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Beyond the Speakeasy: Five Cocktails from a 1925 London Drinks Book
Marmalade, tea and a simple preserving jar: a look inside a 1925 London book by Nina Toye and A. H. Adair and the pleasures of mixing at home.
Oct 7, 2026Read the story
Vintage Mocktails: Five 1920s Temperance Drinks
A shaker, a siphon and the household larder: five vintage mocktails from Bertha Stockbridge’s 1920 drinks book, adapted for the modern kitchen.
Oct 7, 2026Read the story

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35 stories

Old recipe measurements: gills, teacups and spoonfuls
Read old recipe measures with metric and US comparisons, book-specific tables, spoon-filling rules and advice for quantities that can't be converted reliably.
Oct 31, 2026Read the article
TuneMyRecipe
The Bottle Scrubber Left Inside the Madeira
An anonymous 1819 warning traced illness to shot left in a wine bottle, revealing the hidden work behind a cookbook's instruction to bottle a drink.
Oct 30, 2026Read the article
TuneMyRecipe
Green Pickles, a Brass Pan and a Cookbook's Warning
Elizabeth Raffald warned against metal-assisted pickle greening, yet some of her recipes named brass pans. Reading the details complicates a familiar accusation.
Oct 30, 2026Read the article
Thomas Lidiard / Literary Chronicle (1819) / Internet Archive scan
The Custard That Became a Warning
An 1819 letter about cherry-laurel custard reveals how a school meal became a warning about flavor, ingredients and a cook's judgment.
Oct 30, 2026Read the article
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The Milk Preserver's Promise in Court
A 1901 Indiana appeal separated formaldehyde found in milk from what its seller knew, and a new trial from a declaration that the milk was safe.
Oct 30, 2026Read the article
TuneMyRecipe
Why Soup Gets Thick: Beans, Crackers and Flour
Follow three soups from pot to bowl to see how mashed beans, softened crackers and a cooked flour slurry change their texture and what to measure.
Oct 24, 2026Read the article
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Time, Texture and Tradition: Jewish Cooking Techniques Across the Ages
A Sabbath pot, poached fish, leek patties and an egg-risen cake show how time, ingredients and religious practice shape the cooking.
Oct 22, 2026Read the article
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A Victorian Picnic, Tuned for Today
Borrow the pastry, eggs and cake from Beeton's picnic world, with four manageable recipes and a modern plan for cooling and packing.
Oct 22, 2026Read the article
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The Viking Winter Pantry: Preserved Fish, Grain and Dairy
Explore how drying, smoke, grain storage and milk processing shaped northern food, with four clearly modern recipes to cook today.
Oct 22, 2026Read the article
Shake, Stir or Blend: How Mixing Methods Change a Cocktail
Follow three vintage-to-modern cocktail comparisons to understand what stirring, dry shaking and blending change about air, ice and dilution.
Oct 19, 2026Read the article
Cornmeal gems in a modern metal muffin tin, with two ready to serve.
Gem Pans and Muffin Tins: What Changes When You Change the Pan?
Read old gem-pan directions through their batter, pan material and heating instructions, then decide what a modern muffin tin can reasonably replace.
Oct 19, 2026Read the article
Rice puddings made with whole rice and white rice flour.
Ground Rice, Rice Flour or Whole Rice? Reading the Ingredient Before You Shop
Use Victorian rice puddings and current product labels to distinguish whole grains, ground rice and rice flours before choosing an ingredient or substitution.
Oct 19, 2026Read the article
The small carrot-and-potato pudding adaptation of Beeton’s recipe 1325, served plain. Illustration: TuneMyRecipe.
Eggs, Milk or Neither? Reading Old Pudding Recipes
Compare two Victorian fruit puddings to understand their eggs, milk, mashed vegetables and missing instructions before choosing a modern recipe.
Oct 16, 2026Read the article
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Same Cocktail, Different Balance: How Cocktail Ratios Changed
Savoy Martinis, Johnson's Manhattan and the Picador show how to distinguish unit conversion, scaling and a deliberate change of balance.
Oct 16, 2026Read the article
The walnut loaf adaptation of Lowney’s page 163 recipe, served whole with walnut brown sauce. Illustration: TuneMyRecipe.
Nuts, Bread and Beans: How Old Cookbooks Built Meatless Meals
Compare nut loaves and lima-bean sausage to see how older cooks shaped savory meals, and why fat, stock and sauce choices still matter.
Oct 16, 2026Read the article
From Home Baking, USDA Farmers' Bulletin 1450 (1931).
Slow, moderate or hot? Reading old oven directions
What temperature to use when an old recipe says to bake in a slow, moderate or hot oven, with period definitions, a modern chart and a worked example.
Oct 16, 2026Read the article
From Foods That Will Win the War (1918). Wellcome Library scan via the Internet Archive.
Wheatless and Meatless in 1918: How Cookbooks Turned Ounces into Cups
How American cookbooks of 1918 translated the Food Administration's wheat, meat, fat and sugar savings into cups, tables and recipes, with three companion recipes.
Oct 16, 2026Read the article
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Five Weeknight Dinners Worth Making Again
Five weeknight dinners: lemon chicken orzo, harissa chickpeas, miso salmon, white bean soup and mushroom barley, with practical shopping and cooking tips.
Oct 14, 2026Read the article
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Tuning Classic Recipes: When Modern Cooking Methods Help
What slow cooking, sous vide and pressure cooking change in three classic dishes, why those changes help, and which details to preserve.
Oct 14, 2026Read the article
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A Night at the Speakeasy: Five Cocktails to Make at Home
Plan a home cocktail party around Clover Club, South Side, Mary Pickford, New York Sour and White Lady, with a focused shopping list and practical serving order.
Oct 14, 2026Read the article
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Abby Fisher's Southern Table: Four Recipes Adapted from Her 1881 Cookbook
Explore Abby Fisher's 1881 cookbook through chicken and ham Jumberlie, fresh corn fritters, stuffed eggplant, and orange-scented sweet potato pie.
Oct 10, 2026Read the article
Dining in Imperial Rome: The Flavors of Apicius
Explore five Roman recipes from Apicius, from pine nut sauce for eggs to spiced pears, with measured adaptations for a modern kitchen.
Oct 10, 2026Read the article
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20 Comfort Food Recipes with a Fresh Pantry Twist
Choose among 20 modern comfort food recipes, from gochujang pasta to yuzu bars, with practical timing, pantry tips, and ideas for sharing.
Oct 10, 2026Read the article
Butter, Cheese, and a Little Saffron: Cooking from The Forme of Cury
Explore five dishes from Richard II's medieval cookery collection, from buttered pasta to a saffron cheese tart, with practical recipes for a modern kitchen.
Oct 10, 2026Read the article
F. G. O. Stuart, 1912; public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
What They Ate on the Titanic: Three Classes, Three Tables
What 1912 Titanic menus served across three passenger classes, with home recipes for salmon mayonnaise, curried chicken and plum pudding.
Oct 10, 2026Read the article
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Bananas, Artichokes, and Watermelon Rind: Three Pickles from 1914
Pickled bananas, baby artichokes and watermelon rind from Marion Harris Neil's 1914 cookbook, adapted as small-batch refrigerator pickles.
Oct 10, 2026Read the article
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Three Shrubs from Jerry Thomas: Berries, Cherries, and Clarified Rum
Compare raspberry vinegar, warm cherry extraction, and milk-clarified rum in three home adaptations from Jerry Thomas’s 1862 book.
Oct 10, 2026Read the article
Five Jazz Age Cocktails from Paris and London Bar Books
Choose between a sparkling French 75, a bittersweet Boulevardier and three citrus cocktails, with source notes and practical modern adaptations.
Oct 9, 2026Read the article
Inside a 1927 Electric Refrigerator Cookbook
Explore six adaptations from Alice Bradley’s 1927 refrigerator cookbook, from decorative punch ice to frozen lemon sherbet and a layered gelatin ring.
Oct 9, 2026Read the article
Cobbler, Crusta, Julep and Rickey: How Historic Cocktails Use Ice
Explore how the Cobbler, Crusta, Julep and Rickey use ice differently, with four modern adaptations from Thomas and Johnson.
Oct 9, 2026Read the article
Two 1920s Drinks Cupboards: Temperance Cups and London Cocktails
Compare how two 1920s home-drinks books use pantry ingredients, kitchen measures and serving glasses, with ten recipes to try.
Oct 9, 2026Read the article
Cooking on the Kitchen Front: Five British Wartime Recipes
Explore five 1941 wartime adaptations that use vegetables, oats and careful portions of fat and meat, from Woolton pie to an eggless fruit cake.
Oct 9, 2026Read the article
Cooking in a Crisis: Five Budget Dinners from the Great Depression
Explore five budget dinner adaptations, from browned potato hash to corn chowder, and the USDA advice behind them.
Oct 8, 2026Read the article
Cups, grams and the ingredients between
How to convert cups to grams and back, why the ingredient matters, and when to use the recipe's own weights.
Oct 7, 2026Read the article
Scaling a recipe without losing its balance
How to scale ingredient amounts, measure a fraction of an egg, and check pans and cooking instructions when making a smaller or larger batch.
Oct 7, 2026Read the article