6 meals in this book
“When about 16 years of age I happened to meet with a book, written by one Tryon, recommending a vegetable diet. I determined to go into it. My brother, being yet unmarried, did not keep house, but boarded himself and his apprentices in another family. My refusing to eat flesh occasioned an inconveniency, and I was frequently chid for my singularity. I made myself acquainted with Tryon's manner of preparing some of his dishes, such as boiling potatoes or rice, making hasty pudding, and a few others, and then proposed to my brother, that if he would give me, weekly, half the money he paid for my board, I would board myself. He instantly agreed to it, and I presently found that I could save half what he paid me. This was an additional fund for buying books. But I had another advantage in it. My brother and the rest going from the printing-house to their meals, I remained there alone, and, dispatching presently my light repast, which often was no more than a biscuit or a slice of bread, a handful of raisins or a tart from the pastry-cook's, and a glass of water, had the rest of the time till their return for study, in which I made the greater progress, from that greater clearness of head and quicker apprehension which usually attend temperance in eating and drinking.”
Steep half a pound of rice in milk all night, then drain it from the milk, and boil it in a quart of cream; being boild strain it and put it to half a pound of sugar, beaten nutmeg and mace steeped in rose water, and put to the foresaid materials eight yolks of eggs, and five grated manchets, put to it also half a pound of marrow, cut like dice, and salt; mingle all together, and fill your bag or napkin, and serve it with beaten butter, being boiled and stuck with almonds. If in guts, being boild, tost them before the fire in a silver dish or tosting pan.
Recipe from The accomplisht cook of 1660.
“The second spring after our arrival Harry and I extended our operations by tapping the sugar-bushes, collecting all the sap, and carrying it home in pails slung from our yoke-laden shoulders. Together we made one hundred and fifty pounds of sugar and a barrel of syrup, but here again, as always, we worked in primitive ways. To get the sap we chopped a gash in the tree and drove in a spile. Then we dug out a trough to catch the sap. It was no light task to lift these troughs full of sap and empty the sap into buckets, but we did it successfully, and afterward built fires and boiled it down. By this time we had also cleared some of our ground, and during the spring we were able to plow, dividing the work in a way that seemed fair to us both. These were strenuous occupations for a boy of nine and a girl of thirteen, but, though we were not inordinately good children, we never complained; we found them very satisfactory substitutes for more normal bucolic joys. Inevitably, we had our little tragedies. Our cow died, and for an entire winter we went without milk. Our coffee soon gave out, and as a substitute we made and used a mixture of browned peas and burnt rye. In the winter we were always cold, and the water problem, until we had built our well, was ever with us.”
1513. INGREDIENTS.--To every lb. of sugar allow 1/2 pint of water and 1/2 the white of an egg. _Mode_.--Put the sugar, water, and the white of the egg, which should, be well beaten, into a preserving-pan or lined saucepan; and do not put it on the fire till the sugar is dissolved. Then place it on the fire, and when it boils, throw in a teacupful of cold water, and do not stir the sugar after this is added. Bring it to the boiling-point again, and then place the pan by the side of the fire, for the preparation to settle. Remove all the scum, and the sugar will be ready for use. The scum should be placed on a sieve, so that what syrup runs from it may be boiled up again: this must also be well skimmed. _Time_.--20 minutes for the sugar to dissolve; 5 minutes to boil. _Note_.--The above two recipes are those used in the preparation of dishes usually made at home.
Recipe from The Book of Household Management of 1861.
“These old folks, you must know, were quite poor, and had to work pretty hard for a living. Old Philemon toiled diligently in his garden, while Baucis was always busy with her distaff, or making a little butter and cheese with their cow's milk, or doing one thing and another about the cottage. Their food was seldom anything but bread, milk, and vegetables, with sometimes a portion of honey from their beehive, and now and then a bunch of grapes, that had ripened against the cottage wall. But they were two of the kindest old people in the world, and would cheerfully have gone without their dinners, any day, rather than refuse a slice of their brown loaf, a cup of nice milk, and a spoonful of honey, to the weary traveler who might pause before their door. They felt as if such guests had a sort of holiness, and that they ought, therefore, to treat them better and more bountifully than their own selves.”
fresh homemade bread; butter the cut end of the loaf thinly, then hold it against the side with the left hand and arm, and with a sharp, thin knife, cut an even slice not more than an eighth of an inch thick; a little practice, and a steady grasp of bread and knife, will enable any one to produce regular whole slices; fold each one double, with the butter inside; and cut as many as you require; serve them on a clean napkin, and send them to the table with any other of the above relishes. 32.
Recipe from The Cooking Manual of Practical Directions for Economica of 1877.
“By-and-by the water began to change. It grew denser, and no longer flowed rapidly along; and twice a day it used to turn about and flow the other way. Then the shores disappeared, and the water began to have a different and peculiar flavor,--a flavor which seemed to the salmon much richer and more inspiring than the glacier-water of their native Cowlitz. There were many curious things to see,--crabs with hard shells and savage faces, but so good when crushed and swallowed! Then there were luscious squid swimming about; and, to a salmon, squid are like ripe peaches and cream. There were great companies of delicate sardines and herring, green and silvery, and it was such fun to chase and capture them! Those who eat sardines packed in oil by greasy fingers, and herrings dried in the smoke, can have little idea how satisfying it is to have a meal of them, plump and sleek and silvery, fresh from the sea.”
1-1/2 pints of cream. 1 pint of fresh, ripe peaches. 3 gills of sugar. 1/5 teaspoonful of almond extract. After paring and stoning the peaches, mash them in a bowl with the sugar and let them stand for an hour or more; then rub them through a fine strainer, and add the cream and almond to them. Freeze. A little liquid cochineal may be added to the cream to give it color.
Recipe from Miss Parloa's Young Housekeeper of 1893.
“So then they all went down to the big room and the Crow brought in the big platter of dumplings, and a pan of biscuits and some molasses, and a pot of coffee, and they all sat down and celebrated Mr. 'Possum's recovery. And when they were through, and everything was put away, they smoked, and Mr. 'Possum said he was glad he was there to use his property a little more, and that probably his coat would fit him again now, as his sickness had caused him to lose flesh. He said that Mr. Man's medicine was certainly wonderful, but just then Mr. Rabbit dropped in, and when they told him about it, he said of course the medicine might have had some effect, but that the dumplings and chicken caused the real cure. He said there was an old adage to prove that--one that his thirty-fifth great-grandfather had made for just such a case of this kind. This, Mr. Rabbit said, was the adage:”
1227. INGREDIENTS.--6 apples, 3/4 lb. of suet-crust No. 1215, sugar to taste. _Mode_.--Pare and take out the cores of the apples without dividing them; sweeten, and roll each apple in a piece of crust, made by recipe No. 1211; be particular that the paste is nicely joined; put the dumplings into floured cloths, tie them securely, and put them into boiling water. Keep them boiling from 1/2 to 3/4 hour; remove the cloths, and send them hot and quickly to table. Dumplings boiled in knitted cloths have a very pretty appearance when they come to table. The cloths should be made square, just large enough to hold one dumpling, and should be knitted in plain knitting, with _very coarse_ cotton. _Time_.--3/4 to 1 hour, or longer should the dumplings be very large. _Average cost_, 11/2d. each. _Sufficient_ for 4 persons. _Seasonable_ from August to March, but flavourless after the end of January.
Recipe from The Book of Household Management of 1861.
“It was quite warm, but, being all in a sweat, he put the bed-sheet around him to protect him from the draughts and went out to the stove and looked into the pot, and when he saw how good it looked he thought he might as well taste of it to see if it was done. So he did, and it tasted so good and seemed so done that he got out a little piece of dumpling on a fork, and blew on it to cool it, and ate it, and then another piece and then the whole dumpling, which he sopped around in the gravy after each bite. Then when the dumpling was gone he fished up a chicken leg and ate that and then a wing, and then the gizzard and felt better all the time, and pretty soon poured out a cup of coffee and drank that, all before he remembered that he was sick abed and not expected to recover. Then he happened to think and started back to bed, but on the way there he heard Mr. 'Coon and Mr. Crow talking softly in his room and he forgot again that he was so sick and went up to see about it.”
1-1/2 pints of cold water. 1 tablespoonful of butter. 1 tablespoonful of flour. 1 teaspoonful of salt. 1/4 teaspoonful of pepper. The neck, liver, heart, and gizzard of the chicken. Wash the giblets—that is, the neck, liver, etc.—and put them in a stewpan with the water. When the water boils, skim it. Simmer for two hours or more. There should be about half a pint of liquid at this time. Take up the giblets. Mash the liver until perfectly fine, and return to the liquid. Put the butter in a small frying-pan and place on the fire. When hot, add the flour, and stir until brown. Pour on this, gradually, the liquid in the saucepan, stirring all the time. Season with the salt and pepper. Pour this sauce back into the saucepan; cover, and set back where it will keep hot. When the chicken is cooked, pour the gravy from the dripping-pan into this sauce. Serve in a hot dish. Turkey gravy is made in the same manner.
Recipe from Miss Parloa's Young Housekeeper of 1893.
Sources: Every passage above is quoted verbatim from Children's Literature: A Textbook of Sources for Teachers and Teacher-Training Classes, free to read in full at Project Gutenberg. The recipes come from cookbooks of the period, also free in full. All are in the public domain in the United States. The binding is ours — slate cloth, teapot stamp.