Yesterday was Emily Dickinson's birthday. Not many folks that I know of celebrate her birthday. We did. I read two of her poems ("of bronze and blaze" and "I started early - took my dog") to the children. And we had corn fritters with dinner. Not everyone associates corn fritters with Emily Dickinson, either, and I understand that. But my research on what Emily Dickinson would have eaten was limited to a cursory glance at her poems which revealed several mentions of bread. And the discovery of this awesome site,
Feeding America. In glancing through the cookbooks on that site, I learned that
- women struggled with finding meaning in their lives even in the 1870s. It may sound stupid that I thought that women were content with their lot back then. Why should women be happy with cooking, cleaning, birthing babies and occasional writing and charity work? That's what I do all the time and I have moments of doubt about whether I'm fulfilling my potential.
- In the 1870s folks ate corn fritters which is significant because I happen to have the America's Test Kitchen Family cookbook which has a recipe for corn fritters and Emily Dickinson's life spans the 1870s. Mission accomplished. Where is my flight suit?
It turned out that photographing the corn fritters was the biggest challenge on a gray evening in winter. But the fritters were good.
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