Yankee Doodle Dandy

Yankee Doodle Dandy was probably the first song I learned in school as a child, as did most of us. But did we know what the lyrics meant? Especially the part about "stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni"? I was pretty sure it had nothing to do with pasta!

It wasn't until my next door neighbor sent me this card from Colonial Williamsburg that I finally knew the story behind macaroni. Here's the caption from the back of the card. Now we know...

Hunter's Head Tavern

On a recent trip to Maryland we stopped at Hunter's Head Tavern for lunch. It's a lovely traditional British pub that uses local, organic ingredients and non-GMO meats. Al chowed down on Bangers and Mash and I had vegetarian Bubble and Squeak. We thoroughly enjoyed dining outside in the courtyard among the flowers on a beautiful spring day. I would call the tavern an "off the beaten track" site, but if you are ever close to Upperville, Virginia we think it is worth a visit. Hunter's Head is on John Mosby Highway (Route 50), or visit their website www.HuntersHeadTavern.com

Virginia Ham

I was sorting through my collection of cookbooks, trying to thin the herd, but mostly getting caught up in reading books I hadn't looked at for a while. One called Vintage Virginia, A History of Good Taste (published in 2000 by the Virginia Dietetic Association) caught my eye - especially the chapter entitled Williamsburg and Tidewater Hospitality.

According to the authors; "Hams from Virginia were always special. In the early colony, the hogs were fed on a mixture of fruits and nuts from the oak, hickory, chestnut, beech, and persimmon trees. The settlers learned how the Indians salt-cured and smoked venison for preservation, and they adapted the process to pork.

Virginia ladies took great pride in the quality of their hams. Martha Washington cured her own, and it was reported that one was boiled daily for guests at Mount Vernon."

For more information about how hams were prepared for preservation in the Virginia colony check out this link from the Colonial Williamsburg Foodways program: http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/winter04-05/smoke.cfm