Posted on 07/24/2009 3:37:21 AM PDT by nw_arizona_granny
Weekly Roundup - Living On Nothing Edition Category: Roundups | Comments(15)
Did you hear about the guy that lives on nothing? No seriously, he lives on zero dollars a day. Meet Daniel Suelo, who lives in a cave outside Moab, Utah. Suelo has no mortgage, no car payment, no debt of any kind. He also has no home, no car, no television, and absolutely no “creature comforts.” But he does have a lot of creatures, as in the mice and bugs that scurry about the cave floor he’s called home for the last three years.
To us, Suelo probably sounds a little extreme. Actually, he probably sounds very extreme. After all, I suspect most of you reading this are doing so under the protection of some sort of man-made shelter, and with some amount of money on your person, and probably a few needs for money, too. And who doesn’t need money unless they have completely unplugged from the grid? Still, it’s an amusing story about a guy who rejects all forms of consumerism as we know it.
The Frugal Roundup
How to Brew Your Own Beer and Maybe Save Some Money. A fantastic introduction to home brewing, something I’ve never done myself, but always been interested in trying. (@Generation X Finance)
Contentment: A Great Financial Principle. If I had to name one required emotion for living a frugal lifestyle it would be contentment. Once you are content with your belongings and your lot in life you can ignore forces attempting to separate you from your money. (@Personal Finance by the Book)
Use Energy Star Appliances to Save On Utility Costs. I enjoyed this post because it included actual numbers, and actual total savings, from someone who upgraded to new, energy star appliances. (@The Digerati Life)
Over-Saving for Retirement? Is it possible to “over-save” for retirement? Yes, I think so. At some point I like the idea of putting some money aside in taxable investments outside of retirement funds, to be accessed prior to traditional retirement age. (@The Simple Dollar)
40 Things to Teach My Kids Before They Leave Home. A great list of both practical and philosophical lessons to teach your kids before they reach the age where they know everything. I think that now happens around 13 years-old. (@My Supercharged Life)
Index Fund Investing Overview. If you are looking for a place to invest with high diversification and relatively low fees (for broader index funds with low turnover), index funds are a great place to start. (@Money Smart Life)
5 Reasons To Line Dry Your Laundry. My wife and I may soon be installing a clothesline in our backyard. In many neighborhoods they are frowned upon - one of the reasons I don’t like living in a neighborhood. I digress. One of our neighbors recently put up a clothesline, and we might just follow his lead. (@Simple Mom)
A Few Others I Enjoyed
* 4 Quick Tips for Getting Out of a Rut * Young and Cash Rich * Embracing Simple Style * First Trading Experience With OptionsHouse * The Exponential Power of Delayed Consumption * How Much Emergency Fund is Enough? * 50 Questions that Will Free Your Mind * Save Money On Car Insurance
LOL! Great one, Eagle.
Making things from scratch>>> We also had a different meaning for that phrase. It meant making anything from the very beginning without the need of mortgages or credit card. We built our first home “from scratch”, living in the basement,lugging water, having an out house and most important of all, NO mortgage.<<<
Been there and still do not mind an outhouse, you see so much more of the world and the walking is good for you.
Likewise, my grandmother’s soft molasses cookies and her “boston dodgers’ ( a raised dough dropped like dumplings in hot fat and then put in a bowl with molasses sauce dribbled over them). Messy, but oh, so good. Sometimes, I think our memories make them so good in our imagination that we couldn’t reproduce them ever.<<<
Sounds delicious.
They might be here, if not I see other interesting links:
The Power Plant uses technology invented by Nasa for astronauts to grow fresh fruit and vegetables while in space. Seeds are placed on to a ‘grow sponge’ and a mains-generated microjet system sprays them with oxygenated, nutrient-rich water.<<<
Bet it will not qualify as organic.
Still it is fun the things they invent, if it is based on electric, then it is dead if the worst happens, compost wins every time for me.
Hey granny can you ping me to the trail mix recipes you post... thanks!<<<
Many of my posts the last couple days contain trail mixes in them.....have fun finding them.
I do recall several different sources that i posted, but not the numbers.
United Arab Emirates Fighters Flying Over Las Vegas<<<
Of course they are, for the Las Vegas folks did turn out and protest the ‘o’, ala tea party style.
Next he will give them the Nellis base, gotta make friends you know.
Past being sarcastic, for what we do on our bases should be a secret and it should not be gift wrapped for those who support our enemies.........
In my opinion of course.
Tried the tomato pie on Sunday.. Was delish.
Had to rip out half of my tomato plants..They croaked.
Put in beans instead.
Have 10 lbs of white seeded grapes in the freezer trying to decide what to do with them.
I’ve never had this many survive the squirrels before.<<<
This was a bad year for the tomato plants, several had trouble with them.
I am glad the tomato pie was good....
Frozen grapes, of course, cooked for jelly, or left as is for a good to eat frozen treat.
My mother taught me to freeze fruits many years ago, for eating on a hot day....watermelon and cantaloupe are still my favorite, defrosted a little and not to the mushy stage.
Kids like frozen grapes.
I tried nylon hose [stockings] over grape clusters, the birds had no trouble pecking a hole in and eating the grapes.
My grandmother used to make egg noodles when the hens started laying prolifically.
She dried them and then held them in a pillow case in a well ventilated area to keep them dry.
I’d use my dehydrator now and then bag them.<<<
Your way will work and it will give you a chance to add some of the vegetable powders that you have made to the flour.
My grandmother had some of those. And trying to follow her around, writing down what she did didn’t work so well! I never did get the amounts right because she added a little at a time until it was ‘just right’. I have recipes that say things like ‘add enough flour’ or ‘add until the consistency looks right’ or ‘till it tastes right’. Not so easy for a beginning cook - or one that can’t remember what the recipe was supposed to turn out like!
I once asked my grandmother for her cornbread recipe and she told me it was easy, to buy a box of Cinch brand cornbread mix.
C.B. you might find your missing recipes here:
http://www.archive.org/stream/centralcongregat00cent/centralcongregat00cent_djvu.txt
[A 1913 Church Cookbook.....smile]
How^ to Eat a Good Dinner
First, make sure you have such a dinner, which means, be sure
this cook book is in your home. Be industrious, so that your credit
will permit the wife to purchase the things essential to the use of
these recipes. Still better, have the cash in the family purse as
anxiety about the coming bills may spoil your digestion, or that of
the groceryman.
Second, make sure that you need a good dinner. The knowl-
edge of honest work well done, and useful work awaiting you is a
wonderful help to the enjoyment of a meal. Captain John Smith
ruled according to the laws of health as well as to the laws of
economy when he declared that the man who did not work, should
not eat.
Third, leave your troubles out doors, and, for the dinner, thank
your heavenly Father who provided, and the wife, or mother, or
whoever it was who prepared. What more beautiful custom than
to ask God’s blessing at the beginning of the meal and to return
thanks at the close.
Fourth, eat in such a way as to get the most real enjoyment
possible out of the dinner. Some have reduced this to an art, while
others are terribly artless. The latter should be kept in solitary
confinement at meal time. God gave us taste that w^e might enjoy
the delicate flavors He has given to our cooks. What is finer than
the taste of good bread thoroly masticated? The addition of con-
diments reduces all foods to a level. The best seasoning is interest-
ing conversation, which compels leisure. Often the best way to
secure this seasoning is to have present as a guest one who must
perforce eat most of his or her meals alone.
Eat regularl}’, eat what is good and is good for you, stop eat-
ing when your needs are supplied. Thus you will do justice to the
Good Dinner and go forth to so live as to deserve another.
10
REV. ROY B. GUILD, D.D.
PASTOR
11
The Moral Factor in Good Cooking
The world has never found out exactly the relation between good
food and goodness; but that there is such a relation seems to be
firmly established. Soggy bread, underdone potatoes, tough meat,
uudigestible pastry put into an individual certainly must affect the
feelings other than his digestive apparatus. Seriously, it is said that
bad cooking sends many men to drink. The craving for something
more or better is no doubt responsible for much of the drunken-
ness of the world. A man whose stomach is satisfied with nourish-
ing and palatable food ought not to drift into a saloon or crave a
drink of bitters. Someone has recently said that people had no
right to enjoy their victuals, but should simply take food as coal is
shoveled into the fire to keep it going. Most people do not believe
that, and besides it is not true. Good food was made to be enjoyed,
and it may be one of the first principles in a home to keep husband
and children good natured and happy, to set good things on the
table, well prepared, nourishing, and appetizing, so that those who
eat may rise satisfied. Along with good cookery should also go the
knowledge of how to eat what has been prepared. The best food
may be spoiled in the eating as well as in the making.
I hope none of the things described in this book will cause
indigestion, irritation, bad temper, or dissipation, but that
every person rising from the gastronomic pleasures attendant on
all these dishes will kiss his wife good-bye as he leaves the house
and speak kindly words to the dog when he comes back.
12
REV. CHARLES M. SHELDON
MINISTER AT LARGE
[Indeed brave men, for signing their names to the above, or did the ladies do it to get even?
granny]
http://www.archive.org/stream/centralcongregat00cent/centralcongregat00cent_djvu.txt
‘She can bake, she can boil, she can fry.
Ne’er a cake does she spoil, nor a pie.
She’s perfectly neat,
Her temper is sweet.
And this book is the reason why. “
Xke Central Congregational Church
COOK BOOK
RECEIPTS
BREADS, SANDWICHES, ETC.
Salt Rising Bread.
Scald Y2 cupful corn meal with sweet milk and set in a warm
place over night. In the morning fill a quart vessel 1/3 full of
warm salted water and thicken with flour until the batter will drop
from the spoon; add the lightened cornmeal and set in a warm
place. AVhen the mixture has risen to the top of the vessel scald
2 quarts of flour with 1 pint of boiling water and add enough cold
water to make a batter, to which add the “rising” and 1 table-
spoonful of salt.
When light add sufficient flour to mould into loaves, knead well,
put into pans and when light, bake 35 to 40 minutes in a moderate
oven. It is important that the heat from the beginning to the
end be as nearly uniform as possible.
Mrs. 0. H. White.
Short Process Bread.
1 cupful liquid lukewarm. 1 tablespoonful of salt.
1 tablespoonful of sugar. 2 tablespoonfuls of butter.
1 compressed yeast cake dissolved in i/4 cupful lukewarm water.
Add salt, sugar and butter to liquid, which may be either milk or
water or half of each. Add flour to make a smooth batter; then
add yeast and more flour to make a dough that can be kneaded.
Knead 20 minutes, put in a greased bowl to rise to double its size,
about 1% to 2 hours. Knead 20 minutes and shape into loaves.
Let rise again and bake.
Ruth Hughes.
18
CENTRAL CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH COOK BOOK
Raisin Bread.
2 cupfuls graham flour. 4 heaping teaspoonfuls baking
2 cupfuls Avhite flour. powder.
% or 2-3 cupful sugar. 3 cupfuls sweet milk.
1 egg. 1 cupful raisins or nuts.
1 teaspoonful salt.
Let rise 20 minutes and bake in moderate oven.
Harriet Booth.
Graham Bread.
3 cups gra’ham flour. 1 teaspoon baking powder.
1 cup brown sugar.
Sift these thoroughly, then stir in bran left in sieve.
Add two cups sour milk. Stir into milk one teaspoon soda
before adding to dry ingredients. If not quite thick enough add
little more flour. This makes one quite large loaf.
Mrs. M. G. Dean.
Delicate Graham Bread.
pint graham flour. 2 tablespoonfuls baking powder,
pint white flour. 11/2 pint milk,
tablespoonful sugar or 1 tablespoonful salt.
molasses.
Bake 25 minutes. Cover with paper 10 minutes.
Mrs. L. J. Kenney.
1 cup flour.
1% cups corn meal.
1 teaspoon salt.
1 tablespoon sugar.
Johnny Cake.
2 teaspoons baking powder.
1 egg.
1 cup sweet milk.
1 tablspoon Cottolene.
Margaret E. Whittemore.
BREAD
19
Corn Bread.
1 egg well beaten. 1 scant teaspoonful soda.
1 pt. sour milk (buttermilk i/o cupful flour with an even
preferred). teaspoonful baking powder
2 tablespoonfuls shortening. stirred in it.
1 tablespoonful sugar. 2 cupfuls cornmeal.
1 small teaspoonful salt.
Put shortening into the pan to heat, then stir most of it into
the bread leaving some to grease the pan. Bake in a hot oven.
Mrs. C. M. Lowe.
http://www.archive.org/stream/centralcongregat00cent/centralcongregat00cent_djvu.txt
cupfuls of pure bran,
cupfuls of whiteflour.
cupful of sugar,
cupfuls of sweet milk.
Bake 45 minutes in a slow oven.
Bran Bread.
1 teaspoonful of salt.
2 teaspoonfuls of baking powder.
1 tablespoonful of melted butter.
This makes 2 loaves,
Caroline Prentis.
Oatmeal Bread.
2 cupfuls rolled oats. 7 cupfuls white flour.
4 cupfuls boiling water. 1 cake compressed yeast.
1 cupful molasses. 1 teaspoonful salt.
Pour boiling water over oatmeal, add salt. When cool enough
add compressed yeast, molasses and white flour, stir well and let
stand over night. In the morning stir down and fill coffee cans half
full. Let rise until 2/3 full and bake in a slow oven 2 hours with
covers on the cans.
Mrs. Charles M. Sheldon.
1 cupful sugar.
1 ess-
1 cupful milk.
1 scant teaspoonful salt.
Nut Bread.
3 heaping teaspoonfuls baking
powder.
Flour to m’ake like cake, about
IY2 cupfuls.
1 cupful chopped walnut meats.
Put in greased pan, let stand 20 minutes, bake in slow oven
about 45 minutes.
Miss Luella Miller.
20 CENTRAL CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH COOK BOOK
Nut Bread.
1 egg. 4 lieaping teaspoonfuls baking
1 1-3 cupfuls milk. powder.
Mi cupful sugar. 1 heaping cupful nuts, broken up.
4 cupfuls flour. Salt.
Let stand M.’ hour before baking. Bake I/2 to % hour.
Ethel Traver.
Nut Bread.
1 cupful graham, unsifted. 1 tea spoonful salt.
2 cupfuls flour. 4 teaspoonfuls baking powder.
1 cupful white sugar. 2I/2 cupfuls sweet milk.
1 cupful nuts. 1 egg.
Let rise 10 min. and bake % of an hour.
Mrs. C. E. Joss.
Nut Bread.
2 cupfuls white flour. 1 tablespoonful salt.
2 cupfuls graham flour. 2 tablespoonfuls sugar.
2 cupfuls sweet milk. 4 rounding teaspoonfuls baking
1 cupful coarse ground nut powder.
meats.
Let rise 20 minutes and bake slowly 1 hour. Makes splendid
sandwiches.
Mrs. E. A. Fredenhagen.
Nut Loaf.
2 eggs, well beaten. 4 rounded teaspoonfuls of baking
1 cupful of sugar. powder.
2 cupfuls of milk. 1 cupful of English walnuts,
2 cupfuls of white flour. chopped.
2 cupfuls of graham flour. Salt.
Stir up quickl}^ and let stand 20 minutes in buttered pan to rise.
Lake slowly 40 or 45 minutes.
Helen Cornelia Rosen.
BREAD
21
1 eupful white flour.
% cupful graham flour.
2 tablespoonfuls baking powder
1/2 cupful sugar.
^ teaspoomful salt.
Mix dry ingredients.
Nut Bread.
Yo egg, well beaten.
1 cupful milk.
14 cupful English walnuts.
1/^ cupful raisins.
Add
milk slowly, then egg and beat
thoroughly. Put in a buttered bread pan and bake in a moderate
oven 45 min.
Catherine Stanley
Indian Loaf.
2 cups corn meal.
2 cups white flour.
1 teaspoon (level) salt.
3 teaspoons baking powder.
14 cup sugar.
Must be thinner than cake.
1/2 cup molasses.
2 teaspoons cinnamon.
1/^ nut meg.
1 or 2 eggs.
Wet with milk.
Steam 3 hours.
Mrs. Wm. M. Shaver.
Brown Bread.
2 eggs.
2 cupfuls sweet milk.
4 cupfuls graham flour.
1 teaspoonful salt.
Steam 2 hours or bake in slow oven 1
% cupful light brown sugar
% cupful molasses.
1 teaspoonful soda.
hr.
Cora M. Johnson.
Boston Brown Bread.
Yo cupful molasses.
1 teaspoonful soda.
1 great spoonful salt.
qt. meal (white).
cupfuls flour,
qt. sweeit milk.
cupful sour milk.
Steam in buttered tins 3 hours.
I learned to make this brown bread in Maine and like it best
of any receipt I have ever seen. I always use white corn meal.
Mrs. Edwin A. Austin.
22 CENTRAL CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH COOK BOOK
Steamed Brown Bread.
Iscant pt. of yellow corn meal. 1 teaspoonful soda.
1 scant pt. of flour. 1 pint butter milk.
% cupful sugar. 1 teaspoonful salt.
2 tablespoonfuls New Orleans
Molasses,
Steam 2 hours and do not uncover. Dry off in oven.
Mrs. L. H. Bracy.
Brown Bread.
2 cupfuls corn meal. 2-3 teaspoonful soda.
2 cupfuls flour. 1 teaspoonful salt.
1 cupful molasses. 1 cupful milk, sour preferred.
Steam 3 hours in double boiler. This tastes better than it sounds.
Mrs. Etta W. Gilmore.
Raisin Brown Bread.
1 egg. 1 cupful white flour.
2-3 cupful brown sugar. 1 cupful graham flour.
1 cupful sour milk. 1 cupful seeded raisins.
1 teaspoonful soda.
Sprinkle top with sugar, bake an hour.
Mrs. Carrie Johnston.
Boston Brown Bread.
Yo cupful white flour. 1^/4 teaspoonfuls soda.
1/2 cupful corn meal. 1 cupful sour milk.
1/2 cupful graham flour. 5 tablespoonfuls molasses.
1 teaspoonful salt.
Mix dry ingredients thoroughly, stir sour milk and molasses
together, stir in dry ingredients. Turn into well buttered can,
cover tightly and steam 11/2 to 2 hours. Remove cover and dry
in over 15 minutes.
Mrs. H. J. Wingart.
[cookbook continues at the link]
Page 1
Chapter One
A SHORT STEP BACK IN TIME
A look into America’s food history, along with many old-time recipes you can make.
Sautauthig
A favorite dish of the Native Americans during colonial times was Sautauthig (pronounced saw’-
taw-teeg), a simple pudding made with dried and crushed blueberries, dried and cracked samp (cornmeal),
and water. Later, the settlers added milk, butter, and sugar when they were available. The Pilgrims loved
Sautauthig and many historians believe that it was part of the first Pilgrim Thanksgiving feast. In a letter to
his friends back in England, John Josselyn describes how Sauthuthig was prepared:
“...this is to be boyld or stued with a gentle fire, till it be tender, of a fitt consistence,
as of Rice so boyled, into with Milke, or butter be put either with sugar or without it,
it is a food very pleasant...but it must be observed that it be very well boyled, the longer
the better, some will let it be stuing the whole day: after it is Cold it groweth thicker,
and is commonly Eaten by mixing a good Quantity of Milke amongst it.”
Plimoth Plantation www.plimoth.org
Blueberry Cornmeal Mush
Makes 6 servings
Today Sautauthig would be called Blueberry Cornmeal Mush. To make it like the pilgrims, use
dried blueberries. If not available, place fresh or frozen blueberries on a cookie sheet in a 250ºF oven for
about 1 1/2 hours. Here’s what you will need:
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup cornmeal or quick cooking grits
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons maple syrup or honey
1/2 cup dried blueberries (or 2 cups fresh, frozen,
or canned blueberries, well drained)
1. In a 2-quart saucepan heat water and milk
until bubbles form around the edge of the pan.
2. Stirring constantly, slowly add cornmeal and
salt until well combined.
3. Reduce heat to low.
4. Cover and simmer, until thickened, about 10
minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Stir in maple syrup until well combined.
6. Gently stir in blueberries.
Top with milk, sugar, and/or butter, if desired. Can be served hot for breakfast or chilled as a
dessert pudding.
NUTRITION FACTS per serving without toppings: 153 calories, 22 calories from fat, 2.5g total fat (4%), 1.3g saturate
fat (7%), 8.3mg cholesterol (3%), 211.8mg sodium (9%), 29.7g carbohydrates (10%), 2.6g fiber (10%), 3.8g protein (8%), 196 IU
vitamin A (4%), 7mg vitamin C (11%), 83mg calcium (8%), .9mg iron (5%), and 184mg potassium.
The North American Blueberry Council www.blueberry.org
Corn Bread, an American Native Food
When the Pilgrims arrived in America they assumed the same baking ingredients would be found
here as in England. But there was no wheat to make bread flour. The Wampanoags were making flat bread
with corn flour.
Native Americans showed the new settlers how to grow corn, which was ground into flour. The
Pilgrims adapted familiar Old World techniques to the New World foods, of which corn was the most
important.
Page 2
John Josselyn wrote in the New England Rarities book a description on how the Pilgrims made
corn bread.
Their Bread they make of Homminey so boiled, and mix their flower with it,
cast it into a deep Bason in which they form the Loaf, and then turn it out
upon the Peel, and presently put it into the Oven before it spreads abroad.”
The only ingredients used were hominy (cracked corn) boiled in water
until cooked, mixed with enough corn flour to form a stiff batter and placed
quickly in a hot oven to bake.
Pilgrim Corn Bread
Makes 1 loaf or 16 slices
When wheat flour became available, it was added to the cornmeal. While this lightened the texture
somewhat, it was still not like the bread back home. Baking powder hadn’t been invented and baking soda
was still unknown. Hence, it was either yeast or eggs that were used for leavening. Soon the colonists
learned how to make a quick corn bread with this recipe.
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, separated
1 cup milk
1/4 cup lard or butter, melted
1. Combine the cornmeal, flour and sugar.
2. Beat the egg whites until stiff, but not dry.
3. Beat the egg yolks until lemon-yellow in
color.
4. Beat in the milk and lard.
5. Slowly beat in the cornmeal mixture.
6. Thoroughly fold in the egg whites, breaking
up the large lumps.
7. Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan (see
note).
8. Bake in a 350ºF preheated oven for about 30
minutes, until golden brown.
Check with a toothpick in the center of the bread
to make sure the bread is done.
Leftover slices can be fried in a little butter, like fried cornmeal mush.
NUTRITION FACTS per slice: 120 calories, 41 calories from fat. 4.6g total fat (7%), 1.8g saturated fat (9%), 30.4mg
cholesterol (10%), 15.8mg sodium (1%), 16.6g carbohydrates (6%), .6g fiber (3%), 2.8g protein (6%), 95 IU vitamin A (2%), zero
vitamin C, 23mg calcium (2%), .8mg iron (5%), and 53mg potassium.
NOTE: Pilgrims probably baked this bread in an iron skillet. Grease the skillet and placed in the hot oven for
several minutes before adding the batter. Bake for about 20 minutes. To serve, cut into wedges, hot from the skillet.
Buttermilk Corn Bread
You can try your hand at making Pilgrim Corn Bread as in the above recipe, or make it easy with
today’s modern ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup cornmeal
2 tablespoons shortening
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup buttermilk
1. Stir together first five ingredients. Add
cornmeal.
2. Cut in shortening with a fork until mixture is
fine textured.
3. Combine eggs and buttermilk; add to dry
ingredients. Stir just enough to moisten dry
ingredients. Do not beat.
4. Pour into a well-greased 8 x 8 x 2-inch pan.
Bake at 425ºF degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.
5. Cut into 9 squares.
Serve hot with butter and honey.
NUTRITION FACTS per square with butter and honey: 160 calories, 42 calories from fat, 4.6g total fat (7%), 1.3g
saturated fat (6%), 48.2mg cholesterol (16%), 430.8mg sodium (18%), 24.2g carbohydrates (8%), 1.1g fiber (5%), 5g protein (10%),
143 IU vitamin A (3%), zero vitamin C, 116mg calcium (12%), 1.6mg iron (9%), and 94mg potassium.
2
Page 3
Corn Dodgers
This recipe was introduced to the European settlers by our Native Americans, and is also known as
“corn pone.” In the southern United States, pork cracklings were usually added to the batter.
Originally corn dodgers started out as ash cakes. The balls of cornmeal mixed with water were
tossed into hot ashes. When done, the cakes were removed, dusted off a bit and eaten. Then someone came
up with the idea of wrapping the ash cakes in cabbage leaves, which made the cakes moister and clean.
Hoecakes were another variation, and were actually cooked on a flat garden hoe, over the fire.
As the new settlers became accustomed to working with cornmeal, other ingredients were added,
such as flour, eggs, buttermilk, cheese, spices, sausage, onions and leavening agents and sweeteners. From
this came recipes for cornbread, spoonbread, hush puppies, and muffins.
See how it all started with this recipe for Corn Dodgers:
1 quart cornmeal
Salt to taste (about 1 teaspoon)
1 tablespoon lard
Boiling water (about 1 1/2 cups)
1. Grease a large cast-iron skillet.
2. Mix cornmeal, salt and with enough boiling
water to make a thick batter.
3. Add the lard and beat hard with a wooden
spoon for several minutes.
4. Drop by tablespoons of batter into the iron
skillet. The batter should be thick enough to just
flatten on the bottom, leaving them quite high in
the center.
5. Continue dropping the batter until the sides of
the batter almost touch.
6. Bake in a preheated 450ºF oven until lightly
brown, about 40 minutes
.
NOTE: Take this recipe on the next picnic or camping trip. Bake in a covered iron skillet by
setting the skillet on the hot coals, and place a few hot coals on the lid.
Baked Whole Pumpkin
When the colonists arrived to America, they were introduced to the pumpkin. Those early cooks
were not too sure what it was, a vegetable to eat like squash, or a fruit to be made into a pie. Soon the
settlers found a simple way of baking a whole pumpkin in hot ashes or in a large brick oven.
One of the earliest recipes was to hollow out the pumpkin, fill it with milk, a little butter and
honey or maple syrup and bake it until soften, but still holding its shape. As cooks experimented with new
ideas, the shell was filled with many difference ingredients. For a special treat, try this recipe.
1 pumpkin, about 5 pounds
4 tablespoons butter, melted, divided
1 onion, chopped
1 large stalk celery, chopped
2 cups cooked rice, white or brown
2 cups wheat or white bread, cubed, dried
2 tart apples, cored, peeled, chopped
1 cup chestnuts, chopped (optional)
2 teaspoons mixed herbs, your choice
(sage, savoy, marjoram, thyme, rosemary)
Salt & pepper to taste
1 cup vegetable stock or water
1. Wash the outside of the pumpkin.
2. Cut top, as you would to make a jack-o-
lantern, to make a lid.
3. Remove the seeds (save for roasting) and
scrape out all string pulp.
4. In a frying pan, sauté onion and celery in 2
tablespoon butter until onion is clear, about 3
minutes.
5. In a large bowl, combine onion, celery, rice,
bread, apples, chestnuts and seasonings; mix
well.
6. Melt remaining butter , add butter and enough
stock to moisten the stuffing. Place stuffing
loosely inside the pumpkin and replace the lid.
7. Place pumpkin on an oiled cookie sheet or on
large pie tin. Bake in a preheated 350ºF oven for
1 to 1 1/2 hours. Pumpkin is done when a fork
pushes easily into flesh.
8. Transfer pumpkin to a platter.
9. Slice into wedges, like a cake.
Great served with gravy
3
Page 4
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
When you crave the pumpkin, save the seeds for a special treat. All you need:
Pumpkin seeds
Vegetable oil
Salt, if desired
1. Scoop the seeds from the center of a pumpkin.
2. Wash the seeds under cold water to remove
the pulp.
3. Dry for a few days. If in a hurry, blot between
paper towels to remove as much moisture as
possible.
4. Grease a cookie sheet with vegetable oil.
5. Add a single layer of seeds.
6. Roast in a 350ºF preheated oven until dry and
light brown.
7. Salt, if desired, then cool and enjoy. For an
extra special taste, try seasoned salt
New Jersey Department of Agriculture www.state.nj.us/agriculture
Native American’s Food Sources
Before the new settlers arrived to the New World, our Native Americans learned how to eat off the
land. They gathered acorns, roots, seeds, berries, insects, fish and wild animals to balance out their nutrient-
rich diet.
Days were spent gathering and preparing foods. Hours were necessary to shell, hull, grind and
leach the tannin from the acorns. Produce such as corn, beans, pumpkins were harvested and dried. Insects
were trapped and roasted. Fish and animals were hunted, butchered and the meat was dried. Berries and
seeds were picked and dried. All this was necessary to make it through the winter months when only
fishing and hunting was available.
Can you place your feet in Native American shoes in this day and age? Probably only a few
reading this would even consider such a life. Maybe you have a garden, but you consume all the produce
and prepare little for the winter months. If you would like to take a step back in time and prepare a Native
American food, why not try making acorn bread. The following recipe is not true Native American as there
was no wheat flour and even baking powder hadn’t been invented.
Acorn Bread
1 cup acorn meal
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1. To make the acorn meal first you need to
crack the acorns, remove the shell, and place the
insides in a large pot of boiling water.
2. Boil for a leas2 hours. Change the water as
soon as it becomes light brown.
3. After 2 hours taste the acorn, if it tastes bitter,
continue to boil until it no longer tastes bitter.
4. Drain the water, spread the acorns in a shallow
pan and let dry.
5. Roast the acorns for about 1 hour in a 300°F
oven. You can now eat the acorn as a nut or
ground it into flour.
6. To make flour put them in a food processor
until course meal is obtained. If you want to do
like the Native Americans, grind them in a
mortar and pestle.
7. In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients.
8. In another bowl mix remaining ingredients.
9. Combine the 2 mixtures. Stir just enough to
moisten the dry ingredients.
10. Pour acorn mixture into a greased pan and
bake at 400°F for 30 minutes.
11. Let the bread cool prior to slicing.
4
Page 5
Dutch Ovens Were Essential Cooking Tools
Dutch ovens came to America with the pilgrims and traveled west all across America. Every
household had at least one Dutch oven. Dutch ovens are made of cast iron and come in two basic designs.
Kitchen ovens have flat bottoms and a domed lid. Camp ovens have three legs and a flat lid for holding
coals. Both styles can be used for cooking soups, stews, beans or whatever including biscuits and cakes.
bookmark.
I think I would as well.
I’m still trying to get caught up on drying veggies.
I got behind during my basement misadventures..
Now I’m downloading the freezer to my dehydrator.
There is nothing like real home made egg noodles.
This message consists of the following:
1. Maytag Expands Recall of Refrigerators Due to Fire Hazard
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09322.html
2. CPSC, Goodman Manufacturing Co. Announce Changes to 1998 Recall Program to Replace Dangerous Home Heating Vent Pipes
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09323.html
********************************************************
1. Maytag Expands Recall of Refrigerators Due to Fire Hazard
NEWS from CPSC
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Office of Information and Public Affairs
Washington, DC 20207
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 25, 2009
Release # 09-322
Firm’s Recall Hotline: (866) 533-9817
CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908
Maytag Expands Recall of Refrigerators Due to Fire Hazard
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product.
Name of Product: Maytag(r), Magic Chef(r), Performa by Maytag(r) and Crosley(r) brand refrigerators
Units: About 46,000 (1.6 million units were previously recalled March 2009)
Manufacturer: Maytag Corp., of Newton, Iowa
Hazard: An electrical failure in the relay, the component that turns on the refrigerator’s compressor, can cause overheating and pose a serious fire hazard.
Incidents/Injuries: Maytag has received 23 additional reports of refrigerator relay ignition, including 4 reports of property damage ranging from smoke damage to extensive kitchen damage.
Description: The recall includes certain Maytag(r), Magic Chef(r), Performa by Maytag(r) and Crosley(r) brand side-by-side and top freezer refrigerators. The affected refrigerators were manufactured in black, bisque, white and stainless steel. They have model and serial numbers printed on a label located on the top middle or left upper side of the refrigerator liner and have the following model and serial number combinations:
Side by Side Refrigerators
Serial Numbers ENDING with: CN, CP, YY, YZ
AND
Model Numbers BEGINNING with: MZ
Top Freezer Refrigerators
Serial Numbers ENDING with: CA, CC, CE, CG, ZB, ZD, ZF, ZH
AND
Model Numbers BEGINNING with: CT15G4, CTB152, CTL151, CTM152, CTN151, MTB195, MTB215, MTB245, MTF195, MTF215, PTB155, PTB175, PTB195, PTB215
Refrigerators with freezers on the bottom are not included in this recall.
Sold at: Department and appliance stores and by homebuilders nationwide from September 2000 through May 2004 for between about $350 and $1,600.
Manufactured in: United States
Remedy: Consumers should immediately contact Maytag to determine if their refrigerator is included in the recall and if so, to schedule a free in-home repair. Consumers should not return the refrigerator to the retailer where it was purchased.
Consumer Contact: For more information, contact Maytag toll-free at (866) 533-9817 anytime, or visit the firm’s Web site at www.repair.maytag.com
To see this recall on CPSC’s web site, including pictures of the recalled product, please go to: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09322.html
********************************************************
2. CPSC, Goodman Manufacturing Co. Announce Changes to 1998 Recall Program to Replace Dangerous Home Heating Vent Pipes
NEWS from CPSC
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Office of Information and Public Affairs
Washington, DC 20207
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 25, 2009
Release #09-323
Firm’s Recall Hotline: (800) 394-8084
CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908
CPSC, Goodman Manufacturing Co. Announce Changes to 1998 Recall Program to Replace Dangerous Home Heating Vent Pipes
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The CPSC and Goodman Manufacturing Company, of Houston, TX, are urging consumers who have not yet responded to the previously-announced 1998 recall to do so immediately. After October 1, 2009, the remedy consumers receive will change to be identical to modifications recently announced for a related recall.
The recall included about 10,000 Plexvent and Ultravent HTPV pipe systems attached to certain Goodman mid-efficiency furnaces manufactured from October 1988 to July 1994 (models GUP, GDP, GUPS, GDPS, GUPI, GDPI, GUPX, GDPX, GMP and GMPV for the following brands manufactured by Goodman: Janitrol, GMC, Hamilton Electric, Franklin, Liberty and Sears/Kenmore). The HTPV pipe used for these vents could be susceptible to corrosion, cracking and joint separation, which could result in the release of carbon monoxide (CO) into living areas, posing a danger to consumers. Goodman did not manufacture the HTPV pipe.
The following table describes the different remedies available to consumers with qualifying furnaces that use the two leading brands of HTPV pipe - Plexvent and Ultravent.
Valid claims initiated on or before October 1, 2009, with remediation completed and required documentation submitted by January 1, 2010.
Plexvent owners AND Ultravent owners: Will receive a new, professionally-installed venting system free of charge or a new, high-efficiency Goodman furnace and suitable vent for the manufacturer’s price (of just the furnace), with no charge for labor, associated materials or dealer markup.
Valid claims initiated after October 1, 2009
Plexvent owners: A rebate up to $400 toward either an HTPV replacement system, or a new, high-efficiency furnace from Goodman that does not require HTPV.
Ultravent owners: A rebate up to $250 toward either an HTPV replacement system, or a new, high-efficiency furnace from Goodman that does not require HTPV.
Consumers who register after October 1, 2009 and who choose to repair their systems will be responsible for up-front payment of parts, labor and permits, and will be responsible for arranging to have the work performed.
Consumers should determine whether they have a recalled HTPV pipe system by checking the vent pipes attached to their natural gas furnace. Vent pipes subject to this recall can be identified as follows:
* the vent pipes are plastic;
* the vent pipes are colored gray or black;
* “Plexvent,” “Plexvent II” or “Ultravent” is stamped on the vent pipe or printed on stickers placed on pieces used to connect the vent pipes; and
* the vent pipes are located on furnaces and the pipes go through the sidewalls of structures.
Other plastic vent pipes, such as white PVC, are not included in the recall.
Owners of Goodman furnaces that are vented with HTPV pipe should immediately call Goodman at (800) 394-8084 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CT Monday through Friday. CPSC reminds all consumers to have fuel-burning appliances professionally inspected each year to check for cracks or separations in the vents that could allow CO to leak into the home. In addition, CPSC recommends that every home should have at least one CO alarm.
To see this recall update on CPSC’s web site, please go to: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09323.html
bookmark.<<<
Glad you are keeping up, with all the dehydrating that you are doing, you are busy.
Oh, look, it’s one of those grandma recipes without quantities!<<<
LOL, that is the way we cooked, I was a married woman before I owned a Pyrex measuring cup.
We made our biscuits in the top of the flour can, LOL, it would be almost what we call a half barrel size today.
Make a hole and add the goodies, work in the needed flour and you had biscuit dough.
You cut them out with a glass, I still have my first biscuit cutter, it had a smaller thing to put in the middle for cutting out doughnuts..........LOL, there wasn’t anything wrong with the ones that I poked a hole in the middle and stretched it a bit, after cutting it out with a glass, except now they looked
“store bought”.
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