A Womans War at Cowpens

This past weekend was amazing! It was the first time in YEARS I had camped the whole weekend at an event, and I was a little nervous going into an event at a site I had never visited with a shaky forecast. It turned out to be a fantastic weekend!
The past few years have involved me developing my 18th Century impression of that of a petty sutler, following the British Army. I had planned to bring that impression back out, but the items never made it to display. I ended up helping in the "kitchen" and assist with some laundry. All in all it was a great weekend full of laughs, a new gown, and some hail! Enjoy some photos, as well as some recipes from Sunday's Dinner!

Home Sweet Home! Includes 4 down comforters, 5 wool blankets, and 2 groundcloths. 

End of the day laughs

Laundresses 

Sunday Dinner- French Salad, Peas Francois, Sweet potatoes and apples

French Sallad (Chicken Salad)

Chop three anchovies, a shalot, and some parsley small ; put them in a bowl with two tablespoonfuls of vinegar, one of oil, a little mustard,and salt. When well mixed, add by degrees some cold roast or boiled meat in the very thinest slices; put in a few at a time, they being small, not exceeding two or three inches long ; shake thcm in the seasoning, and then put more : cover the bowl close; and let the sallad be prepared three hours before it be eaten. Garnish with parsley, and a few slices of the Fat. - “A New System of Domestic Cookery”, Maria Rundell, 1808

Peas Francoise

Take a quart of shelled peas, cut a large Spanish onion or two middling ones small, and two cabbage lettuces cut small put them into a sauce pan with half a pint of water; season them well with a little salt, a little beaten pepper and a little mace and nutmeg. Cover them close and let them stew a quarter of an hour then put in a quarter of a pound of fresh butter rolled in a little flour, a spoonful of catsup a little piece of burnt butter as big as a walnut; cover them close and let them simmer softly for an hour often shaking the pan when it is enough serve it for a side dish. -Hannah Glasse 1797

To Make Rich Cake

I have been on a cake kick lately. Mostly because I love to bake. I was planning on making this cake for Twelfth Night, but the ingredients proved harder to find than I had thought.  The original recipe comes from "The Art of Cookery Made Plain & Easy", 1774.  While this is an 18th Century Recipe  I can only imagine that these types of cakes were cooked well into the 19th Century. I must admit that I did cheat a bit with this cake, since Williamsburg's History is Served has already transcribed this recipe for the modern cook. You can find their recipe here.  

First, gather all of your ingredients  To me, it seemed like a lot of things for one cake, mostly because of all of the candies fruits that need to go in.  The "new" recipe calls for almond flour, which I could not find locally, and I have not justified ordering any yet. So, I decided to go with the original recipe, and blanch & sack almonds until fine.  While I had never done this before the process was easy, just a little time consuming.  After the skins were removed, I placed the whole almonds in a towel and started to whack them with a meat cleaver. I will warn you, when you start to "sack" the almonds, make sure no one in the house is trying to nap. This is loud, but kinda fun. You do really have to whack them for a while to get them to a flour-like consistency  (You could use a food processor to make this faster, but I was trying to keep things "real".)

Now that all of the ingredients are ready. Start creaming your butter & sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, I used 8 in all. When the eggs are fully  mixed in, sift the flour in a separate bowl. I used about 4 cups of cake flour (Swans Down is a family favorite) 2 cups of granulated sugar, almond flour, and spice go in at this time as well. Mix all of the dry ingredients together, then add gradually to the butter mixture. The batter forms a nice consistency. After the cake batter is well blended, its time for the special ingredients, the sweet-meats! Candied lemon peel, orange peel & citron, as well as currants all go in then the Brandy & Sherry. The alcohol is more for preservation, but also adds a nice rich flavor to the batter.

After everything is added, put in a bunt pan and bake at 350. I actually baked the cake in 2 small pans. Remove from the oven and cool before taking it out of the pan. Then allow to cool completely before slicing. The cake is very good! Essentially it is a pound cake with fruits in it. Yes, it took me a minute to realize that.  I did freeze one of the cakes for a later event.  Overall, a good recipe, not too sweet, but full of flavor!