498501 Wed Mar 12 15:50:53 -0700 2008 5 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 3486764 I'd like to prepare a few simple dishes in celebration of Women's History Month at school. One of my ideas is to pick recipes from women who have influenced my food life -- maybe a recipe from my mother and a couple from my favorite female cookbook authors. Or perhaps favorite foods of women who have made history -- I'm not sure what recipes that would include though. I want the dishes to tie into the theme of Women's History Month somehow. The recipes should lend to advance preparation, easy transportation, and should also be something that can be served cold, at room temperature, or reheated with a microwave since I won't have access to a stove or oven. Any ideas? Wed Mar 12 15:50:54 -0700 2008 174227 plzsmile 1 3486788 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Mikulski Barbara Mikulski co-sponsored the first congressional resolution for women's history week (prior to it expanding to the entire month), and she owned a bakery. I haven't read her entire wikipedia page, but you may be able to find some info out on her bakery and choose a specialty of hers. Great educational idea, by the way! Good luck! Wed Mar 12 15:59:49 -0700 2008 3486764 100743 almccasland 2 3488975 This was a great idea. However, from the wikipedia page and other online sources, it seems that her parents owned the bakery. She actually worked as a social worker. Thu Mar 13 10:04:18 -0700 2008 3486788 174227 plzsmile 1 3486906 Not sure if this is quite what you have in mind but I listened to a short talk by author Laura Schenone who wrote "A Thousand Years Over a Hot Stove: A History of American Women Told Through Food, Recipes and Remembrances ". She mentioned that things like preserves, chutneys, pies, smoked cheeses and other foods are thought to have been the result of "technologies" invented by women to preserve foods. Wed Mar 12 16:38:42 -0700 2008 3486764 127625 fern 2 3489106 Thanks, I'll check out the book. Thu Mar 13 10:32:08 -0700 2008 3486906 174227 plzsmile 1 3489240 Since women traditionally were the cooks for most families through the eons, any food can be considered for "women's history month." If you want to with stereotypes, you can select a bunch of old-fashioned recipes from church cookbooks or junior league cookbooks, two organizations dominated by women, and which were popular sources for new recipes. My grandmothers and their friends were among the privileged few who had hired help who did most of the cooking, but it didn't prevent them from swapping recipes at church social affairs or compiling cookbooks for fundraisers. I'd also like to point out that in the past when your typical wife cooked every night and made almost everything from scratch, people prized their baked goods and jam preserves (popular subjects for competitions at church fairs). A buffet of pies and old fashioned cakes and rolls and preserves would help nail the spirit of the big homegrown social affairs of the past. Thu Mar 13 10:58:23 -0700 2008 3486764 81926 Roland Parker