Blog - Vintage Recipes and Cookery

How to Make Your Own Vinegar

Angela Johnson Comments 8 comments

Vinegar was an important household item in the 1800s, especially for preserving food. Many people made their own vinegar; often a year’s supply. INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS TO BUY VINEGAR Much of the vinegar that is offered for sale is excessively and disagreeably sharp; overpowering the taste of every thing with which it is combined. This vinegar is deleterious in its effects and should never be used; it is made entirely of drugs. Oysters and pickled vegetables have been…

Read More Read More

What is Forcemeat?

Angela Johnson Comments 3 comments

Forcemeat is made by mixing finely chopped lean meat with fat and adding other flavorings. Forcemeat can be used as a stuffing, made into balls or patties, or formed into flat square or oval pieces. INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS: FORCEMEAT This article makes a considerable part of good cooking by the flavor it imparts to whatsoever dish it may be added. Exact rules for the quantity cannot easily be given, but the following observations may be useful. The selection…

Read More Read More

How to Make a Perfect Cup of Tea

Angela Johnson Comments 4 comments

Only loose tea was used up until the early 1900s. People used a strainer before pouring the tea into cups, or a tea ball if only making tea for one or two people. Around 1908, Thomas Sullivan, an American, made an accidental invention – the tea bag. Sullivan was a tea merchant and started sending tea samples to his customers in small bags made of silk. They put the entire bag in the pot, thinking the tea was to be…

Read More Read More

How to Make Soup Stock

Angela Johnson Comments 8 comments

So many recipes from 1800s cookbooks call for soup stock and all good cooks kept a supply on hand. INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS MEANING AND USE OF STOCK Soup stock may be regarded as a liquid containing the juices and soluble parts of meat, bone, and vegetables, which have been extracted by long, slow cooking and which can be utilized in the making of soups, sauces, and gravies. Keep stock in small jars in a cool place. It makes…

Read More Read More

Gelatin Dessert Recipes

Angela Johnson Comments 8 comments

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…

Read More Read More

Pumpkin Loaf, Indian Cakes, Marmalade, Pie, and Tart

Angela Johnson Comments 5 comments

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…

Read More Read More

A variety of pumpkins and winter squashes

Ways to Cook Winter Squash

Angela Johnson Comments 2 comments

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…

Read More Read More

Recipes for Sweet Fritters

Angela Johnson Comments 2 comments

Even though these recipes are from cookbooks published in the 1800s, they can easily be followed today. If you don’t have access to lard or don’t care to use it, there are many other cooking oils you can use. Fritters can be pan fried or deep fried, and you’ll want to use an oil with a high smoking point (refer to article from “Serious Eats)”. Also, don’t put too many fritters in the oil at once; it’ll lower the temperature…

Read More Read More