In a prosperous Puritan New England household, daily life revolved around the hearth: everyday bread baked each morning, dense cakes saved for Sunday or visits, and the afternoon tea table where cakes and preserves were served. Emily Dickinson, mistress of the Homestead kitchen, baked her father's bread herself and lowered treats from the window to the neighborhood children. There is no distinction of starter/main/dessert, but rather everyday bread, festive sweets, and offered dainties.

Rye flour mixed with Indian meal (cornmeal) is THE staple grain foundation of New England, and molasses—brown sugar brought from the West Indies by Boston's maritime trade—sweetens and flavors almost everything, from breads to gingerbreads. Emily won a prize at the Amherst agricultural fair for her rye and Indian bread.