I’ve finally finished my DIY solar cooker. Yay! My DIY solar box cooker is a combination between a hay box and a solar cooker. I followed these instructions for a “minimum” solar box cooker. For the solar box cooker I used two cardboard boxes, hay, wheat paste as glue, aluminium foil and plexiglas. Continue reading DIY Solar Box Cooker
Enjoy your tea and coffee with homemade dairy-free cream substitutes. And top off your dessert and garnish your cake with homemade dairy-free whipped cream alternatives. Below you’ll find recipes for dairy-free, nut-free, coconut-free, egg-free and fat-free cream and whipped cream substitutes. Continue reading 5+ Homemade Dairy-Free (Whipped) Cream Substitutes
The Edwardian summer girl is robust, strong and independent. She’s bare-armed, collarless, hatless and short-skirted: She doesn’t care if she gets freckles or a tan. She’s as good at sports as men: She swims, rows, hunts – she even plays barefoot golf! Continue reading The Edwardian Summer Girl
Angel food cake is so delicious – fluffy, tender, light as air! And it’s one of the easiest cakes, basically made with just 3 ingredients: egg whites, sugar and flour. Angel food cake is great for leftover egg whites. This angel food cake recipe is from the Edwardian era. Continue reading Old-Fashioned Angel Food Cake
Custard, ice cream, souffle, marshmallow fluff, meringue – some recipes just call for egg yolks or egg whites. So if you’re having a bowl of leftover egg whites or yolks sitting in your fridge, try one of the old-fashioned cake recipes below. Continue reading 10+ Old-Fashioned Cake Recipes With Leftover Egg Whites Or Egg Yolks
If you read my blog regularly, you know that I’m trying out old pie recipes at the moment. After strawberry, raspberry, orange and mock cream pie, I now made 1920s Boston cream pie. Even if it’s called pie, it’s rather a cake: Boston cream pie is a layer cake with custard filling. Continue reading 1920s Boston Cream Pie
Because the 1910s strawberry custard pie was so delicious, I tried out another 1910s pie recipe: mock cream pie from 1919. Mock cream pie is a custard pie with meringue topping – it’s delicious: sweet, rich and creamy! Continue reading 1910s Mock Cream Pie Recipe
Lavender sachets were a popular gift in the Victorian and Edwardian era: ‘A delightful gift that will cost but little in time or money’ (Every Woman’s Encyclopaedia, 1910-2a).
Lace lavender sachets are fast to sew and a great way to use up fabric and lace scraps. I used lace scraps from my Edwardian lingerie blouse and muslin scraps from my Victorian afternoon gown. (UK) Muslin is very sheer – perfect for lavender sachets. Continue reading Edwardian Lace Lavender Sachets – Tutorial
In this tutorial I’ll show you how to make basic drawn thread work by hand. Drawn thread work is a counted thread embroidery: some warp or weft threads are removed and the remaining threads are grouped together with hemstitches. Drawn thread work has been popular for a long time: It was already used in the Middle Ages (source), and was still popular in the Victorian and Edwardian era and the 1920s. ‘Drawn-thread work forms a connecting link between embroidery and lace work […] it is very durable, and washes well.’ (Every Woman’s Encyclopaedia, 1910-2) Continue reading Drawn Thread Work Tutorial
Wearing mourning clothes are an ‘outward token that they loved those they lost.’ (Ladies’ Magazine and Literary Gazette, 1831, p. 117)
In the Victorian and Edwardian era, wearing mourning was a social obligation but it also helped to protect the feelings of the mourners: Every stranger would instantly recognize the mourning dress, know of their loss and wouldn’t hurt their feelings with unnecessary jaunty remarks.
The colors of Victorian mourning are black, white, gray, purple, lavender and scarlet. Black is the color most associated with mourning wear. However, not all extant black dresses are mourning dresses: Continue reading Victorian Mourning