Syringes and presses for fancy cookies

The familiar aluminum Mirro cookie press of the 1960s was preceded by Swedish sprutas, syringes, biscuit forcers & presses.  The dough is forced out as a long "ornamental" ribbon, then cut into individual cookies.

Pine Apple Syrup for ice cream and Pineapple ice cream

Elizabeth Ellicott Lea's recipe for Pine Apple Syrup was "to season ice cream."  Mary Randolph's Virginia Housewife included a pineapple ice cream recipe as did the British author Nutt in 1819. The 1749 article on ananas (pineapple; below) may have been read by George Washington or Charles Carroll, Barrister, of Baltimore who each had a pinery to grow the expensive plant before 1800. Incredible picture of selling some of the "35,000 pines" that arrived at London in 1847 on one ship.

"Tricks" done on Halloween in Pa. Dutch areas

In the mid1800s, Halloween was celebrated "roughly" -  parts of a wagon were put in different trees, gates taken off hinges, wooden steps removed, taking wagons apart and rebuilt in a stable, and other extreme tricks.  And the food history part?  Throwing corn or string beans, hanging beets and cabbages at doors, OK maybe not too relevant, but I am amazed by the caliber of the tricks!

Apple cider press in 1840s Germany

The lovely long curved oak trough and millstone, apple press, and 'monstrous tuns' were used to turn the "golden apples" into "apple-wine" or cider.  Cows pulled the wagons during the harvest.

Citron melons for ice cream, jelly, sweetmeats, marmalade, tarts, sauce (applesauce) and syrup

The melon cannot be eaten unprocessed but when cooked in sugar water it is candied and used in cakes, puddings, mincemeat, green custard;  it's pectin will help other fruit jellies; a substitute for applesauce or pie/tarts filling; or pickled like watermelon rind.

Dog powered turnspits

A little dog - the turnspit dog - ran inside the wheel high on the wall which turned the spit in front of the fire.  The turn-spit was mentioned in a 1601 inventory (dog-wheell). Several early quotes from 17th through 19th century writings.

Southern Maryland Stuffed Ham and Oyster dinners in St. Mary's County, MD

These fundraising annual dinners are held in church rec halls and fire departments in St. Mary's County.  The corned ham - wet cured with unusual taste - is stuffed with kale, cabbage, celery, onions & lots of red pepper, detailed in post HERE

Schnitz - dried apple slices, 1749 Schnitz House, schnitz baskets, schnitz un knepp

Schnitz are slices of apples placed on drying racks then put in a slack brick bake oven.  People could gather for 'apple cuts' parties, or in a building such as the Schnitz House. The dried apples were stored in rye baskets in the Lancaster, Pa. area and prepared in pies or Schnitz un Knepp.

Seckel or Seckle Pears originally from Philadelphia

The Seckel pear, the "finest pear," had a celebrated ‘original tree’ on Seckel’s farm, later part of the Stephen Girard estate, south of Philly.  The tree was said to have been found in the 1760s, survived for decades and was even pictured in magazines.

Asenath Nicholson - from Graham crackers to the Irish famine

Asenath Nicholson (1792-1855) started as a teacher then social activist, writer, managed Graham boarding houses in NYC, vegetarian and traveled alone through Ireland 1844-5, and 1847-9 during the famine.  She wrote two cookbooks -  Nature’s Own Book 1835 (27 recipes in 9 of the 84 pages) and her 1848 A Treatise on Vegetable Diet (60 recipes in 10 of the pages).

Soyer's Dublin Soup Kitchen 1847

Alexis Soyer (1810-1858) went to the aid of the starving poor during the Irish potato famine by designing a soup kitchen and recipes.  He was the famed chef and designer of the Reform Club kitchen from 1837-1850, inventor and writer.

Brandied Peaches

Another of the 10 peach recipes in Maryland's Elizabeth Ellicott Lea Domestic Cookery - Peaches in Brandy. The glorious peach on the right was obtained by pouring "boiling water on them, and wipe off the down."  When done properly, the skin came off easily; the other two of the first batch were... not smooth...at all 

Mary Randolph's Peach ice cream

Mary Randolph's Virginia Housewife, first published in 1824, included many ice cream recipes - peach, vanilla, coffee, chocolate, cocoa nut, iced jelly, strawberry, raspberries, lemonade iced, citron melon, almond and... oyster.

Shrimpers

Standing in water for hours pushing their nets ahead of them in the sand, the picturesque Shrimpers captured the shrimp and/or prawns.  When prepared, the shrimp formed "a delightful show, their brilliant red coats being garnished with green parsley." From Pyne's 1827 book.

Summer Kitchen # 2 - 18th century out-kitchens

In a previous post - 7 years ago, (when this post was written, oops) - HERE, I discussed 19th century 'summer kitchens'.  In the 18th century they were called 'out kitchens', or just 'kitchens'.  The reason for the detached kitchens? - to keep homes "...more cool and Sweet" and "...because the Smell of hot Victuals, offensive in the hot Weather."

Camp cookery - outdoor stewstove and improvised ovens

Stew stoves - one of my favorite flue-zies - were described in a 1882 camping book. The image shows two green logs flattened along the top to securely place the pots and pans over coals from the main fire.  Another camping book had illustrations of different pots and pans used to make ovens.

"The Nursery Chair" and a Gingerbread & lemonade stand

Two poems in a children's book from 1880.  In the first poem, the little girl is "plucking the raisins so rich" from her [Queen Cakes?] "cake that is flavoured with spice."  In the second poem - the children asked “If you please, Mrs. Grumpy, we’d like lemonade, and sweet sugar candy with almonds inlaid.”

Alligator Pears since 1600 (Aguacates, Alvacatas, Avocados)

The avocado, once called the Alligator Pear, appeared in books since the early 17th century, and by mid 1800s in London was "much eaten by all classes of people."  In 1696 Hans Sloane was able to cite numerous names for the fruit from books. Originally from Mexico, it was grown in the West Indies, St Augustine (1766) Florida, and California in the later part of the century. Claimed to taste like chestnuts, was "superior to the peach" and often served as a salad with French dressing (recipes below).

S'mores

For Girl Scouts, and now most campers, s'mores are THE summer campfire treat.  And no, you can't eat just one.  From the 1965 official GS calendar - "'S'mores'... that favorite campfire dessert."  The recipe "Some More" is from a 1927 GS book, and "S'mores" started appearing by the 1940s.  

4th of July Kitchen Parade

A variety of kitchen items become musical instruments in this 1890 sketch: "Fourth of July in the Kitchen."  Click to enlarge, closeups below...