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Oranged Yams
This recipe
has
been in my family for a number of years. The first
time I remember
it was in 1947 when I was 5. My grandmother told me
that she had
it passed on to her from her mother. It is a very easy
recipe and most
delicious.
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6 fresh
yams (or sweet potatoes)
2 oranges
2 cups
orange juice
1 cup dark
brown sugar
1 cup white
granulated sugar
3 table
spoons corn starch
1 bag
marshmallows
Peel the yams
and cut into equal sized pieces. Boil the potatoes
until
tender.
Place the yams into a deep casserole dish. In a sauce
pan place the
orange juice. Add the brown sugar, white sugar, and the
zest (the scraped
peel) of one orange. Bring to a boil. Slowly add
the corn starch
stirring constantly until thick. Pour the sauce over
the yams in the
casserole dish. Slice one orange and place the slices
on top of the
yams. Cover the sliced oranges with marshmallows.
Place into the
oven set at 350 degrees and bake for 1/2 hour.
****************************************************************************
Here is a great
recipe for old fashioned biscuits...and I do mean old.
I found it in
the 1842 diary of Alice Stephen. She stated that it
had been in her
family for generations. She baked them in a dutch
oven and
sometimes
used what we now know as a "reflector fire." I use
this recipe when
camping and it is GREAT!
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Wagon Train Biscuits
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2 cups
flour
4 teaspoons
sugar
2 teaspoons
salt
1 teaspoon
soda
4 teaspoons
baking powder
2/3 cup
(lard) shortening
2/3 cup
buttermilk
Measure all
dry
ingredients and place into a large bowl. Cut in
shortening
thoroughly,
until mixture looks like meal. Stir in
buttermilk.
If dough is not pliable, add just enough buttermilk to
make a soft,
puffy, easy-to-roll dough. Round up dough on lightly
floured
cloth-covered
board. Knead lightly 20 to 25 times, about 1
minute.
Roll out until 3/4 inch thick. Cut with floured biscuit
cutter (I use
a wine glass). Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake in
a 450 degree
oven for about 10 to 12 minutes.
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HOME-MADE CRANBERRY SAUCE
This is a very
easy sauce to make and to hot-bath can. This recipe
makes about 6
pints of sauce and takes less than an hour to make. The
origins of this
recipe go way back into history. Women made this
sauce all the
time in the 1800's.
**********************************************************************
3 bags
of
cranberries
4 cups
water
4 cups
sugar
zest of
1 orange
1 pkg pectin
In an 8-quart
pot, combine the water & sugar. Bring to a boil
stirring until
sugar dissolves. Cover pot; boil 1 minute. Add 2lbs or
8 cups
(approximately
3 bags) of fresh, washed, cranberries. Cover
pot and reduce
heat to medium. Cook until skins burst and the berries
are tender (this
takes about 5 - 15 minutes). Place mixture into food
processor or
use a funnel-shaped colander and bring mixture to desired
texture (jellied
to a heavy pulp are the textures). When done, return
cranberries to
pot and add the zest of 1 orange. Bring to a slow boil
stirring
frequently.
Add the pectin and cook for 15 minutes. Place
the cranberry
sauce into sterile pint jars and follow the procedure
for
hot-bath
canning.
Makes about 6 pints of delicious cranberry sauce.
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HOME-MADE EGGNOG
This seasonal
beverage is difficult to make, but well worth the effort
and will warm
the cockles of the coldest hearts. This drink goes
back to jolly
ol' England to almost the beginning of time. I found it in the
1851 diary
Elizabeth
Staten. This is the real eggnog and this recipe is far
better than any
store-bought eggnog.
**********************************************************************
1 dozen
eggs size "large" or bigger
1 teaspoon
salt
2 cups
light rum
2 cups
granulated sugar
2 quarts
heavy cream
Brandy
Nutmeg
In a large
bowl,
beat eggs until light and foamy. Add sugar and salt,
beating until
thick and lemon colored. The thicker the better. Stir
in the rum then
the heavy cream.
It is best to
chill for 3 hours before serving. Before serving, stir
again.
Place 2 oz brandy in each punch glass, add mixture and
garnish with
nutmeg.
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Gold Rush Pork Chops
I found this
recipe
in the 1850 diary of Mary Stevenson. This was her Sunday mid-day
meal and was
served with mashed potatoes, gravy, home grown veggies, and of course,
home made
biscuits
and jam. She used, according to her diary, a wood burning stove to
cook on and
bake.
They had brought it from Virginia. Mary married her husband when
she was 14, six
months before they left for California.
4 pork chops 1
inch thick min.
2 apples sliced
2 cups apple
cider
flour
salt, pepper,
cinnamon, nutmeg
Combine the
flour,
salt, pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Roll pork chops in this
mixture
and brown the
chops. When chops are brown, turn down heat, add flour mixture
for
the
gravy, top chops
with sliced apples and add the apple cider until the chops are covered.
Simmer until
tender, About 1 hour. When down, the chops will be in gravy.
************************************************************************
Think potato
salad is something new? Think again, here is a recipe
for a good Irish
potato salad I found in the 1849 diary of Charlotte
Pengra.
She said that an Irish woman emigrant, whom she couldn't
remember her
name, gave her this recipe. It is excellent and I hope
that you like
too.
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Emigrant Potato Salad
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18
medium-sized
potatoes
3
medium-sized
onions, diced
9 cups
diced celery
3 medium
cucumbers, diced
9 sweet
green bell peppers, diced
9 pimentos,
cut
1 doz.
eggs, boiled hard, peeled
1 teaspoon
celery salt
3 cups
mayonnaise *
Wash and cook
the potatoes without paring. Cool, peel, and slice (or
cube).
Blend all ingredients well, taking care they do not lose their
identity.
Refrigerate or keep on ice.
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EMIGRANT'S STEW
This recipe is
as old as the West itself. I found it in the 1844 diary of Mary
Libby.
It is relatively easy to make and delicious. I've made it so manny
times that I've
lost count. It is even better if done on a camping trip over an
open fire.
One then can tell stories around the fire while eating the stew just
as the emigrants
must have done.
**********************************************************************
Go hunting and
get your meat. If you're a greenhorn or unlucky, then
beef will have
to do. Build your fire and get out your cast iron pot.
Brown 3
lbs beef cubes in 3 Tabsp shortening
Place
browned
beef cubes and drippings into a large, heavy pot
ADD: 1
red onion coarsely shopped
2 tsp salt; pepper
2 Tablespoon flour, stirred in
2 cups canned tomatoes with juice
1 tsp dry mustard
Cover and cook slowly for about 1 hour or until meat is tender.
ADD: 1
turnip
cut into small cubes
4 peeled potatoes (figure on 1 potato per person)
2 cups diced celery
8 or more carrots peeled cut into bite sized pieces
2 cloves of garlic
8 pearl onions
4 cups water (may be more water you need to cover ingredients)
Cover and
simmer
at least 1 to 2 hours until the vegetables and
potatoes are
tender. Serve hot. Fresh baked bread is excellent with
this old time
stew.
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Tom & Jerry Batter
This beverage
goes back to both 1600 Ireland and Merry Ol' England.
Even though it
is now served as a holiday drink, it's original usage
was for all
winter
long. Many a cold winter night was warmed by the
pioneers by
sharing
mugs of hot Tom & Jerries. This recipe is far
better than the
jar of the batter that can be purchased in most liquor
stores.
The store version, and this original recipe that I found in a
1851 diary have
little in common except that both are served hot. They
don't even taste
the same. The recipe is kind of hard but I am sure
you'll find that
it is worth the work and you will enjoy it.
**********************************************************************
12 whole
eggs, separated
1 1/2
teaspoons
baking soda
1 1/2 cups
superfine sugar
1 1/2
teaspoons
nutmeg
1 cup light
rum
2 oz brandy
2 oz rum
hot water
(or warm milk can be substituted)
In a mixing
bowl,
whisk the egg whites until it forms soft peaks. In
another mixing
bowl (large), whisk the egg yokes until they become
frothy.
Fold the stiff whites into the yokes. Add the baking soda,
sugar, and 1
cup light rum. Whisk it all together to form a stiff
batter.
Place a
tablespoon
of the batter into a warm beer mug. Add 2 oz
brandy, 2 oz
rum, and fill the rest of the mug with hot water. Mix
together
well.
Top with nutmeg. Serve and enjoy.
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OLD FASHION TURKEY
I discovered
this
recipe in the 1847 diary of Mrs. Elizabeth Kent.
She was from
Virginia and went to California in a wagon train. I have
modified it to
make it work in today's world. It’s the best I’ve ever had!
**********************************************************************
Hunt and
dress your turkey properly
Start your
fire and have plenty of wood handy
1 - 16 -
20 lb turkey (fresh is better than frozen)
1 lb of
fresh sausage
4 pkgs
of bread cubes with the spices included
1 stalk
of celery
1 medium
size red onion
3 fresh
apples, cored and sliced
1 pkg dried
apricots
1 pkg dried
peaches
1 pkg dried
pears
1 box
raisins
1/2 lb
walnuts, chopped
1/4 lb
butter, melted
chicken
or turkey broth
1/2 gal
apple cider (apple juice may be used)
1/4 lb.
butter (this is for the basting sauce)
Chop onions
and
celery med. fine, not too large and not too small.
Brown sausage
then saute' onions and celery in sausage drippings. Cut
dried fruit into
quarters min. In a very large bowl or pot (I use a
canning pot)
add one bag of bread cubes with envelope of seasoning (I
always add my
own seasons such as sage, poultry seasoning, garlic, and
etc.).
Add some sausage, onion & celery mixture, sliced apples, and
each type of
dried fruit, raisins, and walnuts. Add the next bag of
bread cubes and
repeat the layering. Do this until all the dry
ingredients are
used. Add the melted butter followed by chicken broth
or turkey broth
and mix the dressing until you obtain the desired
texture or
moisture
you like.
Stuff the turkey. Place extra dressing in a casserole dish and bake.
Put the apple
cider (fresh is the best if you can get it) and 1/4 lb
butter warm the
cider until the butter melts. Stir the mixture before
basting.
Baste every 30 - 45 min. until turkey is done.
Make turkey gravy in usual manor.
This recipe
can
be used for oven baking OR barbecuing the turkey.
When barbecuing,
bank the coals and place a drip pan under the turkey
to catch the
drippings for your gravy. Barbecuing gives the bird a
more authentic
flavor of the old way as the pioneers must have enjoyed
turkey.
This dressing is good for any kind of fowl.
****************************************************************************
Bart's Pioneer Barbecue Sauce
**********************************************************************
1 large
red onion chopped
1 cup dark
brown sugar
3
tablespoons
whole mustard seed
1/4 cup
paprika
1
tablespoon
Magi *
2
tablespoons
crushed oregano
2
tablespoons
chili powder
2
tablespoons
crushed black pepper
1
tablespoon
salt
1
tablespoon
ground cloves
3 bay leaves
3 cloves
garlic, chopped
3 cups
catsup
1 1/2 cups
water
3/4 cups
olive oil
3/4 cups
tarragon vinegar
1/4 cup
red wine vinegar
1/8 cup
liquid smoke
Combine all
ingredients
in a saucepan: simmer gently for 20 to 25
minutes or till
the consistency you like. Great on beef, chicken, or
pork. You
may can this sauce using the "hot bath" method.
* Maggi is
like
MSG but without all the side affects that MSG causes.
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