What do you think?
Rate this book
Dining with the Washingtons: Historic Recipes, Entertaining, and Hospitality from Mount Vernon
Combining vivid photography with engaging essays, "Dining with the Washingtons" explores the menus, diet, and styles of entertaining that characterized the beloved home of the nation's principal founding father. Compelling accounts, historic artwork, and images of gardens, table settings, prepared food, and objects from the Mount Vernon collection blend to shed fresh light on the daily lives of George and Martha Washington, on their ceaseless stream of household guests and those who served them, and on the ways food and drink reflected the culture of eighteenth-century America.
Featuring a foreword by former White House executive chef Walter Scheib and more than 90 historic recipes adapted for today's kitchens by renowned culinary historian Nancy Carter Crump, this book is ideal for veteran and novice cooks alike as well as for those wishing to learn about both formal and everyday dining at Mount Vernon. Drawing from a wide range of sources, including memoirs, diaries, plantation documents, archaeological research, and the personal correspondence of the Washington family and their visitors, this charming volume brings the household of America's first president and his wife vividly to life for modern-day readers.
The contributors are: Steven T. Bashore, Manager of Historic Trades, Mount Vernon; Carol Borchert Cadou; Robert H. Smith, Senior Curator and Vice President for Collections, Mount Vernon; Nancy Carter Crump, author and founder, Culinary Historians of Virginia; J. Dean Norton, Director of Horticulture, Mount Vernon; Dennis J. Pogue, Vice President of Preservation, Mount Vernon; Walter Scheib, former executive chef, The White House; Mary V. Thompson, Research Historian, Mount Vernon; Esther White, Director of Archaeology, Mount Vernon.
Featuring a foreword by former White House executive chef Walter Scheib and more than 90 historic recipes adapted for today's kitchens by renowned culinary historian Nancy Carter Crump, this book is ideal for veteran and novice cooks alike as well as for those wishing to learn about both formal and everyday dining at Mount Vernon. Drawing from a wide range of sources, including memoirs, diaries, plantation documents, archaeological research, and the personal correspondence of the Washington family and their visitors, this charming volume brings the household of America's first president and his wife vividly to life for modern-day readers.
The contributors are: Steven T. Bashore, Manager of Historic Trades, Mount Vernon; Carol Borchert Cadou; Robert H. Smith, Senior Curator and Vice President for Collections, Mount Vernon; Nancy Carter Crump, author and founder, Culinary Historians of Virginia; J. Dean Norton, Director of Horticulture, Mount Vernon; Dennis J. Pogue, Vice President of Preservation, Mount Vernon; Walter Scheib, former executive chef, The White House; Mary V. Thompson, Research Historian, Mount Vernon; Esther White, Director of Archaeology, Mount Vernon.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published November 17, 2011
1 person is currently reading
58 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 27, 2020
A delicious taste of Mount Vernon dining!
This beautiful coffee table book is an outstanding collection of everything related to George and Martha Washington’s experience with food -- from its cultivation to cook and kitchen to its consumption in high company. Adorned with beautiful pictures, the book has four main authors describing Mount Vernon entertainment and hospitality, so it’s not unusual that a few of the many interesting facts are sometimes repeated. Yet, there’s enough exciting to go around: you’ll find a story about a lady visitor’s hair catching on fire from a candelabra. Another story has a young gentleman coaxing a bug out of a young lady guest’s ear with some oil, only to have to chase it after it jumped down onto her breast. Also included are bits of after-event, choice sniping from less than gracious guests. A little tamer but more savory, the recipe section, written by yet another author, offers rich recipes and commentary.
All in all, it nicely brought out an aspect of George Washington’s character I hadn’t known much about before. As a fellow author, I found the book extremely well done (no food pun intended)!
This beautiful coffee table book is an outstanding collection of everything related to George and Martha Washington’s experience with food -- from its cultivation to cook and kitchen to its consumption in high company. Adorned with beautiful pictures, the book has four main authors describing Mount Vernon entertainment and hospitality, so it’s not unusual that a few of the many interesting facts are sometimes repeated. Yet, there’s enough exciting to go around: you’ll find a story about a lady visitor’s hair catching on fire from a candelabra. Another story has a young gentleman coaxing a bug out of a young lady guest’s ear with some oil, only to have to chase it after it jumped down onto her breast. Also included are bits of after-event, choice sniping from less than gracious guests. A little tamer but more savory, the recipe section, written by yet another author, offers rich recipes and commentary.
All in all, it nicely brought out an aspect of George Washington’s character I hadn’t known much about before. As a fellow author, I found the book extremely well done (no food pun intended)!
June 4, 2014
Excellent book. I purchased this at Mount Vernon and have wanted this particular book when I first discovered it was available last year. I was not disappointed. The book is 235 pages long with the first half being a narrative on the Washington family, their living and eating habits, and primary source accounts of their many guest and their experiences at Mount Vernon. It was fun to view George and Martha Washington and their household, including enslaved persons, with a slant on food, dining, and food preparation.
Written in a style that made me feel as if I was an intimate of the family and welcomed to sit, in the early evenings, on the piazza and sip tea and sample Martha's cakes.
The recipes are also exceptional and include family stories in a short narrative. I cannot wait to try some of these and add them to my "favorite" list of recipes.
Written in a style that made me feel as if I was an intimate of the family and welcomed to sit, in the early evenings, on the piazza and sip tea and sample Martha's cakes.
The recipes are also exceptional and include family stories in a short narrative. I cannot wait to try some of these and add them to my "favorite" list of recipes.
January 19, 2016
What a beautiful and beautifully-produced book! Presented by the Mont Vernon Ladies Assoc. -- meticulously researched, scholarly but not dry, gorgeous photographs. A well-done historical document as well as a joy to browse through.
December 28, 2017
This was very interesting as to Colonial America cuisine and especially the dining customs and food records for Mount Vernon. Great photos to show tableware, guests, and food. This could be an intimidating looking book but not academic or boring.
The first half is the life at Mount Vernon. This includes quotes from George and Martha Washington as well as guests that stayed. It also accounted for the slave life as well.
The second half are adapted recipes from two notable cookbooks that were of the times. The recipe history and anecdotes adapted for today's palate and grocery availability.
It was interesting to view Washington gathered at his table promptly and that he and Martha were avid entertainers both of their choosing and not. Mount Vernon had become a travel destination and curiosity for the prestige of the former war hero and president. To picture the stuffy paintings we are familiar with to a living, breathing, affable, but firm man.
The first half is the life at Mount Vernon. This includes quotes from George and Martha Washington as well as guests that stayed. It also accounted for the slave life as well.
The second half are adapted recipes from two notable cookbooks that were of the times. The recipe history and anecdotes adapted for today's palate and grocery availability.
It was interesting to view Washington gathered at his table promptly and that he and Martha were avid entertainers both of their choosing and not. Mount Vernon had become a travel destination and curiosity for the prestige of the former war hero and president. To picture the stuffy paintings we are familiar with to a living, breathing, affable, but firm man.
February 21, 2018
A beautiful and informative book about Mt. Vernon , cooking, and farming plus gardening aspects of life for the Washingtons. I made the chicken cream soup and it was wonderful! Very tasty. I used this book as a guide to celebrate Geirge Washington's Birthday with our church book club group.
December 30, 2025
This is a superb book, describing how food was purchased, produced, and served at Mount Vernon, as well as descriptions of some of the people involved. It's a fantastic snapshot of life in a wealthy household in 18th century America. I am anxious to dive into the recipes at the end of the book.
to-read-own
February 17, 2025Bought on a trip to Washington D.C. with my mom.
Read
April 20, 2018part tour guide, part history, part cookbook
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews