History of Peanut Butter

 by Shanna Hatfield

Did you ever stop to think about peanut butter? 

According to the National Peanut Board, the average person will consume almost 3,000 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in their lifetime. 

By law, any product labeled peanut butter in the United States has to be at least 90 percent peanuts. To make a single 12-ounce jar of peanut butter, it takes about 540 peanuts. Peanuts are among the most valuable cash crops grown in the U.S., with a farm value of over $1 billion, according to The American Peanut Council.

Evidence suggests the peanut plant originated in Peru or Brazil. There are no fossil records to document it, but there are pieces of pottery from South America that were created in the shape of peanuts or decorated with peanuts as far back as 3,500 years ago.

As early as 1500 B.C., Incans used peanuts as part of sacrificial offerings and were sometimes entombed with mummies. Tribes in central Brazil reportedly ground peanuts. 

European explorers found peanuts in Brazil. Peanuts were grown as far north as Mexico. The explorers took peanuts back to Spain, and from there they spread to Asia and Africa. Africans introduced peanuts to North America beginning in the 1700s. 

It wasn't until the early 1800s that peanuts were grown in the US as a commercial crop. They were first grown in Virginia and used mainly for oil, food, and as a cocoa substitute. At one point, peanuts were regarded as food for livestock and the poor. 

Peanut production increased steadily through the first half of the century. Peanuts become prominent after the Civil War when Union soldiers found they liked them and took them home as a food source high in protein. 

PT Barnums circus wagons traveled across the country and vendors called out "hot roasted peanuts" to crowds. Street vendors began selling roasted peanuts from carts, and peanuts were also popular at baseball games. 

Around 1900, equipment was developed to increase quality production, and demand for peanuts grew. 

John Harvey Kellog, the cereal pioneer, filed a patent for a proto-peanut butter in 1895. He developed an easily digestible paste for patients at the Battle Creek Sanitarium. In 1896, an article in Good Housekeeping encouraged women to make their own peanut butter with a meat grinder, pairing the spread the bread. 

During World War I, peanuts and peanut butter were used to fill the hole that meat rations created. 

It wasn't until 1915 that recipes began to pop up with peanut butter began to be listed as a featured ingredients. The recipe with the criss-crossed fork design on it is credited to a 1930s recipe.

Peanut butter was a staple in our house growing up. My dad liked to make what my grandpa called "stir-round" which was a mixture of peanut butter and honey (or molasses or corn syrup). Then they'd slather that on a piece of bread. 

My mom often made peanut butter cookies.

One day a few months after my mom passed away, I asked my Dad if he could have any kind of cookie, what would he choose.

“Peanut Butter, like your mom used to make.”

My mom never shared her peanut butter cookie recipe with me, nor did she leave it tucked away anywhere that I could find after she passed away. So I embarked on an experiment of finding a recipe similar to what Dad remembered.

I tried the easy cookie recipes that only had a a few ingredients. I tried complicated and labor intensive recipes. Nothing tasted like the cookies he remembered Mom always making (and I had to agree!).

Finally, in a moment of desperation, I dug out my granny’s old Betty Crocker Cookbook and looked up this peanut butter cookie recipe.

From the batter-splattered page, I think it was one Granny made often. And from the big smile on my dad’s face when I gave him these cookies, it is the recipe my mom always used, too!

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 egg

1/2 cup granulated sugar + 1/3 cup

1/2 cup brown sugar

Directions:

Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix peanut butter, butter, and egg. Stir in 1/2 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar. Blend in flour mixture. Cover and chill for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Using a spoon or cookie scoop, shape a walnut sized portion of dough into a ball. If desired, roll in remaining sugar. Place on baking sheet about two inches apart. Flatten with a fork in a criss-cross pattern. Bake cookies for about 10 minutes, until set but be careful not to overbake. Cool on baking sheet a few minutes before transferring to wire rack.

Yield: 36 cookies

USA Today bestselling author Shanna Hatfield is a farm girl who loves to write. Her sweet historical and contemporary romances are filled with sarcasm, humor, hope, and hunky heroes.

Shanna creates character-driven romances with realistic heroes and heroines. Her historical westerns have been described as “reminiscent of the era captured by Bonanza and The Virginian” while her contemporary works have been called “laugh-out-loud funny, and a little heart-pumping sexy without being explicit in any way.”

When Shanna isn’t dreaming up unforgettable characters, twisting plots, or covertly seeking dark, decadent chocolate, she hangs out with her beloved husband, Captain Cavedweller.

Connect with Shanna online:

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Mincemeat: Victorian America by Kristin Holt

by Kristin Holt, USA Today Bestselling Author of
Sweet Romance set in the American Old West

This post contains affiliate links.

Mincemeat

Mincemeat pie, as known today, would be barely recognizable by King Henry V (died 1482). This English king served the meaty fermented pies at his 1413 coronation feast. A variety of meats (venison, fowl, mutton, together with their sweetbreads) were minced (chopped finely)--hence the name mince pie or minced meat pie. Other ingredients included fruits (dates, raisins), vinegar and/or wine, and suet. 

Nineteenth century recipe books and newspapers offer many examples of Victorian-era mincemeat pies--and many other minced meat dishes. Peering into kitchens of yore through their recipes sheds so much light on how our great-great grandmothers lived! Some of their methods may surprise you (I still wonder how their methods diminished food-borne illness.) After all, mincemeat apparently took all day to make and required at least 24 hours to sit before sending to table. Cooks made batches so enormous they would keep all winter by virtue of their alcohol content, cool temperatures, and the magic of fermentation.

Edwardsville Intelligencer of Edwardsville, IL, June 1870.

Through the centuries, mince pies became a Christmastime staple in English-speaking countries and were banished in an attempt to thwart paganism in Christmas celebrations. Outlawed foods and parties couldn't be silenced. By the 19th century, mince was back, fully entrenched in the hearts of Englishmen. Americans embraced the tradition of mincemeat pies no matter where they began.

 

I'm not sure how I'd feel, had I read this article back in 1872. The manager's comment leaves me uneasy: "Age don't hurt our mince-pies--they are good a year old."

Just as cheese is milk's leap into immortality, so is a mincemeat's edibility ensured for months to come.

Victorian Mincemeat Ingredients

By the time Victoria reigned, mincemeat pies had at least 500 years to slowly morph. The traditional rich filling now included spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, mace, allspice and rose water. Wine had given way to brandy and cider. Temperance recipes expressly called for cider instead of liquor. Fruits minced into the filling included apples, raisins, currants, citron, lemons, and oranges. Some ingredients, like suet, remained a significant inclusion. Now, instead of mostly meats, recipes called for one-third to one-half meat to two-thirds or one-half fruit. With the increase in fruit-to-meat ratio and the addition of refined sugars, mincemeat had become far more of a dessert dish than a main course. But don't forget the mincemeat pies in nineteenth-century America still contained meat. Far more than today's commercial mincemeat's nod toward beef.

Vintage Mincemeat Recipes

Imagine how long it took great-great grandma to whip up a batch of mince pies? Reading these instructions, I see hours of labor. Notice the last line of paragraph one: "This will fill twenty pies." Not all at once, of course. This filling would be stored in a cool place, packed into stone jars. Some vintage recipes instruct cooks to cover the mincemeat surface with paper soaked in brandy, or to simply tie down fabric coverings. Others employed jar lids.

Mince Pies recipe from 1851 publication: The American Matron on Practical and Scientific Cooking by a Housekeeper

Many 19th century mincemeat recipes start with a fresh beef tongue or two. Others start with a beef heart. Many recipes (a.k.a. receipts) suggest any lean beef will do. After boiling to fully cook and tenderize, the meat is minced fine along with all sorts of good things.

This American Civil War-Era recipe (1864) for Mincemeat (and storage of prepared mince) appeared Poetical Cook Book by Maria J. Moss. Note the recipe calls for a beef heart or fresh tongue.

Mincemeat in Poetical Cook Book by Maria J. Moss, 1864.

Mincemeat Sold Commercially, Victorian U.S.A.

With the quantity of hours required to make homemade mincemeat, no wonder many cooks turned to commercially available products. Vintage newspapers throughout the American Victorian-era show how readily available mincemeat was at markets in cities and rural frontiers alike.

It's curious, at a time when contamination and adulteration of food was unregulated, well-known, feared, and sickened (and killed) people, that Americans would embrace a product like factory-made mincemeat.

Victorian Factories Crank Out Mincemeat

None Such (a brand still around today) advertised in 1896 the labor-saving ease of their "very finest, purest and cleanest materials."

None Such Mince Meat, Factory Made. Advertised in Record-Journal of Meriden, CT, May 1896.

Mail Order Mincemeat

The 1897 catalogue from Sears, Roebuck & Co. (No. 104) sold both Challenge Brand Mince Meat (wet) put up in quarter barrels or pails of various sizes (including glass pails) and a dry mince meat preparation by Richelleu.

Two brands of mince meat sold in the 1897 Sears, Roebuck & Co. Catalogue (No 104).

 

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Copyright Ⓒ 2021 Kristin Holt LC

Victorian-America's Crabapple Jelly and Preserves by Kristin Holt

 

by Kristin Holt, USA Today Bestselling Author of
Sweet Romance set in the American Old West

 

September is Jelly and Preserves Season!

 

Crabapples

Gorgeous, flowering crabapple trees can be found in temperate climates. Blossom-laden boughs herald the warming days of late spring. The sour fruit is enjoyed in jellies and preserves.

Victorian housekeepers (wives) bottled preserves (whole fruit in syrup) and jellies. Their recipes illustrate 19th century cooking methods differing from the modern.

Flowering crabapple tree, courtesy of Pinterest.

Crabapples are smaller and much more sour than typical apples.

Crabapples, courtesy of Pinterest.

Vintage Crabapple Recipes, 1898

"Making Crabapple Jelly," original to New York Tribune, was reprinted in The Washington Standard of Olympia, Washington on November 11, 1898. This newspaper column provides much more information than appeared in recipe books of the era, thus an ideal example of Victorian-era preserving. I've taken great care to transcribe the article's text precisely, including vintage spelling, odd plurals, and punctuation.

Crabapple Wisdom, 1898

The crabapple is one of the most important fruits that are put up by the house-keeper in the Fall. It makes delicious preserves, and is a most valuable jelly. The tartness and fine, rich flavor of crabapple jelly render it second only to currant. For preserving the fruit the large, red-checked Siberian crabapple should be used, and may be obtained in market at about 40 cents a peck. For jelly, a cheap variety, the little wild crabapple, may be used with the best results and may often be purchased at 20 cents a peck, thus making it one of the cheapest of jellies.

~ The Washington Standard of Olympia, Washington, November 11, 1898

Crabapple Jelly Instructions, 1898

To make crabapple jelly look the fruit over carefully, cut out the stems and the blossom ends, and cut every apples [sic] in halves. Put the fruit in a large double boiler or in a stone jar sit [sic] in a large pot of water, and let the water come gradually to the boiling point around the jar. Be sure that the water reaches up to the fruit. The water must boil around the jar for eight or nine hours, and must be replenished as it boils away. At the end of this time the juice will be drawn out of the fruit and the jar may be removed from the water and left to cool over night. (emphasis added)

~ The Washington Standard of Olympia, Washington, November 11, 1898

Compared to modern crabapple jelly recipes, this Victorian method takes forever.

Read on!

Then strain them through a strong muslin cloth, squeezing out all the juice possible. Measure the juice and allow a pound of sugar to every pint. Boil the juice for 20 minutes before adding the sugar. Then put in the sugar and let it come to a boil for a few minutes longer, until it is firm jelly. Then strain it into jelly-bowls, and when cold cover it with papers and seal it up. Many delicious desserts are made with crabapple jelly, and it is excellent to use for cake.

~ The Washington Standard of Olympia, Washington, November 11, 1898

 Note the reference to papers, which were brandy-soaked (or not), cut to the proper size to fully cover the jelly surface, and set directly upon the contents. "Seal it up," in reference to jelly, meant either papers pasted over the top of open jars, glass caps (screw on or clamp), or tin lids which had no threads. Note that none of these methods hamper spoilage (by sterilization and vacuum) the way today's jelly- and jam-bottling methods do.

Crabapple Preserves Instructions, 1898

To make a crabapple preserve, use the whole fruit: after carefully looking it over, put into a preserving kettle with enough water to prevent burning. Let the water come gradually to the boiling point, and simmer until the skins crack. Remove the apples, skin them, and with a thin-bladed French knife take out the cores from the blossom ends, leaving the stems on. Weigh the fruit and allow a pound and a quarter of sugar and a scant cup of water to every pound. Let the water and sugar first boil together until clear, then add the fruit and let it simmer until the crabapples are transparent and tender. Remove the apples with a skimmer and spread them out on platters in the sun to cool and harden. Add a syrup of lemon juice in the proportion of the juice of one lemon to three pounds of the fruit, and let it boil until it is clear. When the fruit is cold and hardened, fill quart jars about three-quarters full and strain the syrup over them, filling the jars on the top. Screw on the covers and when cold tighten down.

~ The Washington Standard of Olympia, Washington, November 11, 1898

Did you notice this vintage crabapple preserve is not processed in a water bath? Even after the fruit sat out in the sun?

How did these preserves keep? Our Victorian ancestors understood that adequate sugar in jams, jellies, and preserves acted as a preservative by inhibiting microbial activity.

Crabapple bough, laden with fruit. Image: Pinterest.

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Copyright Ⓒ 2021 Kristin Holt LC

Victorian America's Strawberries by Kristin Holt

 

 

by USA Today Bestselling Author Kristin Holt

 

Victorian America's Strawberries

Strawberries are abundant and lauded throughout Victorian-era cook books and newspapers. Since well before Victoria gained the throne, strawberries have been a seasonal favorite. 

Restaurants served strawberries. 

Proudly serving strawberries and cream! The Evening Post, New York, NY, May 3, 1837.

Even fund-raisers included fresh strawberries!

Victorian cooks prepared a variety of dishes with the berries in season. Just as importantly, housekeepers diligently preserved strawberries for off-season use.

Let's see what Victorian Americans did with strawberries!

Successful Victorian Strawberry Patches

This first article comes all the way from Victoria's coronation year, 1837. Notice the vintage tips to ensure an abundant crop!

Strategies for growing strawberries, from The Pittsfield Sun, Pittsfield MA, May 4, 1837.

Growing wisdom continued in newspapers, throughout the Victorian era.

Management of Strawberry Plants; The Inter Ocean of Chicago, Illinois. December 2, 1875.

This 1881 article encourages the planting of more than one variety of strawberries. Science at work!

Plant a variety! The Weekly Star and Kansan of Independence, KS. October 13, 1881.

Victorian America's Strawberry Recipes

Victorians feasted on strawberries in season. I'll show you their preserves recipes, too, below.

So, what did Victorian housekeepers (a.k.a. homemaker) do with fresh strawberries?

Victorian Fresh Strawberry Recipes

Serve with sugar and lemon.

Victorians adored jellied desserts. It's no surprise that cooks incorporated fresh strawberries into a moulded dessert.

The Complete Confectioner, Pastry-Cook, and Baker, Published 1844.

Oooh! Ice Cream! An at-home Victorian favorite, and also available in ice cream parlors about town.

Miss Beecher's Domestic Receipt Book, published 1846.

Another strawberry ice cream.

 

This "strawberry cream" recipe, known in the Victorian-era as Strawberry Whisk, sounds incredible. Even better than strawberry ice cream--and for this ice cream fan, that's saying something.

Miss Beecher's Domestic Receipt Book, published 1846.

 

Or freeze a strawberry ice without cream, altogether.

 

Miss Leslie's Lady's New Receipt Book, Published 1851.

 

Let's not forget PIE! Victorians adored pies, including berry pies. Notice one of these cooks the berries, and the other doesn't.

 

The New Housekeeper's Manual, Published 1873.

Strawberry sauce for baked puddings. Ooh, this sounds good.

Practical Cooking and Dinner Giving, Published 1877.

 

 

Don't forget the Strawberry Shortcake!

 

Practical Receipts of Experienced Housekeepers, Compiled by the Ladies of the Seventh Presbyterian Church, Cincinnati. Published 1874.

Here's another baked strawberry pie recipe, with a Cream (Raspberry or) Strawberry Tart.

Common Sense in the Household; A Manual of Practical Housewifery, Published 1879.

It's no surprise that Strawberry Shortcake remained popular through the turn of the twentieth century.... and beyond!

Victorian Strawberry Preserves

Raspberries and Strawberries are magical in that natural fruit pectin causes the cooked fruit and sugar to set up. Made with mashed fruit, jam results. If the pulp is strained and only the juices are jellied, jelly results. Unless we're talking about a jelly. Different thing. Mostly.

Below, Godey's Lady's Book published recipes for Strawberry Preserves, Strawberry Jelly, and Strawberry Jam.
 

Godey's Lady's Book Receipts and Household Hints, Published 1870.

We're cooking fancy now! Below, an 1871 recipe (or receipt) for preserving (notice bottles, but no lids) whole strawberries. They'd be a treat come January.

 

Mrs. Porter's New Southern Cookery Book, Published 1871.

  

...including Beverages 

Miss Catharine Beecher included the following Royal Strawberry Acid. A tasty beverage for invalids and the well alike.

Miss Beecher's Domestic Receipt Book, 1846.

Tea and coffee were staples in Victorian America, but that didn't prevent folks from looking for alternatives. Some options were medicinal, others were used out of desperation, and others simply because they tasted good.

 

Don't forget the Strawberry Wine and Strawberry Cordials!

Housekeeping in Old Virginia, published 1878.

Strawberries: To Wash, or Not 

Most nineteenth-century cook books and newspaper articles instructed cooks to not wash their berries. Apparently all the flavor would escape in the wash water.

I did find at least one dissenting vote to the no-washing rule.

Housekeeping in Old Virginia, published 1878 AND The Columbian Cook Book, published 1892.

I'm off to buy fresh berries, in season, and whip up a Victorian-inspired Strawberry Whisk!

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Copyright © 2021 Kristin Holt LC