Here’s some excerpts from a hundred-year-old cookbook about how to cook hot cereals:
CookingBreakfast Cereals
Cereals are made from hard grains and contain much starch, so require long cooking to make them easily digested. Do not be deceived by directions on the box which say that the contents can be cooked in 15 or 20 minutes. This is never long enough to cook thoroughly and make them fit food for young children.
When the coal range is used, a very convenient way to cook the cereal is to start it cooking at supper time and leave closely covered on the back of the range all night. In the morning it will be found to be well done.
All of the cereals named above may be served hot as mush with cream or milk with or without sugar. Mush may also be served with syrup instead of milk. Cornmeal mush is much liked in this way.
When browsing through a hundred-year-old magazine, I came across a recipe for Hot Slaw with Sour Cream Sauce, and decided to give it a try.
The Hot Slaw was mild, rich, and creamy. The recipe called for only 1 tablespoon of vinegar (and no sugar), so the flavors were much more nuanced than many modern slaws.
1 head of cabbage (approximately 2 pounds; The cabbage should be firm and white.)
2 teaspoons salt
4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon water
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon tarragon vinegar or apple cider vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar.)
Grate or finely shred the cabbage. Stir the salt into the cabbage. Let sit for 30 minutes, then drain and rinse. Press to squeeze out excess water.
In a skillet or large saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in the cabbage. (Do not add water.) Cover and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Several times remove lid and stir to keep the cabbage from scorching, then replace lid. (The idea is to stir enough to prevent scorching, but to keep the steam in as much as possible as the cabbage cooks.) Cook for 10 minutes.
In the meantime, stir water into the flour to make a thick paste. Then stir in the sour cream. Stir the sour cream mixture into the hot cabbage, and cook for 1-2 additional minutes while stirring. Stir in the vinegar and serve.
Careers for women were very limited a hundred years ago. One option was to become a tea room manager, and the Lewis Tea Room Institute was ready to teach women how to become one.
Some recipes in old cookbooks have the strangest titles. For example, I recently came across a hundred-year-old recipe for Tasty Asparagus. In one way the title was very descriptive – it clearly says that the asparagus is tasty. However, in another way, the description is very inadequate. How is the asparagus prepared? What are the main ingredients? I tend to skip over recipes with titles like this, but was intrigued when I saw that this was a recipe for asparagus and onions, and decided to give it a try.
I agree with the recipe author. Tasty Asparagus is tasty. Asparagus and onions make a really nice combination. And, it was quick and easy to make. This recipe is a keeper.
Here’s the original recipe:
By today’s standards, cooking asparagus for half an hour is excessive, so when I updated the recipe I reduced the cooking time substantively. For the cooking oil, I used olive oil. I’m not sure why the old recipe calls for adding the water used to cook the asparagus to the asparagus and onion mixture. I drained some of the excess liquid off before serving.
Trim off the woody ends of the asparagus, and then cut into 1-inch pieces. Put in saucepan, and add about an inch of water. Bring to a boil using high heat, then reduce heat and simmer for 4 minutes. Remove from heat. Drain, but save 1 cup of the water used to cook the asparagus.
In the meantime, put the olive oil in a skillet. Heat oil using medium heat, then add the sliced onions. Cook until the onions are transparent, then add the cooked asparagus pieces and 1-cup of the water in which the asparagus was cooked. Bring to a boil using medium heat, then reduce heat and simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and serve.
I enjoy shredded wheat, but it always seems like a basic breakfast food, so I was surprised to see a recipe in a hundred-year-old cookbook for Shredded Wheat Biscuit with Strawberries (and an option for making it using other berries or fruits). A hole is made in the top of the biscuit to create a basket, which is then filled with the berries.
Here’s the original recipe:
Since the old recipe gave the option of using a variety of different berries or other fruit, when I made this recipe I decided to use a mixture of strawberries and blueberries. When I updated the recipe I changed the name of it from Shredded Wheat Biscuit with Strawberries to Shredded Wheat Biscuit with Berries since it better describes some of the options.
The shredded wheat was lovely with berries.
I didn’t warm the shredded wheat biscuit in the oven. There didn’t seem to be a need. Perhaps the biscuits were more likely to be stale a hundred years ago, and heating in the oven may have made them crispier.
strawberries (quarter if large), blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc.
sugar, if desired
milk or cream
Cut or crush an oblong hole in the shredded wheat biscuit to create a basket. Fill the hole with berries or other fruit. Serve with milk or cream, and sugar (if desired).
Most companies are constantly changing advertising campaigns and taglines. Maxwell House Coffee is the exception. It has used the slogan “good to the last drop” for at least a hundred years.