Old-fashioned Fall Fruit Compote Recipe

19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Tuesday, November 10, 1914: <<no entry>>

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Since Grandma didn’t write anything a hundred years ago today, I t thought you might enjoy an old compote recipe that uses Fall fruits.

Old-Fashioned Fall Fruit Compote

3 pears

3 apples

3/4 cup raisins

1 1/2 cup cider

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Core pears and apples (but do not peel); then cut into 1-inch cubes. Combine cubed pears and apples, raisins, cider, water, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar in large saucepan. Bring to a boil using medium heat. Reduce heat and cook for another 10-12 minutes. Remove from heat; drain using a colander, saving save the liquid. Combine the reserved liquid with the cornstarch; and return to saucepan. Using medium heat, reheat while stirring constantly until the liquid thickens. Remove from heat, and combine with the cooked fruit. Cool and serve.

Makes 4-5 servings

Old-Fashioned Raisin-Filled Cookies Recipe

18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Wednesday, January 14, 1914: Did some experimenting in the baking line this afternoon. Didn’t turn out so bad either. That’s ‘bout all I can think of at present.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Grandma—

What did you make? Maybe some Raisin-Filled Cookies? I remember that we often had them during the winter when I was a kid. They made the perfect after-school snack on cold winter days.

Old-fashioned Raisin-Filled Cookies

Filling

3/4 cup raisins

2/3 cup brown sugar

3 tablespoons flour

2/3 cup water

Combine all filling ingredients and cook over medium heat until thick.

Cookie

1/3 cup shortening

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 cup flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine shortening, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, and soda; then stir in flour. Roll thin and cut into cookies using a round cutter. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Put a spoonful of filling (don’t overfill) in center of cookie. Top with another cookie that has a small circle cut in the center. Firmly press edges together.

Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until cookie is lightly browned.

I have a set of round fondant cut-out cutters. I used the large cutter to make the cookies—and then cut the hole in the center of the top cookies using the small cutter.

When I was a child we made cookies that were a little larger. We used a doughnut cutter that had a removable hole cutter. We removed the hole cutter to make the bottom cookie.

Old-Fashioned Raisin Meringue Pie Recipe (Funeral Pie Recipe)

18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Wednesday, November 19, 1913: Ditto

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Huh???? The previous day Grandma wrote “nothing much,” so I guess that it was another slow day from Grandma’s perspective; but two days prior to this entry Grandma’s maternal grandfather, John Derr, died in the nearby town of Turbotville.

I hope no one’s upset, but I broke a rule I have and peaked ahead in the diary–Rules are made to be broken, aren’t they?—so I know that Grandma will attend his funeral on November 21.

Perhaps Grandma wasn’t doing much, but I bet that friends and neighbors were preparing food to serve for the traditional family gathering after the funeral.

Were they making funeral pies? In the old days in Pennsylvania, raisin pies were often served at funerals and they were called funeral pie.

I’ve seen other blogs that give recipes for a funeral pie that is basically just a two-crust raisin pie. But my memory is that old-fashioned raisin pies in central Pennsylvania generally were raisin custard pies with a meringue topping, so I’ll give you that recipe.

Old Raisin Meringue Pie (Funeral Pie) Recipe

1 cup raisins

water

1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon corn starch

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup milk

2 egg yolks, slightly beaten

2 egg whites

1 9-inch pie shell, baked

Put raisins in small sauce pan, and just barely cover with water. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat and cool. Drain the cooled raisins. Stir the flour, corn starch, and sugar into the raisins; then add the milk and egg yolks. Stir and cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens (comes to a boil). Pour into a pie shell which was previously baked.

In a separate bowl make the meringue. Place egg whites in the bowl, and beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Then spoon on top of the pie. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes or until the meringue is lightly browned.

This pie is different from the typical modern pie, but I really like it. I want to say that this pie will appeal to sophisticated palates—but somehow that doesn’t quite seem right when I’m talking about an old-fashioned food from rural Pennsylvania.

The delicate custard filling has a subtle and nuanced raisin flavor. And, the juicy plumped raisins provide a nice texture contrast to the smooth custard and the airy meringue.

I’m definitely going to make this pie again—and I don’t plan to wait until a funeral to serve it.

Old-Fashioned Mock Cherry (Cranberry Raisin) Pie Recipe

17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Monday, November 25, 1912: Today, don’t remember.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Sounds like a slow day for Grandma. Since she didn’t write much I’ll share a hundred-old-recipe for Mock Cherry Pie that I made for Thanksgiving.

The pie is made with cranberries and raisins. It’s enticingly tart–yet sweet–and a nice addition to my repertoire of Thanksgiving pies; but it tastes (surprise, surprise) more like a cranberry raisin pie than a cherry pie.

Mock Cherry Pie

Pick over and wash three cupfuls of cranberries, and cook in half a cupful of water until broken. Add one cupful of sugar and one cupful of raisins. Bake between crusts in 9-inch pan.

Adapted from recipe in Good Housekeeping (November, 1912)