Thirty-Two Foods with Recipies, That Abraham Lincoln Knew.

BUTTER

Warm the cream to a temperature of 56° ─ 58° F, and it will churn in fifteen minutes. After the butter collects in the churn, take it out and stand it for a minute in a very cold place. Do not wash it, as in this way, you rob it of certain elements necessary for its preservation. Work it continuously and thoroughly until all the buttermilk is out, adding 2 even teaspoonfuls of very fine salt to each pound of butter after you have worked it for about five minutes. Make it at once into prints, and stand away in a cool place.

CANNED FRUITS

BRANDIED PEACHES

Take the large white or yellow freestone peaches. (They must not be too ripe.) Scald them with boiling water; cover, and let stand until the water becomes cold. Repeat this scalding, then take them out, lay them on a soft cloth, and let them remain until perfectly dry. Now, put them in stone jars and cover them with brandy. Tie paper over the tops of the jars and let them remain in this way for one week. Then make a syrup, allowing one pound of granulated sugar and a half pint of water to each pound of peaches. Boil and skim the syrup, then put in the peaches and simmer until tender. Then, take the peaches out, drain them, and put them in glass jars. Stand the syrup aside to cool. When cold, mix equal quantities of this syrup and the brandy in which you had the peaches. Pour this over the peaches and seal. 

CORN MUFFINS

1 quart of milk

3 eggs, well beaten

1 teaspoonful of salt

1 tablespoonful of melted lard

1 pint of cornmeal

1 teaspoonful of baking powder

Pour the boiling water over the meal and stir so that all may be wet and scalded. Add the melted butter, salt and milk, then the beaten eggs. Put the iron gem pans into the oven to heat, putting into each butter, and beat the batter up thoroughly; then pour into the hot mold. Bake carefully for about twenty or twenty-five minutes. This matter, when ready, will be very thin.

Iron Gem Pan

COTTAGE CHEESE

Set a gallon or more of clabbered milk on the stove hearth or in the oven after cooking the meal, leaving the door open; turn it around frequently, and cut the curd in squares with a knife, stirring gently now and then till about as warm as the finger will bear, and the whey shows all around the curd; pour all into a coarse bag, and hang to drain in a cool place for three or four hours, or overnight if made in the evening. When wanted, turn from the bag, chop rather coarse with a knife, and dress with salt, pepper and sweet cream. Some mash and rub thoroughly with the cream; others dress with sugar, cream and a little nutmeg, omitting the salt and pepper. Another way is to chop fine, add salt to taste, work in a very little cream or butter, and mold into round balls.

CURRANT JELLY

Wash and strip the currants from the stems and put them in a preserving kettle; mash them as they get hot and let them boil for half an hour; then turn them into a coarse hair sieve or jelly-bag and let them drip. When through dripping, without squeezing any, measure and pour into the kettle to cook. After it has boiled for about ten minutes, put in the heated sugar, allowing a pound of sugar to a pint of jelly, and the jelly will set as soon as the sugar is dissolved — about three-quarters of an hour. 

GOOSEBERRY COBBLER

Take one quart of flour, four tablespoons melted lard, half a teaspoon salt, and two teaspoons baking powder; mix as for biscuit, with either sweet milk or water, roll thin, and line a pudding dish or dripping pan, nine by eighteen inches; mix three tablespoons flour and two of sugar together, and sprinkle over the crust; then pour in three pints gooseberries, and sprinkle over them one coffee-cup sugar; wet the edges with a little flour and water mixed, put on upper crust, press the edges together, make two openings by cutting two incisions at right angles an inch in length, and bake in a quick oven half an hour.

GRAHAM BREAD

Take a little over a quart of warm water, one-half cup brown sugar or molasses, one-fourth cup hop yeast, and one and one-half teaspoons salt; thicken the water with graham flour to a thin batter; add sugar, salt and yeast, and stir in more flour until quite stiff. In the morning, add a small teaspoon of soda and flour, enough to make the batter stiff as can be stirred with a spoon; put into pans and let rise again; then bake in an even oven, not too hot at first; keep warm while rising; smooth over the loaves with a spoon or knife dipped in water.

GRAPE BUTTER

Take sweet apples and grapes, half and half. Cook the apples until tender, and rub through a colander. Prepare the grapes as above, using 1 pound of sugar to 2 pounds of mixed fruit. The skins may be boiled in a bag and taken out later, or they may be stirred into the butter. The above is the better way. Leave plain or spiced to suit your taste. 

HASTY PUDDING or MUSH

2 quarts of cornmeal

2 tablespoonfuls of salt

4 quarts of boiling water

Take freshly ground and newly sifted corn meal. Wet it with a quart of cold water. Add the salt to the hot water and stir in the meal gradually, keeping the mass hot and well stirred. Made in this manner, the mush will be smooth and will cook evenly. Boil not less than two hours. May be eaten hot with milk, butter, syrup, cream, and sugar. Hasty pudding is so-called from the custom of making it just as wanted and bringing it to the table with about 15 minutes of cooking. In this way, the meal was not thoroughly cooked, and therefore, was said to disagree with many people. A cast iron pot with feet lessens the tendency to burn and is, therefore, the best vessel to use. It is best to double the quantity needed and put away half to become cold for frying. Oiling the mush on the top prevents the formation of a crust by drying.

HOMINY

Fill a large pot half full of wood ashes. Then nearly fill with water, and boil for ten minutes. After draining off the lye, throw out the ashes and put the lye back into the kettle. Pour in four quarts of shelled corn and boil till the hull rubs off. Then, put it all in a tub and pour on a pail of cold water. Take an old broom and scrub the corn. As the water thickens, pour off and clean with cold water. Put through four glasses of water, and then take out in a pan and rub between the hands. Pick out the hulls and put them on to cook in cold water. When half boiled, pour off and renew with cold water. Do not salt till it is tender, and do not let it burn. Put in jars and eat with milk.

LADY FINGERS

Four tablespoons sugar mixed with yolks of four eggs, 4 tablespoons flour, and 1 teaspoon lemon extract. Beat whites to a stiff froth and stir in. Squeeze through a funnel of writing paper onto a greased paper in a dripping pan, and bake in small cakes in a moderate oven. These are good for Charlotte Russe.

MANGOES

Let the mangoes lie in salt water strong enough to bear an egg, for two weeks; then soak them in pure water for two days, changing the water two or three times; then remove the seeds and put the mangoes in a kettle, first a layer of grape leaves, then mangoes, and so on until they are all in, covering the top with leaves; add a lump of alum the size of a hickory nut; pour vinegar over them, and boil ten or fifteen minutes; remove the leaves and let the pickles stand in this vinegar for a week; then stuff them with the following mixture; One pound of ginger soaked in brine for a day or two, and cut in slices, 1 ounce of black pepper, 1 of mace, 1 of allspice, 1 of termeric, half a pound of garlic, soaked for a day or two in brine, and then dried; 1 pint grated horseradish, 1 of black mustard seed and 1 of white mustard seed; bruise all the spices and mix with a teacup of pure olive oil; to each mangoe add 1 teaspoonful of brown sugar; cut 1 solid head of cabbage fine; add 1 pint of small onions, a few small cucumbers and green tomatoes; lay them in brine a day and a night, then drain and add the imperfect mangoes chopped fine and the spices; mix thoroughly, stuff the mangoes and tie them; put them in a stone jar and pour over them the best cider vinegar; set in bright, dry place till canned . In a month, add 3 pounds of brown sugar or to taste. This is for four dozen mangoes.

MARMALADE or QUINCE HONEY

Pare, core and quarter your fruit, then weigh it and allow an equal amount of white sugar. Take the parings and cores and put them in a preserving kettle; cover them with water and boil for half an hour, then strain through a hair sieve, and put the juice back into the kettle and boil the quinces in it a little at a time until they are done; lift out with a drainer, and lay on a dish; if the liquid seems scarce add more water. When all are cooked, throw into this liqueur sugar, and allow it to boil ten minutes before putting in the quinces; let them boil until they change color, say one hour and a quarter, on a slow fire; while they are boiling, occasionally slip a silver spoon under them to see that they do not burn, but on no account stir them. Have 2 fresh lemons cut into thin slices, and when the fruit is being put in jars, lay a slice or two in each. Quinces may be steamed until tender.

MINCEMEAT

Four pounds of lean boiled beef, chopped fine, twice as much of chopped green tart apples, 1 pound of chopped suet, 3 pounds of raisins, seeded, 2 pounds of currants picked over, washed and dried, half a pound of citron, cut up fine, 1 pound of brown sugar, 1 quart of cooking molasses, 2 quarts of sweet cider, 1 pint of boiled cider, 1 tablespoonful of salt, 1 tablespoonful of pepper, 1 tablespoonful of mace, 1 tablespoonful of allspice, and 4 tablespoonfuls of cinnamon, 2 grated nutmegs, 1 tablespoonful of cloves; mix thoroughly and warm it on the range, until heated through. Remove from the fire, and when nearly cool, stir in a pint of good brandy and 1 pint of Madeira wine. Put it into a crock, cover it tightly, and set it in a cool place where it will not freeze but keep perfectly cold; will keep good all winter. 

Mincemeat

OLD-FASHIONED CREAM PIE

Pour a pint of cream upon one and a half cupfuls of sugar; let it stand until the whites of 3 eggs have been beaten to a stiff froth; add this to the cream and beat up thoroughly; grate a little nutmeg over the mixture and bake without an upper crust. If a tablespoon of sifted flour is added to it, as in the other custard pie recipes, it would improve it. 

PICCALILLI

2 dozen large cucumbers, chopped

2 quarts small onions, whole

1 peck of green tomatoes, chopped

1 dozen green peppers, chopped

1 head cabbage, chopped

Sprinkle one pint of salt over this, and let it stand overnight, then squeeze out very dry. Put in a kettle.

1 gallon of vinegar

1 pint of brown sugar

1/4 pound box of Coleman's mustard

1/2 ounce of turmeric powder

1/2 ounce of cinnamon

1 tablespoon each of allspice, mace, celery seed, and a little horseradish.

Cook the mess slowly for two hours, then add two hundred pickles, just as it is to come off the stove. Add the mustard last, as this thickens it and is apt to burn.

PICKLED PEARS

Select small, sound ones, remove the blossom end, stick them with a fork, and allow each quart of pears 1 pint of cider vinegar and 1 cup of sugar. Put in a teaspoonful of allspice, cinnamon and cloves to boil with the vinegar; then add the pears and boil, and seal in jars. 

SAUERKRAUT

Remove the outer leaves of cabbage and cores, and cut fine on a slaw-cutter. Put it down in a keg or large jar. Put a very little sprinkle of salt between each layer, and pound each layer with a wooden masher or mallet. When your vessel is full, place some large cabbage leaves on top, and a double cloth wrung out of cold water. Then a cover, with a very heavy weight on it — a large stone is best. Let it set for six weeks before using, being careful to remove the scum that rises every day by washing out the cloth, the cover, and the weight, in cold water. After six weeks, pour off the liquid and fill it with clear, cold water. This makes it very nice and white.

SCRAPPLE

Take a hog's jowl, a part of the liver and heart, and the feet. Cleanse thoroughly, put on to boil in cold water, and cook until all the bones can easily be removed. Then take it out in a chopping bowl and chop fine. Season with sage, salt and pepper. Return it to the liquor on the stove, which you must strain. Then, thicken with corn meal and a teaspoonful of buckwheat flour to the consistency of mush. Then dip out in deep dishes, and when cool, slice and fry a rich brown, as you would mush. It is very nice for a cold morning breakfast. If you make more than you can use at once, run hot lard over the rest, and you can keep it all through the winter. 

SPICED CRAB APPLES

Peel and half 9 pounds of crab apples. Add 4 pounds of sugar, 1 pint of vinegar, 1 teaspoonful of cloves (whole cloves), and 3 or 4 sticks of cinnamon and mace. Let it boil for one-half hour or less if it grows too soft.

STRAWBERRY PRESERVES

Put 2 pounds of sugar in a bright tin pan over a kettle of boiling water, and pour into it half a pint of boiling water; when the sugar is dissolved and hot, put in fruit, and then place the pan directly on the stove or range; let boil ten minutes or longer if the fruit is not clear, gently (or the berries will be broken) take up with a small strainer, and keep hot while the syrup is boiled down until thick and rich; drain off the thin syrup from the cans, and pour the rich syrup over the berries to fill, and screw down the tops immediately. The thin syrup poured off may be brought to boiling and, then bottled and sealed, be used for sauces and drinks or made into jelly. 

SWEET PICKLED BEETS

Boil them in a porcelain kettle till they can be pierced with a silver fork; when cool, cut lengthwise to the size of a medium cucumber; boil equal parts of vinegar and sugar with half a tablespoon of ground cloves tied in a cloth to each gallon; pour boiling hot water over the beets.

SUN-DRIED FRUITS

To dry fruits nicely, spread in shallow boxes and cover them with mosquito netting to prevent flies from reaching them. Dried peaches are better when halved and the cavities sprinkled with sugar. The fruit must be good, however, as poor fruit cannot be redeemed by any process. The secret of keeping dried fruit is to exclude the light and to keep it in a dry and cool place. 

YEAST

Wash and peel six potatoes the size of a large egg, cut in quarters and put on the stove to boil in a quart of water; as it boils away, fill up the tea kettle to the quantity. When your potatoes are nearly done, put a handful of hops to steep in a pint of hot water; take out the potatoes when well done, put them into a crock and mash fine; on these, put a pint of flour and scald this with the hot potato water, and hop water. Beat until perfectly smooth and free from lumps; into this, put a cupful of granulated or other good white sugar and not quite a half cupful of salt. It should be quite thin; if not thin enough at this stage, add a little cold water. When cool enough, stir into this a pint of good yeast or two good-sized yeast cakes dissolved in warm water; let it stand twenty-four hours, stirring very frequently; then put it away in a stone jug, and cork tight and keep in a cool place, but not where it will freeze. This recipe makes a pint over a gallon.

VINEGAR

Fourteen pounds of coarse brown sugar, 10 gallons of water, and 1 cupful of brewer's yeast. Boil the sugar with three parts of the water, and skim. Remove from the fire, and pour in the cold water. Strain into a ten-gallon keg. Put in some small pieces of toast with the yeast. Stir every day for a week. Then tack gauze over the orifice. Set where the sun will shine on it, and let remain six months, by which time, if made in the spring, it will be vinegar.

Always save all the currants, skimmings, pieces, etc., left after making jelly, place in a stone jar, cover with soft water previously boiled to purify it, and let stand several days; in the meantime, take your apple peelings without the cores, and put on in porcelain kettle, cover with water, boil twenty minutes, drain into a large stone jar; drain currants also into this jar, add all the rinsings from your molasses jugs, all dribs of syrups, etc., and when the jar is full, drain off all this when clear into vinegar keg (where, of course, you have some good cider vinegar to start with). If not sweet enough, add brown sugar to molasses, cover the bung hold with a piece of coarse netting, and set it in the sun or by the kitchen stove. Give it plenty of air. The cask or barrel should be of oak. Never use alum or cream of tartar, as some advice, and never let your vinegar freeze. Paint your barrel or cask if you would have it durable.

DESSERTS

BUTTER-SCOTCH CANDY

Two cups of sugar, 2 cups of dark molasses, 1 cupful of cold butter, and a grated rind of half a lemon. Boil over a slow fire until it hardens when dropped in cold water. Pour thinly into tins well-buttered, and mark them into little-inch squares before they cool.

CREAM DATES

Remove the stones from the large dates, and make the cream as directed in the cream recipe. Roll a tiny bit into a long roll, put it in the date where you remove the stone, and press the two halves together so that the white cream will show between. Roll the whole in granulated sugar, and stand away to harden. 

HOREHOUND CANDY

Boil 2 ounces of dried horehound in a pint and a half of water for about half an hour; strain and add three and a half pounds of brown sugar. Boil over a hot fire until it is sufficiently hard, pour out in flat, well-greased tin trays, and mark into sticks or small squares with a knife as soon as it is cool enough to retain its shape.

MAPLE SUGAR CANDY

Boil one cupful of maple sugar together with one-half cup of water and a small bit of butter. Boil this for about ten minutes. When done, add one teaspoonful of vanilla and pour into buttered tins. It must not be stirred.

FRUIT COOKIES

One cupful and a half of sugar, 1 cupful of butter, one-half cup of sweet milk, 1 egg, 2 teaspoonfuls of baking powder, a teaspoonful of grated nutmeg, 3 tablespoonfuls of English currants or chopped raisins. Mix soft and roll out, using just enough flour to stiffen sufficiently. Cut out with a large cutter, wet the tops with milk, and sprinkle sugar over them. Bake on buttered tins in a quick oven. Fruit can be left out if preferred.

SOFT CREAM COOKIES

Three-fourths cup sour cream, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 egg, one-fourth teaspoon soda, and a pinch of salt. Mix very stiff with flour.

STICK CANDY

One pound of granulated sugar, 1 cupful of water, a quarter of a cupful of vinegar or half a teaspoonful of cream of tartar, and 1 small tablespoonful of glycerine. Flavor with vanilla, rose or lemon. Boil all except the flavoring, without stirring, for twenty minutes, half an hour, or until crisp when dropped in water. Just before pouring upon greased platters to cool, add half a teaspoonful of soda. After pouring upon platters to cool, pour two teaspoons of flavoring over the top. When partly cool, pull it until very white. Draw it into sticks the size you wish, and cut it off with shears into sticks or kiss-shaped drops. It may be colored if desired.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.