Before Liberty Was Written in Ink, It Was Stirred Into Stews

As we approach the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, much of what we remember comes from documents—letters, declarations, and speeches that shaped a nation. But history was not lived on paper alone. Before liberty was written in ink, it was stirred into stews, baked into bread, and shared by candlelight. It lived in hearths and camps, in kitchens short on flour and long on resolve. It was carried forward by ordinary people who cooked not for fame or fortune, but for survival.

When I compiled The Lost Letters of the American Revolution, I was struck by how often food appeared between the lines. Soldiers wrote of hunger. Wives wrote of stretching rations. Mothers wrote of bread baked in silence while sons marched away. These were not side notes to history—they were its foundation.

Food, like letters, tells the truth. Every meal prepared during the Revolutionary era reflected the realities of war: scarcity, substitution, ingenuity, and quiet defiance. Hoecakes baked over open fires. Stews thickened with whatever could be found. Puddings are saved for rare moments of celebration. These were meals shaped by necessity, but sustained by hope. That truth led naturally to a companion work now in progress: Lost Recipes of the American Revolution: Tales of Food & Freedom.

Drawing from the same archives, letters, and firsthand accounts that inspired The Lost Letters, this forthcoming volume explores the recipes that nourished a nation in the making—authentic 18th-century dishes, thoughtfully reimagined for the modern kitchen. Each recipe carries a story, reminding us that history is not only something we read, but something we can taste. This is not a modern cookbook dressed in period language. It is a heritage volume—rooted in original sources, respectful of context, and written with the belief that food is one of our most powerful connections to the past.

As we remember the Revolution in the years ahead, I invite you to remember it not only through words, but through the quiet rituals that sustained those who lived it: cooking, sharing, and gathering around a common table. History was lived one day at a time.
Sometimes, it was lived one meal at a time. Lost Recipes of the American Revolution is scheduled for publication in January 2026.

Until then, keep the fire alive.

— Elizabeth Winslow