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[Eva Elisabeth]

(04-30-2014 12:38 AM)Donna McCreary Wrote:  Gene – of course Mary knew how to cook! As a girl in Lexington, she received a “proper English education in all of its branches.” This included instructions for cooking. One of my favorite courting stories about Abraham and Mary is the tale of her offering Lincoln a piece of cake and saying: “I am sorry this cake is not as light as usual. I baked it on a Friday, and I suppose that is why it is so sad.” (Not an exact quote, but close enough). They then fell into a charming, poetic conversation about the fates, the furies, and the fairies.

Meanwhile I also found in J. Baker's biography that Mary's second teacher, Mrs. Ward "in the late afternoon...took the girls into the kitchen. There...they used 'her books with many receipts in it for making puddings and custards'".
Donna, do you know if Mary LIKED cooking meals? (Despite baking cakes?)

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(04-30-2014 10:55 AM)L Verge Wrote:  Y'a gotta love the Victorians and their eternal quest for things and more things. Butter pats (tiny dishes), bone plates, knife rests, salt cellars and salt spoons (in the early years), celery vases, waste bowls, cup plates, biscuit jars, pickle jars, brides' baskets (the latter two in beautiful glass with silver holders and tongs), match safes and glass and china match holders, and the list goes on. Many of these things were present in even middle-class homes; as a family's wealth increased, so did their doodads.

At the Gamble Plantation, there was a 19th century dinner table. The set included two items I has not seen before: an individual salt cellar at top of each place setting, and a lunate plate for bones next to each plate. You can see both in this formal place setting for a 12 course dinner:
   
I didn't find any further info on that lunate "bone plate". Does it have a special name? (The tour guide didn't say any, and I didn't ask as the question arose later.) Although I assume both as a (two) single item(s) on the table to be commonly used by all guests had already existed before, was making them individual for each guest a Victorian fashion and invention?