Dinner, the big meal of the day in the antebellum period, was what we now call lunch. Lexington County residents also ate breakfast and supper.

For breakfast, many would eat hot breads, cereals, meat, and/or fruit. Supper usually consisted of leftovers from the midday meal, buttermilk, or just cornbread crumbled up in a glass of milk.

They did not consider it healthy to eat a big meal late in the day. That’s sensible advice for us even today.

The kitchen was not only a place where meals were cooked but served other purposes as well. Babies were fed in the kitchen since they made too much of a mess to be fed inside the main house.

The kitchen was also where the enslaved ate. Pie safes and other pieces of furniture were also used for storing preserved fruits and vegetables and baked goods.

JR Fennell is Lexington County Museum director.