Browsed by
Author: Angela Johnson

I’ve been interested in cooking since I was a teenager. Growing up in a small town in Illinois, I ate many home-cooked meals and tried out recipes (mostly cookies). Wherever I live or travel, I check out grocery stores for unusual foods, eat at local restaurants, and buy regional cookbooks. I’m also fascinated with learning how people in the past lived, and how they obtained food and prepared it.
fresh, raw cucumbers
Cooked Cucumber Recipes and How to Prepare Them Raw

Cooked Cucumber Recipes and How to Prepare Them Raw

Comments 2 comments

In reading through 1800s cookbooks, I was amazed to see recipes for fried, boiled, stewed, and stuffed cucumbers, as well as cucumber catsup and vinegar, and soup. I’ve only eaten cucumbers raw, so these recipes sound interesting. INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS CUCUMBERS AND THEIR PREPARATION In food value, cucumbers are very low, comparing closely with celery in this respect. However, as they contain a large amount of cellulose, or bulk, and mineral salts, they should not be disregarded in…

Read More Read More

Farm Fresh Brown Eggs
7 Ways to Preserve Fresh Eggs

7 Ways to Preserve Fresh Eggs

Comments 4 comments

Hens normally lay most of their eggs during the spring and summer when there is more natural daylight.  They slow down or stop laying eggs in the darker winter months. In the 1800s, people needed to preserve eggs that were laid in the spring so they would last through the winter. Today,  poultry can be raised under artificial light and we have refrigeration, so we don’t have to worry about egg shortages. But if you raise your own chickens, you…

Read More Read More

farm fresh eggs to preserve
Preserve Eggs With Slaked Lime or Water Glass

Preserve Eggs With Slaked Lime or Water Glass

Comments 84 comments

In the 1800s, before artificial light was available, chickens laid far fewer eggs in winter than in the summer. Homes did not have electrical refrigeration and ice boxes were too small to store much food. Therefore, people had to find a way to preserve eggs for times when eggs were scarce. This post is a continuation of ways to preserve eggs.  You can read the previous post here, How to Preserve Eggs for Winter. Two additional ways of preserving eggs…

Read More Read More

cutting strips of fat to lard meat
Larding and Daubing Lean Meat

Larding and Daubing Lean Meat

Comments 1 comment

Many kinds of meat which are very lean and dry are improved by the addition of some kind of fat. Larding is accomplished by cutting strips of salt pork lengthwise with the rind two inches long and one quarter inch wide, and with aid of the larding needle, drawing these pieces through the surface of the meat, taking a stitch an inch long and a quarter inch deep. The tenderloin or fillet of beef, the thick part of the leg…

Read More Read More

a plate of perfectly fried vegetables
Frying Vegetables – Spinach, Cabbage, Celery…

Frying Vegetables – Spinach, Cabbage, Celery…

Comments 1 comment

INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS ========================================== FRIED CAULIFLOWER Having laid a fine cauliflower in cold water for an hour, put it into a pot of boiling water that has been slightly salted (milk and water will be still better) and boil it twenty-five minutes, or till the large stalk is perfectly tender. Then divide it equally into small tufts, and spread it on a dish to cool. Prepare a sufficient quantity of batter made in the proportion of a tablespoonful…

Read More Read More