Years ago, I received a cheese-making kit for Christmas. It called for a gallon of milk and I couldn’t believe the small amount of cheese it made. I thought I did something wrong. Now, as I’m going through 1800s cookbooks, I find it actually takes about five quarts of milk to make a pound of cheese. If you want to try making your own cheese, look at modern recipes. Milk in the 1800s was not pasteurized and could sour without…
Pumpkins were a popular crop in the 1800s. They were easy to grow and if stored properly in a warm, dry place, could be kept all winter. Recipes from old cookbooks used fresh pumpkins, but if one called for stewed pumpkin, it’s like the plain canned pumpkin we buy today. Recipes often did not include baking times or how hot to make your oven because oven thermometers hadn’t been invented yet. You were supposed to already know or learn through…
In these days of such rapid change, it’s nice to run across a product that was founded so long ago and has remained in business. As a concession to modern times, though, they did introduce a low sodium version in 2010. The Lea & Perrins Worchestershire Sauce company was founded in 1837 in Worcester, England, by chemists John Lea and William Perrins. It’s now a subsidiary of Kraft Heinz, though it is still being producens in Worcester, England. The sauce…
When I was young, the only ways my mother served peas was fron a can. Although frozen vegetables were available, maybe they cost too much or we didn’t have the freezer space. Most of the recipes below are for fresh peas, although the last three are for dried peas. I especially like the recipes for Pea Griddle-Cakes and Oatmeal and Peas. RECIPES BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS GREEN PEAS When green peas are purchased, they are always found in the pods….
It sure was a lot of work making candy in the 1800s. There were no electric mixers to help beat the sugar mixture, and you had to learn how to boil it into a syrup with just the right consistency. The recipes below are from “The Whitehouse Cookbook (1887) by F. L. Gillette and Hugo Ziemann.” Click here to access the cookbook for free on the Project Gutenberg website. RECIPES FROM THE WHITE HOUSE COOKBOOK, 1887 CONFECTIONERYIn the making of…
A cordial (liqueur) is a sweetened alcoholic beverage made from a distilled spirit, and sweetened with various fruits and spices. Most cordials aren’t aged long. In the 1800s, some cordials were also used as family medicine. A few of the cordial recipes below are rather unusual. INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS MINT CORDIAL Pick the mint early in the morning while the dew is on it. Do not bruise it. Pour some water over it and then drain it off….
Summer squashes are picked before they’re mature. The rind is thin and edible, and you can also eat the seeds. But summer squashes can’t be stored like winter squashes. Some summer squashes in the U.S. are: Pattypan squash Crookneck squash Straightneck squash Zucchini (courgette) RECIPES BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS: BOILED SUMMER SQUASHIf the rind is tender, boil it whole in a little bag kept for the purpose. It should be put into boiling water. Three quarters of an hour is…
I have occasionally seen fresh pigs’ feet and pickled pigs’ feet in grocery stores., although I’ve never tried either one. In the 1800s, pigs’ feet were cheap and eaten mostly by poor households. Although they were more popular in the South, they were also eaten nationwide. Boiling and pickling the feet helped preserve them before refrigeration was available. INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS FRIED PIGS’ FEET Thoroughly burn all the hairs off with a poker heated to a white heat….