Candied Fruit

"Candied Fruit - Any fruit or peel which has been first preserved in syrup may be candied.
Take the fruit out of the syrup and let it drain on sieves; then dip the sieve with the fruit into lukewarm water, to wash off the syrup from the surface; take it out, let it drain, and dry it in the stove. Boil some fresh syrup to the blow; put in the fruit and give it a boil in it. The fruit when it is put in will reduce the sugar, it must therefore be boiled to the same degree again. With a spoon or spatula rub the sugar against the side of the pan, to grain it; when it begins to whiten put the fruit in the white part separately: with two forks take it out and lay it on sieves or wire frames, for the sugar to drain from it."    From The Complete Confectioner, Pastry-cook, and Baker: Plain and Practical  1864

Onions

"The white silver-skins are the best species. To boil them:- Peel off the outside, cut off the ends, put them into cold water and into a stew-pan, and let them scald two minutes; then turn off that water, pour on cold water, and boil slowly till tender, which will be in thirty or forty minutes, - according to their size; when done, drain them quite dry, pour a little melted butter over them, sprinkle them with pepper and salt, and serve hot."

"Onions are very nice fried in butter. Many people like them roasted, by burying them in ashes without removing the outer skin: when roasted, pull off the skin and season them with salt and butter."

The Practical Cook Book pg 94

Pies

"Sweet Potato Pie - Take two pounds and a half of sweet potatoes, mashed fine, half a pound of sugar, two oz of butter, six eggs, two tumblers of sweet milk, a little cinnamon. Make a nice crust in a deep dish and pour it in. Bake moderately."

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"Pumpkin Pies - One quart stewed and sifted pumpkin, two quarts milk and a pint of cream, half a teaspoonful of ginger, two teaspoonsful of cinnamon, one nutmeg, a tea spoonful of essence of lemon, four eggs and sugar till sweet."

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 I used the crust or paste recipe from this post for Apple or Junk Pie

 

Luncheon

"Fried Turn Overs - Have ready a kettle of boiling lard. having made a pie crust not very rich, cut it in squares, roll them out even and put in a table spoonful of dried apple sauce, make it very fine and sweet, add a little nutmeg or allspice if you prefer it. Eat them when just cold, with a little sweet cream. They must have the edges pinched very tight so as not to let a particle of apple escape in the lard. They are delicious if rightly made."    From The Practical Housekeeper 1855

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"Sausages Cold - Take fried sausages, cut them into picea three inches long, roll them up in nice pastry and bake them. They are nice for supper or luncheon."  From The Practical Housekeeper 1855

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"no 3 Mince Pie (temperance) - Boil until very tender, three pounds of beef's heart; then chop it as fine as possible and add half a pound of beef suet, cleansed from its skin and filaments, and finely minced; mix all these well together, and add one pound of brown sugar, two pounds of Zante currants, two pounds of raisins, stoned and cut in halves, the grated rind of one orange, the grated rind and the juice of three lemons, one fable spoonful of powdered cinnamon, one of ginger, one of cloves, one of mace, two of salt, and one quart of the best West India molasses; stir all well together; the mixture should be very moist, but not thin.

If you wish to use this mince immediately, add two pounds of finely minced apple, and half a pound of citron cut in slices, to every pound and a half of meat; the apples should be very acid."   From Practical Cook Book 1850

Boiled Custard

From Mrs. Beeton's Dictionary of Every-day Cookery
"CUSTARDS, Boiled Ingredients - 1 pint of milk, 5 eggs, 3 oz of loaf sugar, 3 laurel leaves or the rind of fresh lemon, or a few drops of essence of vanilla, 1 tablespoonful of brandy.
Mode - Put the milk into a lined saucepan with the sugar and whichever of the above flavourings may be preferred, the lemon rind flavours custards most deliciously, and let the milk steep by the side of the fire until it is well flavoured. Bring it to the point of boiling then strain it into a basin, whisk the eggs well and when the milk has cooled a little, stir in the eggs and strain this mixture into a jug. Place this jug in a saucepan of boiling water over the fire keep stirring the custard one way until it thickens, but on no account allow it to reach the boiling point, as it will instantly curdle and be full of lumps. Take it off the fire, stir in the brandy and when this is well mixed with the custard, pour it into glasses which should be rather more than three parts full, grate a little nutmeg over the top and the dish is ready for table To make custards look and eat better, ducks eggs should be used when obtainable, they add very much to the flavour and richness and so many are not required as of the ordinary eggs, 4 ducks eggs to the pint of milk making a delicious custard. When desired extremely rich and good cream should be substituted for the milk and double the quantity of eggs used to those mentioned, omitting the whites.
Time - A hour to infuse the lemon rind about l8 minutes to stir the custard. Average cost fid Sufficient to fill 8 custard glasses Seasonable at any time."

I used a double boiler instead of a jug. I used vanilla and omitted the brandy. The image from the book reminded me of my punch glasses, so I used them.

I put the (2 cups) milk in a saucepan with the sugar and vanilla and brought it to a boil. Once the sugar dissolved, I let it cool while I mixed the eggs. I used 8 egg yolks and 3 strained whites instead of 5 eggs because I'm not very good at keeping the whites from cooking, and making the custard chunky. I mixed a little of the milk in with the beaten eggs and then added it to the pot. I heated and stirred it in a double boiler until it became firm. It filled 7 small glasses, topped with nutmeg. Ours were served chilled since I made them ahead of time.

We liked these very much!

My custards served in punch cups

Corn Bread

Most of the recipes that I have found for corn bread use milk or vigorous stirring as the leaven. I am not good at those methods. Here is one that I have found for plain corn bread. This is not a sweet corn bread as there is no sugar or other sweetener added. It is also not savory as there are no herbs or seasoning.

From the Cook Book 1855
"CORN BREAD 1 lb corn meal, 1 tablespoonful butter, 2 eggs, 2 teaspoonsful of cream tartar, and 1 of soda, and mix with milk to be a thick batter. Mix the cream of tartar with the meal, mix soda in a little milk and do not add it until you are ready to pour it into the pan to bake. Grease your pans well."

There were several references as to what corn bread should be cooked in. Some called for a round cake tin and others described more of a bread pan type. I prefer to use a round cake tin.

Modern Translation: Pre-heat the oven to 350. Have ready 2 overly buttered cake tins. Beat together 2 tsp cream of tartar, 1 lb corn meal, 1 Tbs butter, 2 eggs, 1 tsp soda and 1.5-2 cups milk. The mixture should be a thick batter. The milk should be added 1/2 cup at a time. Pour half of the batter in each tin. Bake for 45 minutes. Check doneness with a toothpick. When it comes out clean, it's done. The corn bread should be pulling away from the sides of the pan. Let it rest for a moment, loosen the edges with a heat resistant spatula, turn out on a cooling rack. Once it is totally cooled, slice in wedges.

If the tins are not buttered enough, it will stick. You could also butter and flour the tins if you like or use paper in the bottom of your pan. This second method is what I will most likely do the next time I make this.

I do not care for the taste of this cornbread, plain. I can only eat it smothered with thick cream butter. Personally, I like modern sweet corn bread. However, I think that would be more like mid-century corn cakes.

Apple or Junk Pie

Since it's apple season, I figured that we could all use a simple recipe calling for them. This is a recipe very similar to the modern one that I use.

Paste or Crust Translation: Cut 2 sticks of softened butter into 4 cups of flour. Add a teaspoon of salt and about 1 cup of water, a little at a time. Mix well and allow to rest for a few minutes, then roll out on floured surface. This makes 2 pie crusts with tops.

Apple Filling Translation: Cut, core, peel and slice 5-7 apples. Line a pie tin with your crust and heap it full of prepared apples. Sprinkle on a bit of salt, drizzle with 2 teaspoons of molasses and shake over with cinnamon. I used a good bit of cinnamon.

To Finish: Wet the edges of the bottom crust and add the top crust. Pinch and trim the edges. Make a slit in the top to allow the steam to escape. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

Tongue

"No 12 A Tongue. This is sliced, not very thin, through the thickest and best part, shown by the letters a b. The fat of the root, when it is liked must be carved by turning the tongue, and cutting in the direction c d."

"HAMBURGH PICKLE FOR BEEF HAMS AND TONGUE Boil together for twenty minutes two gallons of water three pounds of bay salt two pounds of coarse sugar two ounces of saltpetre and two of black pepper bruised and tied in a fold of muslin clear off the scum thoroughly as it rises pour the pickle into a deep earthen pan and when it is quite cold lay in the meat of which every part must be perfectly covered with it A moderate sized round of beef will be ready for table in a fortnight it should be turned occasionally in the brine Five pounds of common salt may be substituted for the quantity of bay salt given above but the meat will not be so finely flavoured Water 2 gallons bay salt 3 lbs saltpetre 2 oz black pepper 2 oz sugar 2 lbs 20 minutes."

"ANOTHER PICKLE FOR TONGUES BEEF AND HAMS To three gallons of spring water add six pounds of common salt two pounds of bay salt two pounds of common loaf sugar and two ounces of saltpetre Boil these over a gentle fire and be careful to take off all the scum as it rises when quite cold it will be fit for use Rub the meat to be cured with fine salt and let it drain for a day in order to free it from the blood then immerse it in the brine taking care that every part of it shall be covered Young pork should not remain more than from three to five days in the pickle but hams for drying may be left in it for a fortnight at least tongues will be ready in rather less time Beef may remain from one week to two according to its size and the degree of saltiness desired for it A little experience will soon teach the exact time required for the different kinds of meat When the pickle has been in use for about three months boil it up again gently and take the scum carefully off Add to it three pounds of common salt four ounces of sugar and one of saltpetre it will remain good for many months Water 3 gallons common salt 6 lbs bay salt 2 lbs loaf sugar 2 lbs saltpetre 2 oz boil 20 to 30 minutes."

"BEEF TONGUES A Suffolk Receipt For each very large tongue mix with half a pound of salt two ounces of saltpetre and three quarters of a pound of the coarsest sugar rub the tongues daily and turn them in the pickle for five weeks when they will be fit to be dressed or to be smoked 1 large tongue salt J lb sugar J lb saltpetre 2 oz 5 weeks."

"TO DRESS BEEF TONGUES When taken fresh from the pickle they require no soaking unless they should have remained in it much beyond the usual time or have been cured with a more than common proportion of salt but when they have been smoked and highly dried they should be laid for two or three hours into cold and as much longer into tepid water before they are dressed if extremely dry ten or twelve hours must be allowed to soften them and they should always be brought very slowly to boil Two or three carrots and a large bunch of savoury herbs added after the scum is cleared off will improve them They should be simmered until they are extremely tender when the skin will peel from them easily A highly dried tongue of moderate size will usually require from three and a half to four hours boiling an unsmoked one about an hour less and for one which has not been salted at all a shorter time will suffice."

"BORDYKE RECEIPT FOR STEWING A TONGUE After the tongue has been soaked trimmed and washed with extreme nicety lay it into a vessel of fitting size and place round it three or four pounds of the neck or of any other lean cuttings of beef with some bones of undressed veal and pour in sufficient cold water to keep it covered until it is done or instead of this use strong unseasoned beef broth made with the shin and any odd bits or bones of veal which may be at hand Let the tongue be brought to boil very gradually that it may be plump and tender Remove the scum when it first rises and when it is quite cleared off add a large faggot of parsley thyme and winter savoury three rrots a small onion and one mild turnip After three hours and a half of gentle simmering probe the tongue and if sufficiently done peel off the skin and serve it quickly If not wanted hot for table lay it upon a very clean board or trencher and fasten it down to it by passing a carving fork through the root and a smaller one through the tip drawing the tongue straight with the latter before it is fixed in the board let it remain thus until it is quite cold It is much the fashion at present to glaze hams and tongues but this should never be attempted by a cook not well acquainted with the manner of doing it and the proper flavour and appearance of the glaze For directions to make it see page 104 Where expense is not regarded three or four pounds of veal may be added to the beef in this receipt or the tongue may be stewed in a prepared gravy made with equal parts of beef and veal and vegetables as above but without salt this may afterwards be converted into excellent soup A fresh or an un smoked tongue may be dressed in this way but will require less time for the former salt must be added to the gravy."

From Modern Cookery for Private Families 1860

 

It is mentioned in Every Lady's Cook Book 1856, that "Cold biscuit sliced thin and buttered and a very thin slice of boiled ham, tongue, or beef between each two slices of biscuit is best" for sandwiches. There is also mention of mustard in these. So, I decided to provide tongue and biscuit sandwiches at our next picnic. I have made boiled tongue before and it is good but doesn't really have any taste. I wanted to try a pickle recipe this time and then boil it. So, I needed to pickle/brine the tongue that I picked up from The Family Cow.

 

I used a modified version, combining several of the above listed recipes. I only had one tongue to make so I really didn't need a lot of pickle/brine. I combined 1/2 gallon of water, 1/2 lb of kosher salt and 3/4 lb of raw sugar. I slowly brought this to a boil and then held it for 20 minutes. Once it was cool, I soaked the tongue for 4 days, covered in the fridge.

 

Once the pickling/brining was done, I  boiled it with carrots and herbs until it was tender, about 3 hours, and laid it out to cool. It was then peeled and sliced and arranged on a plate with mustard.

Baked Beans

"Baked Pork and Beans
For a family of six or seven take a quart of white beans, wash them in several waters, and put them into two or three quarts over night. In the morning, when it will be easier to cull out the bad ones than before they were soaked, pick them over and boil them until they begin to crack open, then put them into a brown pan such as are made for the purpose. Pour upon them enough of the water they were boiled in almost to cover them. Cut the rind of about a pound of salt pork into narrow strips, lay it on the top of the beans and press it down so that it will lie more than half its thickness in the water. Bake several hours, four or five is not too much. Where a brick oven is used it is well to let beans remain in it over night. If they are baked in a stove or range more water may be necessary before they are done.

Many persons think it a decided improvement to put in a large spoonful or two of molasses. It is a very good way.

Those who object to the use of pork can have a very good dish of beans by substituting two table spoonfuls of nice beef drippings and adding two teaspoonfuls of salt.

To heat over baked beans, put them in a spider with a little water heat them slowly at first and cover close. If they are too moist remove the cover and stir them often."

From The Young Housekeeper's Friend 1862

I made this for a picnic. I'm not a fan of molasses but used it anyway.

Modern Translation: Use the modern directions for quick soaking the beans by boiling them in water for 2 minutes, removing them from the heat and covering them for 1 hour. Drain and rinse the beans.  In fresh water, simmer them until they started to crack, about 1 hour. Drain the beans but save the water. Put the beans in a bean pot or casserole dish with 2 tablespoons of molasses, 2 teaspoons salt, 2 tablespoons of beef drippings and enough of the cook water to cover them. Bake at 350 for 3 hours.

They turned out great. I served them in small bean pots and they looked great.

Green Tomatoes

Our tomatoes are just not turning red. We have loads of green ones just staying green with no sign of change. Here are a few recipes for green tomatoes that I have found. I will probably update this next week as we have a picnic to cook for.

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"Green Tomato Pie - Scald green tomatoes, peel and slice them thin, lay them in a deep plate and plenty of sugar, a little lemon peel. Cover with a thick crust. Bake one hour."

From The Practical Housekeeper 1855

 

Green Tomato Pie Translation: Plunge large, green tomatoes in boiling water until the skins peel back. Take out of the boiling water and plunge into cold water. Peel off the skins, slice them thin, drain them and lay them in a deep plate. Add a cup of sugar and some lemon. Cover with your favorite pie crust and bake for an hour at 350 degrees.

 

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"Green Tomato Pickle Cut in thin slices one peck of green tomatoes sprinkle them with salt and let them stand a day or two. Slice ten or twelve small onions. Mix together one bottle or small tin box of mustard, half an ounce of mustard seed, one ounce of cloves, one ounce of pimento, two ounces of turmeric. Put in the kettle a layer of tomatoes, then one of onions and spice till all are in. Cover it with good vinegar and let it simmer till the tomatoes are quite clear."

From Mrs Hales Recipes For The Million 1857

 

"GREEN TOMATO PICKLES Take any size, but those ready to ripen are the best, place them in a vessel and throw on a hand full of salt, cover with boiling water and let them stand till cold then slice them through transversely once or twice, according to the size, then lay them in a crock with thin sliced onions. Prepare the vinegar with cloves, cinnamon, and allspice, and pour on hot. Cover and set away for a few days. They will be found very delicious and will keep all winter. Those who dislike onions may omit them."

From Practical American Cookery 1860

 

 

  

Potato Soup

"Potato Soup - Put over two quarts of water, peel and slice eight potatoes and put in as soon as the water boils; a small piece of red pepper, a teaspoonful of salt, just before you take it off. Take a piece of butler the size of an hen's egg and scorch it on a round tin. Sprinkle in some flour to thicken it, and then scrape it into your broth. Let it boil up a few minutes, and then pour it in your tureen on a slice of toast."

From The Practical Housekeeper 1855

This is essentially the way that we make potato soup at our house and we like it very much.

Modern directions: Chop 1 - 2 potatoes for each person. Potatoes should be in nice bite sized pieces. Boil in salted water for 5 minutes or until just soft enough to mash with a fork. Do not overcook. Drain and set aside. Melt a good amount of butter in a pan. Mix 2 tablespoons of flour in one cup of milk. Add this to the butter. Heat until thickening starts. Stir constantly. Add the cooked potatoes. Add more flour mixed in milk until it covers the potatoes. Set heat to high and stir every 1-2 minutes. When thickening becomes frothy it is done. Salt and pepper to taste. You may use broth instead of milk. Onions sauteed in the butter at the beginning is also very good.

The main difference is that we make it with milk or broth instead of using the cook water. We also generally make this in very large batches and do not serve it over toast. The toast idea is very interesting and tasty if you have stale bread that needs to be used up.

Peaches

PEACH SALAD.

Peel four or five ripe, juicy peaches, and slice them neatly, and have each slice as much alike as possible in shape and thickness; lay them in a glass dish, and cover them with loaf-sugar, pour over them a spoonful of brandy or wine; turn them off the top to the bottom, so they may all be seasoned alike.
The most of fruits may be prepared in the same way; but never mix fruits.

TO PRESERVE PEACHES WHOLE.

Take the cling-stone peaches before entirely ripe, wash them and put them in a jar; put a tablespoonful of pearlash to some soft water, and pour it over them boiling hot; cover them, and let them stand all night, then put them into cold water, wash and wipe them well; and to every pound of peaches, have a pound of loaf-sugar. Make a syrup of the sugar, and put the peaches in it while hot; simmer them slowly till they are done, take the peaches out, and boil the syrup down till it is quite thick. Put the peaches in jars, pour the syrup over them, and when cold cover them with paper dipped in brandy.

TO PRESERVE PEACHES.

Select good plum-peaches, pare, and cut them from the stone. Take equal weights of fruit and crushed sugar, lay them in an earthen vessel, and let them remain all night. In the morning, drain the fruit from the syrup, place it in dishes, and set it in the sun. Put the syrup into a preserving pan, and boil it three hours, skimming it well; then put the fruit into jars, and pour syrup over every two or three layers of fruit until the jar is filled; observe that the fruit must be entirely covered with syrup. Cover them tightly with brandied paper, and set them in a dry place.

BRANDY PEACHES.

Take the best cling-stone peaches, wash and wipe them, to get the furze off, prick them with a needle, and scald till you can pierce the skin with a straw. Make a syrup with loaf-sugar, taking three-quarters of a pound of sugar to every pound of peaches. Let the syrup boil till it is quite thick, then let it cool, and when it is milk-warm, put an equal quantity of good brandy with it, and pour it over the fruit.

PEACH PIE.

Slice some nice, ripe peaches, very thinly, put them in a dish, and sprinkle them with sugar; let them stand an hour; have ready some rich puff-paste, line your plates neatly, and fill them full; add some more sugar, and bake them in half an hour.

PUFF-PASTE.

To a pound and a quarter of sifted flour, rub gently in with the hand, half a pound of fresh butter; mix it up with half a pound of fresh butter; mix it up with half a pint of spring-water. Knead it well, and set it by for a quarter of an hour; then roll it out thin, lay on it, in small pieces, three-quarters of a pound more of butter, throw on it a little flour, double it up in folds, and roll it out thin three times, and set it by an hour in a cold place.

PEACH-WATER ICE.

Take one pound of the pulp of ripe peaches, half a pint of syrup, half a pint of water, the juice of two lemons, and mix them well. If the fruit is not ripe enough to pulp, open them and take out the stones, put them in a stewpan with the syrup and water, boil until tender, and pass them through a sieve; mix in the pounded kernels; when cold, freeze.

From The Great Western Cookbook 1857

CHOCOLATE MILK

"CHOCOLATE MILK. Prep. Dissolve 1 oz. of chocolate in 1 pint of new milk"

"CHOCOLATE POWDER. Cake chocolate scraped or ground. Usually sold in tin canisters."

From A Cyclopaedia of Six Thousand Practical Receipts 1851


"French Chocolate comes mixed with sugar and highly flavored, in tin canisters. This can be prepared on the table. Put a tea-spoon and a half of the chocolate powder into a cup, which fill up by degrees with boiling milk, stirring until dissolved."

 From The American Matron 1851

Poached Eggs

In Mrs. Beeton's Dictionary of Every-day Cookery there is given a bill of fare for Breakfast. In that list is mentioned poached eggs. Here are directions for preparing them.

"Half fill a bright frying pan with boiling water; add a salt spoonful of salt and two teaspoonfuls of vinegar; break each egg separately into a cup, pour them carefully into the water while boiling; with a small slice throw the white over the yolk; drain for half a minute, then serve either on hot buttered toast, or on spinach or sorrel. Two and a half or three minutes will be sufficient time to give them."

From The Young Housewife's Daily Assistant 1864

Notes: My salt spoon holds just less than 1/2 teaspoon. I used white vinegar, as I found it mentioned in other cook books of the time. I am assuming that a "slice" is a slotted spoon and was able to find a reference; "passing the slice or a spoon". I used a lined copper frypan as cast iron is not good to boil water in.

Over all, it really wasn't hard to do. I just made 2 eggs for myself and they turned out beautifully. The key is to not have the water boiling when you add the eggs and to gently add them to the water. Otherwise, if you add the egg too fast, it will slide to the other side of the pan and stream the white behind it. As I had no spinach or sorrel, I ate my poached eggs on modern toast with salt and pepper.

Mrs. Beeton also gives her own instruction for making poached eggs here along with an explanation of the importance of fresh eggs and an illustrations of a tin egg-poacher .

Yogurt

Coagulated Milk (Yogurt)

"Pour the coagulated milk on a fine sieve and let the whey run off. Then lay in a soup plate. Serve with crushed sugar and cream; or hang in a muslin bag, and allow it to drip, and become hard. Serve with cream and sugar. Pot cheese is made by heating coagulated milk, draining off the whey in a bag, and then mixing with the curd, salt, and sometimes a little sage or some other herb, as a flavoring, and then making it into little balls or cakes. In order that such cheese should be palatable, the coagulated milk must not be bitter in taste."

From The Philosophy of Housekeeping 1859

Finding a reference for yogurt was rather difficult until I stumbled across Thirty-five Years in the East, 1852. On pages 396-397 there is a table of words with translations in Latin, English, French, German, Turkish, Arabian, Persian and Cashmere. Yogurt is listed as Turkish and translated into English as coagulated milk. The French translation is lait caille.

The first real mention of the word yogurt, that I could find, wasn't until Mr. Kellogg promoted it in his Battle Creek Idea, 1910.

POTATO PUDDING

From The Practical Cook Book, 1850

"NO 2. POTATO PUDDING

Mash finely one pound of boiled white potatoes, add half a pint of milk, one ounce of flour, one ounce of butter, one egg well beaten, a little salt, mix well and bake in a buttered dish half an hour, serve with sugar and butter."

This is a simple recipe so I will not give a translation and no research was needed.

Conclusion: This dish is basically thin, baked mashed potatoes. The taste of flour was obvious but the children ate it and liked it. There are two recipes for potato pudding in this cook book. The first recipe called for 3 eggs instead of 1 egg and flour. When I make this again, I will add the extra eggs and not use the flour. I am not sure if this should be served warm or cold. We ate it after it cooled off.

ONION SOUP

From Mrs. Beeton's Dictionary of Every-day Cookery 1865

"ONION SOUP Cheap
Ingredients: 8 middling sized onions, 3 oz of butter, a tablespoonful of rice flour, salt and pepper to taste, 1 tea spoonful of powdered sugar, thickening of butter and flour, 2 quarts of water.
Mode: Cut the onions small, put them into the stewpan with the butter and fry them well, mix the rice flour smoothly with the water, add the onions, seasoning, and sugar and simmer till tender. Thicken with butter and flour and serve.
Time: 2 hours 
Sufficient for 8 persons"

This recipe was very simple. The only change that I made was in using top setting onions that were in my garden. They were fresh and green, no having been dried for storage. These onions have a smaller bulb than regular onions, so many times more onions were used.

As a side note about the onions: I researched my top setting onions and they were mentioned in a book on growing onions as Top Onions. The modern name would be Egyptian, Walking, Tree or Topsetting onions. I am so glad that they were used in Mid-Century as I have an abundance of them. 

Spinach, Toast and Eggs

To prepare the spinach:
"Cut off all the roots, and put it in boiling water with a tea-spoonful of salt; let it boil ten or fifteen minutes according to its age and size; when done, drain through a colander, and serve with coddled eggs laid on top, a spoonful of butter, and a little salt.

Or, when the spinach is boiled, you may chop it, and dish it in snippets of buttered toast, seasoned with pepper and salt."         

The Practical Cook Book pg 97

Coddled Eggs:

"Break the eggs and slip them separately, so as not to break the yolks, into a stew-pan of boiling water; let the whites just set, then take them up in a skimmer, drain off the water, and serve on slices of buttered toast."

         The Practical Cook Book pg 86

Beef Fritters

Taken from Peterson's 1862 January issue. It can also be found in Godey's Magazine and Mrs. Beeton's Dictionary of Every-day Cookery.

"Beef Fritters - Take the remains of cold roast beef, pepper and salt to taste, three quarters of a pound of flour, half a pint of water, two ounces of butter, the whites of two eggs.  Mix very smoothly and by degrees the flour with the above proportion of water, stir in two ounces of butter, which must be melted but not oiled, and just before it is to be used, add the whites of two well whisked eggs. Should the batter be too thick more water must be added. Pare down the cold beef into thin shreds season with pepper and salt and mix it with the batter. Drop a small quantity at a time into a pan of boiling lard and fry from seven to ten minutes according to the size. When done on one side turn and brown them on the other. Let them dry for a minute or two before the fire and serve on a folded napkin. A small quantity of finely minced onions mixed with the batter is an improvement. The fritter will take from seven to ten minutes to cook.

This recipe was so simple that there was no research needed.  However, I am interested to know during what meal would it be common to have food served on a napkin.

Conclusion: We loved these. They were so good and so easy to make. The substitutions that I made were to cook them in butter and I added onions to the batter to start. Also, I tried making them two different ways. The first was to slice the beef, dip each piece in the batter and then fry in the butter. The second way was to add the sliced beef to the batter and then drop batter by the spoonfuls into the fry pan. We preferred the first method much better. The second method resulted in some bites with no meat. I also want to note that I halved the recipe and it was plenty for my family of 6, as a supper side dish.

Milk Griddle Cakes & Delicate Omelettes For Breakfast

Both of these recipes came from Peterson's 1862, February issue.

Milk Griddle Cake for Breakfast - Take a pound and a half of flour, and about three ounces  of butter, and a little salt; rub the butter into the flour well, and wet it with milk enough to make it a stiff paste. Knead and work it well, roll it out very thin, cut the cakes out with either a tin cutter or a tumbler, prick them all over with a fork, and bake them on a griddle. A little additional butter will make them richer, but that is according to taste; cream may be used in place of milk.

A Delicate Omelette - Break eight eggs in a stewpan, to which add a teaspoonful of very finely-chopped parsley, half ditto of salt, a pinch of pepper, and three good tablespoonfuls of cream; beat them well together; then put two ounces of butter in an omelette-pan, stand it over a sharp fire, and, as soon s the butter is hot, pour in the eggs, stir them round quickly with a spoon until delicately set; then shake the pan round, leave it a moment to color the omelette, hold the pan in a slanting position, just tap it upon the stove to bring the omelette to a proper shape, and roll the flap over the spoon; turn it upon your dish, and serve as soon as done. Take care not to do it too much.

Research: What is a ditto measure?

Conclusion: The griddle cakes reminded us of modern day English Muffins. I was surprised how well they turned out without any sweetener. The children loved them. Jam was also provided on the table but the young children ate the cakes without. The eggs were very similar to the egg puffs that I have grown up with. They were also very good. I used fresh parsley from a plant that I over-wintered in a sunny window.

Modern translation:
Griddle Cakes
4 1/2 cups flour plus some to flour your table
6 Tablespoons butter at room temperature
salt
1 - 1.5 cups of milk or cream

Mix all together, adding enough milk to make a stiff dough. Kneed it on a floured surface until smooth. Roll it out thin and cut with biscuit cutters or a large mouthed glass or jar. Prick the tops all over and "bake" them on a buttered griddle. They should turn out like short biscuits, not crackers.

A Delicate Omelette
8 eggs
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh parsley
half ditto of salt
a pinch of pepper
3 Tablespoons of milk or cream
4 Tablespoons of butter

In a bowl combine the eggs, parsley, salt, pepper and milk or cream. Beat them until well mixed. Melt the butter in a pan, preferably an omelet pan. Once it is melted, add the egg mixture. Cover the pan for a moment until the egg has set. Shake the pan or loosen the egg from the sides with a spatula, being careful not to break it. Once it is done, fold the omelet onto your dish and serve hot.