Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Receipts of the 1800s - Part 1




I'm a bit of a book pack rat. The annual Friends of the Library sale in Honolulu, Hawaii, is my crack... errr laudanum. I have more books than I could possibly read in  my lifetime and perhaps a few more besides. Part of my excessive collection is comprised of Civil War Era Ladies Magazines bound by year.

I thought I'd share some of the 'gems' I found in these editions, as it fits the Old West/Historical books that I write and I think it informs the world around my characters.

The first thing to note is that Recipes were called RECEIPTS. When I mentioned Receipts on another blog, people always wanted to correct me. I completely understand why, since we don't use Receipts in that manner in our modern world.

**Please Keep in Mind that I have NOT tested any of these recipes, so try them at your own risk**

Godey’s Lady’s Magazine 1864 – August 
ONION SOUP. – Chop fine six onions, and fry them in a gallon saucepan, with two ounces of butter or dripping fat, stirring them continuously until they become of a very light color; then add six ounces of flour or oatmeal, and moisten with three quarts of water; season with pepper and salt, and stir the soup while boiling for twenty minutes, and when done, pour it out into a pan or bowl containing slices
of bread.
Godey’s Lady’s Book 1865
ORANGE WATER ICE –
Take as many oranges as will be necessary*, cut them in half, press the juice from them; take the pulp carefully from the rind, and put it in a bowl, pour a little boiling water on it, stir it well and strain it through a sieve; mix this with the orange-juice, and stir in as much sugar as will make a rich syrup. If the oranges are fine, rub some of the sugar on the peel to extract the essence.  Freeze it like ice cream.
Godey’s Lady’s Magazine 1864 – August
Have ready one pound of pounded loaf-sugar, one and a quarter pounds of chocolate, also in powder, and four new laid eggs. Beat up the whites of the four eggs to a stiff whip, and add to them the sugar and the chocolate.  Beat all well together, and with a spoon drop the mixture in little cakes on paper, or on paper buttered or sugared, and bake the cakes in a moderately cool oven. 

    *I have some frustration when reading through the receipts/recipes in Godey’s books… their lack of actual measurements. Some of their instructions do have specifics but the majority of them don’t. So, I guess they’re going to make you work for it. Or, rather, make me work for it.

    7 comments:

    1. Receipts, what an interesting tidbit.I look forward to reading Part II. I live on the Big Island of HI :)

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      1. Aloha, Chele! The books are filled with all kinds of neat ideas :D

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    2. I love old 'receipts'. I found a great one for rice muffins in the old newspaper here. Of course, I've yet to try it, but...

      Here's to old books, magazines and newspapers. Absolute heaven to be around. Maybe that's one of the reasons I spend so much time in the special collections section of the local library...*smile* Doris

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      1. Thanks for the comment, Doris!! I love libraries and old books... you can almost feel the past when you hold them in your hands... books.. not the libraries.. that would be a bit difficult :D

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    3. Some of the recipes from my grandmother are like this. Not many real measurements, for example, lard the size of an egg.

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      1. it reminds me of the technical challenges in the Great British Bake Off - 'make a dough' right... thanks :D

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