Chapter 27- Urban Planning (1766) Age 14

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Later that night the family met for dinner in the primary dining room. This was less common during the spring and fall months because there was work almost all the time, but in summer and winter, there was more time to spend with loved ones.

At the meal, John had instructed the kitchen staff to make a dish that he had not seen since his new life. He instructed the cooks to grind up chicken into small pieces, mix it with egg, herbs, and spices, bread it in a beer-based batter, and then was fried it in oil. This was the night's main dish; along with some sides, it was his first fried chicken meal in ages. Combined with this John also had the staff make a simple ketchup but recipes for sauces like it were common enough and were nothing special.

Looking at his grandfather and mother he watched them eyeing the dinner suspiciously and they poked the chicken with their utensils. 

Looking at the food apprehensively his mother turns her head toward him, "John, sweetie, what is this," she said gesturing to the chicken.

"Well," he said, "In celebration of our discovery I had the chefs make a new dish, Chicken Nuggets," and while that was complete bullshit he still liked the excuse. 

His mother knowing what they found nodded before John continued talking, "This dish was fried in peanut oil to show Grandpa that it is feasible to be used in cooking."

This catches his grandfather's attention, "You can use this to fry like animal fat, that's fascinating, does it burn like butter?" 

John looked toward William and smiled, "No, you can bring g to high temperatures like lard or olive oil and it won't burn like butter. It can also be used for other things like lamps, candles, and soap."

The family immediately began eating, and after a while, the conversation pivoted from family matters back to the oil.

"So John," William said, "Where do you plan to process this oil, It needs to be nearby to warrant transporting the nuts up to the estate to avoid British eyes."

John looks up from dinner, "That is true, which is why I want to be renovating the town soon, building up the processing plant to get a town started around that industry. We can then process the oil into a few other products to be sold."

His grandfather had an understanding look, "True, but why should we not build the plant on the property instead of in the town, I know we should renovate the town but why would we locate it there."

"Putting it in the town would give it a reason for existing other than a stop-off point on the roads or as a place for farmhands to get drunk at. It would allow us to build industry in a place away from prying eyes."

The comment about prying eyes makes William smirk, "True, I don't want royal officials always looking over our shoulders. The craftsmen in the city already have to put up with it too much."

"We can plan the city's layout later, for now, let's eat. There is too much to discuss that can be done over dinner."

Later in the night after dinner, John and William are in the city looking over a map of the town that William had made around a decade ago. The town was less than a dozen buildings straddling the road.

"So John, since this is your idea how do you think the town should be organized," William said with John next to him.

"I think we should move the town's Main street off the central road so any traffic won't affect daily life. We should then locate the processing plant for the nuts on the other side of the road to keep the industrial and residential commercial sides apart. This will make sure we have room to expand."

"True, that will work well, but where should we place the services for the town? There will need to be a church, a school, and possibly a court or public office if it grows too much."

The two of them talked late into the night and worked out a plan for the nearby town, and while there wasn't a name chosen for the settlement John hoped that one day it would grow to be a good industrial hub for Philadelphia. 

The following morning John got up early before lesions and began planning out the full process for oil refinement. The process was rather simple and worked on a watermill, first, the nuts would be roasted in large copper kettles then peanuts were ground down with a stone mill and moved into large vats. The vats were then pumped full of water to barely cover them and then left to rest.

After an hour the oil would have separated from the nuts and the remaining liquid would be moved and any oils left in the solids would be squeezed out into the slurry. The liquid would then be strained back into kettles and the water would then be boiled off and the oil would be stabilized. 

The oil would then be stored in smallish wooden barrels in a basement keeping them. While John had other plans for the peanuts this would be the first of many. 

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