Omaha daily bee., 1883-04-16
virgi1ia Woman in Ph l,dc.phla Times.

RhoSooo Ioo W po uCOioI VI SudOu
She succeeded, however, In maxim,
very respectable cheeseoakes with sor
ghum.
"Store tea," as the country people
expressed 1t, became almost AZ rare O,
real coffee, and dried raspberry leavel
were used In place of II. The raisin,
that had bean formerly used In fruit
cake and plum pudding, became Q
mere tradition OF the past, dried cur
rants, cherries and huckleberries tax
Ing their place, whilst bleached peach
kernels were used instead of almonds.
When we had the rare good fortune tc
come In ossession of an orange or 6
lemon, the peeli ags of both were care.
fully laid aside for asvorng, and thai
Of the lemon put In . bottle Of vine
gar, answering the place Of lemon
juice, Q very oonvenient makeahift 70,
. housekeeper In q blocksded land, OF
even for one "twelve miles from 9
lemon. The rare old French brandy
that Virginia gentlemen used to koeI
on hand (whisky was oonsidersd Wi.
gar and piebeian In those days) could
no longer be obtained, and hence We
commenced during the war to have
home dhtilleries Of apply brandy,
paving the way for the ''moonAhining'
Of later days.
Fortunately the blockade did not
Affect our home grown articles of food,
our cereals, u bacon, poultry, veget,
ables, etc., and therefore there wa,
less inconvenience felt In regard to
food-at least BY home staying pso
ple-than on any other point. Oul
rolls were as light aud faky as over
our batter cakes and wefls 80 as tempt
ing, while one speciality, batter bread
made of corn meal, milk, and eggs
held Its own despite the blockade. ]
will here make a digres.ion to remark
that this Ia the moat delicious breat
ver eaten when made Ia the old Vir
g!nia style by q jolly, fat old negro
woman who addresses you as "honey'
and who wears a broad grin on hel
face and q bright bandana han6ksr
chief tied around her head. You may
rely on such q woman for making you
the best batter bread and giving yor
the INCEST fried chicken aver tasted
When northern or western people OF
foreigners visit In old Vivgini. FAINT.
lies and taste this batter bread, 1t 4
useless to set before them light bread,
biscuit, or any other kind Of bread
for they will touch nothing else, say
Ing that they never zee anything like
1t at home.
believe we were (tt country neigh.
borhoods, at least) more Strengthened
for want of crookery aud other table
appointments than for want OF food.
Toward the latter part Of the war oul
table demsAk and such niceties had ia
be reserved for state occasions, plain
cotton tableeloths and mats crocheted
Of home made knitting cotton being
employed for daily use. In the per.
rennial Wal between Africa and China,
az q witty acquaintance of mine char,
aoterlzed the onslsughtm made OF china.
ware reached q lamentsbly low ebb In
most households, forbiddipg them to
venture on the elegance of having o
change of plates when fish and other
meats were on the table. I heard an
amusing incident told of a lady during
the war, who, having q considerable
accession of company at tea time, and
finding her supply of tea cups quite
inadequate to the occasion, whispered
to the servant to bring her q little
flower put, which, having a handle on
each side, presented q somewhat cup
like appearance. Detecting q look OF
sstonishment on the faces of tho vIsi-
tors as she handed the vase Of tea tc
her husband, she remarked that II waa
an idiosyncrssy of his to Toxic lis tea
In a flower pot, after which the servants
always spoke of this flower pot az
masters 'syncrasy."
l myself remembered an occasion
Just after the war, before we had had
time to ~replenish our stock Of crock,
cry, when our host at a crowded din
ner table took his soup, with the ut,
most aplomb, out of a broken mouthe6
cream pitcher and cut up hiu food with
a little penknife, converting meantime
with perfect ease and oomposure.
But the aplomb of this household was
something extraordinary, as / saw
tested on another occasion, when
careless little negro having thrown
away the teaspoons In the dishwater
the lady Of the house, with unruf1ed
serenity, served cups Of coffee with
tablespoons to her guests, may ado
for the benefit of the curious, that ths
teaspoons were afterwards found anc
reclaimed from the hog trough into
which the greasy slops we're thrown.
Though in home life, as I have
said before, there was less change ir
diet during the var than in any Other
particular, the soldiers could doubt
less tell a different tale. Though
taking II all In all, I suppose they
Jared a well as soldiers generally do,
sometimes fasting and occasionally
feaating. Whenever they came home
On furlough ''the fatted calf wal
literally slain for them, and wherever
they vent through the country IN
bounded hospitality Yves offered them,
Fond wives and mothers, too, wer,
continually striving to mitigate th'
hard fare of their loved ones by send
Ing them boxes of home food anC
other comforts as frequently az pos
sible. On one occasion an ingenious
lady, who had manufactured a liquiC
shoe blscklng, put a bottle of It In /,
box she was sending to her son. ,