The author of 1877 Cookbook Buckeye Cookery and Practical Housekeeping included meal suggestions. A springtime breakfast meal suggestion is: fried ham, scrambled eggs, fried mush, potatoes boiled in jackets, Graham bread, radishes, coffee, tea, and chocolate. Sounds like a lot of food!

The cookbook includes recipes for some of these. Today I’m sharing one for Quick Graham Bread. This recipe from Mrs. E.J.W. makes 2 loaves. Next time I will halve the ingredients.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a bread baking pan or use cooking spray.

The first ingredient is 3 cups of sour milk. To make this, stir 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice per cup of milk so I added 3 tablespoons of vinegar and set it aside to rest for at least 5 minutes.

Dissolve 2 teaspoons of baking soda in a small amount of hot water and set aside.

Stir ½ cup molasses into the sour milk. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and the dissolved soda. Stir. Add “as much Graham flour as can be stirred in with a spoon.” I used about 6 ½ cups.

Immediately pour into prepared bread pan and bake about 45 minutes.

Molasses gives this bread a sweet flavor, but not sweet like banana bread or blueberry bread. I ate it with salami and cream cheese, which gave the whole sandwich an unusual flavor that I enjoyed. I think it would taste good with chicken salad or ham salad.

This makes a hearty bread.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

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