Author: Sheryl

Old-Fashioned Peach Salad (Dessert)

Peach Salad

I had some peaches so searched through my hundred-year-old cookbooks for a recipe that called for them, and found a winner. The recipe was called Peach Salad – though I actually would consider it a dessert rather than a salad.

This recipe is easy to make and tasty. The peaches are halved and the cavities filled with a whipped cream and chopped walnut mixture. The peaches are then put back together and topped with additional whipped cream and nuts. The Peach Salad makes a perfect dessert on a hot summer day.

When I served the Peach Salad, I provided both a fork and a knife. The peach could then be cut into several pieces, which made it easier to eat.

Here’s the original recipe:

Peach Salad Recipe
Source: Cement City Cook Book (1922) published by the First Baptist Church, Alpena, Michigan

I did not list “preserved peaches” as an option for this recipe. In my opinion, fresh peaches are the way to go. The old recipe call for “nuts.” I used walnuts.

And, I can’t quite picture this recipe with a candied fruit garnish, so when I updated the recipe I did not include the option of garnishing with candied fruit.. (I’m not even sure where to buy candied fruit in the summer. It seems more like an ingredient that I see in December when people are doing Christmas baking.)

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Peach Salad (Dessert)

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

4 peaches

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons confectioners sugar

2 tablespoons walnuts, chopped + additional chopped walnuts for garnish

Place the whipping cream in a bowl and beat until stiff peaks form. Add confectioners sugar, and continue beating until thoroughly mixed. Stir in 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts.

Cut each peach in half and remove stone.  Place whipped cream and chopped nut mixture in the cavities and put the peaches back together. Top with additional whipped cream mixture. Garnish with additional chopped nuts.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

 

Old-fashioned Rhubarb Custard Pie with Meringue Topping

Slice of Rhubarb Custard Pie

Rhubarb is only available for a short while each spring and summer – and than it is gone until the next year. Since it will be gone all too soon, I always make numerous rhubarb dishes and desserts while it’s in season. Which brings up a question. When does rhubarb season end? I grew up hearing that it ended on the 4th of July – and that the rhubarb plants needed the remainder of the season to recharge so that they’d survive the winter. I continue to follow this rule of thumb – though always want to push the limits and continue eating rhubarb just a little longer.

Before rhubarb season ends, I decided to make another hundred-year-old rhubarb recipe. This time I made Rhubarb Custard Pie. The pie was topped with meringue and the rhubarb custard had just the right amount of tartness.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Rhubard Custard Pie
Source: Good Housekeeping’s Book of Menus, Recipes, and Household Discoveries (1922)

The old recipe states that if you don’t have fresh rhubarb, canned could be used. I’ve never seen canned rhubarb, but am guessing that frozen rhubarb could be used – though didn’t provide directions for using frozen rhubarb since the amount of sugar in the recipe would need to be reduced if the rhubarb had been frozen with sugar – and the needed reduction in sugar would probably vary depending upon the sweetness of the frozen rhubarb.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Rhubarb Custard Pie with Meringue Topping

  • Servings: 5 - 7
  • Difficulty: moderate
  • Print

2 cups rhubarb, diced

3/4 cup sugar + 1/4 cup sugar

2 egg yolks

2 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1 9-inch pie shell

Meringue

2 egg whites

6 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

Rinse diced rhubarb and drain. Combine rhubarb (with a small amount of water clinging to the rhubarb) and 3/4 of sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil using medium heat while occasionally stirring, then reduce heat and simmer until tender (about 7 minutes). Remove from heat and cool.

Preheat oven to 450° F.  Put the egg yolks, 1/4 cup of sugar, flour, salt, and 1 teaspoon lemon juice in a mixing bowl; beat until smooth, then add milk and beat to combine. Stir in the cooked rhubarb. Put the mixture into the prepared pie shell. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 325 ° F. and continue baking for 25 minutes or until the mixture has thickened. Remove from oven, and top with the meringue (see below). Reduce heat to 300° F., and put the pie back into the oven. Cook for an additional 15 minutes or until the meingue is lightly browned.

Meringue

In the meantime, make the meringue. Place egg whites in a bowl, and beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Gradually add sugar while continuing to beat. Then spoon on top of the pie and swirl.

The Time Budget

woman washing dishes

Sometimes time seems to fly by and I get little accomplished. Maybe I need a “time budget.” A hundred-year-old magazine had an article written by a homemaker who described how she used a time budget to keep organized:

The Time Budget 

Before I discovered the magic secret of the time budget my housekeeping drove me to despair. There was always a mob of duties clamoring for my attention at the same time, and not enough hours in the day for half of them, to say nothing of opportunity for needed rest and recreation.

A magazine article opened my eyes to the possibilities of a definite plan for the housewife’s working day. At once I adapted the suggested schedule to my particular needs and began to follow it. And, what a transformation it worked!

Formerly, on some days, I would drudge from morning till night, not even taking time to put on a fresh dress for evening, and sometimes I would give up the unequal struggle and simply loaf through the day. Now, instead of either dawdling along aimlessly, or desperately attacking anything I happened to think of, everything goes by the clock. There was a definite time for getting breakfast, washing dishes, cleaning the kitchen, setting other rooms to rights, bedmaking, each day’s special task, lunch, washing dishes, rest period, dressing for the afternoon, several hours for recreation or congenial employment, dinner, and an outing or a restful evening at home.

The daily time budget involves several other worry-saving methods. One is the children’s schedule, by which the routine of their day is fitted into my plans. Another is the making of menus for a week at a time. The plan which contributes most to my own health and happiness is the weekly schedule, by which the various tasks necessary for the upkeep of the house are allotted to particular days. I no longer bear the burden all at once, but do each days’ allowance- clearning the kitchen, polishing the silver, or mending – and everything is kept in order with a minimum of worry and drudgery.

The use of a time budget is a financial blessing as well. Supplies can be bought more economically for a week or a month, than if someone is sent in frantic haste for a can of something or other a few minutes before the meal. Then, too, the practice of economizing, in time leads, to a greater care in the expenditure of the household money.

In my case the time budget has proved to be an undoubted success, and I am sure my family now enjoys my society more than when they sed to find me discouraged, cross, and – I may as well admit it – untidy, at the end of a far form perfect day. H.S.S.

American Cookery (August/September, 1922)

Old-fashioned Orange Cookies

Orange Cookies

A cookie (or two) makes a nice snack, so I decided to make a hundred-year-old recipe for Orange Cookies. The cookies had a nuanced, but zesty citrus flavor, and were lovely on a hot summer day. They would also work well in the winter on a holiday cookie tray.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Orange Cookies
Source: Cement City Cook Book (1922) compiled by the First Baptist Church, Alpena, Michigan

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Orange Cookies

  • Servings: 50 approximately cookies
  • Difficulty: moderate
  • Print

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

grated rind of one 1 orange

1/4 cup orange juice

1 egg

4 teaspoons baking powder

2 cups flours (a little more may be needed)

additional sugar (granulated)

Preheat oven to 400° F. Put butter and sugar in mixing bowl; cream together. Add grated orange rind, orange juice, egg, and baking powder; mix together. Then add 2 cups flour, stir to combine. If the dough is too sticky to roll, add additional flour.  Roll to 1/4 inch thickness (or thinner if a crispy cookie is desired). Cut into circles or shapes using a cookie cutter. (I cut them into 2-inch circles). Put on prepared baking sheet.  Sprinkle sugar on the tops of the cookies. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes, or until the cookies are set and lightly browned on the bottom. Remove from oven, allow to cool for 1-2 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

Automobile Picnics

Chalmers Light Six Car
Source: Kimball’s Dairy Farmer Magazine (June 1, 1914)

The weather is delightful. It’s time for a picnic. Here are some hundred-year-old tips for an automobile picnic.

For picnics the beverages and hot dishes may be prepared at home and carried in thermos food jars. The cold dishes may be packed in a small portable refrigerator. The biscuits, sandwiches, cakes, and cookies should be carefully wrapped in wax paper and packed in boxes. Ice creams may be taken in the freezer. Hot sandwiches and bacon may be cooked over the coals or on a portable oil or alcohol stove. In some menus it may be desirable to omit or modify a few of the dishes, if the food is to be carried several miles.

For Luncheon and Supper Guests (1922) by Alice Bradley

Rhubarb en Casserole

Rhubarb en Casserole in dish

Rhubarb is one of my favorite spring foods. These days many fruits are available year round, but rhubarb remains seasonal – which always makes it seems extra special when I finally get some. This year I decided to try a hundred-year-old recipe for Rhubarb en Casserole.

The recipe was simple, and only called for three ingredients – rhubarb, brown sugar, and raisins –  which are mixed together and then put in a casserole dish and baked in the oven until the rhubarb is tender.

The Rhubarb en Casserole was delightful. It was nice combination of tart and sweet with lovely caramel undertones. I’ve eaten many rhubarb dishes over the years, but most call for white sugar. I think  this is the first time that I’ve ever seen a rhubarb recipe that called for brown sugar, and it added a nice new flavor dimension. Rhubarb en Casserole can be served either hot or cold.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Rhubarb en Casserole
Source: Good Housekeeping’s Book of Menus, Recipes, and Household Discoveries (1922)

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Rhubarb en Casserole

  • Servings: 4 - 5
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

4 cups unpeeled rhubarb, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350° F.  Put cut rhubarb in cold water, then drain. Add brown sugar and raisins; stir to combine. Put it in a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish, and cover. Bake until the rhubarb is tender – about 45 minutes. Serve hot or cold.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com