Had a great day hanging out with The Historical Traveler discussing our next projects over pasta and warm bread (with yummy olive oil, of course!)  Hope you all have a fabulous weekend ❤️🇺🇸

Today has been the perfect day for baking. It’s a cold, snowy day and all in world (at least in my area) has come to a halt. It is quite peaceful and wonderful to get off of the “hamster wheel of life” and just hang out in pajamas, fireplace on…watch old movies on Netflix and of course for me…to bake!

Being that I am snowed in today, I had to rummage for things in the pantry that I could use for baking today and was excited that I had all to make gingerbread!

Gingerbread was a popular staple for the soldiers during the Civil War.  Molasses was so much cheaper to use than sugar and so a lot of gingerbread was consumed during this time.  Gingerbread was sent to the soldiers via care packages (along with socks) from their loved ones and I envision that they must have loved receiving this wonderful cake made with much love from home. It tastes better than hardtack that’s for sure!

I found a wonderful recipe from The Urban Homemaker which was quite easy to make – and I am all about simplicity.  No offense to Martha Stewart but…I need simple and uncomplicated recipes!

Happy Snow Day!

Coleen

I have had this vision for a long time now on how I could potentially express my love and appreciation for American history. Since childhood, I have been fascinated by the stories of our founding fathers and of course, our founding mothers.  Their stories fascinated me, visiting the homes where they once ate and slept were so intriguing.  I will never forget how excited I was as a child to see the bedroom that George Washington slept (and died) in at Mount Vernon or be in the same room at Arlington House where Robert E. Lee wrote his resignation letter to the U.S. Army because he did not want to take up arms against his homeland in Virginia.

Throughout the years, I have been incredibly blessed to share my joy of American history with my two sons – we spent many days visiting civil war battlefields (most recently Gettysburg!) historic homes and monuments. In 1999, my oldest son and I had the chance to be at Mount Vernon for the reenactment of George Washington’s funeral.  For us to share this historic experience together was amazing. As their mother, I have always felt it was very important to share these stories of our past with them so that they, in turn, will pass these stories down to their own children someday and these stories will continue to be shared with the generations to come.

I am incredibly excited to share my journey with you – of all things and all aspects of American history.

Sincerely,

Coleen, The Historical Homemaker