Joan’s Boomer Blog - History & Seafood in Boston
We walked the Freedom Trail, and I do mean walked. I’ve always loved to read about home life in the colonial days and at Paul Revere’s house I got a great little book called “Revolutionary Recipes,
Boston Commons in Spring
Colonial Food, Lore & More” by Patricia B. Mitchell.
Mitchell’s book covers not only what ordinary people ate and how they cooked it, but also the colonial soldiers. If soldiers had nothing better, they got “fire cake” for breakfast, which was a “chewy, soggy, glob of flour paste which was baked on a stone.” This fire cake was a Valley Forge specialty. No wonder men wanted to desert!
Nathaniel Hawthorn
The mid-day meal, cooked on the Colonial hearth was considrably better. Men and women worked from dawn to dusk and needed many courses served. “The rule was that if there were 12 diners, there should be 9 different dishes in each course,” writes Mitchell.
Here is a sample of a Colonial midday meal:
1. Soup
2. roast beef, roast pig, ham or mutton, with fish on Friday
3. another course of chicken duck wild game or turkey
4. cooked with cabbage or greens and sometimes a salad
5. vegetables like peas, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, squash and corn
6. jams, jellies and/or cranberry sauce
7. cakes cookies sweetmeats, puttings like Indian pudding, bread budding and plum pudding
and/or pies
8. cheeses
Of course Colonials worked hard from dawn to dusk to burn all those calories too!
Here’s one recipe from Mitchell’s book for Oyster Stew, which was enjoyed by the Colonists which has
been modified to use today’s ingredients:
Oyster Stew Recipe
Ingredients
2 tbs all-purpose flour
2 tbs water
1 tsp salt
2 tsp worcestershire sauce (optional)
dash bottled pepper sauce
1 pt shucked oysters, undrained
1/4 c butter or margarine
1 qt milk, scalded
Directions for Oyster Stew
Blend together flour, water and seasonings in a large pot. Add undrained oysters and butter. Heat and stir gently. Simmer on low heat for three or four minutes.
Add scalded milk and cover.
Let stew stand for 15 minutes.
Reheat briefly and serve.
Serves 4 or 5.
Other recipes include Wassail, served at New Years and Fruit Cake for Christmas. The recipes and tidbits about Colonial life make this little book a delightful read.
Since this is a food blog, I have to include something about dinner in Boston. I enjoyed a broiled seafood platter at the Union Oyster House at 41 Union Street, which is billed as America’s oldest restaurant. The seafood was terrific and the atmosphere was great too.
Minuteman Historical Park, Concord, MA
I enjoyed Boston but my favorite parts of the trip were seeing the historical sites in Salem, Concord and the Minuteman National Historical Park. It’s very awe-inspiring to stand on the spot where “the shot heard round the world” was fired and where Louisa May Alcott lived and wrote Little Women.
Salem was so picturesque too. Best known for more than the Witch Trials, we, of course had to visit the Witch’s Museum and see the presentation. We also visited The House of Seven Gables and Nathanial Hawthorne’s home which offers beautiful views of Salem Harbor.
I found some great books on Amazon.com relating to historical recipes which are included in this slide show. I couldn’t find Patricia B. Mitchell’s book on Revolutionary Recipes but a few others she’s written are included here.
Low Cost Vacation Idea - National Parks Fee Free Weekends
Senior Discounts Too!
National Parks Service offers great season discount passes for seniors.
Many need low cost vacation ideas with the struggling economy. To help out struggling families and baby boomers, the National Park Service has decided to waive summer entrance fees at 147 national parks and monuments all across the country.
Want to visit the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and Yosemite this summer? The entry will be free on three separate weekends this summer.
Don’t forget, baby boomers, that the National Parks Service also has great discount passes available for seniors. Click here for more information.
You can get free admission on the following weekends: June 20-21 (Father’s Day Weekend - what a great gift idea!), July 18-19 and Aug. 15-16. So pack up the car or RV and take use this low cost vacation idea to see some beautiful scenery in our National Parks.
For more great money saving ideas, visit our money saving idea and senior discount sections.
Baby Boomer News: Are Older Drivers a Danger on the Road?
Tom Vanderbuilt’s blog, “How We Drive”, recently had an interesting article entitled “What’s the Real Risk of Older Drivers?” In the article he concluded, based on recent research, that although crashes involving older drivers make the news, it’s wrong to demonize older drivers when statistics can’t be matched point by point between older and younger drivers.
Older drivers for the most part also drive less miles than younger drivers and stick to more familiar surroundings where they know the roads and feel comfortable.
Deciding when to take the keys away from a parent is a huge decision because, in many cases, their car and their ability to drive gives them independence. As families scatter around the country, older drivers are less likely to have friends or relatives who can take them where they need to go.
My own dad limits his driving to taking my mom to get groceries or her hair appointment mostly but when the time comes that he can’t drive, it also means my mom loses much of her independence too because she hardly drives at all anymore, preferring to leave it to my father. I know for a fact that my dad’s reaction times aren’t as quick as they once were.
The fact is, though, I live a thousand miles away and both my sisters, who live near my parents, are still working. One of my sisters has a child in elementary school, as well. This past year, when my dad had to have a hip replacement, I went home to help care for him as my sisters aren’t able to take the time to do it.
If my dad has to quit driving - what then? As an old marine from WWII, my father hates each further loss of independence he suffers because he knows he’ll never get it back. Baby boomers are increasingly being put into the position of caring for aging parents and making these types of decisions for them.
When to stop driving is a major decision looming for baby boomers as they get older, for both themselves and their parents.
As to whether or not older drivers are the biggest danger on the road, in my opinion, they are not. I live in a large metro area and most of the major accidents in the news here are caused by drunk drivers, not older drivers. If there is a push to be made for taking risky drivers off the roads, I think the emphasis should be placed there, not on elderly drivers.
How do you feel about older drivers on our roads? Have you ever had to face the decision to take away your parents car keys? If so, how did you handle it?
Things to do in DC - Wish My Own Dad Could See the World War II Memorial
One of the Top Ten Things to Do in DC - The World War II Memorial
When I consider the top things to do in DC, the World War ii Memorial has to be among the top three. Most baby boomers have fathers who fought in WWii and the sight of this Memorial and the veterans who come to see it, is very moving. On a recent trip to Washington DC, I decided to walk over to the World War ii Memorial even though I’d seen it on previous trips.
I wanted to get to the Memorial early so I could take photos and avoid the crowds. When I came walking over the hill from the Washington Memorial, I saw a crowd already there. At first, I was annoyed - that is, until I saw that the early morning visitors were a group of World War ii vets gathered for a photo.
There were probably 75 vets posed for the photo in front of the fountain and about half of these vets were in wheel chairs. Friends and family hovered around the group, taking pictures, smiling and applauding.
One reason this early morning gathering at the World War ii Memorial was so moving to me is that it brought my own father close to me. He’d been a proud Marine in WWII, fighting in most of the major battles of the Pacific. My dad is now 83 but he is still paying for the four years he spent in the war.
When my dad came home from the war, the doctor he saw had been in the Navy himself. He asked my dad if he’d been a prisoner of war. His bones and joints had deteriorated from lack of proper food for the four years he was in the Islands. His teeth required $2,000 worth of work - an astronomical amount in 1946. His entire body was in pain. When my parents got married in 1948, my mom remembers buying bags of oranges to build his health back up.
Due to an above average immune system no doubt, my dad survived the diseases in the Islands in WWii and he never suffered a wound bad enough to get sent home. He told me recently that the reason they never got any decent food was that no one was expected to survive long enough to suffer from bad nutrition. My dad and his buddy, Snuffy, managed to survive what could only be described as hell on earth for four years and lived to tell about it.
My dad never talked much about his World War ii experiences when I was growing up but when I reached adulthood, he told me many things. Now that he’s in his 80’s these memories from over 60 years ago are still fresh in his mind. Knowing what he went through, makes a visit to the Memorial all the more poignant.
My dad lives in Oregon and will never get to travel to Washington DC to see the World War ii Memorial. The joints of his hips have deteriorated and due to a blood platelet disorder, he put off having a hip replacement. Now, however, the pain is so bad, he has to risk the surgery or end up in a wheelchair. His hip surgery is scheduled for just before Thanksgiving.
Seeing this always proud old Marine bent over a walker and in pain is very hard on me. I can’t help him with this fight, any more than I could help him with the invasion of the Islands. All I could do is go to the WWII Memorial for him, take pictures to send to him and tell him about the experience.
If you’re a baby boomer who knows someone who fought in World War ii, the World War ii Memorial is an emotional sight but it feels peaceful too. Sitting there, I listened to the rush of water in the fountain which drowned out all the traffic noises of DC, watching the sun shine on the heads of the old Vets visiting the Memorial, seeing how proud their families were, I thought of my own dad and wished he could be there with me.
Boomer Living - See the Newseum in Washington DC!
Newseum Washington DC
Welcome to Boomer Living Travel! I come to Washington DC with my husband about once a year and eagerly anticipated the opening of the Newseum this fall. As a writer, journalist and lover of history, I knew the Newseum would be fascinating and I wasn’t disappointed.
The Newseum, located at 555 Pennsylvania Ave NW, between N 6th St & N Constitution Ave, just opened in the fall of 2008 and is a real monument to the first amendment, freedom of speech. Some over 50 probably feel that freedom of speech has gone a little too far these days, but a trip to the Newseum can show you how important it is to defend this right.
The admission to the Newseum is $20, ($18 for those 65 and over) which, when you compare to all the free Smithsonian Museums, might seem a little steep. However, you can easily and happily spend half a day or more poking into all the exhibits at the Newseum - which I did.
I got to the Newseum early in the day, which I’d recommend. Washington DC is a popular place for school trips, God love the noisy little darlings. When you first go in, you are directed to the orientation movie downstairs. My movie was filled with middle schoolers so when I exited, and a docent asked if I’d like to see the famous 4D movie next, I replied no thanks. I figured I’d get a jump on the school kids and save the sit down movie for later when my feet gave out.
After the orientation movie, they direct you to start touring at the 6th floor. One thing I was looking forward to was the Pennsylvania Terrace, where I could view the entire capitol, overlooking historic Pennsylvania Avenue. This space offers a splendid photo op of the Capitol. You actually go out into the open air to take pictures and the October day was crisp and clear when I was there.
The Newseum building itself is an architectural wonder. I wish my architecture student daughter had gotten to see it with me. It’s all glass and open staircases and I’m sure Polshek Partnership Architects, the firm who designed it must have been justly proud.
Newseum, interior shot
The Newseum offers 14 major galleries and 15 theaters throughout and many are interactive. I spent about an hour in the Internet, TV and Radio gallery. I’ve lived through the revolution of the Internet but the historical video clips of old radio and newsreel footage was terrific. There were videos on the memorable newsreels shown in theaters in the 20’s, 30’s and 40’s, footage of events like the Hindenburg’s crash and burn, and the Lindbergh kidnapping. Some events I’d lived through, like Kennedy’s assasination and some before my time but all were fascinating.
Another thing I enjoyed was in the history of the news exhibit. There were actual newspapers dating as far back as the 1600’s and many involving famous events. There is also a 15 minute or so loop of old Saturday Night Live shows pertaining to politics. Very funny! One of the big screens is now running a montage of old campaign commercials from elections past. Not much changes on that front.
There is an actual section of the Berlin wall exhibited, as well as a piece of the melted Twin Towers. I must confess, I bypassed the movie about the challenges of covering 9-11. I know this is probably a popular movie but, having lived through the event itself, I didn’t feel up to it.
Piece of the Berlin Wall at Newseum
Other exhibits that the kids seemed to like were impressed with the car driven by Don Bolles, a reporter who was blown up while doing a story. His blackened car stands as a memorial to what reporters sometimes go through to report the truth.
Another thing I was fascinated with was the interactive 4D movie Time Travel adventure. One warning, which they do tell you about, is that if there’s a bombing on the screen (WWII scenes of Edward R Murrow’s broadcast from London), your chair will bounce like you are there. This 4D movie is so real, you feel like you can reach out and touch the characters. It’s a marvel and well worth seeing. Be prepared tho. During the Nellie Bly story, you may feel a rat scurry up your leg!
One thing that is hard to capture in photos or a review of the Newseum is the emotional response that wells up when you’re watching old newsreels, viewing that piece of the Twin Towers or the Berlin Wall, or looking at old newspapers published during the American Revolution or the Civil War. I’m a nostaligic sort and love history so these exhibits raised a good sized lump in my throat. As a journalist and writer, it really makes me appreciate all that people have gone through over time to bring the truth to others.
Info for seniors and Baby Boomers: The Newseum is fully accessible by wheelchair and even mobility scooters are available. There are elevators throughout and assistive listening devices for the 4D Movie. There are plenty of places to sit down too and watch the movie screens.
As expected, the Newseum food court (I put a granola bar in my purse before leaving the hotel) and gift shops are fairly expensive but they do have some nice gifts for the grandkids. Especially if one of them is a budding reporter.
So on your next trip to Washington, DC, don’t miss the Newseum. For more information, check out the Newseum website.