Cooking and Baking – The UncommonWealth

Cookbooks & Food-Related Volumes Hold Virginia Stories

Editor’s Note: A version of this article first appeared in Broadside, the magazine of the Library of Virginia, Issue No. 1, 2025. The Library of Virginia’s…

Annie HattonMarch 4, 2026

Education & Programming Manuscripts & Special Collections Newspapers Virginia Authors

Snakey Noodles

For March 2023, the Common Ground Virginia History Book Group is exploring the history of Southern baking with Rebecca Sharpless’s Grain and Fire. Sharpless explores…

Library of VirginiaFebruary 20, 2023

Manuscripts & Special Collections

Epicurious in the 18th Century

Editor’s Note: A version of this article first appeared in Broadside, the magazine of the Library of Virginia, Issue No. 3, 2021.The most popular cookbook…

Audrey McElhinneyMarch 23, 2022

Virginia Authors

Marion Cabell Tyree and Mrs. T’s Sweet Potato Pie

I have a sweet potato problem. When autumn comes and locally grown sweet potatoes appear in markets, I buy them reflexively, the way people stock…

Rebecca SchneiderDecember 4, 2020

Archives Newspapers

Random Reference: Celery and Olives – A True Story

This is the first entry in our new "Random Reference" series, which will feature interesting discoveries made and reference questions answered by our Archives &…

Amanda MorrellApril 6, 2020

Digital Projects Manuscripts & Special Collections

What’s For Dinner?: Thanksgiving Menus Through the Ages.

E very year there are Americans who are not able to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with their families. Some of these individuals are members of…

Jessi BennettNovember 28, 2019

Newspapers

St. Patrick’s Day Miscellanea

To celebrate St. Patrick's Day, we found a selection of the (very) broad ways that newspapers have chosen to acknowledge the feast day over the…

Olin JohnsonMarch 14, 2018

Manuscripts & Special Collections

Tin Can Tell-All: Revealing Virginia’s Role in the Canning Trade

Canned foods have become an everyday part of our lives. Most people have at least a few cans in their kitchen pantry, but far fewer…

Guest ContributorJanuary 10, 2018

Manuscripts & Special Collections

What’s Cookin’

The Library of Virginia cookbook collection documents hundreds of churches, clubs, special interest groups, school groups, families, chef specialties, and, of course, regional cuisine. Currently…

Claire RadcliffeMay 6, 2015

Homegrown: Celebrating Virginia’s Food Culture

Usually at Out of the Box we offer up stories found by our archivists in the many collections held at the Library of Virginia, but today, we’re…

Bari HelmsOctober 30, 2013

Newspapers

Cooking today with Our Church Paper

New Market, established 1796 in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley and settled largely by German Lutherans and Mennonites, was home to Our Church Paper, a Lutheran weekly published…

Natalie DraperJune 26, 2013