reader!) Ann Carter Zimmer has done her great-grandmother proud. Utilizing Mrs. Lee's housekeeping records, she has created a real feeling for the life of this family in those troubled times. The book is so personal, it almost makes you feel like a long lost cousin.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful Glimpse Into History, July 9, 2001
This book is a great one for providing us a glimpse into life over 100 years ago. It is hard to imagine what a woman had to do back then to create the genteel life. Every household had to be self-sufficient, as this remarkable volume shows, making its own foodstuff, soap and cleansers. I loved this book and have shared it with good friends.
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