At the table with
James A. Garfield.

THE HISTORICAL TABLE

A dinner built from the Garfield grocery receipts

National Park Service research into Garfield family receipts reveals the everyday provisions at Mentor Farm: ham, sausage, beef, cheese, eggs, potatoes, cabbage and other vegetables. A shopping record gives a different kind of intimacy from a ceremonial menu.

This supper reconstructs a plate from those purchases. Browned sausages and warm ham sit beside potatoes and buttery cabbage. The ingredients come from the household record; combining them into this particular meal is the reconstruction. It is designed for a modern weeknight, with the history in the pantry.