The Virginia Housewife

In case you missed yesterday's post, I shared recipes from "The Virginia Housewife Or, Methodical Cook A Facsimile of an Authentic Early American Cookbook by Mary Randolph."  Yesterday the focus was on meats and vegetable sides. The following are baked goods and an assortment of things. I'm posting recipes that I thought were interesting, funny, way-out-there and a couple that I might try.

From page 115; To Make Mincemeat for Pies "Boil either calves or hogs' feet til perfectly tender, run them through a colander; when cold, pass them through again, and it will come out like pearl barley; take one quart of this, one of chopped apples, the same of currants, washed and picked, raisins stoned and cut, of good brown sugar, suet nicely chopped, and cider, with a pint of brandy; add a tea-spoonful of pounded mace, one of cloves and of nutmegs; mix all these together intimately. When the pies are to be made, take out as much of this mixture as may be necessary; to each quart of it, add a tea-spoonful of pounded black pepper, and one of salt; this greatly improves the flavour, and can be better mixed with a small portion than with the whole mass. Cover the moulds with paste, put in a sufficiency of mincemeat, cover the top with citron sliced thin, and lay on it a lid garnished around with paste cut in fanciful shapes. Then may be eaten either hot or cold, but are best when hot."

From page 121; Puff Pudding "Beat six eggs, add six spoonsful of milk, and six of flour, butter some cups, pour in the batter, and bake them quickly; turn them out, and eat them with butte, sugar and nutmeg."

From page 125; Apple Pie " Put a crust in the bottom of a dish, put on it a layer or ripe apples, pared and sliced thin--then a layer of powdered sugar; do this alternately till the dish is full; put in a few tea-spoonsful of rose water and some cloves--put on a crust and bake it."

From page 127; Pumpkin Pudding "Stew a fine sweet pumpkin till soft and dry; rub it through a sieve, mix with the pulp six eggs quite light, a quarter of a pound of butter, half a pint of new milk, some pounded ginger and nutmeg, a wine glass of brandy, and sugar to your taste. Should it be too liquid, stew it a little drier, put a paste round the edges, and in the bottom of a shallow dish or plate--pour in the mixture, cut some thin bits of paste, twist them, and lay them across the top, and bake it nicely."

From page 130-131; Jumbals "Put one pound of nice sugar into two pounds of flour, add pounded spice of any kind, and pass them through a sieve; beat four eggs, pour them on with three quarters of a pound of melted butter, knead all well together, and bake them."

From page 131; To Make Drop Biscuit "Beat eight eggs every light, add to them twelve ounces of flour, and one pound of sugar; when perfectly light, drop them on tin sheets, and bake them in a quick oven."

From page 131; Rusk "Run half a pound of sugar into three pounds of flour -- sift it, pour on half a pint of good yeast, beat six eggs, add half a pint of milk- -mix all together, and knead it well: if not soft enough, add more milk--it should be softer than bread; make it at night--in the morning, if well risen, work in six ounces of butter, and bake it in small rolls; when cold, slice it, lay it on tin sheets, and dry it in the oven."

From page 132; Sugar Ginger Bread "Take two pounds of the nicest brown sugar, dry and pound it, put it into three quarts of flour, add a large cup full of powdered ginger, and sift the mixture; wash the salt out of a pound of butter, and cream it; have twelve eggs well beaten; work into the butter first, the mixture, then the froth from the eggs, until all are in, and it is quite light; add a glass of brandy, butter shallow oulds, pour it in, and bake in a quick oven."

From page 137-138; Patent Yeast "Put half a pound of fresh hops into a gallon of water, and boil it away to two quarts; then strain it, and make it a thin batter with flour; add half a pint of good yeast, and when well fermented, pour it in a bowl, and work in as much corn meal as will make it the consistency of biscuit dough; set it to rise, and when quite light, make it into little cakes, which must be dried in the shade, turning them very frequently; keep them securely from damp and dust. Persons who live in town, and can procure brewer's yeast, will save trouble by using it: take one quart of it, add a quart of water, and proceed as before directed."

From page 138; Another Method For Making Yeast "Peel one large Irish potato, boil it till soft, rub it through a sieve; add an equal quantity of flour, make it sufficiently liquid with hop tea; and when a little warmer than new milk, add a gill of good yeast; stir it well, and keep it closely covered in a small pitcher."

From page 138; Nice Buns "Put four ounces of sugar with three quarters of a pound of flour; make it up with two spoonsful of yeast, and half a pint of milk; when well risen, work into it four ounces of butter, make it into small buns, and bake them in a quick oven--do not burn them."

From page 139-140; Apoquiniminc Cakes "Put a little salt, one egg beaten, and four ounces of butter, in a quart of flour--make it into a paste with new milk, beat it for half an hour with a pestle, roll the paste thin, and cut it into round cakes; bake them on a gridiron, and be careful not to burn them."

From page 140; Cream Cakes "Melt as much butter in a pint of milk, as will make it rich as cream--make the flour into a paste with this, knead it well, roll it out frequently, cut it in squares, and bake on a griddle."

From page 141; Chocolate Cakes "Put half a pound of nice brown sugar into a quart of flour, sift it, and make it into a paste, with four ounces of butter melted in as much milk as will wet it; knead it till light, roll it tolerably thin, cut it in strips an inch wide, and just long enough to lay in a plate; bake them on a griddle, put them in the plate in rows to checker each other, and serve them to eat with chocolate."

From page 143; Ice Creams "When ice creams are not put into shapes, they should always be served in glasses with handles."

From page 143; Vanilla Cream "Boil a Vanilla bean in a quart of rich milk, until it has imparted the flavour sufficiently--then take it out, and mix with the milk, eight eggs, yelks and whites beaten well; let it boil a little longer; make it very sweet, for much of the sugar is lost in the operation of freezing."

From page 148; Lemon Cream "Pare the rind very thin from four fresh lemons, squeeze the juice, and strain it--put them both into a quart of water, sweeten it to your taste, add the whites of six eggs, beat to a froth; set it over the fire, and keep stirring until it thickens, but do not let it boil--then pour it in a bowl; when cold, strain it through a sieve,  put it on the fire, and add the yelks of the eggs--stir it till quite thick, and serve it in glasses."

From page 153; An Excellent Relish After Dinner "Put some soup or gravy from any of the dishes on the table, into the stew dish; add a good portion of pepper, vinegar, wine, catsup and salt; let it be very highly seasoned; broil the legs, liver, and gizzard of a turkey, the kidney of veal, or any thing you fancy; cut it up in small pieces; when broiled, put it in the gravy, and stew it at table."

From page 160; Raspberry Jam "To each pound of ripe red or English raspberries, put one pound of loaf sugar--stir it frequently, and stew till it is a thick jelly."

From page 161; Lemon Pickles "Grate the yellow rind from two dozen fine fresh lemons, quarter them but leave them whole at the bottom; sprinkle salt on them, and put them in the sun every day until dry; then brush off the salt, put them in a pot with one ounce of nutmegs, and one of mace pounded; a large handful of horse radish scraped and dried, two dozen cloves of garlic, and a pint of mustard seed; pour on one gallon of strong vinegar, tie the pot close, put a board on, and let it stand three months--strain it, and when perfectly clear, bottle it."

From page 164; Curry Powder "One ounce turmeric, one do. coriander seed, one do. cummin seed, one do. white giner, one of nutmeg, one of mace, and one of Cayenne pepper; pound all together, and pass them through a fine sieve; bottle and cork it well--one tea-spoonful is sufficient to season any made dish."

From page 173; Raspberry Vinegar "Put a quart of ripe red raspberries in a bowl; pour on them a quart of strong well flavoured vinegar--let them stand twenty-four hours, strain them through a bag, put this liquid on another quart of fresh raspberries, which strain in the same manner--and then on a third quart; when this last is prepared, make it very sweet with pounded loaf sugar; refine and bottle it. it is a delicious beverage mixed with iced water."

From page 177; Lavender Water "Put a pint of highly rectified spirits of wine, to one ounce of essential oil of lavender, and two drachms of ambergris; shake them well together, and keep it closely stopped."

From page 178; To Prepare Cosmetic Soap For Washing The Hands "Take a pound of castile, or any other nice old soap; scrape it in small pieces, and put it on the fire with a little water--stir it till it becomes a smooth paste, pour it into a bowl, and when cold, add some lavender water, or essence of any kind--beat it with a silver spoon until well mixed, thicken it with corn meal, and keep it in small pots closely covered--for the admission of air will soon make the soap hard."

From page 178; Cologne Water "Three quarts of spirits of wine, six drachms oil of lavender, one drachm oil of rosemary, three drachms essence of lemon, ten drops oil of cinnamon--mix them together very well."

From page 189; To Dry Herbs "Gather them on a dry day, just before they begin to blossom; brush off the dust, cut them in small branches, and dry them quickly in a moderate oven; pick off the leaves when dry, pound and sift them--bottle them immediately, and cork them closly. They must be kept in a dry place."

If you are still reading all the way down here, wow, I'm impressed. You must have seen the humor. I know we sure have it a lot easier now I'm glad that I live now rather than 1824!