Slice of Life March Challenge. No. 22.
Things Mother Used To Make
I enjoy reading the recipes and helps in this book, published in 1913. I must confess that I read cookbooks for pleasure, much like some people read poetry.
The measurements terms are very interesting: teaspoonful, cupful, a lump, a pinch, and a dessertspoonful. Then there’s “butter the size of an egg” and “butter the size of a walnut” and “butter the size of a marble.” Isn’t it interesting that the butter shapes are rounded?
One recipe calls for “old yeast.” I not sure about that one. The only “old yeast” I know about is yeast that is too old to use.
There’s crust coffee that has no coffee in it.
I’m sure the brown bread was made with whole grains and molasses, and those ingredients probably contribute to the flavor of crust coffee.
And there’s coffee jelly, made from leftover breakfast coffee.
But page 27 was missing in the old book. So I searched and found a page on a blog with interesting information and a recipe for coffee jelly. Also, here’s a recipe that uses coffee jelly to make a frappuccino. I think I will try this in the near future.
Updated on Wednesday morning. I found a copy of the recipe on page 27. Here it is —
Have you ever heard of Pork Apple Pie? The recipe calls for “12 pieces of fat salt pork, size of a pea” to be sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar on top of apples. The apple pie recipe I use calls for small pieces of butter in the same way.
Talking about pies, when I was visiting my son in Ecuador earlier this month, he bought purified lard so we could bake some pies. At home, I use butter for my crust, but their butter was a bit different than ours. So he’d picked up some lard. Well, the pie crust was wonderful; good lard does make the best crust — the flaky kind of pie crust my grandmother made. In addition, we had a good laugh over the brand name of the lard — “Three Little Pigs.” Well, since it is in Spanish, it is really “Los 3 Chanchitos.”
We are making a lemon chess pie, using
Los 3 Chanchitos for our crust.
************
You may be interested in reading other posts this old book has inspired.
Thank you, Two Writing Teachers, for hosting
2017 Slice of Life Story Challenge
The three little pigs lard? That’s terrible!
I know. 🙂
What fascinating reading. My grandmother always used lard in many of her recipes.
My husband’s grandmother made her chocolate chip cookies with lard and they were to die for! I added a pie photo to the post.
Nothing ever went to waste – we can learn a lot from those cook books!
So true, Tara! 🙂
coffee jelly?! is that good?!
I’ve never had it but I’ve read it is. I’ve heard it’s serve with a bit of whipped cream. I think if you’re a coffee lover, it might be good on toast or maybe a scone.
very fun! I love cookbooks as well 🙂 I should look deeper to see if there are any enticing descriptions – i just grabbed another cookbook at a yard sale for free this past weekend!
Cookbooks are a record of life… a bit of history. One of my favorites is Better Homes and Gardens Heritage Cook Book 1975. It uses food to tell the history of USA. And of course I love the ones that women’s groups put together and spiral bind. Have fun reading your yard sale one!
So creative! I love cooking and never would of thought of this!
Ah! Go for it. I’d love to see your post when you write it.
This is so great!!! I love the idea of reading cookbooks like poetry! And what amazing recipes! I wonder what our recipes will look like to our grandchildren and great grandchildren someday!!
You just gave me an idea, perhaps I can pull a “found poem” from a cookbook. I wonder, too, like what kind of information will they need that we don’t need today. The biggest thing with the old recipes is they never give you temperature and time. I guess that was pretty relative in a wood or coal cook stove. Our house had a flu for the coal cook stove and a dumb waiter elevator to bring the coal up from the basement coal bin to the kitchen. We’ve covered over the flue, but it is still in the construction of the house, and we took out the dumb waiter and closed in the chute for cabinets.
That’s a good idea! I have only really looked at cookbooks as far back as the 1950s….so I can imagine how that would go- Green Jello, Liver Pâté, tuna melt….that’s a found poem I don’t really want to find!!! I never thought about really old recipes not having time and temp. And your house sounds so cool! I love the idea of that kind of history where you live!
LOL… not a very appealing found poem.