Hoopskirts

Peach jam on homemade bread! As summer wound into autumn, I found some end-of-season stone fruit at my local grocery store - peaches and apricots available for a song!   A bit bruised and battered, they were for sale on the produce clearance rack, and, as such, were perfect for making jam.  I made some of each type, but the photos shown are of the peach jam (bet you couldn't tell!). The Recipe- the same for each Fruit This recipe comes from The Young Cook's Assistant and Housekeeper's Guide by  P. Masters (1841, London, The recipe is similar or identical to many others I surveyed.   Working Through the Recipe I have made jam many times, so the concept was easy to me, but let's walk through it. Weighing Ingredients Weighing may seem intimidating, but is by far the easiest way to make this jam.  I purchased an inexpensive digital scale from Harbor Freight, that allow you to weigh in ounces, grams, and pounds. Fruit W...

Many apologies for the amount of elapsed time since my last post!  It has been a busy, exciting summer.  Let's start current and work our way backward, shall we? Today's endeavor is Candied Ginger, from The Housekeeper's Instructor by William Henderson (sixth edition, 1793, London, W. and J. Stratford, Printers). Candied ginger, or more accurately, ginger candy.   I struggled quite a bit with this recipe, but I think I finally have it worked out. A SIDE NOTE ON GINGER Ginger, from Medical  Botany,   R. Griffith, MD; 1847 Philadelphia Then, as now, people were aware of the medicinal qualities of ginger.  If you ever drank ginger ale to calm an upset stomach, you are drawing on ginger's long-proven ability to calm digestive issues.  People also enjoyed candied ginger as a sweetmeat. THE RECIPE The ingredients are simple enough: Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language (1828 edition) defines "ra...

Pancakes for Shrove Tuesday, from Mr Francatelli's recipe Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday - traditionally a day of fried cakes, doughnuts, and pancakes, all ways to use up fats before the 40-day fast of Lent.  I did not grow up celebrating the day, and, as a result, have no traditional food associations.  When my children were little I started looking for ways to celebrate ordinary and traditional days.  Shrove Tuesday seemed like a fun thing to celebrate!   Not being much of a Mardi Gras person and being a huge fan of breakfast, I settled on pancakes.   When I moved to the Chicago area I had discovered puffed pancakes  - the German apple pancake and the Dutch Baby, and over the years my Shrove Tuesday dinners moved in that direction. This year I was thinking a Dutch baby pancake sounded about perfect for our meal.  AND THEN... .... I read a cookbook by Mr. Charles Francatelli.  If you have watched the PBS series Victoria,  the...