FROM AN 1800s COOKBOOK: “The unpopularity of prunes is unfortunate. This may be because prunes were formerly one of the cheapest fruits or because they are cooked and served in the same way too often.
Desirable results can often be secured by combining prunes and other dried fruits with tart fruits such as apricots, apples, and rhubarb.”
Corned beef is cured with large-grained rock salt, also called “corns” of salt. This was a way to keep meat when it couldn’t be eaten fresh before it spoiled. Corned beef was eaten either hot or cold. If cold, it was pressed under a heavy weight before serving. Image: Libby, McNeill & Libby Corned Beef, 1898 INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS TO CORN BEEF Rub each piece of beef well with salt mixed with one-tenth part of saltpeter, until the…
Head cheese is not a cheese made from milk, but a pressed meat dish. It’s usually made from the heads of pigs and cows, although the brain, eyes, and ears are usually removed. Scrapple is also usually made from the head, but thickened with corn meal or buckwheat flour. INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS PORK HEAD CHEESE This is made of the head, ears, and tongue of a pig. Boil them after cleaning them, in salted water until tender. Strip…
There were no packaged pudding mixes in the 1800s. Homemade puddings were made from scratch and were either baked, boiled, or steamed. Puddings were made from a variety of foods, served hot or cold, and was a time-consuming process. “My*T*Fine” was the first packaged pudding introduced to the United States in 1918. Source – FoodTimeline.org . INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS ABOUT PUDDINGS The eggs for all sorts of puddings in which they are used should be well beaten and then…
People made appetizing salad dishes from foods that were in season. Many of these recipes are quite imaginative and include foods I never thought to combine. INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS BUTTER BEAN SALADLightly mix together one pint butter beans (canned or cooked), one cup chopped celery, one tablespoon finely chopped onion, and one tablespoon finely chopped green pepper. Garnish with grated cheese, and serve with French dressing. DANDELION SALADPick the young tender leaves of the dandelion, wash, and lay…
Making an omelet can be difficult at first; often cooking it too hard or not being able to fold it over properly. But once you get the hang of it, it’s such an easy meal to prepare. You can increase the nutritive value by adding cheese, mushrooms, chives, meat, vegetables, etc. INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS OMELETS The omelet is by far the most attractive way of serving eggs. It is better to make several small omelets of three…
INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS CURRANT, CHERRY, AND OTHER BERRY WINESThe juice of either of the above fruits can be used alone or in combinations to make a variety of flavors. Express all the juice you can, then take an equal amount of boiling water and pour on the pressed fruit. Let this stand two hours, squeeze out as much as there is of juice, and mix. Then add 4 pounds of brown sugar to each gallon of the mixture….
Baking a cake wasn’t easy for housewives in the 1800s. Boxed cake mixes weren’t available until the early 1930s, so all cakes had to be made from scratch; mixing flour, butter, eggs, sugar, baking powder, and other ingredients by hand. Most ovens were fueled by wood. Oven thermometers weren’t invented yet, so they had to learn to determine how hot to heat their oven and how long to bake a cake. INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS Before commencing to make…