Dear Sis,
Our reenacting meeting this month was all about Thanksgiving traditions. Thanksgiving became a national holiday during the Civil War, causing it to be a more festive season than Christmas! We had a lot of fun making some mid-20th century recipes and eating the dishes other ladies had made:) These are the historic recipes we used with modern measurements and directions to ease the way for other 21st century home cooks:
Baked Goose
A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Class (1852)
Goose
6 potatoes
6 onions
4 apples
12 sage leaves
2 ounces of butter
pepper
salt
flour
Pluck and pick out all the stubble feathers thoroughly clean, draw the goose, cut off the head and neck, and also the feet and wings, which must be scalded to enable you to remove the pinion feathers from the wrings and the rough skin from the feet; split and scrape the inside of the gizzard, and carefully cut out the gall from the liver. These giblets well stewed, as shown in the recipe for Giblet Pie, will serve to make a pie for another day’s dinner. Next stuff the goose in the manner following, viz.: First put the potatoes to bake in the oven, or even in a Dutch oven; and, while they are being baked chop the onions with the apples and sage leaves, and fry these in a saucepan with the butter, pepper, and salt; when the whole is slightly fried, mix it with the pulp of the six baked potatoes, and used this very nice stuffing to fill the inside of the goose. The goose being stuffed, place it upon an iron trivet in a baking dish containing peeled potatoes and a few apples; and half-a-pint of water, pepper and salt, shake some flour over the goose, and bake it for about an hour and a-half.
* recipe also suggested with duck
- 3 pound duck, thawed, neck and giblets removed
- 3 medium potatoes, baked, peeled, and mashed
- 3 small onions, finely chopped
- 2 small apples, finely chopped
- 9 sage leaves, chopped
- 2 T butter
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 T flour
- 5-6 medium potatoes, peeled
- 2-3 small apples, cored
- Sauté onion, apple, and sage in butter in a skillet over medium heat until tender and liquid is cooked away.
- Mix sautéed mixture into mashed potatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Preheat oven to 375 and set out a roasting pan.
- Stuff potato apple sage mixture into chest cavity of duck. Place stuffed duck on a rack in a roasting pan. Dust duck with salt, pepper, and flour.
- Arrange peeled potatoes and cored apples around duck. Add 1 cup water. Cover and bake one and a-half hours.
To Make Good Plane Buns
The Book of Household Management (1861)
1 pound flour
6 ounces of good butter
1/4 pound of sugar
1 egg
nearly 1/4 pint of milk
2 small teaspoonfulls of baking-powder
a few drops of essence of lemon
Warm the butter, without oiling it; beat it with a wooden spoon; stir the flour in gradually with the sugar, and mix these ingredients well together. Make the milk lukewarm, beat up with the yolk of the egg and the essence of lemon, and stir these to the flour, etc. Add the baking-powder, beat the dough well for about 10 minutes, divide it into 24 piees, put them into puttered tins or cups, and bake in a brisk oven for 20-30 minutes. Sufficient to make 12 buns. Seasonable at any time.
- 3 c flour
- 1/2 c sugar
- 4 t baking powder
- 3/4 c salted butter
- 1 egg
- 3/4 c milk
- 1/4 t lemon extract or a few drops lemon oil
- Preheat oven to 450.
- Whisk together dry ingredients.
- Cut in butter.
- Stir in egg, milk, and lemon extract or oil until just combined.
- Press out dough on a floured surface and cut with floured biscuit cutter.
- Bake normal biscuits 12-14 minutes and small ones 8-10 minutes.
- Makes 1 dozen normal biscuits or 2 dozen small ones.
Apple Sauce
Directions for Cookery, In its Various Branches (1840)
Pare, core, and slice some fine apples. Put them into a saucepan with just sufficient water to keep them from burning, and some grated lemon-peel. Stew them until quite soft and tender. Then mash them to a paste, and make them very sweet with brown sugar, adding a small piece of butter, and some nutmeg.
Apple sauce is eaten with roast pork, goose, and duck. Be careful not to have it thin or watery.
- 8 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
- 1/4 c water
- zest of a lemon
- 1/4 c dark brown sugar
- 1 T salted butter
- 1/4 t ground nutmeg
- Simmer apples, water, and zest in a saucepan until tender, 15-20 minutes.
- Mash. Stir in brown sugar, butter, and nutmeg. Cook to thicken as needed.
- Serve warm or cool.
Boiled Parsnips
The Book of Household Management (1861)
Parsnips; to each gallon of water allow 1 heaping tablespoonful of salt.
Wash the parsnips, scrape them thoroughly, and, with the point of the knife, remove any black specks about them, and, should they be very large, cut the thick part into quarters. Put them into a saucepan of boiling water salted in the above proportion, boil them rapidly until tender, which may be ascertained by thrusting a fork into them; taking them up, draining them, and serve in a vegetable-dish. This vegetable is usually served with salt fish, boiled port, or boiled beef: when sent to table with the latter, a few should be placed alternately with carrots round the dish, as a garnish.
Large parsnips, 1 to 1 1/2 hours; small ones, 1/2 to 1 hour. Allow 1 for each person. Seasonable form October to May.
- 3 parsnips, peeled and coined
- 6 carrots, peeled and coined
- salt
- Simmer parsnips and carrots in salted water until tender, 20-30 minutes.
- Serve warm.
William got silly when it was time to leave and put my coat on instead of his.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Love,
b