Boil 3 cups of water. Stir in 1 cup coarse cornmeal grits. Simmer until water is absorbed, stirring occasionally. Cool. When mixture is cool enough to handle, turn onto work surface floured with 1/2 cup fine cornmeal flour.
Work into 2 round flat cakes. Bake on cornmeal floured cookie sheet at 400°F for about 45 minutes.
Recipe from: Sarah Morton's Day by Kate Waters.
To Make Drawn Butter
Put half a pint of milk in a perfectly clean stewpan, and set it over a moderate fire; put into a pint bowl a heaping tablespoon of wheat flour, quarter of a pound of sweet butter, and a saltspoonful of salt; work these well together with the back of a spoon,
then pour into it, stirring it all the time, half a pint of boiling water; when it is smooth, stir it into the boiling milk, let it simmer for five minutes or more, and it is done.
Drawn butter made of this receipt will be found to be most excellent; it may be made less rich by using less butter.
Parsley Sauce
Make a drawn butter as directed, dip a bunch of parsley into boiling water, then cut it fine, and stir into the drawn butter a few minutes before taking it up.
Egg Sauce
Make a drawn butter; chop two hard-boiled eggs quite fine, the white and yolk seperately, and stir into the sauce before serving.
This is used for boiled fish or vegetables.
Anchovy Sauce
Make the butter sauce, and stir into it four tablespoonfuls of essence of anchovy and one of lemon-juice.
Recipes From: The Everyday Cookbook (1860)
The Best Oatmeal
From an old oat miller.
Makes the best bowl of oatmeal you can get. Nice texture, flavor and the oats aren't gummy.
One part "Old Fashion" oatmeal (I use a coffee cup)
One part water
Dash of salt
Bring your water and salt to a rolling boil. Add oatmeal and remove from the fire. Put a lid on it and let sit for 5 minutes.
Serve with brown or white sugar, butter and milk or however you like em.
Recipe contributed by Ernie Marsh from his old website The Common Man's Prospective.
To Make Lard
Take the leaf fat from the inside of a bacon hog, cut it small, and put it in an iron kettle, which must be perfectly free from any musty taste; set it over a steady, moderate fire, until nothing but scraps remain of the meat;
the heat must be kept up, but gentle, that it may not burn the lard; spread a coarse cloth in a wire sieve, and strain the liquid into tin basins which will hold two or three quarts; squeeze out all the fat from the scraps. When the lard
in the pans is cold, press a piece of new muslin close upon it, trim it off at the edge of the pan, and keep it in a cold place. Or it may be kept in wooden kegs with close covers. Lard made with one-third as much beef suet as fat
is supposed by many persons to keep better.
Recipe From: The Everyday Cookbook (1860)
Curing Hams and Bacon (Country Style)
Don't seem like no time a 'tall 'till all of a sudden - thar 'tis - butcherin' time. Why don't you try country style when you get ready to cure them hams an' thet there side meat?
For each hundred pounds of ham, make a pickle of ten pounds of salt, two pounds brown sugar, two ounces of salt-petre, one ounce red pepper and about four gallons of water (or just enough to cover the hams).
First rub the hams with salt and lay them into a tub. Then take the above ingredients, put them into a vessel over the fire and heat it hot, stirring it often; remove all of the scum and allow to boil for 10 minutes. Let cool
and then pour over the meat. After laying in this brine five or six weeks, take out, drain and wipe. Then smoke with hickory from two to three weeks. Pieces of side meat or bacon may remain in the pickle for two weeks, which shoud be sufficient.
Ireland's Gift to Appetites
If it's a short term trip, you can get the ingredients ready before you start, and pack them in a large pot and two saucepans. You'll want to scrape six
medium sized carrots, peel four potatoes, dice two green peppers into inch cubes, cut up half a cup of leeks and halff a cup of celery crosswise, lay in
a dozen small white onions and a cup of canned tomato pulp. Also you pack along a mixture of a teaspoon of mixed mustard, and a tablespoon each of
Worchestershire sauce, A-1 sauce and toamto ketchup. Three pounds chuck of lamb, a pound of breast of lamb and a pound chuck of beef, all cut into two-inch
cubes and with as much fat as possible trimmed off the lamb.
Simmer you beef for an hour. Then start the lamb in a seperate pan and simmer for another half hour, skimming the fat off the lamb water all the time. Then
lamb and beef go into the big pot, along with the liquid, plus the potaoes and carrots quartered, the green peppers, the onions, the leeks and celery. Let
them all coop up harmoniously for half an hour. Ten minutes before that, put the tomato pulp and the seasoning, and take the pot off the fire-but keep it
right next door, so it'll stay plenty hot. Garnish the end product woth a sprinkling of peas and a tablespoon of chopped parsley.
Serves 6.
Recipe by Geoerge Rector.
The food essentials which should be supplied in the normal
diet regularly are as follows:
Materials for building and repairing tissues:
These include proteins, certain minerals and water.
Proteins are essential to every living cell and should be
provided daily in amounts sufficient to build new tissue and
repair old, but not too lavishly, for the body has no storage
space for a great excess and it is not wise to over burden the
intestines and kidneys with waste materials.
Next come the minerals, which are important builders of body
tissue. The minerals in which so many diets are inadequate, yet
which are so indispensable that they have to be considered in the
daily diet, are calcium, phosphorus, and iron. Calcium and
phosphorus are used in building bones, teeth, and certain other
tissues; iron is an essential part of the blood. Very small
amounts of other minerals are essential to certain body tissues,
but are usually present in sufficient amounts in the foods which
supply calcium, phosphorus, and iron.
Water is a part of every tissue, but ordinarily enough is
provided in foods and beverages so that it does not have to be
considered in planning the diet for the average person.
From: The Lookout Cookbook, Supplement no.1, 1939. U.S. Forest Service, Region One
Regulatory Materials:
These include the same minerals - calcium, phosphorus, iron
and iodine - which are used in tissue building, the mysterious
group of food essentials known as the vitamins, water, and
roughage or bulk. At present there are at least six known
vitamins, each of which acts in a different way to promote growth
and general health. Vitamin A increases the resistance of the
body to infection through maintaining the mucous membranes in
healthy condition. Vitamin B stimulates the appetite and is
essential to the health of the entire digestive system. Vitamin
C helps protect the teeth and gums and to keep the joints and
muscles in good condition. Vitamin D assists in the proper use
of calcium and phosphorus and is thus necessary for the formation
of bones and teeth. Vitamin E is concerned with processes of
reproduction and the prevention of sterility. Vitamin G is
needed to keep the body in good nutritional condition.
Roughage or bulk is the term used to cover the materials in
certain foods which pass through the body without being digested
and absorbed, and serve the useful purpose of furnishing bulk to
insure healthy movement along the intestinal tract.
The body fuels or materials supplying energy:
The body is often likened to an engine that requires fuel.
The chief body fuels are the sugars and starches (called
carbohydrates) and fats. Carbohydrates burn more quickly in the
body, but the same amount of fat furnishes twice as much energy.
Proteins also furnish energy, but are a more expensive fuel and
more difficult for the body to use and should not be depended on
for the chief source of energy. The energy value of foods and
the energy requirements of the body are measured in terms of
calories.
An adequate diet is one which furnishes the right kinds of
foods in sufficient amount to meet the body's needs at all ages
and under all conditions. An optimal diet is one which furnishes
each essential in the most favorable amounts for best possible
health and physical development. Ill effects of an inadequate
diet are not always evident immediately or strikingly, nor are
the benefits of an optimal diet at once apparent.
Using the whole day as a unit, and giving the matter a
little reasonable thought and interest, it is entirely practical
to prepare well balanced meals from Forest Service rations.
From: The Lookout Cookbook, Supplement no.1, 1939. U.S. Forest Service, Region One
How to Avoid Constipation
Drink water freely. (Two glasses hot water on rising in the
morning.)
Cultivate good posture and deep breathing.
Get plenty of sleep and rest.
Avoid worry, anger, or strong emotion of any kind.
Eat an abundance of foods rich in cellulose and mineral
matter; cabbage, green vegetables, baked potatoes (eaten with
skins), rolled oats, sauerkraut, etc.
Eat wisely and keep well! Practice moderation!
From: The Lookout Cookbook, Supplement no.1, 1939. U.S. Forest Service, Region One
A Measuring Stick for Your Meals Grown-up's daily means should contain:
1. One pint of milk, either as a beverage or as a part of soup,
sauce, main dishes, hot cakes, on cereals, desserts, etc.
2. At least two generous servings of green vegetables, such as
carrots, lettuce, onions, sauerkraut, spinach, string beans,
and tomatoes. Whenever raw vegetables are available, they
should be eaten in abundance.
3. One potato a day for its iron content and alkalinity.
4. One serving of fruit.
5. Meat, fish, or a substitute, such as a cheese or egg dish.
6. An egg three or four times a week.
7. For energy, breads, starchy vegetables, cereals, desserts,
butter, etc., to complete the menus.
8. Plenty of water.
If you are overweight - cut down on the foods listed under
number 7.
If you are underweight, increase these foods gradually, and
use a quart of milk a day, if possible.
From: The Lookout Cookbook, Supplement no.1, 1939. U.S. Forest Service, Region One
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