Month: August 2016

My Second Try at Making Bread Sponge

/ sandramervillehart

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An 1877 cookbook compiled from original recipes teaches that the first step in making delicious bread is the sponge. My earlier article, “Sponge is the First Step in Making Good Bread,” gave the recipe and suggested that sponge worked nicely for breakfast-cakes and muffins.

While completely guessing at quantity sizes, I made something that probably resembled sponge as outlined in my article, “My First Try at Making Bread Sponge.”

I made the dough “rather thick” as suggested by original writer of the recipe. “Rather thick” is an example of the type of descriptions found in early recipes that made perfect sense to cooks of the period but isn’t descriptive enough for current bakers.

So my thick dough ended up being too stiff. This became clear when I tried to mix it into a pumpkin bread batter.

IMG_1713Starting over, I made the sponge again. I used 4 cups of flour and 2 ¼ cups of scalded milk that cooled to lukewarm.

This time a tablespoon of yeast was dissolved in ¼ cup hot water before adding it to the dough. These small changes made a world of difference in the elasticity of the sponge – both before and after rising. The appearance and feel vastly improved over the first batch.

The dough rose for two hours.

To maintain control over experimenting with the sponge, I again made the same pumpkin bread recipe. I added two cups of sponge. The first batch had to be combined using my hands; a wooden spoon and pastry blender easily blended the second batch.

Much encouraged by the differences, I baked the bread at 350 degrees for sixty minutes. When it was not done, I increased the temperature to 375 and baked another 25 minutes. Perhaps the oven should have been at 375 for an hour, so this is a difference encountered.

It didn’t rise at all during baking because I forgot to add baking powder and salt. Along with a flat top, the texture was twice as moist as bread made with dry flour. It tasted delicious. I also noticed one slice satisfied my hunger.

Making bread this way took about three hours longer than my normal recipe. The moist pumpkin dessert required an extra 25 minutes in the oven. The sponge affects the texture of the finished product.

The second attempt at making old-fashioned sponge and using it in a pumpkin bread recipe was far more successful than the first.

I’d love to hear from you, especially if you try this sponge in one of your recipes. Good luck!

-Sandra Merville Hart

 

Sources

Compiled from Original Recipes. Buckeye Cookery and Practical Housekeeping, Applewood Books, 2011.

Household Hints from the Early 1900s – Part 1

/ sandramervillehart

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If you mix three pounds of margarine with one pound of butter, your family may think all four pounds are butter.

Have unused clothespins? Paint them. Apply the name or initials of each family member with nail polish. Use these to hang towels in the bathrooms. (Sounds like an early Pinterest idea!)

Put a brown paper bag over your hand to wipe a lantern chimney clean.

Scratch soap under your fingernails before gardening to keep the dirt away. (This might be worth a try.)

This one may be fun for children. Draw a name or design on handkerchiefs or scarves with wax crayons. Press a hot iron over the back of the cloth to permanently seal a decoration that doesn’t fade or wash away. (Sounds like a fun way to personalize t-shirts.)

Pour ammonia into water. Place a small amount of soap on a soap brush and dip it into the ammonia water to clean jewelry. Rinse with cold water. Wipe it dry with a handkerchief or cloth before rubbing the jewelry with a chamois skin. (Chamois is a non-abrasive leather.)

This next suggestion is for those with trouble sleeping. Before bedtime, sprinkle a “good-sized” raw onion with salt. You are supposed to eat it. Buttered bread may help to get it down. If it is still difficult to eat, you may also squeeze a little lemon juice onto the onion.

Add warm seedless raisins to hot honey for a tasty sandwich spread.

After opening a bottle of olives, preserve them in vinegar, olive oil, and salt.

Keep lemon peels for future use. When needed, place them in warm oven for a few minutes to soften.

I’d love to hear your comments if you try any of these hints.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Source

Rodack, Jaine. Forgotten Recipes, Wimmer Books, 1981.

 

 

Hand Me Down Husband by Rosanna Huffman

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I thoroughly enjoyed this story!

Suzanne, a single lady in her thirties, has given up on her dream of a husband and children. When she befriends Mitch, a grieving widower with grandchildren, she does not expect love to blossom. But can Suzanne recover from past hurts dealt by Mitch’s family?

Huffman’s believable characters and refreshing writing style make this novel a joy to read!

-Review by Sandra Merville Hart

 

Amazon

My First Try at Making Bread Sponge

/ sandramervillehart

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An 1877 cookbook compiled from original recipes teaches that the first step in making delicious bread is the sponge. My earlier article, “Sponge is the First Step in Making Good Bread,” gave the recipe and suggested that sponge worked nicely for breakfast-cakes and muffins.

The jury is still out on that claim, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Since measurements weren’t supplied, I began by scalding four cups of milk. After that, it took about an hour before it cooled to lukewarm temperature.

Then I measured four cups of all-purpose flour into a mixing bowl and added a little milk at a time to figure out how much was required. The author stated that the sponge should be “rather thick” when using for breakfast cakes.

IMG_1700Since I had decided to make pumpkin bread, I made stiff, thick dough with 1 ¾ cups of milk.

The recipe called for a “small teacup of yeast” for three pints of “wetting.” Three pints is six cups; that seemed like a lot of dough for my experiment. I compromised with 1 tablespoon of yeast, which I mixed directly into the dough.

The stiff dough was covered tightly with a plate. I followed the original cook’s suggestion to place a blanket over the covered bowl.

An hour later the dough had barely risen. There were no guides given on how long to allow the dough to rise so I recovered it and waited another half hour before starting the pumpkin bread.

My plan for replacing flour, baking powder, and baking soda with the sponge didn’t work as well as I hoped.

It started out well.

Once the sugar and butter were creamed, the eggs, pumpkin, and cinnamon added, I measured two cups of the sponge – the amount of flour required by the recipe.

That may have been too much sponge.

The dough had risen almost twice the original size and smelled like pizza. It also didn’t mix well with the pumpkin mixture. I finally resorted to using my fingers to combine the ingredients.

The texture was completely different from my original bread recipe when combined. It baked fifty minutes. When cooled, my husband and I ate a slice.

The pumpkin bread tasted good but had a strange consistency so I did something wrong.

Then I remembered a friendship cake that made the rounds a few years ago. Friends passed around “starter” dough for a friendship cake. Each person used part of the dough for a cake, added to the original dough, and passed it on to the next person.

That “starter” dough was wetter and thinner than mine. Maybe the sponge should be somewhere in between the two.

We’ll see what happens with the next batch when using more milk and yeast in the sponge.

Stay tuned!

-Sandra Merville Hart

 

Sources

Compiled from Original Recipes. Buckeye Cookery and Practical Housekeeping, Applewood Books, 2011.

Cass Scenic Railroad State Park – A Fun Way to Spend a Day!

/ sandramervillehart

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My husband and I traveled to the beautiful state of West Virginia earlier this summer. I had heard about train rides in Cass that took visitors back to logging days from family members who returned on multiple vacations. Hoping to experience an earlier era, we drove along state routes to the small town of Cass.

What a fun day!

We chose to take a 4 ½ hour train to Bald Knob and made reservations a few days ahead. It was a great decision.

IMG_1790Cass, a logging town founded in 1900, was built by the West Virginia Pulp & Paper Company. Workers of the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Mill in Cass lived there.

During the peak of the milling operation in 1908 to 1922, 2,500 – 3,000 people worked for the company. Twelve logging camps in the mountains received as many as ten carloads of food and supplies weekly.

The business was sold in 1943 and operated until July 1, 1960. Employees discovered the closing on June 30th; they feared the town would die.

IMG_1816Russel Baum, a railroad fan living in Pennsylvania, believed that the Shay engines running over old logging tracks would draw tourists and convinced local businessmen. Cass Scenic Railroad State Park is the result of their vision and planning.

IMG_1830Stop for a sandwich or enjoy one of the daily specials at Last Run Restaurant. Visit friendly folks at the Company Store for a variety of local goods and souvenirs. Enjoy an ice cream at the ice cream counter. Talk to Bud Cassell, a 50-year employee of the Cass Scenic Railroad, at the museum.

Most of all, ride the logging train, pulled by century-old Shay engines, to old logging camps.

Go back in time for a day.

-Sandra Merville Hart

 

Sources

“The Town of Cass,” Cass Scenic Railroad State Park, 2016/08/01 http://www.cassrailroad.com/history.html.

 

 

 

Crossing into the Mystic by DL Koontz

/ sandramervillehart

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This Historical Fiction Fantasy novel is not my normal genre. The author mentions up front that this is a work of pure fiction and is listed as a Paranormal Romance.

The speculative nature of the action captured my attention until the end. The novel is filled with unexpected turns. I couldn’t put it down.

Thought-provoking. Gripping. I was given a copy of this book with a request for an honest review.

-Review by Sandra Merville Hart

Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas  Use coupon code SandraMHart for a 20% discount on Lighthouse Publishing books!

Sponge is the First Step in Making Good Bread

/ sandramervillehart / 2 Comments

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Making homemade bread from scratch is a lost art for most of us. I make a variety of fruit breads like banana, pumpkin, cranberry orange, but rely on my bread machine for homemade white bread and rolls.

I’ve always wanted to learn how to make bread from scratch like colonial women did. Writing historical novels increases my desire to place myself in my heroine’s shoes and cook with the same challenges and knowledge she does.

A cookbook from 1877 teaches that the first step in making delicious bread is the sponge.

Sponge was made with flour, yeast, and warm milk or water. Some bakers added mashed potatoes. The cookbook author cautioned these early cooks to consider both the weather and the time of time when preparing the sponge.

In the summer, the sponge shouldn’t be set before eight or nine at night. Thick batter was made with lukewarm liquids. Scalding the milk and allowing it to cool first prevented it from souring.

In the winter, liquids were added at “blood warmth.” The temperature was determined by the baker’s finger and made as warm as the cook could stand. Adding the flour cooled the liquid enough for the yeast. The sponge was stored, covered,  in a warm area to rise.

The author suggested placing a clean, folded blanket over the cover.

A small tea-cup of yeast and three pints of “wetting” made four ordinary loaves. (My guess is that the “wetting” referred to is the flour and milk mixture since yeast was always added last.)

Bakers used this sponge in their bread, but it also worked well on the griddle for breakfast cakes or in muffins.

I’ll have to guess at the measurements, but plan to try this sponge in muffins, pancakes, or fruit breads. I’ll let you how it turns out. If you try the recipe, I’d love to hear about it.

-Sandra Merville Hart

 

Sources

Compiled from Original Recipes. Buckeye Cookery and Practical Housekeeping, Applewood Books, 2011.

“Lukewarm,” Thesaurus.com, 2015/06/09  http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/lukewarm.