Colonial women played an important role in cooking. The role of the cook usually went to the woman in the house.The woman of the house started cooking the meals before dawn, because meals took hours to get ready. They built the fire, carried in water, picked vegetables and fruits for the day's meals, gathered eggs and hung meat to dry. Although, woman USUALLY cook the meals in families, slaves could also be used. If this is the case, slaves would most likely do the cooking for the family.

Colonial men hunted animals and fish. When the meat was ready for cooking it was boiled in stews. The families had farm animals to give them milk and eggs. They also cut down trees for firewood and planted crops. They planted usually in the spring and harvesting was in the fall. Most of the men were farmers, but some trained to do different trades. Farm work was difficult and there were always tasks to do.

In a colonial kitchen, there was a humongous fireplace,in fact it took up the whole kitchen wall. The fireplace was so large that a person could stand in it. A woman had to be cautious when she was cooking so her long skirt would not catch on fire.They obviously didn’t have ovens back then, so the food would be cooked only by the heat of the fire.The fireplace was also used to keep the colonial home warm.

There are many tools used in the colonial kitchen. In the continuing slides I will list the tool and their uses.

• Dinner pot; A stewing kettle which held five to ten gallons and weighed 20 or more pounds. What goes inside it is meat and vegetables for the hearty stews.

• Skillet; The skillets had legs so they could be put on the coals to cook

• Quern ; A tool that is used to pound grain in to flour.

• Peel ;Tool used to take bread out of the oven.

For breakfast, The family would drink cider and eat porridge or cornmeal mush with molasses.

For dinner, the family usually ate a meal with different kinds of meats, including meat puddings and/or deep meat pies that contain pancakes, fritters, fruits, spices, side dishes of sauces, pickles, and soups.

For dessert they ate pies, cobblers, custards, cakes such as pound, gingerbread, cheese, or spice, etc.

Porridge

CheesePie

2 cups butter (you may use half margarine, if you desire)2 cups sugar2 cups flour2 tsp baking soda4 cups oatmeal

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the flour and soda. Stir in the oatmeal. You may have to stir in the last bit of oatmeal with a spoon, unless you have a powerful mixer. Dough will be very thick. Roll into 1" balls and bake on ungreased cookie sheets, 350 degrees for 10 - 13 minutes or until lightly browned. These cookies will flatten themselves. If you want to add peanuts, just press a few onto the top of the rolled ball of dough, since they are a little on the crumbly side before baking.

• http://thesugarqueenbakes.blogspot.com/2010/12/colonial-easy-cookies.html

• http://kitchendesignnotes.wordpress.com/category/kitchen-organization/

• http://www.ssdsbergen.org/Colonial/food.htm

• http://www.ehow.com/about_4567543_colonial-kitchens.html

Google Book: http://books.google.com/books?id=9YTJ07gs0DkC&

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