Family Recipes From Rosedown and Catalpa Plantations

Authentic household recipes from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. When Daniel and Martha Turnbull began in 1820 to build an estate that would eventually encompass seven plantations, they could not have known that for more than 120 years their family would continue to live, thrive, and enjoy good food at Rosedown. Recently, researchers exploring the attic at Catalpa plantation discovered the family 'receipt' book, with recipes dating back to 1870. This published version of this heirloom contains a wealth of primary material, including early family recipes and photographs. Added to this material are an explanation of the influences on plantation cooking, a brief history of the plantations, and photos of vintage cooking utensils. These recipes are demonstrated today in historical cooking classes in Rosedown's open-hearth kitchen. Dixie biscuits, dandy pudding, and pond lily salad are just a few of the delightful dishes in this collection containing nearly three hundred early-nineteenth-century recipes, including Southern favorites such as crackling corn bread, potato pies, and bread pudding.
Recently discovered in the attic of Catalpa Plantation, these receipts are currently used by cooks who demonstrate typical antebellum plantation cookery at Rosedown.
Following their marriage in 1828, Daniel and Martha Turnbull began developing their thirty-five-hundred-acre Rosedown estate, erecting their elegant manor house in 1834. When two of the Turnbull grandchildren married into the Fort family of Catalpa Plantation, these two distinguished families were joined. Family Recipes from Rosedown and Catalpa Plantations includes the history, traditions, and memoirs of the two Louisiana plantations, and recipes developed by English and Scottish relatives, slave cooks, and neighbors.

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Richard Scott, Stella Pitts, and Mary Thompson compiled, researched, and wrote Family Recipes from Rosedown and Catalpa Plantations. Richard Scott is a former Rosedown interpretive park ranger and resides in New Orleans. Stella M. Pitts is a Rosedown Plantation volunteer and former newspaper reporter who lives in Woodville, Mississippi. Mary Thompson of St. Francisville, Louisiana, is the great-niece of the three legendary Bowman sisters who devoted their lives to the maintenance and preservation of Rosedown, their family home.

Jumbles and puffs, monkey pudding, Dixie biscuits, pond lily salad, lightning cake, and foolish pie are just a few of the delightful names of dishes included in this collection, alongside more familiar foods such as crackling corn bread, lobster croquettes, celery soup, potato pies, and bread pudding. Found by researchers exploring the attic at Catalpa plantation, these ireceiptsi date back to 1870. When Daniel and Martha Turnbull began in 1820 to build an estate that would eventually encompass seven plantations, they could not have known that for more than 120 years, their family would continue to live, thrive, and enjoy good food at Rosedown. Two of the Turnbullsi grandchildren married into the Fort family of Catalpa Plantation, thus joining these distinguished families together. Nearly three hundred recipes originating from English and Scottish relatives, slave cooks, and neighbors in West Feliciana Parish are included here, preceded by a brief history of plantation life and plantation cooking in the antebellum South, as well as firsthand memories of Rosedown. These recipes are used in the present-day Rosedown Plantation kitchen demonstrations. Discover authentic antebellum recipes in this cookbook from two legendary Louisiana plantations—enlivened with cultural history and personal stories. Dixie biscuits, divinity candy, pond lily salad, lightning cake, and foolish pie are just a few of the delightful dishes included in this collection from the historic Rosedown and Catalpa plantations of West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. Nearly three hundred recipes are included here, along with a brief history of plantation life and cooking in the antebellum South, as well as firsthand memories of Rosedown. Found by researchers exploring the Catalpa Plantation attic, many of these original family “receipts” are used in the present-day Rosedown Plantation kitchen demonstrations. Recipes for familiar comfort foods such as corn fritters, green pepper pickles, stuffed eggs, turkey gumbo, lobster croquettes, Thanksgiving relish, bread pudding, and many more are included, offering an abundant selection of nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century culinary favorites. Front Cover Acknowledgments Introduction Rosedown and Catalpa: The Story of Two Plantations Plantation Cooking in the Antebellum South: Its Origins and Traditions Memories of Rosedown A Note on the Text Conversion Tables SOUPS SALADS, RELISHES, AND DRESSINGS BREAD & YEAST FRITTERS, ETC. VEGETABLES FISH, ETC. FOWL MEATS & MEAT SAUCES EGGS, ETC. PUNCHES, ETC. DOUGHNUTS, WAFFLES, ETC. CAKES AND CONFECTIONS PUDDINGS, PIES, ETC. ICE CREAMS & ICES CANDIES SYRUPS, PRESERVES, & JELLIES PICKLES MENUS For Further Reading Index This book tells the history of Rosedown and Catalpa plantations including the family ties of the Turnbull, Barrow, Bowman and Fort families. It hands down to us their family recipes written out by hand by the ladies of the plantations. It also gives a glimpse of how these foods were prepared and served