Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1879-02-20
Cookery q Hundred Years Ago.

quaint old volume, issued in 1776 from
Hartford printing house, forms reading mat
ter of an interesting character.
1t is entitled american Cookery or the art
OF dressing yiands, etc, adapted to all grades
OF llte." "a just here it may be remarked, that
If the manual de cuisine in question was adapt
ed to all the grades of the American people
one hundred years ago, the people of that era
must have been generally more prosperously
situated than are those who came hundred
years later; for "all the grades in this nine
teenth century of ours can by no means CON-
mand the somewhat expensive materials that
entered into the "viands" which Miss Sim
mems, the authoress, treats Of.
For instance, the cheapest pudding, for
which she furnishes the receipt, is a "Whitpot,'
which ip- addition to hebread Of which>it is
mainly .eompounded, calls for two quarts Of
rosewater to taste. Her receipt for pump
kin" pie sets forth as the necessaries for its
construction, one quart of stewed and strained
pumpkin, three pipts OF sweet cream, ten
well beaten 'cggs, two glssses Of wine, with
in deep dish with rich puff paste. For sim.
pie rice. pudding" she directs the
use of six ounces of rice in a quart
| of 49, very sweet cream, ~ pound
sof r. sugar sand fourteen s-'eggsS beaten
TO astiffroth, one pound Of raisins, and WINE,
spises and salt e taste, together with rich
lined. The ingredients for "a plain economi-
real Indian pudding" are seven spoonfuls of In
dian meal, three pints of very sweet cream,
seven we'll beaten eggs, half pound OF rails
ins, halfppnnd of butter, the same icompli-
ment Of sugar, besides fiavor!ng Of spices.
was to be composed OF four pounds of raisins,
two Of currants, three of slivered citron, three
Of sugar, two of finely chopped suet, and two
.ef51ne bread crumbs, Ssix ounces Of candied
peel, one each OF nutmeg, mace and CHINA
mon, a pint of brandy, the same of Madeira
we'll beaten. For rfaphin kloaf Icaken there
three 81 butter, Swelve 81 -four, one quart Of
milk, two ounces of cinnamon. two ounces of
Nutmeg a tea cup full Of coriander seed, one
pint ofi,randy, the same compliment rof Ma
deira,win twenty four well beaten <eges, six
''emptins" Miss Simmons does not state the
number of persons which this plain cake"
smay1erYe, but she does Il ID, ff large milk pans
are to be used in baking 1t, that the cake
would then require two hours baking
G tsoss s.ms se s easkne lo 81
great grandmothers there are creams, and
tasts, gand tridess and ,syllabubs upon equally
generous foundations ind of marvellous con-
struction "a fine syllabub from the cow
Was nnade Of aqpart of hard cider, sweetened
with double refined sugar, and seasoned with
plenty of nutmeg. Into, this the COW was
milked'in the proportion deemed necessary,
and over it pint Of cream or more, as wished,
of the sweetest cream obtainable was poured.
In view this sort 1of fare -adapted to all
grades Of society," It might be pertinent to
inquire what becomes of the theory Of the
simple habits in force in the early homes of
our ancestefs; so far as cookery il to Be con
sMsred, il these specimens, are I'd be aecepted
as fair, representative of the whole, the
shousekeeper must have had weigbty subjects
TO deal with ~ The relation of the family fare,
and dyspepsia, it must be supposed, was q
deed nothing short OF robust digestive
organization could; have dealt successfully
with such bills Of fare as Miss Simmons book
provides fo5r,n aid, IN that View perhaps, We
;fiAa the solution Of the tough Cstnews and
dauntless spirits that won us the freedom of
TIE land we cherish" Here is q receipt for plain
Soft gingerbread which, superadded to whose ]
given above, would be . revelation to theI
geniuses Of to-day, who undertake. toi guide
families in the discovery Of nutrimentaf ele-
ments in few cents worth Of food, and where,