The American Revolutionary War:

Colonial Biscuits

A PowerPoint Presentation by: Peyton Miyares

Colonial Food History

There werent many options when it came to food

during the war. There were many food and supply
shortages in this period. The British had more wealth than
the Patriots (The Meekers) so they could afford more food
to keep their men healthy and strong. The family-owned
tavern in My Brother Sam is Dead sold some of the
ingredients used to make colonial biscuits. Biscuits were
commonly eaten by Tim in the novel. For example, when
Father and Tim traveled to Verplancks Point, their meals
consisted of biscuits. Biscuits didnt take much time to
make and didnt need to stay refrigerated, which made
them a popular choice.

Colonial vs. 21st Century Biscuits

Ingredients

Colonial Biscuits
2 cups of flour
4 tsp. of baking
power
Dash of salt
cup of butter
Milk to moisten

Pillsbury Biscuits
( Store-bought refrigerated
dough)

Enriched Flour Bleached

Water
Soybean Oil
Sugar
Baking Powder
Hydrogenated Soybean Oil
Salt
Whey
Xanthan Gum
Natural and Artificial Flavor

Colonial Biscuits
Steps:

Sift the flour and mix

ingredients
Cut butter into four equal
pieces
Work butter into mixture
with pastry blender
Add milk and mix
Kneed dough
Roll out on board
Cut dough with a biscuit
cutter

The modern way of making

biscuits is as simple as opening
a package and putting them in
the oven. The colonial biscuits
were made from scratch, and
took more effort and time.

Other Popular Foods

Indian Pudding (not in novel)

Colonial Bread/Brown Bread (not in novel)
Stew
Salted Beef
Cattle
Salted Fish
Molasses