Eating in a Different Era

When I toured the National World War I Museum in Kansas City last month, I ate at their museum cafe.  It was a different kind of experience.

Most museums have cafes for their patrons.  Most serve the same, ubiquitous dinning room food: cold wraps or sandwiches from a glass case, salads, bags of chips.  Some of the fancier ones might have a grill that serves up burgers.  But this cafe was different. The Menu for the Over There Cafe had a little symbol in its upper right corner: an orange circle with a helmet.  It said that the helmet next to a menu item meant that the food was similar to that served to soldiers during World War I.  Minus, of course, the bugs and dirt.


I had to choose between chipped beef on gravy over toast (which my WWI grandfather called "shit on a shingle," a mix of corned beer, turnips and carrots called trench stew, cabbage soup, or army goulash: a mix of hamburger, pork and beans, oregano and tomato sauce. I ordered  a cup of coffee and trench stew, which came with a side of WWI slaw and a biscuit served on a tin plate.  The stew came in a glass-covered sauce pot.  Perhaps serving the stew and coffee in battered tin cups would have been more authentic. Recently I sent a recipe for triple ginger cookies to people on my friends, family and fans email list.  One friend wrote back, suggesting that I incorporate period recipes in my historical novels.  I think she may be on to something. What do you think?  Should I include recipes in my historical novels?  post them on my blog?  Send them to people who are on or Sign up for my friends, family and Fans email list? Name * First Last Email * Comment * Submit