Tag Ein-                    Philadelphia 1750

1700's Mass Transit

                        Roads paved with river and field stones

Walking on remnants of Philadelphia's cobbled streets lined with brick Georgian buildings we get a glimpse of what our brave German ancestors might have seen after their long arduous voyage from Steinheim.  Disembarking from the ship Rosannah, Georg Christoph Horoldt, wife and five children including son Georg Stophel, set foot here in 1743 to raise the family away from Prussian conscription. Philadelphia's Old Town surrounds us with the 1700's-architecture, cannons, the Liberty Bell, old ships.

                         Thomas Bond House,  pre-Revolution

We are staying in the three story Thomas Bond House built in 1769 and restored as a B&B.  Bond was a physican who with Benjamin Franklin established a hospital here.  The home is a block from the waterfront and across the street from City Tavern built in 1773. This Tavern has a rich history and was a meeting place for George Washington and the Continental Congress. It continues to feature food and beer favored in the 1700's served by waiters dressed in period attire. Apparently George Washington liked a good porter...

                           City Tavern patron and a good ale

Thomas Jefferson's Sweet Potato Biscuits

• YIELD: About 2 dozen biscuits

INGREDIENTS

• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• One and one-half teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• One-half teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 cup vegetable shortening
• 2 cups cooked, mashed and cooled sweet potatoes
• 1 cup heavy cream
• One-half cup coarsely chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, ginger and allspice. Add the shortening and cut in with 2 knives until crumbly. Add the sweet potatoes and mix well with a wooden spoon. Add the cream and pecans and stir just until moistened.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out the dough to one and one-half inches thick. Cut out with a 2-inch floured biscuit cutter. Place the biscuits 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve warm or let cool on a wire rack until room temperature.