Superior Muffins

It's been a while since I've had some recipes and I stumbled on this while searching for ways to stay cool in the summer. I hope you enjoy.

Superior Muffins. 1 quart of flour. 1 teaspoonful of salt. 1 tablespoonful of white sugar.
Rub in one heaping tablespoonful of butter and lard mixed, and one tablespoonful of Irish potato, mashed free from lumps.

Pour in three well beaten eggs and a half teacup of yeast. Make into a soft dough with warm water in winter and cold in summer. Knead well for half an hour. Set to rise where it will be milk-warm, in winter, and cool in summer. If wanted for an eight o'clock winter breakfast, make up at eight o'clock the night before. At six o'clock in the morning, make out into round balls (without kneading again), and drop into snow-ball moulds that have been well greased. Take care also to grease the hands and pass them over the tops of the muffins. Set them in a warm place for two hours and then bake.

These are the best muffins I ever ate.—Mrs. 8. T.
Source: Housekeeping in Old Virginia ©1879

PS Remember a teacup is one cup, so she's suggesting 1/2 cup of yeast.

1855 Portable Oven

Yup that's what the advertisement in the Oct. 12, 1855 Burlington Free Press says. It was made by Blodgett & Sweets and advertised to be useful for hotels, steamers and private families. It was made with galvanized steel and was to cook with less fuel.

Below is the ad with a picture of the item:

Chocolate Cake

This recipe comes from "Six Little Cooks" By Elizabeth Stansbury Kirkland ©1877 Note the debate about the one cup measurement at the end of this entry.

No. 5—Chocolate Cake.
One cup butter, two of sugar, three and a half of flour, one scant cup sweet milk, five eggs, omitting two whites, one teaspoonful cream tartar, one-half do. soda, one do. extract vanilla.

Meringue for the same. Beat the whites of the 'two eggs very light with one and a half cups powdered sugar; six tablespoon fills grated chocolate, two teaspoonfuls vanilla. Put the meringue on while the cake is hot, and leave it in the pan to cool.

"I don't see how any one can judge of what a 'cupfull ' is, Aunt Jane," said Hose, "cups are of such different sizes. Papa's coffee-cup is a perfect monster, and' mamma's tea-cup is a mite, small enough'for a fairy."

"Kitchen cups are not apt to vary much in size^" replied Aunt Jane, "and those are what are taken as a measure. If there is a great difference, we should choose one of a medium size. Then, you must remember, that when there are several things measured in cups, they will be proportioned to one another; so if you find after one experiment that your cake has not enough eggs in proportion to the other ingredients, you will know that your cups are too large; if the egg is too predominating, it will be because the cups are too small; so you will-'sbon . learn the happy medium."

"Besides," said Edith, "I suppose every little girl will have some grown person to show, her about these things , the first time, and then, after that she can remember. Won't you give us some more receipts, Mrs. King?"

Chicken Pot-Pie

This is one of my family's favorite meals. I put chicken, a broth-gravy, potatoes, carrots, peas an various spices cover with biscuits or pie crust. However, as I searched recipe books from the 19th century there were no vegetables added to the dish. Personally, we love our veggies.

Below are various recipes:

Veal and Chicken Potpie. Joint the chickens, if made of them, and boil them till half done ; take them out; put them, dry, into a pot, making alternate layers of crust and fowl, seasoned with pepper and salt; then, pour in the liquor in which the fowls were boiled, upon the upper layer of crust, which covers the fowls. If a brown crust is desired : with a heated bake pan lid, keep the pot covered. Add, from the teakettle, boiling water, as that in the pot wastes. Raised piecrust , *- * is preferable to that made for fruit pies, though, if but, little
shortened, that is good. For raised crust, mix a teaspoonful of salt, and a teacup of melted butter, with three pints of flour, and then pour in half a teacup of yeast, adding cold water to make it stiff enough to roll out; placing it where warm, it will require from se'ven to eight hours to rise, unless you use brewer's yeast. Roll it out, when risen, and cut it into small cakes.
Potato pie crust is good. Peel and mash fine eight boiled potatoes ; mix with them half a pint of milk, a teaspoonful of salt, a hen's egg size piece of butter, and flour enough for rolling out. Put with the meat, the cakes after rolled out and cut.
By working into unbaked wheat dough, a little melted lukewarm butter, nice crust may be made. Before putting it with the meat, let it lay ten or fifteen minutes, after it is cut and rolled into cakes.
Source: The Improved Housewife ©1847

Chicken Pot Pie.—Cut a chicken in pieces; if it is not a young chicken parboil it in water enough to cover it, with half a pound of salt pork cut in slices, or a tea-spoonful of salt in it. Skim it carefully. Make a paste with half a pound of sweet lard rubbed into one pound of flour and a tea-spoonful of salt; add enough water to work it to a smooth paste ; roll the crust about half an inch thick, and line with it the sides of n stew-pan nearly to the bottom. Lay the chicken in the crust, and add a piece of butter the size of an egg rolled in flour; put in the water the chicken was parboiled in, and if necessary add more hot water till the stew-pan is nearly full. Cut part of the paste in small diamonds, and put them in the pie. Put on the top crust, first laying skewers across the top of the stew pan. Cut a slit in the centre. Put on the lid of the stew-pan, and let it boil slowly three-quarters of an hour, or more, if necessary. When the crust is well done the dish can be served.
Source: Mrs. Hale's New Cook Book ©1857

A CHICKEN POT-PIE.
Mrs. F. D. J.
Cut in small pieces one chicken, not too young; wash and put into a stone or earthen basin with sufficient water to cover, set this on the stove and let it cook until quite tender; then add to this broth (which will have cooked away a little,) half a pint of sweet milk, (perhaps not quite so much,) and one-half a can of fine oysters; season with pepper and salt, and mace if liked; put in bits of butter, and two tablespoons of flour. Now make a nice soda biscuit crust; roll out about an inch-thick and cover the meat; cut a hole in the middle of the crust, and put in the oven. When the crust is baked a rich brown set the dish on the stove, where the meat will gently simmer in the gravy, and steam the crust, (with a tin cover over,) for about ten minutes. Serve in the dish in which it is cooked, with a knitted cover.
Source: The Home Cook Book ©1876

Chicken Pot-pie.—Clean, singe, and joint a pair of chickens. Pare and slice eight white potatoes; wash the slices and put with the pieces of chicken into a stewpan lined with pie-crust; season with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, and cover with water. Cover with-paste, making a hole in the centre; cover the kettle, and either hang it over the fire or set it in the oven. If in the oven, turn occasionally to brown evenly. Two hours' cooking is sufficient. When done, cut the upper crust into moderate-sized pieces and place them on a large dish; with a perforated ladle take up the potato and chicken, put it upon the crust; cut the lower crust and put on the top. Serve the gravy hot in a gravy tureen.
Source: Our New Cook Book ©1883

Weights & Measures for Cooks

Continuing with yesterdays post on Measuring cups I found this description in Houghtalings Handbook of Useful Information ©1884

Weights and Measures for Cooks, eto.
1 pound of Wheat Flour is equal to 1 quart
1 pound and 2 ounces of Indian Meal make 1 quart
1 pound of Soft Butter is equal to 1 quart
1 pound and 2 ounces of Best Brown Sugar make 1 quart
1 pound and 1 ounce of Powdered White Sugar make 1 quart
1 pound ol Broken Loaf Sugar is equal to 1 quart
4 Large Tablespoonfuls make 1/2 gill
1 Common-sized Tumbler holds 1/2 pint
1 Common-sized Wine-glass is equal to 1/2 gill
1 Tea-cup holds 1 gill
1 Large Wine-glass holds 2 ounces
1 Tablespoonful is equal to. 1/2 ounce

A gill is (according to the Free Online Dictionary) a unit of liquid measure equal to 1/4 pint or 4 ounces. With regard to dry measure it is equal to 1/4 of a British Imperial pint. Which in today's measurements would be 1/2 cup.

Measuring Cups

This is not a thorough study on measuring cups during the 19th century. However there are a few tidbits to be aware of.

For example in the 1810 The New Family Receipt Book they don't have a measurement of one cup. They refer to a common tea cup, ordinary tea cup, one coffee cup.
I have found images of (Victorian) pewter measuring cups on the Internet. I've also found tin measuring cups dating back around 1840.
The earliest cookbook that I found any measurements for was in the 1830 Seventy-five Receipts for Pastry Cakes and the measurements were in pounds, ounces and quarts, pints. However there do have "A tea-spoonful of salt." The only cup measurement was again a tea-cup. 1/2 pint I started to referenced around this time as well, but never referred to as one cup.

By the end of the century I found glass measuring cups available as well as some high end copper and brass measuring cups.

Custard Pie

Custard goes back long before the 19th century. The recipe below is from the White House Cook Book, not to be confused that this cook book is authorized from the White House in Washington, DC. However later editions of this cook book were co-authored by White House steward Hugo Ziemann. The name was chosen as a marketing ploy, which seemed to work. Fannie Gillete the original author started her writing career and fame when she was sixty years old and with the first edition of the White House Cook Book in 1887.


BAKERS' CUSTARD PIE.
Beat up the yolks of three eggs to a cream. Stir thoroughly a tablespoonful of sifted flour into three tablespoonfuls of sugar; this separates the particles of flour so that there will be no lumps; then add it to the beaten yolks, put in a pinch of salt, a teaspoonful of vanilla, and a little grated nutmeg; next the well-beaten whites of the eggs; and lastly, a pint of scalded milk (not boiled) which has been cooled; mix this in by degrees, and turn all into a deep pie-pan, lined with puff-paste, and bake from twenty-five to thirty minutes.
I received this recipe from a celebrated cook in one of our best New York bakeries. I inquired of him "why it was that their custard pies had that look of solidity and smoothness that our home-made pies have not." He replied, "The secret is the addition of this bit of flour—not that it thickens the custard any to speak of, but prevents the custard from breaking or wheying, and gives that smooth appearance when cut."
Source: White House Cook Book ©1889 pg293

Milk Toast, Milk Biscuits & Yeast

Today I'm including an old recipe for Milk Toast and Milk Biscuits from Mrs. Hale's New Cook Book ©1857

Milk Toast.—Boil a pint of rich milk;  then take it off the fire and stir into it a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, with a small tablespoonful of flour, and a teaspoonful of salt. Let it come again to a boil. Have ready two deep plates with 6 slices of toasted bread in each. Pour the milk over them hot, and keep them covered till they go to table. Milk toast is generally eaten at breakfast.

Milk Biscuit—Take three-quarters of a pound of flour, and put in a wine-glassful of yeast, half a pint of milk, and a little salt. Roll the dough into small balls, and set them to rise. When risen sufficiently, bake them in a quick oven.

I have to wonder from the above recipe what the size of their wine-glasses were. It seems like a lot of yeast. Today, I use one or two teaspoons for an entire love of whole-wheat bread. Mrs. Cornelius in The Young Housekeeper's friend ©1846 says 1 teaspoonful of saleratus (baking soda) for butter-milk biscuits. However in The Improved Housewife ©1847 it says a half pint of yeast.

So I searched further and found this information in Mrs. Hale's cookbook about Yeast:
Yeast.—It is impossible to have good light bread, unless you have lively, sweet yeast. When common family beer is well brewed and kept in a clean cask, the settlings are the best of yeast. If you do not keep beer, then make common yeast by the following method :—
Take 2 quarts of water, 1 handful of hops, 2 of wheat bran: boil these together 20 minutes ; strain off the water, and while it is boiling hot, stir in either wheat or rye flour, till it becomes a thick batter; let it stand till it is about blood-warm; then add a half pint of good smart yeast and a large spoonful of molasses, if you have it, and stir the whole well. Set it in a cool place in summer, and a warm one in winter. When it becomes perfectly light, it is fit for use. If not needed immediately, it should, when it becomes cold, be put in a clean jug or bottle; do not fill the vessel, and the cork must be left loose till the next morning, when the yeast will have done working. Then cork it tightly, and set in a cool place in the cellar. It will keep 10 or 12 days.
Obs.—Never keep yeast in a tin vessel. If you find the old yeast sour, and have not time to prepare new, put in saleratus, a tea-spoonful to a pint of yeast, when ready to use it. If it foams up lively, it will raise the bread ; if it does not, never use it.
To Preserve Yeast.—Lay the yeast with a brush on a board or tub, and as it dries, lay on more, and continue to do so till it cracks and falls off; put it into clean bottles, and cork it well. This is excellent for taking to sea, where sugar-beer with little trouble might be made in any quantity, and always fr«sh.
To Assist Yeast.—When there is a scarcity of yeast, use the following method: Work into half a pint of water a spoonful of flour, until it becomes smooth, and boil it; put it into a jug, and stir it till it cools. When milk-warm, put in a spoonful of yeast, and a spoonful of moist sugar; stir them well, and put in a warm place, and if well made, there will be as much in a short time as will raise 3 pecks of flour; the bread made of this yeast requires to be laid 5 hours before it is baked.
To Extract Bitter from Yeast.—Beat it up with the white of an egg; add a double quantity of water; beat all well together : cover it; let it stand all night, and pour off the water, when it will be sweet; 1 egg is sufficient for a quart of yeast.
Milk Yeast.—Take 1 pint of new milk; 1 tea-spoonful of fine salt, and a large spoon of flour—stir these well together: get the mixture by the fire, and keep it just lukewarm ; it will be fit for use in an hour. Twice the quantity of common yeast is necessary ; it will not keep long. Bread made of this yeast dries very soon; but in the summer it is sometimes convenient to make this kind when yeast is needed suddenly.
Hard Yeast.—Boil 3 ounces of hops in 6 quarts of water, till only 2 quarts remain. Strain it, and stir in while it is boiling hot, wheat or rye meal till it is thick as batter. When It is about milk-warm, add half a pint of good yeast, and let it stand till it is very light, generally about 3 hours; then work in sifted Indian meal till it is a stiff dough. Roll it out on a board; cut it into oblong cakes about 3 inches by 2, and half an inch thick. Lay these cakes on a smooth board, over which a little flour has been dusted; prick them with a fork, and place the board in a dry clean room, where the sun and air may be freely admitted. Turn them every day. They will dry in a fortnight, unless the weather be damp. When the cakes are perfectly dry, put them in a coarse cotton bag ; hang it up in a cool, dry place. If rightly prepared these cakes will keep a year.
Two cakes will make yeast enough for a peck of flour. Break them into a pint of lukewarm water, and stir in a table-spoonful of flour, the evening before you bake. Set the mixture where it ceo be kept moderately warm. In the morning it will be fit for use.

Chowder

Occasionally it is cold in Florida and making stews and chowders is wonderful to warm us. So, I thought I'd add an old recipe of a New England Fish Chowder. This comes from De Witt's Connecticut Cook Book by N. Orr ©1871


Chowder.
Having sliced very thin some salt fat pork, season it with pepper, lay it in the bottom of a large iron pot, set it over the fire, and let. it fry. When done, take out the pork, leaving the liquid fat in the bottom. Next, peel and slice some onions, and lay them on the fat. Pour in sufficient clam or oyster liquor to stew the onions. Have ready a sufficient quantity of sea-bass, blackflsh, tutaug, porgie, haddock, or fresh cod. Cut the fish in small pieces,. and put it into the pot. Add plenty of potatoes pared and quartered. Then some clam liquor; and lastly, some crackers (soaked and split), or some soda biscuit; the crackers to cover the top. If you wish to fill a large pot, repeat all these ingredients, arranging them in layers. If there is not gravy enough, add some boiling milk, poured in at the last, and enriched with bits of butter mixed, with flour. Cover the pot closely, and let it strew half an hour, or more, till all the contents are thoroughly done. You may bake the chowder in an iron oven, over a wood fire, heaping liver coals on the oven lid. '.

Salamander

Yesterday, I received an email request for information concerning the 19th century salamander. In Mrs. Hale's New Cookbook ©1857 I found a diagram and brief description of a salamander, pictured below. This 19th century kitchen tool was the beginnings of what Salamander ovens are used for today. Enjoy.

Tin Kitchen, Tin Baker or Reflecting Oven

Below is an excerpt from The Journal of the Franklin Institute ©1833 about a Tin Kitchen Patent. In the List of Patents for Inventions and designs, issued by the United States, ©1847 we find the patent was given on June 14, 1832.

For an improvement in the Tin Kitchen; George Richardson, South Reading, Middlesex county, Massachusetts, June 14.
This, we are informed, is made like the ordinary tin kitchen, excepting that it is nearly of a square form, with the sides, bottom and back, in entire pieces, to exclude the external airj there, however, is to be a close fitting lid on the top, or in the back, notwithstanding its entire unity. A shelf, or shelves, may be placed on ledges within, or there may be a spit crossing it in the usual way. The tin case, and also the separate peices, are to be so formed and placed as to reflect the heat where it is most wanted.
In what part the claim to a patent resides, we are not informed.

In another source we find in History of Jay, Franklin County, Maine, by Benjamin F. Lawrence ©1912:
The Thanksgiving turkey was suspended by a string from the mantel-piece before the fire, with a dripping-pan on the hearth underneath. Later on came the tin-baker and tin-kitchen, which greatly facilitated the means of cooking and aided the housewife in household duties. And at a still later day earthenware and crockery-ware displaced the wooden vessels, the wooden bowls and spoons of the early settlers and even the pewter platters, spoons and mugs of the better class were put aside as relics by the use of more modern dishes.

And for some further definition we find in The Journal of Home economics, Vol. 12 ©1920 this definition:
The tin kitchen was a light utensil—of tin, as the name indicates; closed on all sides but that facing the fire; the top being curved or slanted downward and the bottom curved or slanted reversely. Whatever was to be baked was placed on a shallow pan supported within the tinkitchen, and thus received direct heat from the hearth fire and reflected heat from the utensil. The collapsible aluminum reflector used today by campers is derived from the old-fashioned tin kitchen and works on exactly the same principles.

Stove Patents 1847

Many of us wonder what kinds of stoves our 19th century forefathers had. Below is a very limited list from "List of Patents of Inventions and designs, issued by the United States" © 1847 There are over ten pages in the publication and below is two of the pages.

Stove Cooking, combining an elevated oven with.... Lathrop S. Bacon, Le Roy, NY, Jan 23 1846
Stove, cooking, construction...Philip Wilcox, Springfield, MA Sept. 13, 1838
Stove, cooking, correcting bad smell...Eliphalet Nott, Schenectady, NY Jan 7, 1835
Stove, cooking, cylindrical, sheet iron &c...Emma Steinhauer, Philadelphia, PA, Feb. 3, 1831
Stove, cooking, or digestive furnace...Henry L. Bidwell, Berlin, CT, Mar 8 1833
Stove, cooking, domestic.... Jos. R. Page, Philadelphia, PA, Mar 24, 1827
Stove, cooking, double furnace.. .Josiah Richards, Claremont, NH, Aug. 5, 1829
Stove, cook, double oven......R. D. Granger, Albany, NY, Mar 7 1846
Stoves, cooking, with double fireplaces...Reuben Jackson, Zanesville, Oh, Mar 19, 1840
Stoves,cooking, draught arranging...John L. Lathrop, Provincetown, MA, Dec 31, 1839
Stoves, conking, draught, &c., in...Horace Strickland, Bradford, Vt, June 27, 1840
Stove, cooking, drum...Andrew Sherwood, NY, April 25, 1841
Stoves, cookmg, with elevated ovens.... John P. Williston, and Willard A. Arnold, Northampton, MA, Nov. 16, 1839
Stoves, cooking, with elevated ovens...Lester Tilden Barre, VT., July 18, 1840
Stoves, cooking, elevated ovens with...Moses Bartholomew, Vershire, VT. July 2, 1842
Stoves, cooking, family...Joseph Tully, Frederick County, VA, May 17, 1814
Stoves, cooking, and fire-place...Edward Potter...Providence, RI, May 8, 1832
Stoves, cooking, and fire-place... Joshua Douglass, South Durham, Me., Nov. 14, 1835
Stoves, cooking, and fire-place, double...Thomas McCarty, Elmira, NY, Jan. 23, 1833
Stoves, cooking, and fire-place, and oven...John Rice, Hartland, VT, Dec. 6, 1817
Stoves, cooking, flat.....Joel Raithbone, Albany, NY, Mar 6, 1835
Stoves, cooking, and Franklin...James Wilson, NY, Mar 13, 1824
Stoves, cooking, and Franklin...Thomas Wentworth, Oswego, NY, May 18, 1825
Stoves, cooking, and Franklin...George Richards, Providence RI, Sept. 9, 1829
Stoves, cooking, and Franklin...Isaac McNavy, Stafford, CT, Mar. 24, 1835
Stoves, cooking, and Franklin, reflecting...Samuel W. Phelps, Cincinnati, OH, July 16, 1834
Stoves, cooking, Franklin...Abner R. Ring, Parma, N. Y, Dec. 12, 1839
Stoves, cooking, Franklin , Joel Houghton I Ogden, N Y, May 12, 1840
Stoves, cooking, Franklin Reuben Houghton, Clarkson, N. Y, Aug. 25, 1840
Stove, cooking, and galley...Benjamin Spratley, Portsmouth, Va, Sept. 25, 1837
Stove, cooking, and galley...James Baron, Philadelphia, Pa, Oct. 6, 1837
Stove, cooking, heat ...Jonathan G.Hathaway, Painesvilte, OH., Dec 7, 1837
Stove, cooking, heat to...Stephen J. Gold and Job S. Gold, NY city, June 20, 1838
Stove, cooking, heating...William B. Kimball, Petersborough.N.H. July 19, 1837
Stove, cooking, heating...Rufus S. Payne, W.Springfield, MA, July 31, 1837
Stove, cooking, heating...Philip Wilcox, Springfield, Ma, Sept 12, 1837
Stove, cooking, heating buildings...Washington Auld and James Cox, Philadelphia, PA, May 30, 1837
Stoves, cooking and heating...Alexander F. Bean, Woodstock, VT., July 8, 1841
Stoves, cooking, heating, and illuminating...Andrew Walker Jr., Unity, NH, June 27, 1842
Stoves, cooking and heating...Laommi Bailey, Boston, MA., Mar 26, 1844
Stoves, cooking, improvement in...Conrad Samuel, and George J, Somerset, PA, Dec. 3 1846,
Stove, cooking, kitchen...Andrew Sherwood, NY, April 25, 1811
Stove, cooking, kitchen...John Spencer, Albany, NY, Feb. 2, 1812
wove, conkmg, kitchen, portable...James Truman, Philadelphia, PA, Dec. 3, 1811
Stove, cooking, and oven...John R. Smith, New Haven, CT, Mar. 10, 1838
Stove, cooking, and parlor...Nicholas Smith, New Hampton, NH, Oct. 27, 1836
Stove, cooking, plain, plate or box...Eliphalet Nott, Schenectady, NY, Apr. 22, 1835
Stove, cooking, portable...Stephen J. Gold, Cornwall, CT, Aug. 29, 1832
Stove, cooking, portable...Thomas Whitson and Gustavus E. Haynes, Roxbury, MA, Nov. 19, 1834
Stove, cooking, portable...John Igget, Albany, NH Jan 16, 1835
Stove, cooking, premium, railway, Peregrine Williamson, Philadelphia, PA, Feb 16, 1829
Stove, cooking, preventing waste of heat...Eliphalet Nott, Schenectady, NY, Jan. 9, 1834
Stove, cooking, railway...Isaac B. Bucklin, West Troy, NY., July 9, 1838
Stove, cooking, railway...Anson Atwood, Troy, NY, April 10, 1839
Stove, cooking, railway... R.P. Butrick, Lockport, NY, Sept. 18, 1841
Stove, cooking, railway...Chollar Jones & Low, assignees of Chollar & Parmelee, West Troy, NY, July 11, 1844

The list continues and there is more to explore. I'd like to repost this list at another date, when I've had a chance to compile the information in a more useable format.

Jelly Making in 1837 Part 2

CURRANT JELLY.
Set on the fire in a sugar-pan a pint of smooth clarified sugar; when it boils, put in a quart of picked red currants, in which let them boil for half an hour; be careful to skim them well, and at times add a little cold water to raise the scum; when boiled enough run the liquor through a sieve into a basin, in which you have squeezed three lemons, then put in some isinglass, and set youi jelly in a mould in ice as usual.

Or, For this purpose the ripest red currants should be taken, as the white are not so good for jelly; crush them, and press out all the juice into a glazed pan; cover it very closely, and set it in a cold place for six days; then with great care remove the thick skin which then covers the juice, and pour it into another vessel, throwing away what remains at the bottom; when the juice is perfectly clear, weigh it, and for each pound take half a pound of crushed sugar, put them on the fire together, and much scum will soon rise; this must all be taken off; let it remain on the fire for about an hour; then try it as follows: put a small quantity on a very cold plate, and if, when it cools, it becomes thick, and of proper consistence, take the pan from the fire; if that is not the case, let it remain until that is the case. Pour out the jelly whilst hot; it must be quite cold before you cover it with paper.

RED CURRANT JELLY.
Strip off the currants, put them in a jar, set the jar in a kettle of hot water, let it boil an hour: then throw the currants and juice into a fine lawn sieve, press out the juice, and to every pint of juice put a pound of double-refined sugar; put them in a preserving pan, set it over a charcoal fire, and keep stirring till it is a jelly, which you will know by taking a little out to cool; be careful to take off the the scum as it rises, and when it is jellied and very clear, pour it into glasses; when cold, cut round pieces of paper that will just cover the jelly, dipped in brandy; put white paper over the glasses, twisting round the top.

BLACK CURRANT JELLY.
Make it the same way as the red currant jelly, only with this difference, that you may use very coarse sugar.

GOOSEBERRY JAM.
Take what quantity you please of red, rough, ripe, gooseberries; take half their quantity of lump sugar; break them well, and boil them together for half an hour, or more, if necessary. Put it into pots, and cover with paper.

GRAPE JELLY.
Take out the stones, then mash the grapes with your hands, (they must be ripe) then squeeze them through a cloth to extract all the juice from them, and boil and finish the same as currant jelly. Use half a pound of sugar to each pound of fruit.

RASPBERRY JELLY.
Take two thirds of raspberries, and one third red currant; pick them, press the juice through a sieve into a pan, cover, and place in a cellar, or any other cool place for three days; at the end of that time raise the thick skin formed at the top, and pour the juice into another vessel; weigh it, and put it, with half the quantity of sugar, into a preserving pan, set it on the fire; a great deal of scum will rise at first, which must all be taken off; leave it on the fire for an hour; then pour a few drops on a cold plate, if it cools of the proper consistence for jellies, take it from the fire, and whilst hot pour it into pots. Let the jelly be quite cold before the pots are covered.

LIQUID JELLY.
Take six lemons, pare them very thin, squeeze out the juice, and put in the peel without the seeds; let it stand all night, then put in half a pound of loaf sugar, mixing it well with the juice; add one pint of boiling water, and one pint of sweet but good wine; mix all well together; then add one pint of boiling milk, boil it altogether once, then strain it through a jelly bag; it will sometimes run clear the second or third time, and sometimes requires to run through oftener.

Calf's Foot Jelly.
The day before you want the jelly, boil 2 feet in 2 1/2 quarts of water, till they are broken and the water half wasted, strain and put it by in a cool place. The next day remove all fat as well as sediment, put the jelly into a sauce pan with sugar, raisin wine, lemon juice, and peel to your taste. Let it simmer, and when the flavour is rich, add the whites of five eggs well beaten, and, also, their shells; let it boil gently for twenty minutes, but do not stir it; then pour in a tea-cupful of warm water, let it boil five minutes longer; take the saucepan off the fire; cover close, and let it stand by the side for half an hour. After this it ought to be so clear as to require only once running through the jelly bag, which must be first dipped in hot water.

Jelly Making in 1837 Part 1

Below are some recipes from Francis Harriet Green's book "The housekeeper's book:" ©1837 pg. 152

JELLIES, JAMS, &c.

APPLE JELLY.
Take apples, codlings or nonsuch, pare and cut them in slices, put them into a deep stewpan, with as much water as will cover them, boil them gently till they will mash, and then strain them through a jelly-bag; to every pint of liquor add one pound of loaf sugar; boil it till it comes to the top for ten minutes, then pour it into a mould with or without sliced lemon peel. A quart only should be done at a time; the apples should be full grown but not too ripe. This jelly will keep, and make a pretty dish at any time.

RED CURRANT JELLY.
Strip the currants, put them in jars or pans, and bake them; strain off the juice through a sieve; having loaf sugar pounded and dried, in the proportion of one pound to one pint of juice, set the juice over the fire, and when boiling, throw in the sugar gradually, stirring the whole time; this must be done quickly, for by the time all the sugar is stirred in, the juice will be ready to jelly, and if left too long over the fire, the jelly will become candied. Pour into small-sized jars. By this method, the jelly will be perfectly clear without skimming, which saves waste and trouble.

RICE JELLY.
Half a pound of Carolina rice; three pints and a half of water. Put it on cold; boil it one hour. Beat it through a sieve; when cold it will be a firm jelly, which, when warmed up in milk is a nutritious and very agreeable food. Add one pint of milk to the pulp which remains in the sieve, boil it for a short time, stirring constantly to prevent buming; then strain as before, and if eaten at once it resembles thick milk; if allowed to get cold it becomes jelly as the former.

ARROW-ROOT BLANC MANGE.
Take two ounces of genuine arrow-root, and beat it up with a little cold milk to about the thickness of cream; then boil a pint and a half of milk and pour upon it, stirring it all the time; flavour and sweeten it to your taste; boil it ten minutes, stirring it all the time; pour it into the mould and leave it till next day.

ARROW-ROOT CUSTARDS.
Four eggs; one dessert spoonful of arrow-root; one pint of milk; sweetened and flavoured to your taste.

ARROW ROOT PUDDING.
Mix two table spoonfuls of arrow-root with a little milk; then pour it into a pint of boiling milk, stirring it; and when cold add four eggs, some sugar, brandy or ratifia; boil it in a basin, and put a buttered paper over the top.

ISINGLASS JELLY.
Two ounces of isinglass to a quart of water, boil till it is dissolved; strain it into a basin upon a slice of lemon-peel pared very thin, six cloves, and three or four lumps of sugar; let this stand by the fire for an hour; take out the lemon and cloves, and add four table-spoonfuls of brandy.

APPLE JELLY.
One pound of apples pared and cored; one pound of lump sugar put to a gill of water, so as to clarify the sugar; add some lemon peel; it must then boil until it is stiff; put it into a mould, when cold turn it out. If there is any difficulty in getting it out, the mould may be just put in warm water. This is a cheap and pretty looking jelly.

ITALIAN CREAM.
Mix a pint of thick cream with the juice of a large lemon, and a glass of white wine; put the peel of the lemon in whole, with a sufficient quantity of loaf sugar; beat them well together with a whisk; put a clear muslin over the mould, and pour the cream in; let it drain till the following day, then turn it out carefully. There are earthenware moulds on purpose with small holes to let out the whey.

BLANC MANGE.
To one ounce of picked isinglass, put a pint of water, boil it till the isinglass is melted, with a bit of cinnamon; put to it three quarters of a pint of cream, two ounces of sweet almonds, six bitter ones blanched and beaten, a bit of lemon-peel, sweeten it, stir it over the fire, let it boil, strain and let it cool, squeeze in the juice of a lemon, and put into moulds; garnish to your fancy.

DUTCH BLANC MANGE.
Put a pint of cleared calf's-footjelly into a stew-pan; mix with it the yolks of six eggs, set it over a fire, and whisk, till it begins to boil; then set the pan in cold water, and stir the mixture till nearly cold, to prevent it from curdling, and when it begins to thicken fill the moulds.

CALVES' FEET BLANC MANGE.
Pick all the the black spots from two boiled feet, slice them into a stew-pan, with a quarter of a pint of Mountain wine, and rather more water; let them stew gently; add the yolks of three eggs beaten and strained, with a quarter of a pint of cream and a little flour, a little lemon peel and. juice, sweeten with fine sugar, strain it into a dish. When nearly cold, stick on the top some jar raisins, scalded to plump, almonds blanched into slips, citron, lemon, and orange peel sliced. It may be put in a basin; when cold turn it out.

Preserving Butter

I thought I'd continue with a little more information from The Book of Household Management by Isabella Beeton ©1861

TO PRESERVE AND TO CHOOSE SALT BUTTER. 1633. In large families, where salt butter is purchased a tub at a time, the first thing to be done is to turn the whole of the butter out, and, with a clean knife, to scrape the outside; the tub should then be wiped with a clean cloth, and sprinkled all round with salt, the butter replaced, and the lid kept on to exclude the air. It is necessary to take these precautions, as sometimes a want of proper cleanliness in the dairymaid causes the outside of the butter to become rancid, and if the scraping be neglected, the whole mass would soon become spoiled. To choose salt butter, plunge a knife into it, and if, wh«a drawn out, the blade smells rancid or unpleasant, the butter is bad. The layers in tubs will vary greatly, the butter being made at differes! times; so, to try if the whole tub be good, the cask should be unhooped, and the butter tried between the staves.

It is not necessary to state that butter is extracted from cream, or from unskimmed milk, by the churn. Of course it partakes of the qualities of the milk, and winter butter is said not to be so good c spring butter.

A word of caution is necessary about rancid butter. Nobody eats it on bread, but it is sometimes used in cooking, in forms in what the acidity can be more or less disguised. So much the worse; it is almost poisonous, disguise it as you may. Never, under any exigency whatever, be tempted into allowing butter with even a soupcon of "turning" to enter into the composition of any dish that appears on your table. And, in general, the more you can do without the employment of butter that has been subjected to the influence of heat the better. The woman of modern times is not a "leech;" but she might often keep the "leech" from the door, if she would give herself the trouble to invent innocent sauces.

Butter Molds

This is taken from the book of Household Management by Isabella Beeton ©1861

Butter-moulds, or wooden stamps for moulding fresh butter, are much used, and are made in a variety of forms and shapes. In using them, let them be kept scrupulously clean, and before the butter is pressed in, the interior should be well wetted with cold water; the butter must then be pressed in, the mould opened, and the perfect shape taken out. The butter may be then dished, and garnished with a wreath of parsley, if for a cheese course; if for breakfast, put it into an ornamental butter-dish, with a little water at the bottom, should the weather be very warm.

Here's a link to another blog Flipside Which shows a butter mold from the 19th century as well as a neat family history as it relates to that mold. Enjoy!

Yeast and Other Rising Agents

Below are some recipes for yeast and other rising agents from Mrs Owens' cookbook and useful household hints by Frances Emugene Owens ©1884

BAKING POWDER.
6 ounces of starch.
6 ounces of bi-carbonate of soda.
4 ounces of tartaric acid.
Powder and sift several times, and you will have a cheaper article than you can buy, and will have it pure. Keep it from the air. The main thing in preparing one's own baking powder is to sift it times enough. The above is a reliable formula, and may be safely used.
Since the alarming adulterations of almost everything used in cooking, a chemist advises the use of tartaric acid in place of cream of tartar. It costs about twice as much, but half the quantity suffices, and there is no difficulty in procuring this pure.

SUBSTITUTING ONE "RISING" FOR ANOTHER.
In recipes calling for 1/2 teaspoon soda and 1 of cream of tartar, baking powder may be used instead, using about 2 teaspoons. If baking powder is called for, soda and cream of tartar may be used instead, using about £ less of both together, than the amount of baking powder in the recipe. For instance, if 3 teaspoons of baking powder is called for, you can use 2/3 teaspoon soda and twice as much cream of tartar, which together will make 2 teaspoons, which is 1/3 less than 3 teaspoons baking powder. If sour milk is substituted for sweet, soda must be substituted for baking powder, and in those cases the cream of tartar must not be used at all, the sour milk furnishing the acid. One teaspoon soda to a pint of sour milk is about right. If sweet milk or water is substituted for sour milk, and the recipe calls for 1 teaspoon soda, baking powder may be used, and it would be safe to put in 2 heaping teaspoons or even 3. Sweet milk and water may be used interchangeably. Many good cooks prefer water to milk for their nicest cake. So never discard a recipe that calls for milk because you have none, as water will answer very well. Recipes calling for whites of eggs only, require very little, if any, baking powder, and recipes giving a large number of eggs, generally use none, as. the whites are beaten very light and added last, and lighten the batter sufficiently.

HOP YEAST.
Put 1 cup hops in 3 quarts cold water. Boil 15 minutes, strain, set back on stove and add 5 large potatoes, peeled and grated, 1/2 cup salt, same of sugar. Stir well, let boil up, take off, cool and add a cup of yeast. Beat thoroughly. Set by the stove until it is light. If preferred, the potatoes may be boiled in the hop water, and then mashed, adding salt, sugar, and yeast, as above.

POTATO YEAST.
Mrs. Carrie S. Carr, New Lisbon, Wis.
Take 3 large potatoes, peel and grate as rapidly as possible, so they will not turn dark. Pour on 1 quart boiling water and cook 1/2 hour. Add 1/2 cup sugar, same of salt, shortly before it is done. When sufficiently cool, put in any good yeast to raise it; stir well together. The next day it will be as light as a foam. A tea-cup of this yeast will be enough to raise 4 or 5 loaves of bread. Keep in a cool place, and in summer renew every fortnight.

Refreshing Stale Bread Rolls and Flannel Rolls

Well, I'm sure that all of us have experienced our rolls or bread getting hard. I found this great little tidbit in "Cooking for Profit" by Jessup Whitehead ©1893 I've also included a recipe for "Flannel Rolls" or as the recipe calls them, German Puffs, Flannel Rolls, Muffins or Popovers. I've included the story, especially for those writing during this time event in Pacific Areas.

To Warm Over Rolls.
Take rolls left over from the previous meal, place in a pan and cover with a wet cloth, half a cotton flour sack or piece of old table cloth dipped in water will do. Set in the oven and by the time the cloth is dry the rolls will "be as good as if fresh baKed—for such as are not critical judges of fresh bread.

German Puffs, Flannel Rolls, Muffins or Popovers.

It makes a great difference whether any dish or product of skill is the present fashion or not. We have all heard of somebody's popovers and come across remarks in the farmers' papers about somebody else's popovers that wouldn't pop, without wanting any in ours particularly. So when I saw that Mary Jane, at Cedar Point Cottage, on Nipantuck Island had a stove-full of very fine ones ready for supper I admired them, and told her they were splendid and she ought to be proud that she could make them {as indeed shj was) without yet caring to get the receipt for my books; having so many good yeast-raised fancy breads already; and, besides, I had heard Mrs. Tingee condemn popovers on account of their using up her eggs too last and not being very good eating anyhow.

"But that isn't what we call 'em," said Mary Janes, "them's flannel rolls."

"They are popovers, Mary Jane," I persisted; "did you never hear of popovers, and popovers that wouldn't pop?"

"The baker at the Nipantuck House called 'em flannel rolls," said she, "and I guess he knew and he brought me the receipt before he went away." She h;avcd a little sigh and turned away as if there was nothing more to be said on that question.
Afterwards, upon the very voluminous breakfast and supper bills of fare of a very large summer hotel I found printed "Kaaterskill Flannel Rolls,"and in thinking over what they might be, naturally reverted to that stove-full of "flannel rolls on Nipantuck Island, and learning almost immediately that the Grand Pacific was serving them as "muffins," the Palmer House as "German puffs" and the Matteson as "flannel rolls," I began to feel like a collector of coins, who has heard of a date that is not in his collection, or like one of those Dutch tulip fanciers when they heard of a new color, and started out to catch up with the procession. I soon overtook my friend the steward of the Matteson who, for the good of the public handed me this:
take
2 eggs.
2 cups milk—a pint.
2 cups flour—10 ounces.
Salt, a small teaspoon.
Break the eggs into a bowl; beat them light and keep adding the milk to them gradually while your are beating. That takes about five minutes. Add the salt. When all the milk is in put in the flour, all at once, and beat it smooth, like cream. Butter the inside of six coffee cups, divide the batter into them and bake in a moderate oven about half an hour.

It is to be observed there is no powder nor raising of any kind in them and no butter, yet they rise high above the tops of the cups and are hollow inside when done. They are not perfect if made with skimmed milk. When they collapse in the cups and come out tough and heavy it is owing to the baking, the stove being not hot enough on the bottom, or, possibly not having been thoroughly beaten. I have made large batches and baked some for early breakfast and beaten the same batter again and baked it two hours later and found the last to be as good as the first.

Cost, 6 cents. But the cups are not the best for a number, holding too much. There are deep gem pans shaped like small tumblers that suit better to bake in. These are a pleasing kind of bread to make, their remarkable lightness making them always something of a marvel.

Tomato Soup

This is another recipe from "Cooking For Profit" ©1893

Tomato Soup.
2 quarts soup stock.
1 cupful stewed tomatoes,
1 small cupful of minced vegetables.
6 cloves.
1 tablespoon minced parsley.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Little flour for thickening.
Tomatoes stewed down after seasoning with salt, pepper and butter, are a different article from the freshly prepared and impart a new richness to soup.
The soup stock may be the liquor in which a piece of beef or mutton is boiled for dinner, with the addition of other raw scraps and pieces, such as the bones and gristly ends of a beefsteak. An hour before dinner time take out the meat strain the stock through a fine strainer and into the soup pot. Cut piece of carrot, turnip and onion into small dice and throw in and let cook till done and add the cloves and cup of tomatoes, pepper and salt, thickening and the parsley at last.
It is generally considered a reproach to say the soup is thin. A proper inodium(I'm not sure what that word should be) should be observed. A spoonful of flour gives the smoothness and substance required without Destroying the clearness of the soup.

Cost of material—stock 4, tomatoes 6, vegetables and seasonings 2; 12c for 12 plates.

Fish Chowder

This recipe comes from The Appledore Cook Book ©1880 This is the second edition.

THE APPLEDORE COOK BOOK,

FISH.
Chowder.
Take either a cod or haddock ; skin it, loosen the skin about the head, and draw it down towards the tail, when it will peel off easily. Then run your knife down the back close to the bone, which you take out. Cut your fish in small pieces, and wash in cold water. Put the head on to boil in about two quarts of water, and boil twenty minutes. For a fish weighing six pounds, pare and slice thin five good sized potatoes, and one onion. Place a layer of potatoes and onion in the pot, then a layer of fish, dredge in a little salt, pepper, and flour. Keep puting in alternate layers of potatoes and fish until all is used. Use about one tablespoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of pepper, one teacup of flour, in all.

Have ready half a pound of salt pork fried brown. Pour this over the mixture ; add about two quarts of cold water, then strain on the water in which the head h:^1 been boiled If this is not water enough to cover, add more cold. Cover tight, and boil gently thirty minutes. If not seasoned enough, add what you please. When it has boiled twenty minutes, put in six crackers which have been soaked three minutes in cold water. If you wish to add milk and butter, you can do Bo about five minutes before taking it up; but for my taste, it is much nicer and more natural without either.

Fish Chowder. Mrs. T. Leigliton.
Four pounds of fish, half cod and half haddock, if you can get the two kinds, two onions, six potatoes, eight white browns, one quarter of a pound of salt pork, salt, pepper. Prepare the chowder as directed in the preceding rule ; split the crackers and lay on the top, pour over the whole hot water enough to cover, and boil fifteen minutes ; then wet two tablespoonfuls of flour with one-third of a cup of cream. Stir this into the boiling chowder, let it boil up once, and serve. When you cannot get the white browns, pilot bread will answer. When a very strong flavor of onion is desired, use four onions.