“A GOOD COOK NEVER WASTES” “It is her pride to make the most of everything in the shape of food entrusted to her care, and her pleasure to serve it in the most appetizing form. In no other way can she prove her excellence, for poor cooks are always wasteful and extravagant. The day has passed for regarding cooking as a menial and vulgar labor; and those who give some thought to their daily food usually gain in vigor and…
“A goose must never be eaten the same day it is killed. If the weather is cold, it should be kept a week before using. A goose, from its profusion of feathers, looks like a large bird when walking about, but when plucked and prepared for the spit, it will be found very deceptive. It is much more hollow than a turkey and except for the breast, there is but little eating on it. In large families, it is usual…
Without electric refrigeration, people had to find various ways to keep meat fresh, especially in summer. Some methods could keep it fresh a few days or perhaps a week, and other methods could preserve it for much longer. INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS TO KEEP MEAT FRESH Where persons live a distance from market and have no fresh meat but what they kill, it is important to know how to keep it fresh. Hang up joints of meat if not…
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. 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. Put two handfuls of mint in a pitcher with a…
INFORMATION FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS “Spinach requires close examination and picking, as insects are frequently found among it and it is often gritty. Nothing is worse than spinach when gritty, so likewise there is nothing more troublesome to get quite clean, from its growing so near the earth. Spinach should be picked a leaf at a time, and washed in three or four waters. Then drain it and put it in boiling water. Fifteen to twenty minutes is generally sufficient time…
In 1894, Charles Knox saw how much work his wife had to do to make gelatin, and decided to find an easier way. The gelatin he created was made into dried sheets and Knox hired salesmen to show women how to use them. In 1896, his wife, Rose, published Dainty Desserts, a recipe book using Knox gelatin. Then in 1897, Pearle Bixby Wait trademarked a gelatin dessert, called Jell-O. He and his wife added fruit flavoring to granulated gelatin and…
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. You were supposed to know or learn through experience. INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS Deep colored…
I never ate any kind of squash when I was a child, but I’ve eaten summer squashes like green zucchini and yellow squash as an adult. It’s only been in the last couple of years that I’ve tried any of the winter squashes: Butternut Squash, Spaghetti Squash, and Delicata Squash. When people in the 1800s cooked foods in their wood burning stoves, there were no thermometers. So recipes referred to the oven temperature as a slow, moderate, or hot oven. The cook…