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Category: Miscellaneous

Different types of sugar on a wooden background
About Sugars and Syrups

About Sugars and Syrups

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Sugar cane was first planted in the United States in Louisiana in 1751. But sugar beets weren’t planted until 1836, near Philadelphia. (source) Until the sugar industry in the U.S. became established, sugar had to be imported and was scarce and expensive. INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS Granulated sugar is made either from the sugar cane or sugar beet. The juice is pressed or soaked out of these plants, then purified, refined, and crystallized.  ~ Powdered sugar is prepared by…

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Cooking with Suet (Tallow)

Cooking with Suet (Tallow)

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Suet or the fat from around the kidneys and loin of beef and mutton. It has a high smoke point, and usually used for making pies and pastries. Suet is usually rendered to remove the impurities from the fat. It’s then called tallow, but the 1800s cookbooks I’ve gone through just call it suet. Additionally, suet can be used to make soap and candles, as well as seed cakes to feed wild birds. SUETChoose the firmest part as soon as…

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bowl of soup with dumplings
A Variety of Savory Dumpling Recipes

A Variety of Savory Dumpling Recipes

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Most of the dumpling recipes from 1800s cookbooks are for rounded dumplings. Some recipes say to wrap the dumplings in cloth, like when boiling a pudding. Others say to roll the dumplings in a ball or drop the dumpling mixture from a spoon into hot liquid. The only dumplings I’ve ever eaten were ones rolled out flat and cut into small rectangular strips before being dropped into a soup.   INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS: FINE SUET DUMPLINGS Grate the…

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Bowl of pumpkin soup on a wooden cutting board.
Pumpkin Mush, Pudding, Chips, Parmesan, Soup

Pumpkin Mush, Pudding, Chips, Parmesan, Soup

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Pumpkin is a common term for mature winter squash, of which there are many varieties and sizes. They are a hot weather crop and need a long growing season.  Commercially canned pumpkin puree is usually made from different varieties than those used for jack-o’-lanterns. Pumpkins grown for food in the 1800s were the smaller sized ones. Did you know a pumpkin is not actually a vegetable, but a fruit? Anything that starts from a flower is botanically a fruit and…

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canning sauerkraut
How to Make Homemade Sauerkraut

How to Make Homemade Sauerkraut

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If you’ve never eaten sauerkraut before, you may not like the taste or texture. But as with any new food, you can get used to it, especially if you use it in recipes rather than eating it plain. I especially like raw sauerkraut over the canned variety. It’s easy to make yourself and you can make a small batch or enough to preserve. All you need  is cabbage and salt (kosher or pickling). That’s it! INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS:…

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Three bottles of homemade vinegars
Make Homemade Flavored Vinegars

Make Homemade Flavored Vinegars

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“These vinegars will be found very useful, at times when the articles with which they are flavored cannot be conveniently procured. Care should be taken to have the bottles that contain them accurately labeled, very tightly corked, and kept in a dry place. The vinegar used for these purposes should be of the very best sort.” (quote from an 1800s cookbook) INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS TARRAGON VINEGAR Tarragon should be gathered on a dry day, just before the plant…

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basket of vegetables
Old-Fashioned Cooking Hints and Advice

Old-Fashioned Cooking Hints and Advice

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Most old cookbooks also included cooking and household advice. Here are some hints from cookbooks published in the 1800s. Please note that the advice about preserving meat and milk is not safe according to today’s food safety standards. But these were the days before electricity and refrigeration were available in homes. INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS Lemons will keep fresher and better in water than any other way. Put them in a crock and cover them with water. They will…

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A Bowl of Hominy
How to Make and Cook Hominy

How to Make and Cook Hominy

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Hominy is made from dried corn (maize), soaking the corn kernels in a weak solution of lye. Then it can be cooked or dried for later use. Ground hominy is known as masa or grits, and it can also be ground more finely to make flour. Today’s canned hominy is already cooked and ready to eat. INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS MAKING HOMINY Use field corn to make hominy;  yellow dent, flint corn, and Indian corn are all good varieties….

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