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By Lisa SmithThis summer, I had the pleasure of hosting Jessie Foreman as an Undergraduate Research Opportunity Programme student at the University of Essex. Over the summer, she worked on transcriptions for several manuscripts, tweeted occasionally about her findings, developed an instructional video, and tested a recipe... It was a busy summer!She's kindly taken a few minutes out of her busy start of term to answer a few questions about her placement.[caption id="attachment_1152" align="alignright" width="229"] From the Cookbook of Mary and Timothy Cruso, Folger Shakespeare Library, X.d.24, fol. 20r.[/caption]How many manuscripts did you work on, and which was your favourite?I worked on four: L. Cromwell, Mary and Timothy Cruso, Mrs. Carlyon and Constance Hall. I think I liked Cromwell the most, as the hand changed so often and it really kept me on my toes. But Cruso had some very intriguing political verses.What was your favourite recipe?My favourite recipe has got to be Hall's Carrot Pudding because it's the one I actually tried out, even though it didn't go so well.What did you like best about transcribing?I liked the real connection I got with history when I was transcribing, and that my typing skills got much faster.What did you find most interesting about early modern recipes?The most interesting part to me was seeing how big the portions in the books were and how long the recipes took to make. Not exactly fast food.Any summer highlights?My highlight was definitely my attempt at making an actual recipe.There you go: transcribing... an immersive connection with the past that also provides you with real world skills in cooking and typing! Sounds like a summer well spent.