Pumpkin this, pumpkin that

Now that fall is here I have pulled a compilation of pumpkin reciept's to try! I have found a variety of pie & pudding reciept's over the past few days. Here is a sampling of what I have found from a few go-to books.

Confederate Receipt Book, 1863

I did make this pumpkin bread a few years ago for a shortages program. I used canned pumpkin & not fresh. The result was a heavy, "gummy" bread that received mixed reviews. 

The Housekeeper's Encyclopedia, 1861

The Virginia Housewife, 1838

The Practical Cookbook, 1850

Salads for the Season

Since I am in the middle of packing & moving,  I will offer a sampling of recipes  rather that my attempt at them. I promise, I will get back to cooking soon!  Below is a sampling of salads from the 19th Century.  With the weather warming up and the farmer's markets opening, it is a great way to use up all of those fresh  veggies that will be on our plates soon.

From : The Practical Cook Book, 1850.

 From: La Cuisine Française, 1893

From: Miss. Corson's Practical American Cookery, 1886

*I may actually make this sometime soon! So easy!!* 

These are a few salads to bring you some spring cheer! Stay tuned for more posts on spring foods! 

Buttermilk Biscuit

I have never made biscuits, aside from out of the can. I know, what kind of Southern girl has never made biscuits?!?! Well, I do remember helping my mom do it when I was little, but I have never made them by myself.   I chose "Buttermilk Biscuit" from The Practical Cook Book, 1850. There were other biscuit recipes listed, but this one just looked good.

Rolled and cut

Add one tablespoon of butter to 4 cups of flour, then add about a teaspoon of salt. Mix well. Ton 2 cups of buttermilk add a teaspoon of baking soda and mix it in. Add the liquid to the flour and mix until a nice dough is formed. The dough is a nice thick dough and rolls out well. Roll the dough out to and cut into biscuits, I use the end of a glass since I do not have a biscuit cutter. Place the biscuits in pans and bake at 400 for twelve minutes.
The biscuits are good hot out of the oven with butter. They were a bit heavy, and I am finding a lot of period breads to be. But, they were pretty good for a first try at biscuits!  The recipe made about 15 biscuits.

Biscuits hot out of the Oven

These would keep well for traveling, taking for a weekend event, or for soldiers to keep in a Haversack since they are not a fragile bread.

No. 7 Gingerbread

Going along with the upcoming Holiday season I decided that I wanted some Gingerbread! There are countless recipes for this sweet cake. They range from a soft cake to a crisp cookie like treat. I browsed through several recipes before deciding on No. 7 Gingerbread from The Practical Cookbook, 1850. This book gives ten recipes for gingerbread, and one for ginger cookies, I think its safe to say that it was a popular treat!

I partly chose this recipe because I knew I had all of the ingredients (and quantities needed) in the cabinet and would not have to make a special trip to get anything required.


I softened a stick and half of butter and creamed it with 3/4 cup of sugar. I did this by hand, it does not take long with the softened butter. Add in the flour (2 1/4 cups) and 3/4 cups of molasses. I used a light colored "local farm" molasses that I love. Beat three eggs well in a separate bowl, then add to the mix. I then added a heaping tablespoon of ground ginger. Mix well, almost completely. The recipe states that you should bake as soon as the soda is added. I dissolved the teaspoon of soda in milk ( about 1/4 cup) in a separate bowl before incorporating it to the mix.   After working in the milk I spooned the mix into my "buttered tin" which was a regular 9" round cake pan.

Into the oven at 350 for about 25-30 minutes. This was my oven, oven temps vary. 

Batter all mixed.

Since the batter had been so good, I was not worried so much about the taste, as what the finished product would look like, and whether it would be a soft & cake-y. I kept checking the oven to make sure it was not burning.
Then, out came this lovely cake of gingerbread, perfect out of the oven!!!! I plated it & could not wait to cut into it (I'm always so excited about these things).

Hot out of the oven

The end result was a gorgeous, lovely, and yummy cake of gingerbread!!!!
This recipe is defiantly a keeper, I may even try it at the event this weekend.

No. 3 Apple Pie

In preparation of an upcoming event, I decided to try some new recipes, one of those being apple pie. I have never made an apple pie, so this would be my first adventure, and for some reason I seem to have better results with recipes that are 150+ years old, I don't know why, so please don't ask (however, my DH has a theory on this).
 So, the crust.
I chose a simple recipe for the crust and pie out of  "The Practical Cook Book", 1850. It seemed simple enough, and since I can't really have a food processor at a Civil War event I needed a new crust recipe (my usual crust recipe came out of a Woman's Day magazine from last year).  So I chose "No. 1 Common Paste".  Converted to modern measurements it called for 2 sticks of butter ( I used unsalted at room temp to blend better), 4 cups of flour, 1 Teaspoon of salt, and about  1 cup of water.  I mixed the dough with my hands to make sure I had a good consistency. I turned it out on my wooden board that I kneed my bread on. It was almost too much dough for the small board, so I halved it to form a top & bottom crust. With the bottom rolled out nicely, I placed it in my lightly floured pie plate.  Crust, successful, so far....

 The pie. I chose again out of the same book for the pie. "No. 3 Apple Pie" sounded good. The recipe did not specify what apples to use, I chose Gala, they have a sweet taste that I really enjoy.  Peeled and sliced 3 large apples were enough to fill the crust. I heaped them into the crust. Since there were no measurements for the spices, I guessed. I chose the molasses from my cabinet that my grandpa brought me last year from the mountains (that is some good stuff!!!). I drizzled until the apples looked nicely covered. Then added the cinnamon, sprinkling it over the molasses. I did not have any allspice, so I dashed in a pinch of nutmeg,and the salt.  It looked so good at this point that I decided to snap a picture! My DH was excited at this point too, despite the mess I was making in the kitchen. It smelled good too! I was giddy at this point, it really looked like pie! 
I rolled out the rest of the dough for the top crust, and pinched it together on the sides, pulling off the excess dough as needed. Cutting a slit in the top as directed for steam to escape. Hmm, this may actually work!

The pie went in a "Moderate Oven" which means anywhere from 350-375. Mine was set at 350. Baked for 45 minutes, the crust did not really brown, except part of the edges. I wasn't sure when I took it out of the oven, it looked the same as when it was put in.  We let it cool for a bit before being too excited to wait any longer. It smelled so good as I cut into it! We scooped out some! IT WAS PIE! I made a successful pie! The apples were so good! The crust was a little bland, but after it soaked in the syrup it was nice too! 

For the future pie I think I will use a bit less flour. It was too much for the size of my pie plate. I may add a little sugar to the crust as well since it was a bit bland. But with less flour it may have more flavor too. I may let it cool longer too. The insides were a bit runny, which I noticed later after cooling became more like syrup. Other than that, it was good experience, and I plan on making it again soon!!