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.