Why does Grandma’s cake taste like heaven, but yours tastes like… homework? Join us as we decode old recipes, uncover culinary quirks, and reveal why history might just be the missing ingredient. 

Lacey Villiva and Rachel Anderson of George Mason’s Gunston Hall and hosts of the History in the Kitchen series, will feature a recipe from Malinda Russell's A Domestic Cookbook, the first known cookbook by an African American woman. We will discuss the joys and challenges of interpreting historic recipes and participants in the program will get a chance to taste the flavors of history as well.

About the presenters:

Lacey Villiva is a museum educator by training and has worked in the history museum field for the last 20 years. She is currently the Education Manager at Gunston Hall. Lacey has been exploring historic recipes since first discovering 18th and 19th century cookbooks in 2007.

Rachel Anderson has been a hearth volunteer with Gunston Hall since 2017 and has been cooking from historic recipes for 13 years.