From Rivets and Rails is a charming cookbook that preserves a historical era as carefully as its cooks preserved their food---and their recipes. As many successes originate, the endeavor that led to this cookbook was started out of necessity, as Elizabeth Shade Kennedy found herself suddenly widowed with five young sons to raise. To support her family, she established a boarding house for railroad workers on the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad lines and kept a detailed cooking journal.
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| actual page from cookery journal |
In From Rivets and Rails, Shaunda Kennedy Wenger pays tribute to a her ancestor, a great lady and a great cook. The recipes, tips and and anecdotal notes offer insightful glimpses into Mrs. Kennedy's life as a cook, mother, and boardinghouse keeper. No doubt her boarders were well-fed. This priceless journal documents recipes and traditions that have been passed to the present generation of cooks in Elizabeth Shade Kennedy's family. Historical footnotes add to the reader's appreciation and understanding of the recipes and methods described in the book.
From Rose Blossom Wine to Wampsie Pudding to recipes for gall stones and furniture polish, From Rivets to Rails offers a fascinating study of home management, cooking and cooks. Many of the recipes could be made today without any changes. Some ingredients and standards have changed since the early 1900s, but wisely, the recipes in this book remain exactly as they were written, and the reader can adapt as deemed necessary. Modern equivalents and cooking standards would have significantly reduced the charm and appeal of this book.
I loved the instructions for Mathiglum, (fermented honey, water, and brown sugar): "Take one glass before going to bed. Stay there for 48 hours, if you have no one to help you." No malady was listed, just a cure, leaving readers to imagine its many possibilities.
For a delightful read and a great historical cooking reference, I highly recommend Shaunda Kennedy Wenger's From Rivets to Rails, Recipes of a Railroad Boarding House Cookbook. Available at amazon.com.
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| author Shaunda Kennedy Wenger |
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Interview with Shaunda Kennedy Wenger
When did you first learn about the
family's cookery journal?
I didn’t know about my great-grandmother’s cookery journal until
my grandmother told me about it after The
Book Lover’s Cookbook, Recipes from Celebrated Works of Literature and the
Passages That Feature Them (Ballantine Books) was published.
My grandmother and I were sitting together at her table during one
of my visits to Pennsylvania. She rubbed her hand over the cover of her copy of
The Book Lover’s Cookbook and said,
“Your great-grandmother would have been so proud of you.” Since I never knew my
great-grandmother, I asked her what she meant. She went on to tell me that my
great-grandmother had written a cookbook of her own. I couldn’t believe my eyes
when she brought out the old, brown leather journal, with all its hand-written
recipes included within. I immediately began pouring over the pages and was
taken by her story of running a railroad boarding house while supporting her
family. Her cookbook had the recipes that she used in her boarding house.
Have you made or eaten any of the
recipes? If so, which are your favorites?
Absolutely! My favorite is the railroad cakes. I had been so
tickled when I came across this recipe in her journal. It seemed so perfect,
given that she provided a home away from home for railroad workers and
travelers.
In doing research on railroad cakes, I found two different
recipes. One resembles Irish Soda Bread, the other produces smaller, individual
hand-held cakes that travelers would purchase from vendors at the stations
(like the one given in my great-grandmother’s cookbook). I suppose both types
of cakes could have been purchased from vendors, provided the Irish Soda bread
was sold in slices. Either way, railroad cakes provided sustenance for railroad
travelers as they made their way toward their destinations, much like the food
stands, restaurants, and vending machines that are found at any transportation
hub today. I imagine my great-grandmother handed these railroad cakes to her
boarders, sons and husband as they made their way out the door.
My grandmother’s recipe delivers a thick batter, nearly resembling
that of cookie dough, which gives a more substantial texture to the baked cake.
However, the buttery lemon flavor is delicious! Since the recipe calls for
baking the batter in small pans, I used four-inch tart pans that I had on hand;
the recipe gave me 6 hearty cakes.
Recently, my son and I were eating the cakes on route to school
one morning (he’d missed the bus). The experience brought to mind the phrase, “Eat
on the run.” I realized this phrase could have originated with railroading,
since workers often called their trips to, from, or during work, “runs.” I just
love that idea! Hint: see what the term,
“given the Run-Around” means in my cookbook, near the end on page 69.
What was the biggest surprise you found
within the pages of this journal?
The biggest surprise was discovering that bell peppers were called
“mangos” in the late 1800s and early 1900s. I couldn’t understand why so many
recipes for relish, pickles, chili sauce, and sandwich spread would include
mangos in the list of ingredients. I asked my grandmother about it, and her
reply was, “Don’t you know what a mango is?”
Uh, I thought I did…
Use of the term mango in describing bell peppers is believed to
have originated with the coal miners in Pennsylvania. In an 1887 edition of
“The Original White House Cookbook,” a recipe for Green Pepper Mangos describes
the bell pepper perfectly in removing the seeds and filling it with a vegetable
mixture.
My confusion led me to wonder if review of historical recipes that featured “mangos” in the list of ingredients led to the idea of fruit salsas that emerged later.
As for other surprises, there were so many historical gems and trivia that I discovered and included in the cookbook as I put it together, like the fact that the inventor of the steam locomotive also invented gelatin! (Oh, how that man must have loved his wife! Apparently, he felt he should put an end to her having to bake hooves and bones all day in order to make the family some gelatin. Thus, the birth of powdered gelatin, brought to the modern housewife in convenient packets!)
You have chosen to self-publish your
latest books. What have you learned from that process?
Self-publishing has been an exciting adventure. If it weren’t for
the success of other friends who jumped into publication with alternative
markets (e.g., Judy Torres, author of Duck,
Duck, Moose and The Monster Under the
Bed Loves Chocolate Chip Cookies), I don’t think I would ever have been
brave enough to try.
When I published my first novel, The Ghost in Me (which recently became a B.R.A.G MedallionTM
honoree), so many people were against self-publishing. Essentially,
self-published books had a bad rap. But I stepped into this venture the right
way. I had my book professionally edited. I produced a good cover that was
suitable for the market. I put my best work “out there,” much the way
traditionally published authors do. And in the end, I prayed it would be
well-received, just like any other author and editing team. The only difference
was that I didn’t have the marketing, publicists, and connections of NY
publishers; so I had a slow start. But I also haven’t had to divvy up my
earnings with scores of other people standing in line before me at a publisher.
Thus, I’ve been able to keep the price of my book down, making my book more
affordable (and hopefully more appealing) to readers. All in all,
self-publishing has been a good experience.
It’s been interesting to see that so many traditionally published authors, who were nay-sayers of self-publishing a few years ago, are now self-publishing their own books. Furthermore, some literary agencies now have “in-house divisions” that help their authors prepare their manuscripts for self-publishing. (And yes, they do charge for this service.) And it seems that NY publishers are no longer discouraging their authors from pursuing this option. In fact, many NY publishers are actually picking up on trends that were established first by self-published authors. For example, the short story is making a comeback in the traditional market; NY publishers are now seeking manuscripts in this genre. Yet, the short story has been a hot market by way of ebooks for self-published writers for many years.
The bottom line is, if you have a
dream, you shouldn’t let anyone hold you back. However, in the end, it’s up to
you and how well you executed your plans, as to whether those efforts will have
been worth it. Ultimately, you do need to do your best work, and you do need to
heed the advice that you hear from others who are experienced in the process. In
this adventure, I needed to follow the advice of other self-published authors,
rather than the traditional ones (and I guess I’m one of those traditional
authors myself, considering where my writing career started with Ballantine
Books and The Book Lover’s Cookbook!).
Perhaps I should say, be your own guide, but by all means, travel down the path
with others.
You can find Shaunda on the web here:
Thank you so much for having me, Janet! I loved answering your
questions. I can tell you are very experienced and talented in cookbooks, and
knew just what to ask! I wouldn’t have expected anything less from a fellow
co-author! J
1 comment:
Your blog is laid out so wonderfully, Janet. Thank you so much for having me as a guest! Happy writing, as I'm sure you are well into one of your latest projects!
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