Recipes from 1903
Regina Murphy
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
As you have seen already this summer, Ollie Patton had a great selection of cookbooks.
Her granddaughter Judy shared with us the White House Cookbook and the Aunt Sammy Radio Recipes. Her last offering is the 1903 cookbook prepared by the Ladies Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Albany, Mo.
Well loved, originally stapled, but now held together with a safety pin. The Bank of Albany has an ad on the cover assuring potential customers that they have: “Capital and Surplus of $58,000.00.” That’s good to know!
There are nice ads throughout, which helped pay for the publication of the book. R.C. Shultz, a druggist in Albany was promoting his Edison Phonographs and records. J.F. Skiles was selling oysters, fruit, candies and cigars. What a combination!
There is a wood block print accompanying this ad clearly depicting a man hauling a sea turtle on his back. In Missouri. Then there was “Dr. W. Littlewood: Dealer in Drugs.” I think he would need a rewrite today!
There are several bread recipes, many of which call for graham flour. According to the Larousse Gastronomique, graham flour is a type of whole wheat flour named after the American Presbyterian minister Rev. Sylvester Graham, an early advocate for dietary reform. Graham advocated against white flour and believed that bran was healthiest.
Instead of grinding the entire grain, in graham flour the three parts are ground separately. The endosperm is ground finely, for white flour. Then, the bran and germ are ground coarsely. This gets mixed together to create a coarse-textured flour used today to make graham crackers. This recipe sounded healthy, but I’m not sure one cup of flour is enough — perhaps 1903 flour was very absorbent.
GRAHAM MUFFINS
One pint buttermilk
2 eggs well beaten
1 tsp. soda in milk
2 Tbls. sugar
A little salt
3/4 graham flour
1/4 white flour
1 tsp. baking powder
Beat all together and bake in well greased pans.
SOFT GINGER BREAD
One-half cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 cup molasses
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp. of ginger,
1/2 cup sour milk
1 small tsp. soda
I would sift together the dry ingredients, whisk together the wet ones, stir to combine and bake at 350 degrees in a loaf pan until done — maybe 30 minutes?
There aren’t many actual cooking directions for the recipes, because the ladies assumed everyone already knew what to do! When you have to cook all day, every day, in order to eat I’m sure you memorize it very quickly.
I like coconut a lot, so I pulled this one out for you to try. Do note, however, that the egg is never actually cooked — just air dried.
COCONUT CANDY
Grate the meat of a coconut, having ready 2 pounds of finely sifted white sugar, the beaten whites of 2 eggs and the milk of the nut. Simply mix all together and make into little cakes; in a short while, the candy will be dry enough to use and will be found to be as good as if boiled.
There are a bunch of pie recipes, including a basic pie crust that comes with a stern admonition.
PIE CRUST FOR ONE PIE
“Mix thoroughly 1 cup sifted flour, 1/3 cup lard, 1/4 teaspoon salt; add enough cold water to make stiff; bake thoroughly in not too hot oven. An undone pie crust is a discredit to any cook.”
CHESS PIE
One cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs (keeping out the whites of 2)
Beat sugar, butteR and eggs well together; then pour in milk, fill your pies and bake. When done, add the beaten whites and return to the oven to bake.
My mom used to make chess pie at Christmas, but she didn’t put a meringue on it like this recipe suggests.
No one seems to know where the name came from. One source thinks it is a variation of the word “cheese,” in reference to the color and consistency of the curd.
Another thinks it may have come from the fact it stores well, in a pie chest, ergo “chest pie.” A third person thinks it came from settlers from Chester England. Wherever it came from, it’s awfully good!
The ladies of the Albany Methodist Episcopal Church certainly liked their sweets. There must be seven dessert recipes for each non-dessert one.
QUICK PUFF PUDDING
One pint of flour
1 tsp. of Ferndell baking powder
Pinch of salt
Stir into this sweet milk enough to make a batter; place in a steamer greased cups; put in a spoonful of batter and then one of berries (or any kind of sauce), then cover with batter; steam 20 minutes. This is delicious with strawberries and eaten with a sauce made of 2 eggs, 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup sugar, beaten and stirred into 1 cup of boiling milk; add 1 cup strawberries.
They were eating pretty good over in Albany in 1903.
It’s nice to have a little peek into the past, and perhaps find some inspiration for the present.
Did you know that Sept. 26 is Johnny Appleseed’s birthday? In honor of this gardening guru we’re going to have a bunch of apple recipes next week.
The week after that let’s take a look at what it means to your diet when you have diabetes. There are things you can do, food wise, to avoid developing Type 2 diabetes or to manage it. If you have some recipes or techniques you would like to share, please send them along!
The address is Murphy’s Menu, The Emporia Gazette, P.O. Drawer C, Emporia or e-mail to murphysmenu@yahoo.com. The deadline is 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Let’s get cooking!