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Category: Fruits

Fresh bananas on wooden table.
Baked and Fried Bananas, Fritters, Stuffing, and more..

Baked and Fried Bananas, Fritters, Stuffing, and more..

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Bananas weren’t known in the United States until Captain Lorenzo Baker introduced them in 1870. They were expensive and only available to those living near port cities on the east coast. It took many years for them to become available and affordable to the average household. RECIPES BELOW ARE FROM MRS. WILSON’S COOK BOOK, 1920 BAKED BANANASThe simplest way to bake bananas is in the skins. It takes just twenty minutes in a moderate oven.* To eat, strip a piece of skin…

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Fresh raspberries are a seasonal fruit.
Raspberry Drinks and Recipes

Raspberry Drinks and Recipes

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Raspberries are a seasonal fruit and quite fragile. They won’t ripen after picking, so they can’t be stored fresh for very long. Back in the 1800s, with no electricity, berries had to be eaten quickly, bottled as drinks, or preserved as jelly. INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS RASPBERRY ACID Dissolve five ounces of tartaric acid* in two quarts of water. Pour it on twelve pounds of red raspberries in a large bowl. Let it stand twenty-four hours and strain it…

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Old Fashioned Strawberry Soup
Making Soups from Fruit

Making Soups from Fruit

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I never tasted a soup made from fruit until a couple of years ago.  I was at a local restaurant in southern Illinois, and they had cantaloupe soup on the menu.   Since I like to try new things, I ordered it and was surprised at how good it was. Many of the recipes below are from Mrs Mary Wilson’s Cookbook published 1920. Even though this blog is based on 1800s cookbook recipes, I thought you might like to try…

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Lemons in Basket
Lemon Recipes – Pickle, Puffs, Cream, Custards, and more

Lemon Recipes – Pickle, Puffs, Cream, Custards, and more

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In the 19th century (1800s), lemons were being planted commercially in Florida and California. Lemons have to be picked by hand and can’t be picked when wet. They are picked when the peel is green, but as they’re cured, the peel turns yellow, becomes thinner, and the pulp gets juicier. INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS GRATING LEMONS The object of using grated rind of lemon is to obtain the fragrance and flavor, which differ very greatly from any extracts, however…

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Red ripe apples on tree
A Variety of Ways to Cook Apples

A Variety of Ways to Cook Apples

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Apples were introduced to North America by colonists in the 17th century, (the 1600s). The only apples native to North America are crab apples which were once called “common apples.” Apple trees are large if they are grown from seed, but most apple trees are grafted onto rootstocks, which control the size of the resulting tree. Source INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS NOTE: There were no oven thermometers in the 1800s. Cooks learned how to heat their ovens and how…

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Canned Pears in Mason Jars
Home Canning: Fruits, Juices, Mincemeat, Cider

Home Canning: Fruits, Juices, Mincemeat, Cider

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Commercial canning (in tin cans) was fairly common in the U.S. by the mid-1800s. In 1858, John L. Mason invented a glass jar that had a screw thread around the outside rim. This allowed a reusable metal lid to be screwed on, rather than having to use sealing wax. It became much easier for people to preserve their own pickles, relishes, sauces, and fruit. Later, people also began to can vegetables and meats. INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS TO STERILIZE…

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