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Reboot Your Christmas Spirit
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Discover Dicken’s “Christmas Carol” wishes
Rekindle holiday traditions
Bring smiling light and love to the world
Walk with us into Ohio Historic Village as we reawaken the spirit of Charles Dickens and the magic of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. Join us in celebrating a visit to Chicago’s Marshall Field’s (now Macy’s) Walnut Room with its famous Frango Mint desserts and 1890 Chicken pot pie. Along the way, we gathered lots of new ideas for you to try for this holiday season.
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Decembers’ Past, Present, and Future Recipes
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Berry Christmas Brownies
Adapted from Chicago Tribune’s recipe for Frango Mint Brownies
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About the Recipe: Frango mints are delicious right from the box but stirring these luscious chocolate morsels into a brownie and it’s pure heaven. They elevate brownies to a new level of deliciousness. They can be served as a plain fudgy mint brownie or add a little twist and decorate them with a light strawberry glaze for a showy holiday touch.
See More – Berry Christmas Brownies
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Chicago’s Favorite Chicken Pot Pie
Adapted from Marshall Field’s Mrs. Hering’s original 1890 chicken pot pie recipe
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About the Recipe: Harry Selfridge, a young manager at Marshall Field and Company recognized the potential of this rich, creamy chicken pot pie, filled with tender carrots, celery, and peas. Enrobed in a golden crisp pastry, it is true delight for an elegant lunch or cozy comfort dinner. This updated version makes it easy to prepare the filling ahead of time using some convenience ingredients.
See More – Chicago’s Favorite Chicken Pot Pie
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Ruby Chocolate Chip Cookies
A new chocolate experience to discover – berry fruitiness from cocoa beans
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About the Recipe: This recipe is inspired by the cookie that almost everyone loves, chocolate chip cookies. It combines the unique berry fruitiness of the Ruby cocoa bean with rich, dark chocolate chips and crunchy pecans. They are small cookies that are easy to make and makes excellent surprise gifts.
See More – Ruby Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Welcome to the Ohio Historic Village: Have a Dickens’ Christmas
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Bring your family to our 19th century holiday celebration and see Charles Dickens’s festive vision of Christmas come to life!
- Meet and interact with 19th century Ohio Village residents to learn how they celebrate the holiday season.
- Interact with Ebenezer Scrooge, Jacob Marley, and other characters from Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol.”
- Enjoy music and dance of the period and partake in various activities in the village buildings.
- Experience an evening in the world of Charles Dickens. Feast on a sumptuous dinner at the American House Hotel and hear festive carols, then enjoy Dickens of a Christmas festivities throughout Ohio Village.
Welcome, we are at the Ohio History Connection in Columbus, Ohio
Preserving and sharing Ohio stories. We embrace the present, share the past, and transform the future.
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Interview with Charles Dickens Reenactor Andrew Hall
See More of Ohio Village Dickens’ Christmas
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Recipes from the past to the Present and onto the Future.
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Wassail
Served at “Dickens of a Christmas” Ohio History Connection recipe
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About the Recipe: A Christmas Wassail punch or mulled cider remains a favorite holiday beverage. It was traditionally served from Christmas Eve through Twelfth Night. The apple cider is seeped with sweet spices like cinnamon, all spice, cloves, and zesty lemon fresh lemon peels.
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Crispy ” Love Token Biscuit” Cookies
Adapted from David Copperfield’s Soft Seedy Biscuits
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About the Recipe: “The seedy biscuits are delicious – the same kind that the young David Copperfield offered to a little girl he had fallen in love with as a token of his esteem- and they go beautifully with our Darjeeling tea.” This cookie is crisp with a buttery flavor, dotted with either poppyseeds, caraway seeds, or both of them. During Victorian years, they favored using seeds in baked dishes.
See More – Crispy ” Love Token Biscuit” Cookies
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Almond Cake for Steerforth
Crusty meringue almond “cake” dessert to serve with mixed fruits
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A Love for Celebrating Christmas
Charles Dickens published “A Christmas Carol” in 1843, when he was 31. The cake he was imagining when he wrote the book might have been a cake remembered from his boyhood; however, that recipe from the early 1800s would have differed from the immense and expensive cakes that Dickens and his family enjoyed through the 1840s and ’50s, when his children were growing up.
See More – Almond Cake for Steerforth
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Yorkshire Teacakes
Dried fruit filled yeast-based bun cake, served split and buttered with tea
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About the Recipe: These traditional fruit-filled teacakes are a great favorite across the Yorkshire region and are best served split, toasted, and spread with butter. In most of England, a teacake is a light, sweet yeast-based bun cake that contains dried fruits like currants, sultanas or peels and is served with tea.
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Parisian Party Cauliflower
Sophisticated vegetable side dish dressed up for the holidays
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About the Recipe: It’s a delightful side dish that is easy to prepare and has an elegant appearance on a dinner table. Tender cauliflower is served drizzled with a creamy rich buttery sauce and covered with a crisp golden brown Parmesan crust. Give it a holiday twist with some dried cranberries and bright green parsley sprigs.
See More – Parisian Party Cauliflower
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Roasted Brussels Sprouts on the Stalk
Have fun serving them on the stalk, roasted deliciously soft, sweet, and earthy
About the Recipe: Roasted Brussels sprouts develop a delicious flavor when roasted until tender. Serve them on the stalk for a stunning side dish with a sharp knife for cutting off the brussels sprouts or cut them off the stalk, removing any charred leaves and toss with dried cranberries, bacon bits, and parsley. Serve with or drizzle with dressing.
See More – Roasted Brussels Sprouts on the Stalk
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Heritage Potato Chip Cookies
Salty and Sweet is a winning combo in these buttery rich cookies
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About the Recipe: These cookies are buttery rich and tender, a flashback on pecan sandies. Salty and sweet is an unbeatable combination.
Even in Charles Dicken’s Time, the World Loved Potato Chips:
Around 1853, Kate Speck Wicks, the sister of George Crum, informed the world that she invented and fried the famous Saratoga Chips. There is a popular reference to potato chips in the novel A Tale of Two Cities, written by Charles Dickens. In it, Dickens refers to them as “husky chips of potatoes.
The Birth of the Potato Chip Cookie: According to The Food Timeline, around the 1950’s, potato chip companies started promoting their products through recipes, and the Potato Chip Institute International sponsored an annual Men’s National Cooking Championship to use potato chips in recipes, and the delicious potato chip cookie recipe was born.
See More – Heritage Potato Chip Cookies
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“Little Rascals” (Buns)
Updated “turf buns,” muffin-like cakes, studded with fruit, infused with spices
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About the Recipe: These little muffin-like cakes can be served as savory as well as sweet treats. They are lightly spiced, filled with bits of candied and dried fruits, and topped with crunchy almonds, a candied cherry, and sprinkled of confectioners’ sugar. They are delicious served warm and spread with butter. Enjoy them with a cup of Yorkshire tea or your favorite beverage.
See More – “Little Rascals” (Buns)
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Chicago’s Magical Wonderland
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“Marshall Fields” and Christmas were practically synonymous. Marshall Field’s downtown store windows were filled with animated displays and Christmas theme stories.
Generations of Chicagoans and out-of-towners made a pilgrimage to the legendary State Street department store to shop for gifts and enjoy Field’s marvelous holiday ambiance and superb quality service.” There was Christmas music, walking down Candy Cane Lane, elegant lunch dining in the Walnut Room, which included sitting close to the Great Tree. It was taller than a small child could ever imagine, dressed up with sparkling decorations, creating magical Christmas dreams.
Children, having lunch there eagerly devoured Frango Mint ice cream desserts, dressed up with Christmas goodies. The high point was the appearance of the Fairy Princess, who would sprinkle magic dust over your head as you made a wish. Of course, there was always a visit to Santa’s Cozy Cloud Cottage too.
Interview with Walnut Room Dining Manager Curtis Shed
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Holiday Recipes
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Special Holiday Turkey Open-Faced Sandwich
Inspired by Marshall Field’s Special (Turkey) Sandwich
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About the Recipe: The huge open-faced sandwich is more like a layered salad sandwich, filled with turkey slices, Swiss cheese, lots of lettuce, and accompanied with olives, boiled egg slices, crisp bacon, and a tomato slice. If you want to have a flashback to the gourmet luncheons of Marshall Field’s Walnut Room, have fun making this multi-layered, gigantic, famous sandwich.
See More – Special Holiday Turkey Open-Faced Sandwich
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Frango Mint Surprise Cookies
Adapted from Marshall Field’s Frango Chocolate Cookbook
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About the Recipe: Just mention Frango mints in Chicago and people will relate a holiday celebration with sweet mint meltaway candies, downtown decorated windows, and a stunning tall Christmas tree in the Walnut Room. This recipe highlights those delicious mints by enclosing them in a butterball cookie rolled not once, but twice with confectioners’ sugar. They ring out the spirit of the holiday season.
See More – Frango Mint Surprise Cookies
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Frango Mint Chocolate Cheesecake with Fresh Raspberries
Served in Marshall Field’s and now Macy’s Walnut Room in Chicago
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About the Recipe: Chocolate and cheesecake are the perfect dessert duo. Start with this classic cheesecake recipe and add your favorite Frango flavors. It’s easy to make and triple tosses chocolate into the crust, filling, and the topping. We topped the cheesecake with raspberries, but it can be paired with any fruit or even whipped cream. Make it ahead and it’s ready for your party the next day.
See More – Frango Mint Chocolate Cheesecake with Fresh Raspberries
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