Historical Nibbles

Peach Cobbler Recipe from the 1870s

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by Sandra Merville Hart

The family cook in my latest release, Boulevard of Confusion, Book 2 in my “Spies of the Civil War” series, was also a talented baker. She bakes pies, cakes, and cobblers that no one turns down. Writing these scenes made me nostalgic for my grandmother’s cobblers. She was always too impatient to teach her daughters and granddaughters her recipes. Sadly, those cobbler recipe secrets died with her.

The next best thing was searching my 1877 cookbook. I found one for plum cobbler. Miss S. Alice Melching, who wrote the recipe, noted that it worked for any canned fruit.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

For the peach filling:

Stir in ¾ cup sugar (Miss Alice’s recipe calls for a coffee-cup of sugar and I guessed that to be about ¾ cup) into 2 large cans sliced peaches (29 oz. each.) Canned peaches come with light or heavy syrup. I used a little of the syrup with the filling, since Miss Alice left out a lot of details. I didn’t measure it, but it was probably about ½ cup.

For the pie crust and lattice top layer:

Melt 4 tablespoons lard (I used shortening.) Sift together 4 cups of flour, ½ teaspoon salt, and 2 teaspoons of baking powder. Add the melted shortening. Stir in 2/3 cup milk or water. (I chose milk.) After watching my grandmother cook with her hands instead of a spoon all those years, I like to mix the dough with my hands too. Knead it until it holds together.

Sprinkle flour lightly over a table or counter. Divide the dough in half. Roll the dough thinly for the bottom layer. Then arrange it in your baking dish. I used an 8 x 8 pan for mine but a pie pan will work fine.  

Hint: To prevent fruit juices from soaking into the pie crust, Miss Alice suggests mixing 3 tablespoons flour with 2 tablespoons sugar and sprinkling it over the bottom crust.

Add the filling onto the pie crust.

Take the other half of dough and roll it. Slice it into ½ inch strips and arrange these strips into a lattice top.

Bake 25 – 30 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned. This makes 10 – 12 servings.

The aroma took me back to childhood memories of my grandmother’s cooking.

I couldn’t wait to try it so I ate a piece warm from the oven. It was a delicious treat after lunch. My husband and I enjoyed it as dessert after supper. He liked it and is looking forward to another serving peach cobbler. (I’m writing this before daylight. I think it might be my breakfast. 😊)

I’d love to hear if you try it.

Sources

Compiled from Original Recipes. Buckeye Cookery and Practical Housekeeping, Applewood Books, 1877.

Easter Traditions in the Victorian Era

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by Sandra Merville Hart

Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on Easter every spring. Though it’s always on Sunday, the date varies. The actual date depends upon when the full moon following the vernal equinox appears. Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after that full moon.

The Easter Lily is a popular flower because it symbolizes life after death. Lilies grow from a bulb buried in the ground and bloom in spring. Large white blooms symbolize purity because Jesus never sinned. The trumpet-shaped flowers resound with the good news of the risen Savior.

Easter was a fun celebration for Victorians. They gathered for traditional meals. They sent Easter greeting cards containing Bible verses and decorated with crosses. Drawings of bunnies in Easter greetings first appeared in the late 1700s when a publisher added one to writing stationery.

Children loved the holiday back in the Victorian era just as they do today. They enjoyed Easter egg hunts and egg rolling contests.

Dying the eggs was part of the celebration. Young children dyed them using a variety of fruits and vegetables. Beets and cranberries were used because of their strong colors. Peels from oranges and lemons provided dyes. Though blueberries and blackberries weren’t specifically mentioned in my sources, these were probably used as well. Imagine the fruits and vegetables that leave stains on fingers for other ideas of dyes.

Along with the dyes, children drew crosses, churches, flowers, and bunnies on the Easter eggs.

It was a joy to include an Easter celebration in Boulevard of Confusion, Book 2 in my “Spies of the Civil War” series. Children and adults enjoyed dying Easter eggs after church services in my novel.

Sources

“Easter Traditions During the Victorian Era,” WorldHistory.us, 2021/08/13 https://worldhistory.us/european-history/easter-traditions-during-the-victorian-era.php.

“Victorian Era Easter Celebrations,” Victorian Era, 2021/08/13 http://victorian-era.org/victorian-era-easter-celebrations.html.

Wells, Mary Shannon. “Everything You Need to Know about the Easter Lily,” Southern Living, 2022/04/14 https://www.southernliving.com/holidays-occasions/easter/easter-lily-meaning.

19th Century Advice for Organizing Closet Space

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by Sandra Merville Hart

Arranging closet space seems to have been as challenging in the post-Civil War as it is for many people today. This 19th century advisor didn’t feel that lack of time excused a cluttered closet. Instead, the author felt that organization was the answer. Putting a system in place and then maintaining it actually lessens the amount of time it takes to clean. Also, you won’t spend hours looking for items if everything is in its place.

It’s important to note that many homes in the 1800s didn’t have closets. Folks stored their clothing in armoires, chests, and hung them on hooks. I’ve visited many old houses where there were no closets in the bedrooms, even in wealthier homes. Having this storage space built into bedrooms is a definite convenience.

Our 19th century had plenty of advise about organizing a closet that also applies to armoires.

If shelves aren’t already installed in closets, install them. (This seems to be something that our homebuilders agree on because most modern closets already have them.)

Put in plenty of hooks to hang clothing. (This has largely been replaced by closet rods and hangers.) The author suggested arranging clothes by type to make them easier to find.

Hanging too many items close together makes them difficult to find. It can also wrinkle the clothing. Allow ample room for clothes so they don’t lose their shape in the closet.

Don’t toss clothing in the closet floor. Hang the items to keep them nice.

Don’t place boots and shoes on the closet floor. Make shoe pockets out of calico fabric to store shoes.

Never keep anything on the closet floor to prevent stepping on them.

Never toss items into the closet to keep them out of sight because “hiding dirtiness does not cure it.”

There is timely advice in these tips from the 1870s. Now, I have some closets that need my attention. 😊

Sources

Compiled from Original Recipes. Buckeye Cookery and Practical Housekeeping, Applewood Books, 1877.

19th Century Advice for Table Manners

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by Sandra Merville Hart

Good table manners are perhaps not as important to some these days as they were a century ago, but they still matter. As the 19th century advisor points out, good manners are a “kind consideration” of the feelings of others and all began for sound reasons. Most of this advice is still followed today.

Remove gloves after sitting at the table. Lay them in your lap beneath the napkin.

Food goes to the mouth—not the other way around.

Chew quietly with closed lips.

Cut food with a knife but eat with a fork.

If a fork can’t hold the food, use a spoon.

Don’t lean your arms on the table or sit too far back.

It’s good for your health to eat slowly—and it’s considered good manners.

Bread should be broken, not cut. Don’t crumble it into soup or gravy.

It’s considered bad manners to mix food on the plate.

Eat fish with a fork.

Cut game or chicken, but don’t hold it with the bones in your fingers.

Hold oranges with a fork and peel them without breaking the inner skin.

Don’t cut pastry with a knife. Break it apart and eat with a fork.

Bread and butter is a dish for dessert. (Surprising!)

Never help yourself to anything on the table using your own utensils.

Never pick your teeth at the table.

When eating a cherry-stone or other substances removed from the mouth, pass them into a napkin held to your lips and then return it to the plate.

Try to ignore accidental spills.

When done with your meal, place your fork and knife side by side on the plate with the handles to the right.

Most of these tips from the 1870s have stood the test of time. As an author of historical novels, tips like these enhance my understanding of the time period.

Sources

Compiled from Original Recipes. Buckeye Cookery and Practical Housekeeping, Applewood Books, 1877.

19th Century Advice for Hosting a Meal

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by Sandra Merville Hart

Most of the dinners I host are for family and friends so it was fun to read the following advice from the 1870s. Much of this is sound advice for today’s dinner parties.

Warm the plates in winter but don’t let them get hot.

It’s considered vulgar to overload a guest’s plate or to insist on second helpings.

Don’t offer too many dishes for the meal. It makes a coarse display. The author suggests soup, fish with one vegetable, a roast with one or two vegetables, a salad and cheese, and dessert as a sensible meal.

Sauces and jellies aren’t side dishes. Serve them on the dinner plate.

Invite congenial (friendly) folks to your parties.

Never overcrowd your dining table.

Novel dishes are a fun addition at parties, but NEVER experiment on your guests by serving a dish you’ve made for the first time. (Wise advice.)

Pour water from the right side and serve everything else from the left.

The hostess continues to eat until all the guests finish.

Use individual salt dishes at breakfast. (Salt and pepper shakers weren’t commonly used until the 1920s.) Serve salt in a cruet with a dish and spoon, set on each end of the table at dinner to give “less of a hotel air.”

Serve fruit after pudding and pies.

Coffee is served last. Place cream and sugar in the cup before pouring the coffee. If guests like milk in their coffee, serve it scalding hot.

When serving hot tea, pour the tea into the cup before adding cream and sugar.

Some of these hosting tips from the 1870s have stood the test of time while others—like the individual salt dishes—have changed. As an author of historical novels, these tips enhance my understanding of the time period.

Sources

Compiled from Original Recipes. Buckeye Cookery and Practical Housekeeping, Applewood Books, 1877.

Lemon Snaps Recipe

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by Sandra Merville Hart

A character in Book 1 of my “Spies of the Civil War” series, Avenue of Betrayal, bakes lemon cookies in the story. This talented cook earns the praise of soldiers far from home when she serves these delicious lemon cookies at parties. I’m sharing a recipe that’s over a century and a half old to show the way Rebecca, my character, prepared them in the novel.

The original 1877 baker who shared this cookie recipe is Mrs. E. L. C. of Springfield.

Ingredients

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 cup sugar

10 tablespoons butter

2 lemons

½ teaspoon lemon extract

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

Dissolve ½ teaspoon of baking soda into 2 teaspoons of hot water. Set aside.

Cream together 1 cup of sugar and 10 tablespoons of butter. Stir in the prepared baking soda.

Mrs. C. simply said to flavor with lemon. I added the zest of 2 lemons, the juice of 1 lemon, and ½ teaspoon of lemon extract to the batter.

Mrs. C. was another one who advised adding “flour enough to roll thin.” I used 1 ½ cups of flour, blending into the wet ingredients a little at a time.

Lightly flour the counter and rolling pin and then roll out the batter. Cut into desired shapes.

Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray or line with parchment paper. The cookies flatten while baking so allow room between them. Bake cookies at 350 degrees about 9 – 11 minutes.

Delicious! Wonderful lemony flavor really came through. Guests loved the texture and flavor. If you like lemony desserts, this is the cookie for you.

Though the original baker left out a few important details, I’m happy to say that I only had to make this recipe once—and the cookies were a hit!  

I’d definitely make these again.

I’d love to hear if you try it.

Sources

Compiled from Original Recipes. Buckeye Cookery and Practical Housekeeping, Applewood Books, 1877.

Chicken Croquettes Recipe

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by Sandra Merville Hart

A character in Book 1 of my “Spies of the Civil War” series, Avenue of Betrayal, prepares chicken croquettes for a picnic. She’s a talented cook and everything she makes is a crowd-pleaser. I’ve never made these and it seemed a good idea to try this recipe from an 1877 cookbook, to make them as similar to the way Rebecca, my character, prepared them in the novel.

If you’ve ever tried to follow recipes from 150 years ago, you’re already aware that there’s a lot of guesswork involved. In this particular recipe, it gives the measurement for rice but not the amount of chicken. In fact, the only other hint is that one egg is needed for the actual mixture.

That’s it.

There are actually 2 recipes for chicken croquettes in this book and I studied both of them before creating the following recipe. The original cook for one recipe is Mrs. E. L. Fay, from New York City and the other is anonymous.

Ingredients

1 ½ cups cooked chicken

1 cup cooked rice, white or brown

2 tablespoons butter, melted

3 eggs, separate

¼ cup heavy cream

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

½ teaspoon sage

½ – ¾ cup bread crumbs

Shortening

Mince the cooked chicken. Add rice, butter, and cream and stir until moistened. Stir in 1 beaten egg. Season the mixture with sage, salt, and pepper.

I formed them into balls, but they didn’t hold up well in the skillet. I suggest shaping them into patties.

Beat 2 eggs in a bowl. Place bread crumbs in a separate bowl. Dip croquettes into the egg and then roll them in bread crumbs.

Melt shortening in a skillet over medium – medium high heat. (I used a cast iron skillet which cooks evenly so medium heat worked well for me.)

Frying will take 5 – 10 minutes. Turn croquettes gently to brown on all sides. Wooden spoons worked best for me and 2 croquettes still fell apart. (I suggest patties—and a modification in the recipe that I’ll mention at the end.) This made 8 croquettes. Two were a satisfying lunch for me.

What a great recipe for using leftover chicken!

I liked the croquettes. The sage gave a nice flavor without overpowering the rice and chicken. Rice is a favorite of mine, but this is too much rice for 1 ½ cups of chicken. I’d decrease the amount of cooked rice to ½ cup. I believe they will hold together better.

Also, I’ll add ¼ cup of bread crumbs to the croquette batter next time so that it will hold up better while cooking. The original cooks didn’t do this and I try to follow the historic recipes as closely as I can at first to have the dining experience they had.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

Compiled from Original Recipes. Buckeye Cookery and Practical Housekeeping, Applewood Books, 1877.

Cabbage Lasagna

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by Sandra Merville Hart

It’s that time of year when folks are counting their calories and/or carbs. I saw a quick video of a cook making this lasagna and decided to try it with ingredients at hand.

This is a delicious low-carb meal that I’ll make again.

1 head of Cabbage

2 – 3 tablespoons of olive oil

1 lb. ground beef

2 cans crushed or diced tomatoes

1 cup shredded carrots

1 yellow onion, diced

1 tsp. dried oregano

Black pepper to taste

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup Ricotta cheese

1 cup mozzarella cheese

1 tsp. dried basil or ¼ cup fresh basil

Salt

1 egg, beaten

First, separate the leaves of an entire head of cabbage into stacks. This may take a few minutes.

Add a teaspoon of salt to a large pot of water and begin to boil.

  1. Pour a thin coat of olive oil in a deep skillet—start with 2 tablespoons and add enough to cover the bottom. Next, sauté the carrots and onions together. I didn’t have shredded carrots so I used sliced baby carrots. I also didn’t have an onion so I substituted diced green onions. If you do this, sauté the carrots alone for about 3 minutes, adding the green onions for about a minute.
  2. Add to this mixture the ground beef, oregano, and black pepper. (I used ½ teaspoon of pepper. Use more or less to your taste.)  Brown this over medium high heat.
  3. Once the meat is browned, add 2 cloves of minced garlic. (I didn’t have garlic on hand, so I skipped this step.)
  4. Add basil and 2 cans of crushed tomatoes. I used diced tomatoes and simply broke them down with a wooden spoon while it cooked. I also added 2 tablespoons of chopped scallions for color and flavor. Lower heat to simmer for 20 – 25 minutes.
  5. As soon as the large pot of water is boiling, cook a few cabbage leaves at a time. Use a slotted spoon to remove them once they soften and set them gently to the side because these are your lasagna noodles. Keep the larger leaves separate because you will use them first. This step took longer than I imagined, so allow at least 20 minutes. Keep the water boiling on high and more water may be needed in the pot as it boils down.
  6. When the meat mixture is done simmering, turn off the heat and stir in the beaten egg.
  7. Choose a deep round or square dish so you can make multiple layers. Spray it lightly with cooking spray.
  8. Now you are ready to assemble the lasagna. Select one large leaf to lay on the bottom center. Next, overlap the largest cabbage leaves from the middle so that they go up the sides of the dish, lining it all around and over the top until the dish is completely covered. (You will tuck the pieces hanging over the top onto the lasagna later.)
  9. Spoon on a layer of meat. The add spoons of ricotta cheese in several spots, but no need to cover the meat. Then sprinkle a layer of mozzarella cheese over the ricotta. Next add a layer of cabbage leaves—no need to go up the sides for this layer.
  10. Repeat step 9 above twice. Make sure that the top pieces of cabbage cover the whole dish well, for when you turn it over after baking, it’s the bottom layer. Then tuck the original cabbage pieces hanging over the sides over it.
  11. Bake at 375 degrees for an hour.
  12. Allow it to cool 5 – 10 minutes before turning it out onto a serving plate.

This was a very tasty meal. I have to admit that I missed the garlic flavor so I’ll add it next time. I will also add an extra teaspoon of oregano when I make it next because it wasn’t a strong enough flavor.

I loved eating this low-carb lasagna and found it a comforting meal. My husband doesn’t eat lasagna so I had leftovers for lunch for a few days. I didn’t get tired of it!

Candied Orange Peel

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by Sandra Merville Hart

Like everyone else the past two years, Covid has affected holiday plans—either by cancelling or postponing them. As I write, my son-in-law has Covid and a late Christmas family gathering will be delayed again.

I often try to bring some new holiday recipe to Christmas gatherings. Last year I made a yule log—delicious! This year I had planned to try Candied Orange peel. I decided to make it even though our celebration is delayed.  

I looked at a few different recipes and they were all very similar.

Candied Orange Peel

2 large oranges, cut and peeled into 8 wedges

4 cups sugar, divided

3 cups water

8 oz chocolate, melted (optional—and for later, will use this after the peels dry)

Cut peel and pith (the white part) from orange wedges. Because oranges are a juicy fruit, this part can be messy so cut the oranges over a plate or rimmed dish. (I served the leftover fruit as a packed-with-Vitamin-C snack for the children in my home. 😊)

Next, slice the peel wedges into 3 strips each. Boil a large pot of water and then add strips. Cook for 15 – 20 minutes. Peels will be soft. Drain in a colander. Rinse and then drain again.

Place 3 cups of sugar in 2 cups of water in a medium saucepan. Stir to dissolve sugar and then leave it alone, bringing it to a boil over medium heat. Add the orange and allow the syrup to return to a boil and then reduce heat so that the mixture gently simmers for about 45 minutes, until peel is very soft. Remove the peel with a slotted spoon.

Hint: Save the orange syrup for another recipe or serve it on pancakes for a different flavor.

Place a cup of sugar in a mixing bowl and coat the peel. You may need another 1/3 cup of sugar to coat all the slices—at least I did, with the help of a preschooler and a kindergartner. 😊

Set aside the peel to dry on a sheet of parchment paper. I set mine on a lined baking sheet and it took 2 days for them to dry.

Optional—not optional for the chocolate lover in me!—melt 8 ounces of chocolate and dip the slices halfway into the melted chocolate. Delicious! I love the combination of orange paired with chocolate.

Store the dried peel in an airtight container. It should keep up to two months.

My family ate these without chocolate too and asked for more. It’s a different yet delicious orange treat, packed with vitamin C in this cold and flu season—a win-win!

I will look for ways to use this orange peel in recipes. I’ve already steeped a slice in my tea for a hint of orange—and added vitamin C!

Yule Log Cake

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by Sandra Merville Hart

Burning large yule logs for the entire Twelve Days of Christmas celebrations is a centuries-old tradition. A recipe for a sweet dessert by that name was first published in The English Huswife by Gervase Markham in 1615.

The yule log (also called buche de Noel) is a traditional Christmas cake filled and rolled into the shape of a log. French bakers began to place intricate decorations on the buche de Noel cakes in the 1800s. The cakes became a popular dessert that was served after Christmas Eve midnight mass.

Yule logs are usually made of sponge cake that is baked in a shallow Swiss roll pan. A creamy filling is rolled inside the cake before it is rolled into a log shape. The outside is typically iced with buttercream or ganache.

Decorations vary for the yule logs. Christmas decorations like holly leaves or Christmas trees make a festive holiday dessert. Yule logs are often decorated with marzipan or meringue objects one finds in the forest such as mushrooms.

I decided to make a yule log cake for the first time. I found a wonderful recipe on Life, Love and Sugar that included some helpful hints.

I followed this recipe and took the yule log dessert to a family gathering. It was a big hit! Everyone loved it.

Though the chocolate cake had a delicious cocoa flavor, the cream filling was the star of the dessert for me. It wasn’t too sweet. The mascarpone cheese wasn’t too heavy for the whipped cream filling. I splurged and ate a piece for breakfast the next morning. Delicious!

Sources

Butler, Stephanie. “The Delicious Tradition of the Yule Log,” History, 2020/12/21 https://www.history.com/news/the-delicious-history-of-the-yule-log.

Collins, Ace. Stories Behind the Great Traditions of Christmas, Zondervan, 2003.

“Yule Log Cake (Buche De Noel),” Life, Love, and Sugar, 2020/12/21 https://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/yule-log-cake-buche-de-noel/.

“Yule Log Cake,” Wikipedia, 2020/12/21 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule_log_(cake).

 

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