Today in American history…our Nation’s first President was born on February 22, 1732.

George Washington’s favorite breakfast staple was a stack of Hoe Cakes fresh off the griddle smothered in butter, syrup or honey. He also enjoyed a cup of hot tea or one his other favorite beverages: hot chocolate cream (which we know now to be a version of hot chocolate).

Hoe Cakes

Ingredients

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup all purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, beaten

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/3 cup water

1/3 cup melted butter lightly cooled

Vegetable oil or bacon grease for frying

Directions

In a large bowl add the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt and whisk together really well.

Make a hole/well in the center of the mixture and add in the beaten eggs, buttermilk, water, and melted butter and mix until thoroughly combined.

Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil (I use butter) in a cast iron skillet or frying pan on medium-high heat.

Scoop enough batter as if you are making a pancake and drop into the frying pan.

Fry each Hoe cake until the edges start to bubble and the edges are golden brown. Flip over and fry for another couple minutes until golden brown.

Remove and serve immediately with butter, and or syrup. Or you can be like George Washington and add honey!

Today in American history…former First Lady Elizabeth “Bess” Truman was born on February 13, 1885 in Independence, Missouri.

“Harry and I have been sweethearts and married more than forty years – and no matter where I was, when I put out my hand Harry’s was there to grasp it.” – Bess Truman

In honor of President Lincoln’s birthday today, I decided to make a recipe from the cookbook-“Miss Leslie’s Complete Cookery” that once belonged to Mrs. Lincoln during her time at home in Springfield, Illinois.

The cookbook was written by Eliza Leslie and was originally published in 1837, was considered one the most popular American cookbooks during that era.

In the book written by Jean H. Baker titled Mary Todd Lincoln: A Biography,” Jean H. Baker talks about Mrs. Lincoln’s life in the kitchen:

…By 1851, after nearly ten years of housekeeping, Mary Lincoln had progressed to an advanced version of Miss Leslie’s Cookery… there were recipes for everything from family soup to invalid cookery of beef tea and blackberry preserve…Because she had not learned the vices of sugar and, like everyone in Springfield, innocently believed it the “most nourishing substance in nature,” she spent hours making pudding, cakes, candies and cookies…”

Because Mrs. Lincoln had a copy of the cookbook and used it frequently, I thought it fittingly to use a recipe from the cookbook to make something special in honor of Mr. Lincoln’s birthday today. O

One of the recipes in the cookbook was for Apple Bread Pudding.

President Lincoln was known to enjoy apples, and he often ate the apples with milk as a light lunch. He once explained his love for apples to a fellow Illinois lawyer, Charles S. Zane: “Apples agree with me; a large percent of professional men abuse their stomachs by imprudence in drinking and eatin and in that way health is injured and ruined and life is shortened.”

Here is a modern version of Apple Bread Pudding.

Apple Bread Pudding

Ingredients

12 small baking apples (I used Granny Smith)

1 large lemon, juiced

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 cup unsalted butter (will need more for greasing the baking dish)

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

1 cup of bread crumbs (I used Panko)

Cream Sauce

Ingredients

1 pint heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract – I used vanilla.

Directions

Pour heavy whipping cream into a small pot and warm slowly over medium heat, whisking occasionally as it warms.

When cream begins to boil, whisk in powdered sugar, nutmeg, and almond or vanilla extract.

Remove from heat. Strain the sauce through a mesh strainer or sieve into a serving dish.

Serve warm sauce over hot slices of Apple Bread Pudding. This is not a thick sauce, and it will need to be stirred from time to time to keep a skin from forming on the surface. Best if served immediately.

Directions for the Bread Pudding

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Peel and core the apples, then slice them very thin. Place the slices in a large mixing bowl. Pour lemon juice and lemon zest over the

apples along with the nutmeg. Toss the apples with a spatula till evenly coated by the lemon juice, zest, and nutmeg.

Chop the unsalted butter into several very small chunks.

Grease a 9×13 baking dish with unsalted butter. Create a single thick layer of apple slices on the bottom of the dish, covering the entire bottom of the dish.

Sprinkle a generous layer of brown sugar on top of the apples.

Dot a few bits of butter across the top of the brown sugar.

Sprinkle a thin layer of bread crumbs on top of the butter.

Repeat this process of layering– apple slices, brown sugar, butter, and bread crumbs– until the dish is full. Finish the dish with a thin layer of breadcrumbs.

Bake the pudding uncovered for 50-60 minutes until the edges brown, the pudding is cooked through, and the apples are soft. Serve warm topped with cream sauce, if desired.

Today in American history…Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 at Sinking Spring Farm (which is located in Hodgenville, Kentucky).

He is truly my personal favorite President because I’ve always admired his strength and tenacity to succeed. Coming from humble beginnings and born in a log cabin in destitute surroundings, he taught himself at a young age to read and write.

When asked about his youth by John L. Scripps in 1859, Abraham Lincoln quoted a line from Gray’s Elergy: “’The short and simple annals of the poor’ That’s my life and that’s all you or any one else can make of it.”

He would eventually become a popular lawyer, served a term as a U.S. Representative from Illinois (1847-1849) and then served as our 16th US President (1861-1865).

Today in American history…our 40th U.S. President, Ronald Wilson Reagan, was born on February 6, 1911 in Tampico, Illinois.

To honor President Reagan on his birthday… I made some of his favorite foods in the kitchen. One of his favorites was Macaroni and Cheese (be still my heart!)

While doing research for recipes, I was fortunate to come across Nancy Reagan’s personal recipe!

President Reagan also loved baked apples. Great comfort food! So I made baked apples as well 🍎😋 I used the recipe from Baked with Love right here

And we couldn’t end without indulging in his ultimate favorite: jellybeans. President Reagan once said, “You can tell a lot about a fellow’s character by his way of eating jellybeans.”

To honor Mrs. Parks birthday today, I made her Featherlight Pancake recipe. They are light and delicious – just like the name of the recipe! 😋

Rosa Parks Featherlight Pancake Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

1 egg

1¼ cups whole milk

1/3 cup peanut butter

1 tablespoon shortening, melted, or any neutral oil, like canola (I used butter!)

Directions

In a large bowl, add the dry ingredients and mix.

In a separate bowl, combine the egg, whole milk, and peanut butter. Whisk together until combined.

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix well until combined.

Add the shortening or oil to a skillet and melt. Spoon about one-fifth of the batter into the pan and make into a 4-inch pancake.

Cook for about 2 minutes until golden or bubbles form around the edges.

Use a spatula to gently lift the pancake and flip over to the other side.

Cook for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes until cooked through and golden-brown.

Repeat with the rest of the batter and serve warm with butter and syrup.

Today in American history…Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama.

I was at a funeral recently to honor a friend’s mother and he spoke so beautifully about how an ordinary person can make a difference – which his mother did in her lifetime.

My thoughts immediately went to Rosa Parks.

She was a seamstress at a local department store and also a secretary for the Montgomery, Alabama chapter of the NAACP.

Mrs. Parks was a quiet and reserved woman who could have easily faded into the background and fought silently for the civil rights movement.

But she didn’t.

Instead, she did an extraordinary thing and took a stand. Fought back. Made a difference.

On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, She refused to give up her seat on a bus in favor of a white person and was arrested for civil disobedience. She was doing her small part to fight against bus segregation. Little did she know, this act of fighting back and doing her part to try and make a difference would have such a huge impact. Her small act of defiance inspired the Black community to boycott Montgomery busses for nearly a year.

On November 13, 1956, the case of Browder v. Gayle resulted in a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court which agreed that bus segregation was unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Rosa Parks. An ordinary person doing an extraordinary thing to make a difference and how a small act can change history.