SUMAC: Grow Your Own Spice©

Tags

sumac, za'atar

I love to experiment with new spices especially one I can plant and have it return year after year for my endless enjoyment.  My most recent venture into the land of perennial foods is sumac.  No, I’m not talking about the poisonous version that gives many people a rash.  There are poisonous and non-poisonous varieties of sumac.  Steer clear of varieties that bear white seed and don’t chance it if the plant is not producing and there is no indication of berry color.  Sumac is related to poison oak and  poison ivy and they grow in the same type terrain.

A. Doolittle of Painesville, Ohio described sumac berries as, “sour, very, very sour”, with seeds of “pure cussedness” yet in some cultures processed sumac berries are an indispensible spice. They predate the Roman introduction of lemons into Europe and native Americans used them in a number of ways.

Indians and colonists alike used the staghorn sumac to make tea and a cooling liquid later called sumac “lemonade”.  There is a variety of sumac in the western U.S. known as lemonade sumac because it was so commonly used to make the beverage.

Gary Paul Nabhan has stated he prefers the red ripe berries of lemonade sumac to stale Middle Eastern spice and Tama Matsuoka Wong says staghorn sumac is less toasty and more citrusy than smooth sumac (also red drupes).  “It even retains its red color when dried, providing an appetizing pop of color when sprinkled over foods with insipid hues of beige and cream”.

“Staghorn sumac, Dwarf sumac, as well as Smooth sumac may all be used; however, be certain that you are gathering densely clustered berry-like RED fruits, not the white ones of poison sumac”.  Staghorn sumac has bristly hairs on the drupes and branches.  It is native to North America.

Middle Eastern countries enjoyed the flavor of sumac as much as the American Indians having gathered wild red sumac for countless generations.

  

Sumac is mixed with other ingredients, usually sesame seeds and thyme, to make a spice called za’atar.

Edible varieties, “all have red berries”.  “The acid berries of these shrubs [sumac] are eaten by Indians and occasionally by whites, and a rather pleasant beverage can be made from at least some of them.  Their slender twigs are very important in basketry work among the Indians…”.

Elias Yanovsky wrote that the Indians crushed the fruit to make cooling drinks, ate the fruit, and peeled fresh roots which were eaten raw.  He documented the drying of the fruit for use in winter.

Numerous sources note Native Americans combined sumac with tobacco for smoking and settlers and hunters took up the practice as well.  Blends called kinnikinnick were prepared in a myriad of ways.  The blends sometimes included the inner bark of dogwood, bearberry, and even poke leaves.   As late as the early 20^th century, the practice continued.  One magazine published a claim saying smoking the dried leaves would relieve the symptoms of asthma.  “Gather the green leaves while fresh, dry them, and smoke in a common clay pipe”.

During the late Victorian era into the early 20^th century sumac gathering helped ease the financial burden for many country families.  Men, women, and children would camp out, pulling sumac leaves by day and singing, playing music, telling stories, or visiting about the campfire as supper cooked in the evening.  The sumac was sold to sumac mills that ground it into powder and sold it to be used in tanning leather or dyeing fabric.

Sumac berries produce a nice red color when dyeing cotton and were used in combination with other dyestuffs to produce different colors.  “To dye Olive for wool.  For 5 pounds goods [wool yarn] take 2 pounds fustic and a little sumac; boil them ½ hour in water sufficient for the goods, then add this to 5 ounces logwood with 10 ounces alum and 4 ounces madder, and enter the goods and boil 1 hour.  Cool and darken with 5 ounces copperas.”

Sumac tea and “sumac-ade” are made by crushing the berries and soaking them in hot or cold water.  The flavor becomes strong when boiled due to the release of tannins.  It is advisable to strain a sumac beverage through cheesecloth to remove stray seeds and fuzz that comes off the drupes.

To make sumac spice, gather the red sumac berry clusters before rain washes the flavor out of the hair-like covering on the berries.   It may be a good idea to let them dry in a warm place overnight, especially if you plan to keep the sumac spice for some time.  Separate the berries from the stems.  Put the berries through a food processor until the red powder is separated from the seed.  Use a colander or strainer to separate the red powder from the seeds.  Discard the seeds.  A cup of berries will produce maybe 1 to 1 ½ teaspoons of sumac spice.  For a blend, add dried thyme, oregano, marjoram, lightly toasted sesame seed, and grind together.

Readers may wonder how sumac spice is used.  The sumac powder or the spice blend is rubbed onto meat prior to cooking or sprinkled on at table.  Various cultures put it on fish, kebabs, vegetables, flatbread, salads, etc.

Cut potatoes into large pieces, drizzle with olive oil, shake on salt, pepper, ground sumac berries, dried or fresh chopped thyme, and crushed garlic.  Toss and roast until tender and browned.  Other vegetables may be used in place of potatoes (zucchini, eggplant, etc).

[Rustic vegetarian quiche made with garden fresh squash and herbs, two cheeses, eggs, bechemel, and seasoned with sumac. Delicious!]

Make a salad of chopped cucumbers, parsley, onion or chopped scallions, sliced radishes, purslane leaves (if available), and tomatoes and dress with lemon juice and/or vinegar, salt, pepper, oil, and ground sumac.  It goes well in chickpea and black bean salad.

Rub your favorite cut of meat, chicken, or fish with oil, season with a dry rub made from ground sumac berries, salt, pepper, and dried thyme.  Chopped parsley and garlic are optional per taste.  Roast or grill until done.  Sprinkle it on seafood.

If you like the flavor, possibilities are almost endless in what you can do with sumac.  Mix the sumac spice blend with good olive oil and eat with pita or bread.  Mix the spice blend into hummus dip.  Add sumac to homemade pasta dough.  Make baked or grilled kafta (or meatballs) and season with the spice or blend.

Season lentil soup/stew; roasted chickpeas; dolmas (stuffed grape leaves); make sumac jelly as a substitute for cranberry sauce; combine sumac berries and water and place in the sunshine for an upgraded sun tea; combine mixed nuts, sumac spice, cumin, coriander, salt, pinch of pepper and chili powder with 2 tablespoons of oil or coconut oil and roast them; add it to rice, use it in marinades, or make a salad of quinoa and lentils and dress with oil, vinegar, and sumac spice or blend.

Last but not least, I can’t end this without the gardener in me mentioning how easy it is to grow sumac, almost too easy.  It spreads from suckers that grow around the bush and can quickly get out of hand if left unattended.  Sumac can be controlled by mowing it, digging, or pulling up the suckers but any gardener who seriously doesn’t want something that might be hard to control might consider planting it in a large pot or containing it by putting down a root barrier a foot or so deep around the area where it is planted.  If you don’t want to dig and transplant it from the wild it can be ordered online.

© Copyright 2017.  Please do not reprint or redistribute without the author’s permission. A lot of time and effort goes into my research.  Thank you.

Bib:

Yanovsky, Elias.  “Food Plants of the North American Indians”.  Dept. of Agriculture.  July 1936.

“Audubon”.  Vol. 22.  Jan.-Feb., 1920.

“Boys’ Life”.  May 1966.

“Harper’s Young People”.  1879/80.  Vol. 1.  Oct. 19, 1880.

“Vegetarian Times”.  Oct. 1981.

“Country Life”.  Vol. 35.  March 1919.

Dayton, William Adams.  “Important Western Browse Plants”.  Washington, D.C.  1931.

Saunders, Charles Francis.  “Useful Wild Plants in the United States and Canada”.  NY.  1920.

“Farmers’ Bulletin”.  Washington, D. C.  Feb. 1951.

Nabham, Gary Paul.  “Cumin, Camels, and Caravans:  A Spice Odyssey”.  2014.

Nordahl, Darrin.  “Eating Appalachia”.  2015.

Owens, Frances Emugene.  “Mrs. Owens’ New Cook Book and Household Manual”.   Chicago.  1899.

“The National Druggist”.  1919.

Chapple, Joe Mitchell.  “National Magazine”.  Vol. 21.  March 1905.

Hodge, Frederick Webb.  “Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico”.  1912. ©

Thistle Salad Days©

The title of this post came from “Blackwood’s Magazine” Feb. 1895.  “…the French public was browsing the thistles of the Vicomte d’Arlincourt, or of ‘Lord R’Hoone’ (otherwise Honoré de Balzac himself in his thistle-salad days)…”.  Yes, gentle reader, salads are made from peeled thistle stalks and they can be cooked as well.

This caught my eye as I’ve been slowly compiling an encyclopedia of the history of salads (cooked, raw, and everything in between) over the past few years and because there are thistles growing in our field.  To eradicate them, or to eat them, that is the question.

One needn’t worry about identifying a species of thistle before consuming it as all are said to be edible.  Although it may be too hot for them to flourish, I’ve purchased seed to add cardoon to my perennial garden and cardoon is simply a cultivated thistle grown for its celery-like stems rather than its flower head.  The plant is usually covered with hay to render the stems white and tender, and they are eaten just as wild thistles are in the references below.  Depending on what is available, either will work in the same manner and cardoon can be found in cans or jars in specialty food stores for those who prefer to skip the thorns and go straight to the dining room.

Historians date the cultivation of cardoon to the days of Pliny and some think modern artichokes then evolved from cardoon about the 15^th century.

One might assume the eating of thistle stalks was learned from Native Americans, but given the accounts of them being eaten in England, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and other countries from at least the Middle Ages, proves the thistle is one of those basic resources that evolved simultaneously throughout much of the world.  “Nothing to eat, starving and weak; we followed the example of the squaw, in eating the inner portion of large thistle-stalks”.  – “Travels in the Far Northwest, 1839-1846”.

English cooks and 19^th century cookbook writers point out that applying fresh lemon juice to the peeled stalks will prevent them from turning dark.  Acidulated water, the term often used, is water with lemon juice into which the pieces can be placed for this purpose.

“Both the milk thistle and the blessed thistle were used by our ancestors, the former as a vegetable and the latter as a tonic, and Evelyn, in his ‘Acetaria’ [1699], says that to a salad of thistle leaves ‘the late Morocco Ambassador and his retinue were very partial.’  The leaves of the milk thistle shorn of their prickles were not only an ordinary ingredient in a salad, but they were also boiled’, and Tryon says of them, ‘they are very wholesome and exceed all other greens in taste’.  They were added to pottages, baked in pies, like artichoke bottoms, and fried.  Culpepper advises one to ‘cut off the prickles, unless you have a mind to choke yourself’, but in olden days both the scales and the roots were eaten.  The young stalks, peeled, were eaten both fresh and boiled.”  Rohde, Eleanor.  “A Garden of Herbs”.  1922.

In 1828, John Loudon included thistle-stalks in a list of culinary vegetables from the open garden.  Were these the common thistle, or were they the more refined garden cardoon?  “An Encyclopaedia of Gardening”.

John Young was definitely eating wild thistles when he wrote in his memoirs in 1847, “For several months we had no bread, Beef, milk, pig-weeds, segoes [sego lilies], and thistles formed our diet.  I was the herd boy, and while out watching the stock, I used to eat thistle stalks until my stomach would be as full as a cow’s”.  – Young, John R.  “Memoirs of John R. Young, Utah Pioneer”.  1847.

“Good Housekeeping”, Oct. 1891, contained an article called Cajun Housekeeping”, in which the author said, “Tender thistle stalks she cooks as one would asparagus, and they are just as good-then no adverse fate ever cuts short the thistle crop”.  I suppose if my asparagus bed fails to thrive, I may depend upon its wild substitute to supply us with this favorite.

MILK THISTLE STALKS.  The young stalks about May being peeled and soaked in water to extract the bitterness, boiled or raw are a very wholesome sallet eaten with oyl, salt and pepper.  Boil them in water with a little salt till they are very soft and so let them dry to drain.  They are eaten with fresh butter melted not too thin and this a delicate and wholesome dish.  Other stalks of the same kind may be so treated as the Bur being tender and disarmed of its prickles.  – Evelyn, John.  “Acetaria”.  1699.

CARDOON SALAD.  1885.  Jules Harder removed the leaves from the stalks, cooked them, and then peeled them.  “Then cut them in scallops an inch long and drain them on a napkin.  Put them in a salad bowl and season them with salt and pepper.  Then chop two cloves of garlic very fine and put them in a frying pan with a little sweet oil.  Fry them [garlic] lightly (not letting them get brown), and add immediately some bell peppers chopped fine, and some vinegar.  Then let them boil up for two minutes and pour the dressing over the Cardoons, mixing them well together, and then serve.”  – “The Physiology of Taste”.

CARDOON SALAD.  Jeanette Norton.  “Mrs. Norton’s Cookbook”.  1917.

The salad made of cardoons is rather unusual.  These French thistles should be drained from the can and allowed to marinate for half hour in French dressing to which a little onion juice has been added.  Drain, add good mayonnaise, and lay on white lettuce leaves garnished with the sweet pickled cucumber rings that come in bottles for the purpose.  Toasted whole wheat crackers with melted cheese on them go nicely with this salad.  This will serve four people.

A Quick Discourse on Elderberries©

Elderberries have been planted around farms and harvested for home use and for taking to market since the 18^th century and probably much earlier.  They are found wild throughout much of the country and have been used for generations to make various things, wine and cordial perhaps being the most common.  Having planted elderberries recently and expecting a harvest in a couple of years I took a quick look at other ways to use them.  Elderberry bushes reproduce easily so I hope as time goes by I get larger and larger harvests.

For those who want an alcoholic beverage but are hesitant to try their hand at wine making, I suggest starting with a cordial which is a very simple process.

While some 19^th century cookbook authors were prejudiced against elderberries in favor of more refined fruits, others like Thomas De Voe preached their benefits.  “These small, black berries are pleasant-tasted when ripe, and are brought to our markets to be used for various purposes.  They make the Elder-paste, for the sick, which is considered excellent, Elderberry wine, a wholesome and agreeable beverage, sometimes used for making pies, etc., and when gathered while in flower make the Elder Flower Tea, etc.  The bark makes an excellent ointment; in fact, the whole plant is much used in medicine.  The berries are in season in the months of August and September.”  1867.

“The elderberry is one of the least known and appreciated of the berry family.  In fact it is usually neglected for many less palatable and far less dietetic fruits…

Elderberries when properly prepared are very palatable and delicious, either in pies, jelly, as a spiced conserve or a household wine…If housewives will try any one of the following tried and tested recipes I think they will begin to appreciate this friend of the hedges…”.  “Table Talk.”  1903.

A quick way to pick the small berries from the stem clusters is to place a half inch wire mesh over a large pan or bucket and gently pass the clusters back and forth along the wire.  The berries will fall through the mesh into the container.

ELDERBERRY PIE.

Line a pie dish with paste, upon which sprinkle a scant tablespoonful of flour; to this add a half cupful of sugar and a half teaspoonful each of cloves and cinnamon, rubbing all together evenly.  Upon this pour the berries, a pint more or less according to the size of your pie dish; pour over another half cupful of sugar, dot generously with butter, adding last one large tablespoonful of good vinegar.  Apply top crust quickly and bake.  “Table Talk”.  Vol. 18.  1903.

ELDERBERRY JELLY.

Take equal parts of elderberries and wild grapes, and cook to extract juice, strain, and sugar in proportion of one pound to each pint of liquid, and cook as other jelly…

Elderberries are also combined with gooseberries, crab-apples, and green grapes, equal parts of either, making a piquant table sauce, while pies made from them might please the individual who does not care for the flavor of the single fruit.

For winter use elderberries may be preserved in either of the above combinations and treated as other fruit, or canned plain without sugar for use in pies only.  When making pies from the plain canned fruit, it is wise to cook the berries with the same proportion of sugar, flour, etc., as given for fresh berries, filling the pie paste when cold.  This insures a jelly-like consistency of the finished product without those unpalatable doughy lumps too often seen…”  – “Table Talk”.  Vol. 18.  1903.

ELDERBERRY SHORTCAKE.

Make the cake or biscuit dough rich and flaky, proportioning it with cream, egg and soda the same as for a strawberry shortcake…When baked, divide the upper from the lower crust and place upon each a layer of ripe stewed elderberries.  It is known that elderberries have a somewhat rank taste when eaten from the bush.  Pick them, look them over and wash them; next, put them in a granite or porcelain stew dish, add a very little hot water and cook them a few minutes or until stewed.  Have as little juice as possible.  Add a half teacupful of thick sweet cream to enough of the stewed berries for two layers.  When the berries and cream are placed upon the cake, sprinkle over each layer plenty of granulated sugar, and the shortcake is then ready to be eaten.  Do not add the cream to the berries until it is about time to have the cake brought to the table.  Cream and sugar added to the berries destroy the disagreeable elderberry flavor and makes them rich and palatable.  – “Table Talk”.  1903.

ELDERBERRY CONSERVE.

9 lb. elderberries, 3 lb. sugar, 1 pt. vinegar; cook until thick and seal.  – “The Warren Cook Book”.  1920.

ELDERBERRY PIE.

Dilute Elderberry Conserve with water; add corn starch to thicken and put dots of butter on top (a little vinegar may be added if desired”.  Very delicious.  “The Warren Cook Book”.

DRIED ELDER FRUIT.

This fruit is very easily dried by spreading in pans under the stove or in the oven, and will make as good pies as though fresh, if they are soaked a few minutes in hot water before using.  Some of our neighbors dry them by the bushel, for winter use”.  – “The Ohio Cultivator”.  Vol. 9.  1853.

ELDERBERRY DUMPLINGS.

Make the crust as usual and put in the berries as you would other fruit [like apple dumpling].  Boil them fast till the crust is done, then take them up and eat with a dip of white sugar and sour cream, and you will confess they are delicious.  [Fruit dumplings can be baked as well].

Elderberries were made into a sauce similar to cranberry sauce.  The Iowa State Horticultural Society recommended combining elderberries and rhubarb for a sauce [1910].  An article in “Everyday Housekeeping” said, “twenty years ago many families, by no means poor, during every year consumed gallons of this unsavory sauce, made by boiling elderberries in sorghum molasses.  Jelly, too, made from elderberries and flavored with lemon, was accounted a delicacy.”  1900.

EDLERBERRY SOY.  [Anchovies are used to flavor various sauces and once cooked and strained, there are no fishy pieces remaining in the product.  The flavor blends with the other ingredients, and if made well, leaves no fishy taste.   Modern tastes usually dictate using far less than older recipes call for.  I suggest 1 small can, chopped, for this or the next recipe.]

One quart of elderberries; one quart of vinegar; a quarter of a pound of anchovies; a blade of mace; a little ginger, salt, and whole peppers.  Pour a quart of boiling vinegar over a quart of elderberries, picked from the stalks and set it in a cool oven all night; then strain the liquor from the berries, and boil it up with the mace, ginger, salt, whole peppers, and the anchovies, until they are dissolved.  When cold, put it into bottles after it has been strained, and cork it down.  Some prefer the spice put into the bottles; but either way it is a good and not expensive soy.  This was appreciated as a sauce for fish.  – “Warne’s Model Cookery”.  1879.

ELDERBERRY CATSUP.  [Note this recipe is similar to the one called soy.]

1 quart of elderberries; 1 quart of vinegar; 6 anchovies, soaked and pulled to pieces; half a teaspoonful mace; a pinch of ginger; 2 tablespoonfuls white sugar; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 tablespoonful whole peppers.  Scald the vinegar and pour over the berries, which must be picked from the stalks and put into a large stone jar.  Cover with…glass, and set in the hot sun two days.  Strain off the liquor, and boil up with the other ingredients, stirring often, one hour, keeping covered unless while stirring.  Let it cool; strain and bottle.  This is used for flavoring brown gravies, soups, and ragouts, and stirred into browned butter, makes a good piquant sauce for broiled or baked fish.

FRUIT SAUCE.

Melt a small lump of butter, stir in half as much flour, or a quarter as much of corn-starch, arrowroot, or soaked tapioca, a pinch of salt, if the butter is not salted, a glass of acid wine or lemon juice, or a tablespoonful of vinegar; sugar to taste; any fruit juice you have, as raspberry, strawberry, blackberry, elderberry, or jam will do; thin to the right consistence; bring it to the boil and serve.  Raspberry, and other fruit vinegars make excellent sauces”.  [There is no right and wrong with this recipe – it is thickened as much or as little as the cook desires, and made as sweet or not as is wanted].  “How to Cook”.  1872.

ELDERBERRY PUDDING.

1 cup sugar, 1 cup sweet milk, 2 teaspoons baking powder, butter size of an egg, enough flour to make stiffer than cake dough.  Put in baking dish, then mix the following:  1 ½ cups elderberries (any fruit may be used) 1 cup sugar, 2 cups boiling water, small piece of butter.  Pour this over batter in pudding dish and place in oven.  Bake ¾ hour.  [This could be called cobbler].

ELDER-FLOWER PANCAKES AND JUNKET.  “Fruit Recipes”.

The finest flowers of the elder blossoms, stripped, may be whipped lightly into pancakes or muffins just before baking, a half-cupful to each “batch” of ordinary quantity.  This gives both lightness and flavor.  A plain junket should have added one-fourth part flowers to quantity of cream or milk used.  [Ripe berries may be added to muffins or cakes as one would raisins.]

ELDERBERRY SYRUP TO FLAVOR DRINKS.

Use strained elderberry juice and sugar in a ratio of 1 to 1 (half and half).  Flavor as desired with lemon juice, or cinnamon stick.  Bring to a boil and then simmer five minutes.  This may be canned for keeping, or small quantities may be kept in the refrigerator.  To serve, mix syrup to taste in cold club soda or lemon-lime soda and serve over ice.

Note:  While the images may look like poke, elderberry grows on a bush much different in appearance.  Know what you’re picking before consuming any wild plant.  I leave you with my favorite parting, Blissful Meals Yall©.  Enjoy your wild and garden bounty.  – Vickie Brady, The Historic Foodie.

Elinore Stewart, Lady Homesteader©

Elinore Pruitt Stewart is known as the Woman Homesteader and was the subject in the previous post.  After posting the piece on the Homestead Act and a letter written by Mrs. Stewart, I did a little research on her and found she is worthy of attention.

She was born June 3, 1876, probably in the Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory.  Her father died while in the military during the late 1870’s, somewhere on the Mexican border.  Her mother was Josephine Courtney Pruitt.  Josephine married her brother-in-law, Thomas Isaac Pruitt, after Elinore’s father died.

Elinore received a basic education at the Pierce Institute.  The school closed in 1889.  Elinore was orphaned when Thomas died in a work accident and her mother died of complications following childbirth in 1893.  Elinore, age 18, was the sole care-giver for her five youngest siblings.

Elinore married Harry Rupert who was 22 years older and the couple filed for a homestead in 1902.  The marriage did not last and Elinore began work a cook and domestic.  While working for Mrs. Juliet Coney, Elinore began work in March, 1909 for Mr. Clyde Stewart of Burntfork, Wyoming.

In May she filed homestead on 160 acres adjoining her employer.  One of the requirements was that the homesteader build a home on the property and live on it for five years after which they owned it.  Because the line between Mr. Stewart’s claim and Elinore’s came within a couple of feet of Mr. Stewart’s home, they were able to add on an addition to his home that sat on Elinore’s claim giving them room to raise a family while fulfilling the requirements of keeping Elinore’s claim.

The law for married couples filing for homestead said that the husband and wife must live in separate residences so Elinore gave her claim over to her mother-in-law in 1912.  By that time she and Mr. Stewart had begun their family as well as raising Elinore’s daughter from her first marriage.

The long, sometimes rambling, letters Elinore wrote to her old employer, Mrs. Coney, were published in “The Atlantic Monthly” and later were published in book form.  When “Atlantic Monthly” asked more more letters, Elinore went on an elk hunt, both for writing material and meat for the homestead, and wrote several letters over about two months.  Those were published under the name “Letters on an Elk Hunt”.

In 1979, the movie “Heartland” was released and was loosely based on Elinore’s life.  It portrays very little of her work on her homestead and concentrates almost wholly on her life as Clyde Stewart’s wife.

Elinore Stewart died of a blood clot to the brain following gallbladder surgery on Oct. 8, 1933.  She and Clyde are buried at the Burntfork Pioneer Cemetery.  Clyde and their sons operated the ranch until 1940, leased it for a while, and finally sold it in 1945.

What is a homestead?©

Homesteading means different things to different people and sometimes the word is bandied about, perhaps out of context by those who haven’t taken a notion to adopt the old ways.  Where did the word originate and what did it mean?  Let’s take a brief look.

In 1862, Congress passed the first of several Homestead Acts to encourage settlement of America’s prairies.  It was effective on January 1, 1863.  Other laws were later passed with “Homestead” in the title, but none were ever quite as sensational as the one from ‘62.  It is notable that this took place during the first half of the Civil War which explains why Southerners weren’t initially able to file claims.

The East had long since been densely populated and gold seekers and adventurers had crossed the plains to settle on the West Coast, but few had stopped to carve out a life for themselves in the Heartland.  The Homestead Act of 1862 offered up to 160 acres for settlers of land with only a small filing fee required.  The settlers had to live on and improve the property for a period of five years in order to take ownership of it.

Any adult who had never taken up arms against the government could apply including women and immigrants who applied for U.S. citizenship.

Not all homesteads were in the mid-west although a larger number were.  Southerners were not allowed to take up homesteads under the 1862 law, but in 1867 they could file for homestead land if their loyalty to the Union was not questioned during the war.  Through the Southern Homestead Act lands were made available in five Southern states.  The Southern Homestead Act was repealed in 1876. An Act in 1866 made it possible for Blacks to homestead land as well.

People from all walks of life filed claims and made the trek west.  The land was often isolated and far from stores and transportation hubs so, like today, homesteading often meant making the most from a few materials on hand and a lot of grit and determination.  Anyone who did not possess common logic and basic skills soon realized they’d better learn fast how to dig a well, plant and harvest crops, care for poultry and farm animals, keep bees, make candles, preserve food, sew  clothing, and a hundred other tasks.  Bartering goods or services was more common purchasing outright.

The following is part of a letter found in a book written by Elinore Pruitt Stewart, titled “Letters of a Woman Homesteader”.  Note that Mrs. Stewart and her daughter had filed a claim for their own acreage under the Homestead Act while her husband, Mr. Stewart, had claimed his own.  After the five year homesteading period the Stewarts owned twice as much land as they would have had with Mr. Stewart alone making a claim.  The letter began with Mrs. Stewart explaining she hadn’t written for a while because Mr. Stewart had suffered an attack of la grippe which had required much tending on her part and thanking the recipient for some magazines she had sent out to her.

“…When I read of the hard times among the Denver poor, I feel like urging them every one to get out and file on land.  I am very enthusiastic about women homesteading.  It really requires less strength and labor to raise plenty to satisfy a large family than it does to go out to wash, with the added satisfaction of knowing that their job will not be lost to them if they care to keep it.  Even if improving the place does go slowly, it is that much done to stay done.  Whatever is raised is the homesteader’s own, and there is no house-rent to pay.  This year Jerrine cut and dropped enough potatoes to raise a ton of fine potatoes.  She wanted to try, so we let her, and you will remember that she is but six years old.  We had a man to break the ground and cover the potatoes for her and the man irrigated them once.  That was all that was done until digging time, when they were ploughed out and Jerrine picked them up.  Any woman strong enough to go out by the day could have done every bit of the work and put in two or three times that much, and it would have been so much more pleasant than to work so hard in the city and then be on starvation rations in the winter.

To me, homesteading is the solution of all poverty’s problems, but I realize that temperament has much to do with success in any undertaking, and persons afraid of coyotes and work and loneliness had better let ranching alone.  At the same time, any woman who can stand her own company, can see the beauty of the sunset, loves growing things, and is willing to put in as much time at careful labor as she does over the washtub, will certainly succeed; will have independence, plenty to eat all the time, and a home of her own in the end.

Experimenting need cost the homesteader no more than the work, because by applying to the Department of Agriculture at Washington he can get enough of any seed and as many kinds as he wants to make a thorough trial, and it doesn’t even cost postage.  Also one can always get bulletins from there and from the Experiment Station of one’s own State concerning any problem or as many problems as may come up.  I would not, for anything, allow Mr. Stewart to do anything toward improving my place, for I want the fun and experience myself.  And I want to be able to speak from experience when I tell others what they can do.  Theories are very beautiful, but facts are what must be had, and what I intend to give some time.

Here I am boring you to death with things that cannot interest you!  You’d think I wanted you to homestead, wouldn’t you?  But I am only thinking of the troops of tired, worried women, sometimes even cold and hungry, scared to death of losing their places to work, who could have plenty to eat, who could have good fires by gathering the wood and comfortable homes of their own if they but had the courage and determination to get them.

I must stop right now before you get so tired you will not answer.  With much love to you from Jerrine and myself, I am

Yours affectionately, Elinore Rupert Stewart.  January 23, 1913.”

So, my friends, perhaps we see that the biggest difference in homesteading now and homesteading in 1863 is that land isn’t free for the asking anymore and we work more for the self-satisfaction of producing more of what we need ourselves rather than heading for Mr. Walton’s Mercantile.

See:  https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/homestead-act

 

Perennial Vegetables: Plant Once, Harvest for Many Seasons. ©

Tags

perennial vegetables

Cuccuzi, Edible gourd, aka yard long bean

Spring is on its way and my thoughts have turned toward my garden.  This post is not meant to be all-encompassing regarding perennial vegetables as so much of maintaining a perennial depends on climate, but it is a quick look at what I’ve planted, what I have in the works, and what I intend to add in future in zone 8.  Do some research before planting regarding planting zone and consider that some edible perennials are classified as invasive species and could be hard to control once established.  To research perennials I recommend starting with Eric Toensmeier’s “Perennial Vegetables”.

My tree collard (perennial in warm climates) cuttings from Bountiful Gardens came yesterday and I had them in pots of potting soil within an hour of taking them out of the mail box.  I have high hopes of them rooting and providing me with years of cut greens.  While rooting in pots prepare a well-dug bed with lots of compost.  In zone 8 the seedsman recommends taking cuttings in the fall in the event a cold winter kills the plants.  They are sometimes called walking stick kale.  See:  www.bountifulgardens.org, 707-459-6410.  Free catalogs, open-pollinated and heirloom seed.  No hybrids or GMO’s.

My Jerusalem artichokes (perennial)were so pretty last year when they bloomed that getting edible tubers from the perennial plants was a bonus.

My asparagus (perennial) is doing OK but I need to do some weed control with mulching.

Walking onions spread from top sets and with any care are perennial.  Mine are doing well even after a week of cold with some freezing rain.

Always match perennials to your climate as not every plant will grow in every planting zone.  My Victoria rhubarb and ostrich fern did not make it past the first year, probably because it was too hot for them in summer.

I’ve purchased seeds for Cardoon (perennial in warm climates) which I will plant when the ground is warm enough.  These look like large thistles but it is the stems that are eaten.  Bountiful Gardens and other seed catalogs offer them.  It will easily self-sow unless the flowers are picked.

I purchased seeds for Malabar Spinach from Bountiful Gardens and those arrived yesterday with my tree collard cuttings.  It is common in Asia and Africa and will grow in areas too warm for spinach.  It is a vine that will die with cold and frost but is supposed to survive in zones 7 and warmer.  I’m not sure it will overwinter for me but it should produce lots of salad greens throughout the summer and fall.

I bought Sylvetta perennial arugula from Bountiful Gardens and will put that out when warm enough.  It is perennial to zone 5.  It is said to be drought-resistant, good for bees, and overwinters in zone 5 or higher.  It bears leaves all summer for salads, adding to soup, or mixing with other greens.

You cannot be from the South and not know what pokeweed is.  Many southern families survived on poke greens and cornbread during the Depression, and for many, it isn’t spring until there’s a pot of poke greens on the table.  It self-sows so I’ve simply left some that came up wild and let them go to seed in order to keep it.  Birds eat it and deposit seeds here and there so once it establishes itself it isn’t too hard to keep going.  Harvest the leaves from young tender plants (preferably not over about 18 inches tall) then cook as any green.  Bringing it to a boil, draining, and restarting with fresh water tempers the strong flavor it can have.  The young stalks can be peeled, sliced, battered and fried like okra.

Below are some other plants (either perennial or those that self-sow) I intend to put in soon.

Egyptian spinach, aka Jew’s Mallow.  This plant self-sows.  The fibers are used to make jute rope.  It does well in southern Alabama and Florida where the weather reaches the broiling point in summer.  It grows 2 to 3 feet but with good conditions can reach up to 6 feet.  Kitazawa Seed Co., packet with 1100-1300 seed is $3.69.  Bountiful Gardens 100 seed packet is $2.00.  The seed are produced within pods and are easy to gather for saving.

I have lovage seeds I will be putting out this spring.  The plant is perennial and the leaves which taste like celery make good salad greens.  They can be added to soup and the roots can be prepared as a vegetable or grated into salads.  Baker Creek, etc.

I’m debating whether or not to plant stinging nettles.  The spines cause a rather unpleasant stinging sensation when touched.  They spread easily and are perennial.  It is a good idea to wear gloves when around it.  The leaves do not cause that stinging sensation after being cooked so if one wears gloves while gathering and washing, they are perfectly pleasant to eat after cooking.  They are made into greens, pesto, frittata, or nettle soup.

Miner’s Lettuce is perennial and is good in salads or it can be boiled or sautéed like spinach.  It was once common but today is little known yet worthy of much more attention.  It is hardy to zone 4 and is mulched during cold winter.  It can be grown in partial shade.

Salad Burnett thrives on neglect so it will be perfect for me.  It is at home in dry soil.  It can be subbed out for parsley and mint.

Cuccuzi.  This plant has more names than a Chicago gangster during the Depression including guinea bean or yard-long bean is perhaps the most common although it isn’t a bean at all.  It is sometimes called squash but is really an edible gourd.  My uncle used to grow these so I want them again for nostalgia.  Once you grow them, save the seed and you will never be without them.  It is not perennial.  Pick them at 10-12 inches and cook them like summer squash or let them grow into large dried gourds for crafting and seed saving.  Find them at Victory Seeds, Seeds From Italy, Sustainable Seeds, West Wind Seeds, Sample Seeds Inc.  They need a sturdy trellis.

Tromboncino.  This Italian squash is said to be resistant to squash bugs and the seed can be saved from year to year.  For anyone plagued by squash bugs this is worth trying.  It is not perennial but one can save seeds.  Bountiful Seeds.

Luffa.  Most people know this as a vegetable sponge, but if harvested when young and tender are edible.  My uncle also grew these and we kept seed from one year to the next.  Sustainable Seeds, Baker Creek, and others.  For best results, soak the seed for 24 hours then set out for transplants.  They need a sturdy trellis.

Profusion Sorrel.  Perennial in zones 4-8.  It doesn’t produce flowers or seed so it doesn’t get tough and bitter like other strains of sorrel.  It produces leaves all season long.  Richter’s offers it for one plant at $6.50 or three for $14.70.  For a less expensive approach, French sorrel is perennial in all zones.

Good King Henry is a relative of spinach with mild flavored leaves, perennial to zone 5, it comes up early every spring.  It should be planted in the fall or very early spring.  Bountiful Seeds, Restoration Seeds, etc.

Welch onions are perennial in all zones and produce clumps of green onions that spread and grow larger over time.  150 seeds from Bountiful Gardens is $2.50.

Lily White Seakale is perennial to zone 6.  It is used like kale.  It is usually blanched (covered) in early spring.  It is not always easy to find seeds for this.  Bountiful Gardens offers 10 seeds for $2.75.  Sea Kale is also available from Nantahala Farm and Garden, Fedco Seeds, and SeedSavers.org.

In the spirit of being self-sustaining, take cuttings from rosemary and basil, root them in water, and plant them to increase the available harvest.

Elderberry does well in zones 3-8 and can be started from cuttings.  I plan to start with 1 or 2 purchased plants then as they grow, root cuttings to increase my harvest.  The only advantage is the berries are supposed to be larger on the tame varieties, but wild ones will root also.  To root, take cuttings during dormancy, probably January through March, about 8 to 9 inches.  Place the cut end in water that comes up about half way of the cuttings and place in a sunny area for 6 to 8 weeks, change the water if needed.  They may also be rooted in potting soil.

 I’m considering groundnut but still weighing the danger of it becoming over-aggressive and hard to control.  It is perennial and available from Norton Naturals and Baker Creek.  It is not peanut.  It has been called Indian potato and in early diaries and travel narratives was called hopniss.  It was commonly eaten by Native Americans.  The Swedish botanist, Peter Kalm, wrote (1749) the Indians boiled the tubers and ate them instead of bread.  Le Jeune, a Jesuit missionary, said the French settlers called it “rosary” because the tubers are strung together like beads.  It is a perennial vine that bears edible beans and large edible tubers.  It is used similar to a potato, but is best not consumed raw.  It is best trellised. Tubers can be harvested the second year after frost kills the plant back.

I will order Quamash camass for fall delivery and I’m excited about adding it to my perennial vegetables.  It was commonly eaten by Native Americans, is perennial, and can be purchased from Restorative Seeds, Brent and Becky’s, etc.  It is listed as perennial in zones 3-8.  It has pretty blue flowers but refrain from cutting them as they make seed and self-sow.  Meriwether Lewis said in 1806, “at a short distance, the colour resembles lakes of bright clear water”.  Their diet included Camass in Lewis and Clark expedition.  Growing instructions say they will grow in most soil, like wet feet in winter and early spring and drier conditions after blooming so they should do quite well and naturalize beautifully for me.  They can be grown in full sun or part sun.  Everwilde Farms Inc., J. L. Hudson, Seedsman (La Honda, CA), and Mary’s Garden Patch (Lockhart, Texas).

Yacon is perennial in zones 9-11, lower than that it can be planted in a pot and put into a greenhouse in winter or the tubers can be dug, overwintered in storage then replanted in the spring.  Some sources say if your season is long enough to grow Jerusalem artichokes you can grow yacon.  The rhizomes are described as a cross between an apple and melon.  They grow similar to potatoes.  They can be grown from seed but when available most prefer to plant the rhizomes.  The plants produce larger tubers that can be harvested and smaller tubers that are ideal for keeping overwinter and growing the following season.  Available from Baker Creek, two plants are $14 and they ship in April to May.   I have ordered four plants and I think the flowers will make the plants as pretty as my Jerusalem artichokes.

Scarlet Runner Beans are often grown as ornamentals but are edible and perennial.  They’ll die in winter but will sprout again in spring so putting them in an area where they can continue undisturbed is a good idea.  So far I haven’t made such a place and so have not planted them.

As always, happy gardening and Blissful Meals.  Copyright, please ask permission before reproducing articles from my blog.  ©

GROWING and Using YOUR OWN BAY LEAVES©

Tags

bay leaf

One of the first things I planted when we purchased our little farm was a bay tree.  It was a tiny little thing, but given time and love I don’t see having to purchase bay leaves again and fresh ones are always more flavorful than the dried ones.  Either way, always discard the bay leaf before serving the dish.

An added bonus with growing your own is having enough to use in potpourri or sachets.  Since I am more involved in cooking than in scenting and my tree isn’t large enough to pluck enough leaves for making sachets yet, let’s take a quick look at the use culinary uses of bay leaves in times past.

Clermont gave a list of sweet herbs for cooking in 1812 which will serve today’s cook equally as well. “What go under the denomination of sweet herbs in cookery, are parsley, chibbol [chives], garlick, rocambole [an allium similar to hardneck garlic], shallots, winter savory, fennel, thyme, laurel, or bay-leaf, and sweet basil. Under the name Ravigotte, or relishing herbs are, tarragon, chervil, burnet, garden cresses, civet, and green mustard; there are other sweet herbs, which are not called ravigotte, although they are often used together, as mint, borage, water-cress, rosemary, marigold, marjoram, &c.”

The ways in which the leaves were used was consistent through 18^th and early 19^th century cookbooks.  John Perkins instructed in 1808 using bay leaves in pickling and making mushroom ketchup, and cooking a pig, pigeons, fish, beef, eels, poultry, and mutton.

In 1837, Beauvilliers’ “A Complete System of French Domestic Cookery” used the term “bay leaf” 52 times, using it for cooking mushrooms, pickled veal, put into bouquet garni (little bundles of parsley, green onions or scallions, thyme, basil, and bay leaf used for seasoning), soup, sauces including bechemel, brines for marinating and pickling, fish, meat, and various other made dishes.

One of the less common uses was in custard found in Lady Charlotte Campbell Bury’s cookery book (1844).  “One quart of cream, twelve eggs, the whites of four, the rind of one lemon, boiled in the cream, with a small quantity of nutmeg and a bay-leaf, bitter and sweet almonds one ounce each, a little ratafia and orange-flower water; sweeten to your taste.  The cream must be quite cold before the eggs are added.  When mixed, it must just be made to boil, and then fill your cups.”  Ratafia in this instance most likely refers to a liqueur flavored with almonds or kernels from peaches, apricots, or cherries.  It also can mean an almond flavored cookie or macaroon.

John Nott.  “The Cooks and Confectioners Dictionary”.  1737.  Hare Pye.  Break the bones of the Hare, lard it well, and season it with salt, pepper, nutmeg, cloves, and a bay leaf; lay slices of bacon at the bottom of your pye, put in the hare and lay slices of bacon over it, and lid it up; when it is bak’d pour in melted Butter, and stop the hole of the pye, and set it to cool.

Note:  Today most people prefer to cook the meat and debone it before baking it in the pie.  Larding refers to inserting small slivers of fat into the meat to keep it from drying out as it cooks.

Clermont utilized fish in making soup and sauces. 1844. “Take what kind of fish you think proper…cut in slices, and put them into your stew-pan, with a little butter, sliced onions…parsley, thyme, bay-leaf, basil, a clove of garlick [sic], carrots, and parsneps [sic]; soak it until it forms a slight glaze on the bottom; add to it the former broth and boil on a slow fire for about an hour; sift [strain] it clear.  It will serve for soups and sauces”.

I especially love cooking instructions when they come from sources other than cookbooks.  This is just such a one.  Pickling the fish in spices and vinegar preserved it without refrigeration.   “When more fish is caught than can be made use of, or kept without being ‘spiled’ [spoiled], cut it into slices about an inch thick.  (Every mess should lay in supplies of whole pepper, dried bay’s leaf, and all-spice, or pimento…)!  Wipe the fish dry, and lay it in a large jar [or crock], as follows:  after having pounded all-spice, black pepper, and salt, and mixed it well together, and rubbed the fish well with the mixture, lay the slices in regular tiers; and between every tier a bay-leaf, and so on, ‘chock up’ to the top, pressing the whole pretty well, or ‘handsomely,’ and then pour the vinegar down by the side, not the middle of the jar, until the jar is quite full.  Cover it over with brown paper, if to be had, if not, a bit of old canvass; tie it close, hand it over to the cook for a quiet corner in the oven, and when done, lay it by to cool;–and there’s a supply that will keep till all’s blue again.”  – “Jack Tench:  or, The Midshipman Turned Idler”.  1841.

Beuf [beef] a la Vinegrette.  Charlotte Mason.  “The Lady’s Assistant”.  1777.

Cut a slice of beef from the round three inches thick, with very little fat; stew it in water and a glass of white wine, seasoned with salt, pepper, cloves, a bunch of sweet herbs, and a bay-leaf; let it boil till the liquor is almost consumed, and when it is cold serve it up; what liquor remains, strain it off and mix it with a little vinegar.

Those who may want to add bay to their herb garden should be able to find seedlings at a nursery or they can be started from cuttings.  They are also called sweet bay and bay laurel.  They are evergreen and flower in the spring.  They may be grown in full sun or partial shade and one might let the weather govern the location for planting.  Partial shade might be better where the norm is extremely hot summers.  The size of the mature tree can be controlled by planting it in a container or through pruning.  It is hardy to 23 degrees, but can withstand a little colder if planted in a sheltered location.

As always, I wish you Blissful Meals, especially as we approach Christmas with all its splendor.  God Bless and merry Christmas one and all.  ©The Historic Foodie

[Spelling is unchanged from the original sources.]

Will 2017 Bring Disaster for the World’s Food Production?

For those concerned about the long-term effects of genetically modified (GMO) seeds, 2017 is going to bring changes in agriculture that will not be well received.  We’ve seen companies purchase rights to seed, alter it in some imperceptible way, and then file a patent on the seed so that they have control of the price and market.  There are three deals in the works that will give three giant agrochemical companies control of over half the seed produced world-wide and tighten the noose around smaller companies that are passionate about protecting non-hybrid seed.  For the non-gardeners, seed can be saved from non-hybrid plants and will produce true to form the following year.  Hybrid plants will not which means dependency on purchasing seed that might otherwise be perpetuated at home.

German owned Bayer bid $66 billion to purchase Monsanto according to Reuters.  Bayer isn’t just a producer of aspirin.  They are a mega producer of crop chemicals and with their purchase of Monsanto will control a huge portion of seed sales worldwide.

ChemChina is trying to purchase Syngenta Seeds.  It has sought European Union approval to purchase the Swiss company and says it will consolidate it with state-owned Chinese companies.  Interestingly, China has not approved using GMO corn, and has refused shipments of U.S. grown corn that contained GMO traits.  Syngenta has defended its right to add a protein to kill corn-eating bugs like earworms and cutworms.  The corn is known as Agrisure Viptera.  Syngenta was facing an increasing number of lawsuits from farmers whose profits are down by an estimated one billion dollars because of China’s refusal to purchase corn with GMO traits.

China detected the Viptera corn in several U.S. shipments in November 2013 and the following February started refusing shipments.  By October that year they had refused some 130 million bushels.  For more details on the acquisition please see Bloomberg Markets.

If ChemChina purchases Syngenta what course of action do they plan regarding the production of GMO seed?  Since China is the largest foreign holder of U.S. debt (some 1.24 trillion dollars) do they have plans to raise the price on seed to recoup some of that debt?  He who controls the seed controls the world’s food production.

DuPont and Dow, two of the largest U.S. seed companies have announced a planned merger which will spawn a 130 billion dollar company.  Does anyone think a smaller company trying to preserve non-hybrid seed stands a prayer of competing with such a monster?  Farmers and gardeners can expect higher prices for seeds and any chemicals they require and the merger will likely spell doom for those fighting the GMO seed battle.  Everyone can expect to pay more at the grocery store as increased prices for seed, fertilizer, insecticides, etc. rise.

The Dow/DuPont merger is currently under investigation by Europe’s top antitrust watchdog.  Perhaps they realize the devastating results creating such a monopoly could have world-wide.  If you want a voice in the issue, sign the petition at www.foodandwaterwatch.org.

To comprehend the importance of these mergers, ChemChina’s purchase of Syngenta was the largest business deal worldwide for 2016 until it was eclipsed by the purchase of Monsanto by Bayer.  The mergers are not aimed at helping the farmer put food on your table, nor the home gardener in filling freezer and pantry.

Please consider purchasing seed from a reliable heirloom seed producer such as:  Baker Creek, Sow True Seed, Seed Saver’s Exchange, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, High Mowing Seeds, Annie’s Heirloom Seeds, Fedco Seeds, Renee’s Garden Seed, Nantahala Seeds, Johnny’s Selected Seeds, Territorial Seed Co., Seeds of Change, etc.

Source:  CNN Money.

ELDERBERRIES: Multipurpose fruit©

Tags

elderberries

In 1656 William Coles documented the belief that gathering the leaves of elder on the last day of April and attaching them to one’s doors and windows would, “disappoint the charmes of Witches”.  Elder bushes were an integral part of gardens through the 18^th century, and why not?  How could one overlook the tasty flowers and berries prepared in a myriad of ways with the added benefit of warding off witches?

Elder plays a part in the early folklore of several countries.  Russians used to believe the spirit of the elder had great compassion for human beings and drove away evil spirits from them.  The Danes refused to make furniture from elder wood believing that doing so brought ill luck.  “If a cradle is made of the wood, the Elder Mother will come and pull the child out of it”.

Bushes can be dug from the wild, propagated by rooting in water or planting in soil, or bought from a nursery.  If rooting 6 inch cuttings in water plant them in small pots once roots are established.  Place the pots in a shaded location and keep watered until the following spring then plant in the home landscape.  If starting in soil, place the pot with the cutting inside a plastic bag so that a humid environment is simulated until the cuttings are rooted (keep out of direct sunlight), and proceed as above.  While the bushes are self-pollinating, planting more than one variety is said to produce bigger berries.

Elderberries are small and it would be very time consuming to pick them individually, therefore, when harvesting the recommended method was (and is) to cut the heads and let them drop into a basket.  One can then pick off the berries, or wash the heads and drop them into boiling liquid removing and discarding the remaining stems.  A quicker way to remove the berries from the stems is to cover a bowl or bucket with half inch wire mesh and just pass the berry bunches back and forth across it.  The berries will fall through the holes into the container.

All parts of the bushes have been used for one thing or another.  “The pith of the tree has wonderful powers, for, if cut in round, flat shapes, and dipped in oil, lighted, and then put to float in a glass of water, its light on Christmas Eve will reveal to the owner all the witches and sorcerers in the neighbourhood.  While this sounds ridiculous today, the Salem witch trials are proof that such things were once deadly serious.

Buds were pickled with pepper, mace, and lemon peel, elder tops (young shoots) were pickled, flowers were used to flavor vinegar or make drinks, the flowers were dipped in batter and fried to make fritters, sprays of flowers were put into sugar to impart a pleasant flavor, the berries were used to make wine, juice, pies, jam and jelly, tea can be made from the leaves, and the berries were used to make ink and to dye various items including champagne and leather.

Why aren’t we familiar with using these berries today?  Because, like many other plants, the lowly wild berry came to be considered inferior when tame berries were cultivated to produce larger and juicier fruit with less labor.  “It is strange that when there is a scarcity of fruit, as there was last year, people will lament the lack of fruit, when behold the fence corners are filled with these valuable bushes, bending down and overloaded with ripe delicious fruit that all goes to waste.  You need never be at a loss for fruit to make pies, for it grows spontaneously…Remember other fruit is liable to fail while this is a never-failing fruit”.  – “The Ohio Cultivator”.  1853.

Below are some historic elderberry recipes which may tempt you, but you may also want to try adding the berries to muffin, fritter, or pancake batter, mixing elderberry syrup with iced soda water for a refreshing drink, using the juice to make frozen popsicles or ice cream, etc.

ELDERBERRY ICE CREAM [modern].  This is similar to black raspberry ice cream that is popular in Pennsylvania.

2 cups elderberries (no stems); 1 cup water; sugar as desired; 2 cups heavy cream or half and half; 1 ½ cups milk; 5 egg yolks.  The syrup can be made ahead of time and refrigerated.

Combine the berries and water, bring to a boil and simmer until the berries begin bursting.  Add sugar half cup at a time until as sweet as you like.  Let the mixture cool slightly, then run it through a food mill or sieve.  Discard the solids.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

To make the ice cream:  Put the cream and milk into a heavy pan and slowly heat it, stirring so that it doesn’t scorch.  Add the elderberry syrup a half cup at a time until the flavor is as deep as you wish.  Bring the mixture to steaming but not simmering or boiling.

Beat the egg yolks in a small bowl.  Add a few spoonfuls of the cream mixture, whisking all the time, to the egg yolks.  Continue until the egg yolks are brought up to temperature without cooking and whisk all together.  Chill the mixture.  When cold put into an ice cream maker and proceed as for any basic ice cream.  The ice cream can be served as is, or made into popsicles.

ELDERBERRY PIE.  “Table Talk”.  Aug. 1903.

Line a pie dish with paste, upon which sprinkle a scant tablespoonful of flour; to this add a half cupful of sugar and a half teaspoonful each of cloves and cinnamon, rubbing all together evenly.  Upon this pour the berries, a pint more or less according to the size of your pie dish; pour over another half cupful of sugar, dot generously with butter, adding last one large tablespoonful of good vinegar.  Apply top crust quickly and bake.

ELDERBERRY PIE.  “Good Housekeeping”.  1891.

For a large pie, allow three cupfuls of berries, two tablespoonfuls of lemon juice or vinegar, two tablespoonfuls of flour, three-fourths cupfuls of sugar, and spices to taste.  Bake in one crust with a latticework top.

ELDERBERRY SHRUB.  Pour one pint of weak vinegar over one quart of elderberries; let them stand for twenty-four hours.  Strain, and pour the juice over a second quart of berries.  Let them stand for twenty-four hours, strain again, add one cupful of sugar to each cupful of juice, boil it up, and can or bottle if wanted for future use.  [To use, combine with ice water and drink].

ELDERBERRY CATCHUP. 

Elderberry catchup is excellent with game or cold meats.  Boil one quart of the berries with two cupfuls of vinegar and one tablespoonful of pickling spices tied in a muslin bag, for twenty minutes.  Put through a press or sieve that will retain the seeds, add two cupfuls of brown sugar, and simmer for ten minutes before sealing.

ELDERBERRIES DRIED.  Berry, Mrs.  “Fruit Recipes”.

Sun-dry the berries as for strawberries.  In some parts of Europe peasants use these in soups through the winter.

ELDERBERRY DUMPLINGS.  “The Ohio Cultivator”.

Make the crust as usual and put in the berries as you would other fruit.  Boil them fast till the crust is done, then take them up and eat with a dip of white sugar and sour cream, and you will confess they are delicious.

ELDERBERRY SYRUP.  “The Every-Day Cook-Book”.  1889.

Take elderberries perfectly ripe, wash and strain them, put a pint of molasses to a pint of the juice, boil it twenty minutes, stirring constantly, when cold add to each quart a pint of French brandy; bottle and cork it tight.  It is an excellent remedy for a cough.

ELDER TOPS, TO PICKLE.  “Cassell’s Dictionary of Cookery”.

About six inches of the tops of young elder sprouts, if cut at the right time—in the middle of April—will make a good pickle.  The sprouts should be first blanched in boiling water, then pickled in vinegar, adding salt and white pepper.  [Month when these shoots are at their prime will vary with locale].

Blissful Meals yall, cultivated or foraged, there are good things growing out there.  –  Thehistoricfoodie aka Vickie Brady.  Copyright©

See:  Rohde, Eleanour, “A Garden of Herbs”, 1922.  Berry, Mrs.  “Fruit Recipes”.  1903.

Soap Fit for a Queen©

Tags

Pears Soap

Soap is a necessary item for our comfort and health yet it rarely receives notice or praise.  When made for a Queen, however, it is quite another matter.  In 1892, advertisements for Pears soap read:  “Pears Soap Makers by Special Appointment to Her Majesty the Queen”, and “Pears Soap Makers by Special Appointment to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales”.

Queen Victoria conferred the original Royal warrant for the sale of soap to the royal household and the honour was renewed by Edward VII and Queen Alexandra.  Another Royal warrant was held with the King of Spain

The soap was praised by such notables as the senior surgeon at St. John’s Hospital for the Skin, London and the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher.  The latter wrote an endorsement on Nov. 29, 1882.  “If ‘Cleanliness is next to Godliness,’ soap must be considered as a ‘Means of Grace’—and a clergy-man who recommends moral things, should be willing to recommend Soap.  I am told that my commendation of Pears’ Soap some dozen years ago has assured for it a large sale in the U.S.  I am willing to stand by any word in favor of it that I ever uttered.  A man must be fastidious indeed who is not satisfied with it.  Henry Ward Beecher”.

Pears’ Soap took the highest prizes at International Exhibitions around the world – Paris, London, Philadelphia, Melbourne, Adelaide, Chicago, Santiago, Edinburgh, etc.

Pears Soap had humble beginnings but through keen marketing strategy it has remained popular into its third century of manufacturing.  Andrew Pears began making soap in London in 1789 and it is still available today.  Andrew took his grandson, Mr. Francis Pears, as a partner in 1835 and The House of Pears became A. & F. Pears.  Andrew left Francis to work alone in 1838 making a modest living but the soap wasn’t quite living up to its potential until 1865 when he was joined by Mr. Thomas J. Barratt and a young Mr. Andrew Pears (son of Francis and great-grandson of the original owner, Andrew Pears.  Francis Pears retired in 1875.

Thomas Barratt’s contribution to the success of Pears’ Soap was his persistence advertising it.  He was responsible for soliciting the endorsement of Rev. Henry Ward Beecher and others and made sure it was featured in magazines and newspapers in Britain and the U.S.  The soap, as developed initially in 1792, was good enough in quality that all that was needed to make it a household item was acquainting the masses with the product.

“Each cake of Pears’ Soap goes through a drying process for a full year before leaving the works, which removes every particle of water.  A cake of Pears is all soap and only soap, that is why it lasts so much longer than ordinary kinds”.

So successful was Barratt’s advertising campaign that Pears Soap was truly, “in leading hotels, banks, clubs, steamship lines and hospitals throughout the world”.

Blissful Meals, thehistoricfoodie, aka Vickie Brady.©