In late 19th-century high-society Boston, the evening meal was a formal ceremony served by domestic staff in several successive courses: a seafood starter or soup, a roast meat with seasonal vegetables, and a pastry dessert, all preceded or accompanied by beverages. Alongside this social splendor, the humbler, thriftier fare of the New Hampshire countryside (steamed brown bread, late-summer preserves, refreshing harvest drink) survived, inherited from Amy's childhood in Henniker. The structure thus contrasts the frugal daily life of rural New England with the ornate city table.

A dark syrup that reached New England via the triangular trade with the West Indies, molasses is the sweet soul of the region's cooking: it flavors brown bread, Saturday beans, and puddings. Economical, robust, and nourishing, it is the thread linking the modest table of Henniker to the more refined desserts of Boston.