Apple Custard Recipe 1881 Simple apple custard recipe. Naturally gluten free. I love that it uses the egg custard base - which is the basically the same recipe for cream custard and bread pudding. Ingredients 6 tart apples A little water for stewing Sprinkled white sugar 8 eggs (I would probably do 4-5 large eggs)... Continue Reading →
Gingerbread Recipe. Is it too soon for gingerbread? My instincts say 'no'. If the big box store down the road can roll out Christmas kitsch in October, then I can post a gingerbread recipe. Sound logic! Notes: Substituted 1:1 all purpose gluten free flour.Recommend adding 2 Tbsp. of ginger and 1 tsp. of allspice. Use... Continue Reading →
Plain White Cake Recipe. Notes: Substituted 1:1 all purpose gluten free flour. Worked just fine. Used orange zest from 1/2 large orange instead of orange extract. Came out lovely. Use only 1 round cake pan. It does not make enough for two layers. Keep temperature at 350. Glazed with a buttercream frosting. Huge success! Source:... Continue Reading →
Feeling Fall. Source: A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband, c. 1917. More Fun Discoveries from Antique Cookbooks Stock ~1855 Gotham Pudding ~1866 Navigating Antique Cookbooks 101
October Menu. Welcome October! Fall is truly here. This month's menu comes from the Franco-American Cookery Book; Or, how to live well and eat wisely every day of the year. This menu is quite the production! From stewed frogs to French fries, there's something for everyone. The poor snipe is featured, again. I'm surprised there... Continue Reading →
Fairy Butter Recipe. May your day be filled with the whimsey of fairies, nestled in sugary folds. To be used as icing. Source: In the Kitchen, 1875. More Fun Discoveries from Antique Cookbooks Tomato Stuffed with Rice ~1917 Preserved Violets ~1890 Lighthouse Kitchen ~1855
Apple Fritters Recipe. New to fritters, here. Was inspired after watching a cooking show and found a simple apple fritter recipe in American domestic cookery, formed on principles of economy, for the use of private families, my current kitchen companion. Here's the pancake recipe. Fritter batter is supposed to be runnier than regular pancake batter. Notes:... Continue Reading →
September Menu 1884. Welcome September! Where did the summer go? This month's menu comes from the Franco-American Cookery Book; Or, how to live well and eat wisely every day of the year. Today's menu features Ox-Cheeck, a la Nelson, fish with a chili sauce (which actually looks delicious - omitting catawba wine), veal, duck, lots... Continue Reading →
Spice Cake Recipe. When baking spice cake, the entire house feels as if it is wrapped in cinnamon love. Last week's spice cake lasted several days, and was the go-to food for kids rushing out the door for the bus. So, I decided to try a different version - similar, but different. Ingredients 2 cups... Continue Reading →
How to Boil Pudding. Today's post answers a question that I've long had about the mystery of boiled puddings. You'll often come across recipes for boiled puddings tied up in cloth, but I could never picture how this functioned practically: If you have a liquid mixture tied in a bag and then placed into a... Continue Reading →
Spice Cake Recipe. This spice cake comes out something like a coffee cake. Not overly sweet and mild. Spice Cake No. 2 looks to be a bit spicier! The raisins are a nice touch. Big hit with The Daughter and The Son. Ingredients 3 cups gluten-free flour, sifted (regular flour if you're so inclined) 2... Continue Reading →
Happy Friday! Here's a little inspiration for your meals today. When's the last time you made tapioca? It's been well-over a year for our household. Adding it to the grocery list now... More Fun Discoveries from Antique Cookbooks War and Potatoes ~1917 Classic: Broiled Salmon ~1922 Household Management: 4 Cultures 1915
Pie Recipe for Camping. "It is not to be presumed that a mere male camper can make a good pie-crust in the regular way; but it is easy to make a wholesome and very fair pie-crust in an irregular way..." To be made with great circumspection and becoming reverence. Enjoy! Note to self: Don't give... Continue Reading →
Wait... How many people is this supposed to serve?!? And just how big is this oven? Forget the oven - how big was the bowl??? Obviously an Independence Day celebration back in 1866 was some celebration! Bring on the party! Ingredients 20 lbs. of flour 15 lbs. of sugar 10 lbs. of butter 4 dozen... Continue Reading →
July Menu 1884. Welcome July! This month's menu comes from the Franco-American Cookery Book; Or, how to live well and eat wisely every day of the year (Check out last July's menu, here). Here's to summer! This is a truly seasonal menu, you find a vegetable soup with asparagus and carrots, boiled artichokes, and raspberry ice-cream.... Continue Reading →
An Afternoon with Bettina Back to Bettina! Our newlywed whose cookbook is organized through a (seemingly) innocent narrative to help instruct in the art of cookery, from A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband. As you can imagine, the title has made it a best seller over the past 100 years. Check out this delightful... Continue Reading →
These menus always seem so well balanced with lots of fresh ingredients. What a different era from our fast food drive-thrus and pre-packaged frozen dinners. What is a Blackberry Roly-Poly? Glad you asked! This roly-poly calls for steaming the dough roll. I see 'boiled puddings' and 'steamed rolls' regularly. Has anyone tried steaming/boiling desserts? As... Continue Reading →
Potato Pudding Recipe. Note: 41 ounces is about 2.5 lbs. That's quite a bit of potato! Perfect for leftover mashed potatoes. 4 ounces of butter is 1 stick. Will post this with every intention of coming back to experiment. If it comes out edible, has potential as a gluten free dessert. I just finished watching... Continue Reading →
June Menu 1884. Welcome June! This month's menu comes from the Franco-American Cookery Book; Or, how to live well and eat wisely every day of the year (Check out last June's menu, here). Here's to summer! This Garbure a la Clermont looks delicious - something akin to a French onion soup, which makes sense given that... Continue Reading →
Rice Pudding with Strawberry Sauce. Time: 10 min. prep Bake: 40 min. Ingredients: 1 1/4 cup milk 1 egg 4 T Sugar 1/4 t salt 1 t vanilla 1 Cup cooked rice 1 t butter (optional) 1/8 t nutmeg Bake at 350° for 40 min. Butter on the top didn't add anything to the flavor, omit... Continue Reading →
Bettina's Pastry Rules. Here's a quick and dirty guide for pastry. Any other tips out there? As a gluten free family, we don't really do pastry - but one can still drool from afar... Good for the waistband if nothing else. Source: A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband, c. 1917. More Fun Discoveries from Antique... Continue Reading →
Gluten Free Lightning Tea Cake Recipe. This recipe hails from the famous 'A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband' cookbook, narrated by Bettina. The purpose of the book is to present cooking as accessible for the new housewife. Here we have a recipe for Lightning Tea Cakes - so named because they are quick... Continue Reading →
Using Sour Milk. Traveling and end-of-semester events have kept us from eating at home as much as we normally would, which has left me with about 1 gallon of milk that's gone slightly off. The stand-by is to use up sour milk in pancakes, but we're not a big pancake family and there's only so... Continue Reading →
Recipe for Preserved, Candied Violets. Violets are coming into bloom - or will be shortly - here in the northern hemisphere. Has anyone ever had preserved violets? I've done something similar with sugared rose petals. I don't have access to violets, but this was such a unique recipe I had to post it. Source: Fisherman... Continue Reading →
Introductory Material on Pies. Priceless line: "To pass in review these culinary victims..." I'm going to tuck that one aside for later use. It seems Alexis has a pet peeve for pies. Source: Soyer's Shilling Cookery for the People, 1855. More Fun Discoveries from Antique Cookbooks Potage au Choux ~1825 Crust and Lentil Puree Soup... Continue Reading →
May Menu 1884. Welcome May! This month's menu again comes from the Franco-American Cookery Book; Or, how to live well and eat wisely every day of the year. Here's to spring! The prawn sauce looks delicious! Sirloin of Beef: That is a lot of beef for 8 people. More Fun Menus from Antique Cookbooks April... Continue Reading →
National French Cake Recipe. Today's excerpt is slightly longer, but offers us a glimpse into Parisian night-life in 1855. I love how Alexis uses extended preambles as a lead in to the actual recipes. You see this in celebrity cookbooks today. For readers who are theater-goers, this post is a special treat! Oh! The imagery... Continue Reading →
Caramels and Popcorn Recipe. Happy caramel popcorn day! To celebrate, here's an easy recipe for chocolate-covered popcorn. But wait, I hear you asserting: Chocolate covered popcorn isn't caramel popcorn! You're correct! Caramels was used a generic term to cover all things sweets. Finding this recipe was a challenge, and I didn't come across one until... Continue Reading →
April Menu 1884. Welcome April! This month's menu again comes from the Franc-American Cookery Book; Or, how to live well and eat wisely every day of the year. The puree of asparagus looks fantastic! Let us take a moment to appreciate the food processor and blender. Mashing asparagus through a sieve would so not be... Continue Reading →
Easy Butterscotch Sauce Recipe for Ice Cream Ever wonder how to make butterscotch sauce? Relatively straight forward using every-day ingredients. Ingredients: Brown sugar Corn syrup Butter Cream Heavy milk (whole milk) With a list like this, no wonder butterscotch is so delicious! Yum! Source: Fannie Farmer Boston School of Cooking, 1924. More Fun Discoveries Jelly... Continue Reading →
