Old Cookbooks historickitchen.com
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The 1884 textbook from Boston Cooking School Chemical Leavenings chapter using AI. Create free illustrations using my link here https://creator.nightcafe.studio/?ru=out-of-print-books for me to earn credits. They're hoping you join, but your free credits refresh!!
"The soda now used in cooking is the bicarbonate of soda, —an alkali made from the ashes of marine plants, or, more recently, from sea salt. Crude soda is known as sal-soda, or soda-saleratus ; when refined and cleared of its impurities, it is carbonate and bicarbonate of soda, the latter having twice as much carbonic acid gas as the carbonate. Potash is another fixed alkali made from wood ashes. Pearlash is purified potash. Saleratus is prepared from pearlash by exposing it to carbonic acid gas.
"Pure, strong alkalis are powerful corrosive poisons, eating the coats of the stomach perhaps quicker than any other poisonous agent. This caustic or burning property is somewhat weakened by the carbonic acid united with them, and is therefore less in bicarbonate of soda than in the potash compounds. The latter are now seldom used. Alkalis when properly combined with acids lose this poisonous property; the carbonic acid gas is liberated, and the compound formed by this union is called a neutral salt, being neither acid nor alkaline. When not properly combined, if the acid be stronger than the alkali, the salt is acid ; and if the alkali be in excess, the salt is alkaline and still poisonous.
"Soda has a great affinity for water; and when wet, a combination takes place which allows some of the carbonic acid gas to escape. This may easily be seen by the effervescence which occurs when soda is dissolved in hot water. This, the old way of using soda, was theoretically wrong, as much of the gas was lost; yet practically good results were obtained, because the saleratus formerly used was much stronger than the bicarbonate of soda of to-day, and could well be weakened.
"Soda alone, when mixed with wet dough, will give off gas enough to raise the dough ; but it leaves a strong alkaline taste and a greenish yellow color, and, being poisonous, must be neutralized by an acid, or else its use is not admissible. The best acid for this purpose is one which does not liberate the gas instantly on contact with the soda, before the heat can fix the air cells, and also the one which leaves no unwholesome residue.
"Muriatic Acid, which is sometimes used, would be the best, as it leaves only common salt as a residue; but the gas is liberated instantly, and only a skilled hand can mix the bread and place it in the oven without losing much of the gas.
"Cream of Tartar, which is tartaric acid combined with potash, and is obtained from the crystals or argols which collect in wine casks, is preferred by chemists. Being only slightly soluble in cold water, it unites with soda only when heated, and the gas is not all liberated until the mixture is in the oven. The residue from the union is Rochelle salt, which is not injurious taken occasionally in small quantities. The objections to cream of tartar are these : being very expensive (the price varying with the grape crop), it is often adulterated with alum and other harmful substances; and the proportions of soda and cream of tartar are often guessed at instead of being accurately measured. The only safe way to use these chemicals is to purchase cream of tartar of a reliable chemist, and to measure carefully one level teaspoonful of soda to two full teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar for one quart of flour. It takes a trifle more than twice the quantity of cream of tartar to make the reaction complete. The soda must be finely pulverized before measuring ; rub it on the board with a knife, measure, and then sift through the finest wire strainer into the flour. Sifting with the flour through an ordinary flour sieve is not enough. Cream of tartar does not become lumpy like soda ; but it is better to sift it, and salt also, into the flour, and then sift all together two or three times. There is no greater abomination in cooked food than a spot of soda, even if it be but the size of a pin-head, and no one should excuse such negligence.
"Baking-Powders.—When your druggist or cook is not to be relied upon, use a baking-powder which has been tested and proved pure. Pure baking-powders are soda and cream of tartar mixed by weight in the proper proportion, and combined with rice flour, cornstarch, or some harmless ingredient to insure their keeping. To allow for this starch the measure should be a little more than the combined amount of soda and cream of tartar; three rounding teaspoonfuls of baking-powder being equal to one level teaspoonful of soda and two full teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar. One even teaspoonful of baking-powder for each cup of flour is a convenient formula.
"Soda is also neutralized by sour milk or lactic acid. This is economical, particularly for those who have pure milk and more than they can use while it is sweet. But milk is often adulterated, and, in winter, grows bitter before it sours ; and the degree of acidity varies so much that the result is often failure. Sour milk is best when it sours quickly, and is thick and smooth, not separated. One even teaspoonful of soda to one pint of nicely thickened or loppered milk is the proportion. When the milk tastes or smells sour, but is not thick, use it as sweet milk in gingerbread or brown bread, where you have molasses to complete the acidity. Add a very little more soda if the receipt call for sweet milk, or a little less if for sour milk.
"Nearly all kinds of soda biscuit, muffins, gems, etc., should have the dry ingredients mixed in one bowl, and the liquids, such as milk, eggs, melted butter, etc., in another ; and when ready to bake, stir the two quickly and thoroughly together, and bake immediately in a very hot oven.
"Molasses gives another acid which is combined with soda, to raise and lighten dough. Directions for its use are given under rules for brown bread and molasses gingerbread." -- Mary J. Lincoln, 1884
Historic, archived document: Do not assume content reflects current scientific knowledge, policies, or practices.
Cute, sort of! a cornstarch hint.
07/19/2024
https://www.patreon.com/posts/108400006
Soups. Introduction. The Boston Cook Book by Mary J. Lincoln, 1884 | Cookbooks Get more from Cookbooks on Patreon
07/16/2024
I'm creating a video based on Mary J. Lincoln's 1884 book, The Boston Cook Book. I've spent the last hours enjoying AI creation trying to get an ice house --- to store all that food we're talking about -- that I liked. Here's the final choices, in order of how I like them. This is for the chapter on Soups, and it's all about capturing left-overs, so you need good storage. A refrigerator is a good idea.😃
Hands are tingling with hot peppers -- so good to finally make fresh salsa again!
06/27/2024
"Judgment-Tina Crabapple" says that unless you have your own peach tree, you don't know how real peaches taste. Is that true? Went grocery shopping this morning. AI, not really me, one and only Judgmentina Crabapple from the Beverly Crabapple family.
Mary Lincoln's 'The Boston Cook Book' from 1884 provided ideas for this musical introduction to eggs. Mary Lincoln, who was the principal of The Boston Cooking School, wrote 'The Boston Cook Book' as a textbook. Later, Fannie Farmer became principal of the school and authored 'The Boston Cooking School Cook Book.'
06/23/2024
Rory and I signed up for NightCafe's "no credits" offer letting us make free creations until October. We're having so much fun like kids in a candy store. This is an ad so I can earn more credits -- which roll-over and never expire on NightCafe. Good friends don't allow friends to post ads on FB, but, but... here's my link: https://creator.nightcafe.studio/?ru=out-of-print-books thank you!
05/29/2024
Hello everyone! Seinfeld brought our attention to cereals, which most of us grew up with anyway. Shaped cereals began as a healthy alternative to eggs and ham, &c. from the likes of Shredded Wheat, Kellogg's, Post. When Shredded Wheat founders invented a cereal-making machine, they wanted to sell to homemakers so we would all make shaped cereals. They didn't sell as planned, so the founders made the cereal themselves, and were glad they did... Shredded Wheat, we heard of them. Today extrusion machines sell for the price of a new car and take up about as much space. I found one small extrusion machine for $500-600 USD, but, but... https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806589001787.html perhaps a company can make a kitchen model to go next to our pasta-making machines? Although, before I go ga-ga over the possibility for a home model extruder and clear space on the countertop, I should reread this article I just found. https://www.just-making-noise.com/the-dirty-secrets-of-processed-cereal-make-your-own/. Yet I'd still buy one.
05/23/2024
In the 1880s women feared they'd be considered shiftless if they 'haven't a pie in the house.' Page from The Boston Cook Book, by Mary J. Lincoln, 1884.
05/21/2024
"Troll House Cookies" -- made by my husband in AI at NightCafe. I think it's pretty funny.
"Troll House Cookies!" III - AI Generated Artwork AI Art Generator App. ✅ Fast ✅ Free ✅ Fun. Create amazing artworks using artificial intelligence.
05/19/2024
a restaurant excerpt from "Predestined" by Stephen French Whitman, 1910— "Felix, at the most inconspicuous table, consumed a soup redeemed from tastelessness by grated parmesan, a sliver of fish and four slices of cucumber, spaghetti, a chicken leg, two cubic inches of ice cream, a fragment of roquefort cheese, and coffee in a small, evidently indestructible cup. Then, through to***co smoke, he watched the patrons round him, their feet twisted behind chair-legs, their elbows on the table, all arguing with gesticulations. Sometimes, there floated to him such phrases as: “bad color scheme!” “sophomoric treatment!” “miserable drawing!” “no atmosphere!” Benedetto's was a Bohemian [artist] resort." [pic AI generated from story]
05/18/2024
Forgotten history: The tired sisters would just rather go to a restaurant. But it's in the 1800s -- what would their father say? Inspired by the 1896 book, "Some Modern Heretics: A Novel" by Cora Maynard——
"And the alternative of tramping out to restaurants at all hours was a Bohemianism which, in spite of her late advancement, she could not contemplate serenely. It appeared positively disreputable. If her father knew of the actual circumstances of her situation a prompt withdrawal of his original consent would have cut short Vida’s visit on the spot; but she left him in tranquil ignorance . . .
"By seven o’clock the girls realized that it was time to have dinner, and then came Vida’s great trial. It was too late to think of cooking anything themselves, so there was nothing to do but face the restaurant.
“...It’s a little quiet place we’re going to. I’ve often been. You know we girls don’t believe in being restricted by senseless prejudices. Good gracious, one can’t be so dreadfully hampered in these days of rationality!
"Before long Vida got used to the restaurant, and even enjoyed it when they felt too tired or too lazy to struggle with the cookbook.”
Thanks again to Jan Whitaker at restaurant-ingthroughhistory.com/
05/15/2024
Once again, inspired by the restaurant article -- There was a time when women could not be seen dining in a restaurant. Why? They'd be considered promiscuous. And according to Escoffier it was assumed if a man and woman were together at a restaurant that she was his mistress. All together, restaurants weren't welcoming to women in the 1800s, let alone a woman dining alone. There were all-women restaurants for shoppers and at some hotels when traveling, then slowly, mixed male-female restaurants were acceptable.
05/14/2024
Inspired by the article, "The Bohemian Restaurant in Fiction" by Jan Whitacker, I asked AI to tackle the NYC restaurant passage in the 1886 novel by Henry C. Bunner, "To celebrate the Midge’s 16th birthday, her guardian, a doctor, takes her out to dinner at a table d’hote in New York City’s French quarter.
It was a modest feast, only a plain table-d'hôte dinner, eaten in the heart of the quarter, at a cost of half-a-dollar apiece. They had tried more elaborate dinners, at the great hotels up-town; but they preferred the simpler joys of Charlemagne’s restaurant. They both possessed that element of Bohemianism which belongs to all good fellows; the Midge was a good fellow, as well as the Doctor.
Charlemagne’s is a thing of the past; but he was a jolly king of cheap eating-house keepers while he lasted. He gave a grand and wholesome dinner for fifty cents. The first items were the pot-au-feu and bouilli. If the pot-au-feu was thin, the bouilli was so much the richer. And if the bouilli was something woodeny, why, you had had all the better pot-au-feu before it. Then came an entrée, calves’ brains, perhaps, or the like; a rôti, a vegetable or so coming with it; a good salad, chicory or lettuce or plantain, a dessert of timely fruits, a choice of excellent cheese, and a cup of honest black coffee. And with all this you got bread ad libitum and a half bottle of drinkable wine, that had never paid duty, for it came from California, though it called itself Bordeaux." – from The Midge
05/04/2024
Ruth Wakefield invented Chocolate Chip Cookies in 1938, originally named "Toll House Crunch Cookies." -- Chocolate chips in cookie dough -- is anyone else surprised that they weren't thought of earlier?
“In August of 1930, Mr. Wakefield and I bought a lovely old Cape Cod house, built in 1709 on the outskirts of Whitman, Massachusetts. At one time it was used as a toll house, where passengers ate, changed horses, and paid toll. It was here that we started our inn, calling it The Toll House.”
Ruth Graves Wakefield served as chef at The Toll House, where her kitchen became famous for many delicacies, including lobster dishes and thin butterscotch nut cookies with ice cream.
But Ruth, ever the innovator, decided to try something new one day. Using a semi-sweet chocolate bar from Nestle, she cut small pieces of chocolate and added them to the dough. She expected the chocolate to melt in the oven, but the pieces didn’t. They kept their shape and even softened.
She named her cookie the “Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookie.” And these cookies became popular with guests. So popular that newspapers around New England began publishing their recipe.
Then during WWII, soldiers from Massachusetts received cookies in their care packages from families, which they shared with fellow soldiers, who also fell in love with Ruth’s cookies. These soldiers reached out to their families with requests for the cookies, growing their popularity beyond New England.
As the cookies grew in popularity, Nestle noticed that sales of their chocolate bars used in making the cookies also increased. Nestle offered to buy the recipe rights and name from Ruth. She accepted for $1 and a lifetime supply of Nestle Chocolate. See less
04/12/2024
1943 Hail to the Women of America! -- from Betty Crocker's "Your Share" booklet. Why was "Your Share" a catchword in WWII? Answering the question best I can... Your Share, the name of this booklet had to do with food rationing, of course. The issue was that the government had to feed soldiers in Europe and had the farmers and manufacturers supply food to them. As a result there were shortages for home grocery shopping, particularly for meat, wheat, oils and sugars, I believe. When there are shortages what do people do? The ones who can afford it have the luxury of hoarding, and purchase more than they normally would purchase. This left the poorer people without. "YOUR SHARE" was the motto to obey rationing laws, limiting consumption of what was available, so everyone rich or poor would be allowed "Their Share" of what was left in the grocery stores.
This booklet was one of many that built patriotism in this endeavor--essentially shaming hoarders by calling them unpatriotic. It worked pretty well, as most of the country did their share -- planted gardens [which would be wise to do anyway but it was then named a "sacrifice"], not using the underground economy to hoard, "stretching" their meat budgets by bulking up meals with more starches, trying alternatives such as organ meats that weren't rationed, etc.
The food rationing stopped after the war, just when the US had promised to feed the starving Europeans and Japanese. It was a political issue and women in the US by far wished to continue rationing to help save the world. But it was post-war 1940s and women had NO VOICE to speak of. It was about the motives of White House committees and I know squat about that. Yet one civilian author had a cruel but almost convincing argument: if you feed starving countries they will have a false sense of economy and thus procreate beyond their economic means. Don't you hate these conflicting political viewpoints? I do.
I like to investigate how our acceptance of processed foods was elevated after the war. It reminds me of a saying about prohibition from Vogue's Diana Vreeland (remember her?) “Prohibition. Insane idea. Try to keep me from taking a swallow of this tea and I’ll drink the whole pot.”
04/12/2024
Rory brought this to my attention -- loaves of bread from 79AD https://x.com/histories_arch/status/1778185687076118666
04/11/2024
1890s Standard Oil's Pure Paraffine for sealing fruit jars.....Standard Oil Company began in 1863, owners John D. Rockefeller, Maurice B. Clark, and Samuel Andrews in Cleveland, Ohio. Inside this booklet it states that the company was incorporated, which occurred in 1870, dating the booklet to of course after that. Paraffine / paraffin was a by-product of Standard's crude oil, developed for use in food preservation, laundry, etc. by the end of the 1800s.
Paraffine came in one pound packages. You'd heat the wax -- see the two little burner stoves behind the jelly jars -- then pour the wax in the jar onto the cold fruit. The fruit needed to be cold to work correctly then. The wax solidified and sealed the air from the food. To use the food you'd run a knife around the edges of the wax and it would come right out.
The booklet wasn't dated, but the puffy sleeves seem to scream 1890s.
03/20/2024
Here's my referral link for AI artwork that allows you to freely use commercially instead of just "personal use only." I always like the option to use commercially -- just in case. NightCafe
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02/21/2024
Entertaining.
Unboxing Food From Every Decade Watch to the end to see how much food has changed over time! I spent over $15K buying unopened vintage foods from throughout history. You won't believe how s...
01/25/2024
We're posting vintage cooking booklets on reddit
From the CookingBOOKLETS community on Reddit: 49 Easy Recipes Made with Sunshine Pimientos, 1934 Explore this post and more from the CookingBOOKLETS community
01/25/2024
We're posting vintage cooking booklets on reddit
From the CookingBOOKLETS community on Reddit: 1930s more Clabber... Clabber Girl Baking Book Explore this post and more from the CookingBOOKLETS community
01/25/2024
We're posting vintage cooking booklets on reddit
From the CookingBOOKLETS community on Reddit: Blue Moon Cheese recipe booklet, ~1920 Explore this post and more from the CookingBOOKLETS community
01/25/2024
We're posting vintage cooking booklets on reddit
From the CookingBOOKLETS community on Reddit: Pretty little Eatmor Cranberries recipe booklet published by the American Cranberry Exchange, ~1930 Explore this post and more from the CookingBOOKLETS community
01/18/2024
Please prove me wrong: the only way to have organic or non-GMO baking powder without aluminum in the United States is to make it yourself! https://www.amodernhomestead.com/baking-powder-substitute/ #:~:text=Servings:%201%20cup-,Ingredients,(or%20GMO%2Dfree%20cornstarch) I found organic baking powder for sale online from Australia, but it's a bit far and they don't ship.
How to Make All-Natural, Organic Baking Powder - Without Cornstarch! Make your own store bought baking powder substitute with this easy 3 ingredient recipe! Control your ingredients for all natural, organic baking powder!
12/14/2023
https://www.businessinsider.com/inflation-high-prices-costs-making-food-snacks-sodas-worse-quality-2023-12 Now is a good time to make our own desserts: A 5 lb. bag of Organic All-Purpose Flour is about $9.00--FLOUR is 19% higher in 2022 than in 2012; SUGAR about 28 cents per pound higher than 2011; PEANUTS are $88 per TON higher than they were in 2011; WALNUTS are 50 cents per pound now, and were 1.82 per pound in 2013! Walnuts have been going up and down. CHOCOLATE is between $2.13 and $3.95 per pound -- can't find circa 2011 prices, but prices are going up; COCONUT MEAT is $0.87 and $1.75 per pound {it can take 11 coconuts to make one pound of coconut meat!} and one pound was $1.47 per pound in 2017.
All in all, even when snack prices go up, when the basic ingredients increase -- they still can be affordable, with better results -- sometimes with practice!
Giant food companies are quietly ruining your favorite snacks — and hoping you don't notice From Coke to Nutella, your favorite treats are being ruined by a sneaky ploy known as 'flavorflation.'
11/07/2023
Old Crisco booklet by Olive S. Allen, 1924
From the CookingBOOKLETS community on Reddit: Olive S. Allen's 200 Tested Recipes - Charlie Chaplin Steak & Kidney Pie - 1920s Crisco Explore this post and more from the CookingBOOKLETS community
Talk on Italian food by Viola Buitoni, family was the 1800s-1980s pasta company. She describes how they make traditional Balsamic Vinegar [20 years] and how the taste is different than regular Balsamic. Just bought a bottle today -- YES! she discusses rice and other ingredients. https://youtu.be/7mb0bLqx6uc?si=VWuj-Fiqb6VnvHb6 if you have the time.
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