During the transcribathon, the Medical Heritage Library came up with a genius idea: would we do a Jane Dawson Cook Along? The answer to that is a resounding YES!

So, here’s what we’re going to do. Over the next week (22-30 September), some members of the EMROC Steering Committee will try out this recipe for Lemon Wafers.

Take duble refined Suger beatt & dryed & sifted and mix with
it Juce of a lemmon let it be of the thickness of huney & take some
of it in a Spoone & heatd it over a chafin-dish of coles till it be
crisp on th​e​ side of the spoone let it not boyle: when itt is melted
Spred it on a paper out 4 Square: & then pin two Corners together
that it may bend like other wafers; & so lett it dry when you take
them of wett th​e​ rong side of the papers with watter

Jane Dawson, V.b.14, p. 47.

Our assignment will be to take notes of how we decide to interpret the recipe, the ingredients we select, the modern tools we use, the weather conditions (temperature, wind, barometric pressure), the altitude… and anything else that might be relevant in how our recipe turns out. We’ll also taste test (of course!). You can follow our experiments on Twitter as we do them (#EMROCcooks), though we’ll also do an easy-to-read round-up for you afterwards.

Would you like to be involved in the Jane Dawson Cook Along?

We’d LOVE for you to join in. There are three ways to participate in our cook along over the next week:

• try the same recipe for lemon wafers;
• test out another one of Dawson’s recipes that intrigues you (full book here);
• join in the discussion of the EMROC community’s cooking experiments.

Let us know about your kitchen project on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, blog comments, or e-mail (lisa.smith@essex.ac.uk). Our hashtag for all Dawson Cook-Along projects will be #EMROCcooks.

We can’t wait to see what you cook up!

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