Pioneer Cookbook

True Story of Life without the Internet or a Cookbook

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 05:31:00 +0000

I burnt the Thanksgiving Ham and the Christmas Turkey was so dry and tough we gave it to the dogs but had to cut it into small pieces first. My husband wanted a ham at Thanksgiving so I went along with it since it was going to be just us two anyway. The wrapping gave me good instructions, I thought, although I thought it was a long time to cook a fully-cooked ham. I ended up cutting it into cubes and making ham and beans, which was good. Our disappointment was palpable at not having juicy ham for days to come.

So on Christmas I got to choose the meat and chose Turkey. I bought a 20 lb young turkey and cooked it in a bag. Too tough to cut without sharpening my knife twice. It went to the dogs. Tough. Dry.

We did not have access to the Internet due to poverty at that time. Nor did I have a cook book due to major downsizing in 2008. My next major purchase will be a complete Betty Crocker cookbook orsomething close to that so if we lose the internet again, I won't be helpless.

Lavender Sachets and Lavender Tea

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 08:19:00 +0000

Sweet-scented lavender is one of nature's gifts to us. Once you get your lavender herb bed started and coming up more each year, you will always be rich.

There are a number of variety's of lavender but lavandula vera is the most popular scented variety.

It is best to start lavendar from seed in my opinion. I live in southwestern Missouri in the Ozarks and had a wonderful lavender start going at my Mom's old house, but I had to move and start all my plants over.

I only moved about 15 miles northwest and it has only been four years, so to this date, getting lavender started again was low on my priority list. But I am going for it this spring (2012).

Camomile Flower Uses

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 20:37:00 +0000

Camomile flowers Anthemis nobilis have many uses and all of them are soothing. If you want to make Camomile tea, pick the flowers when the white petals begin to droop. I have never seen an exact measurement of how much camomile flowers to add so just make it to your taste. Drink a cup of camomile tea just about bedtime. Sweet dreams.

I remember Peter Rabbit's mother giving him a cup of camomile tea and never forgot it. Maybe that is why I dearly love my camomile tea in the evenings when I have some.

Zucchini Salad

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 04:58:00 +0000

Zucchini Salad Recipe

2 young/tender zucchini
Water
French dressing (your favorite)
2 oranges, peeled/sectioned
Lettuce

Wash zucchini well. Cook zucchini whole in boiling water for about 5 minutes. Rinse in cold water. Cut zucchini into slices about 1/4" thick.

Put in a glass bowl and add 1 cup French dressing. Cover and marinate overnight (at least marinate it for several hours if you don't have all night). Arrange the zucchini slices and orange sections on crisp lettuce. Spoon dressing over all. Makes about 4 salad servings.

Corn Pudding

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 21:16:00 +0000

Corn Pudding

2 cups corn off cob
2 eggs
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 pint scalded milk
1 medium green pepper, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Beat the eggs; add milk, butter, corn, green pepper, and salt and pepper. Pour into a greased baking pan or dish. Set the dish in a pan of hot water for one hour. Bake at 350 degrees until the pudding is firm, usually about one hour.

Country Dumplings

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 08:16:00 +0000

Country Dumplings Recipe

Basically, dumplings are droplets of dough. You can do so many things with dumplings. Dumplings can be cooked by boiling, steaming, simmering, frying, or baking and I never fail to eat a little bit raw. I love raw dough and under cook most baked things I prepare.

Dumplings fill the tummy and go great in soup and stew. My favorite use of dumplings is to boil them in chicken broth and chicken chunks with this and that vegetables thrown in.

Memorize this recipe and use it whenever you want to stretch your food budget and make your family happy at the same time.

Here are the ingredients:

2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk or water

Sift the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add the liquid and mix to a batter that will drop from a spoon.. Drop by spoonful into boiling soup or stew.

Important: Make sure there is plenty of liquid and that there is no possibility of it boiling dry in the next 20 minutes. Here's why: with dumplings you cannot peak after you put the lid on the pan.

So after you have dropped the dumplings in the boiling liquid put the lid on the pan, make sure it is tight, and cook undisturbed for 10 to 20 minutes, depending on how big or small you made your dumplings.

Susan's Angel Biscuits

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 03:27:00 +0000

This Angel Biscuits recipe needs a light touch by the baker/cook if you want your biscuits praised by each person who is lucky enough to eat one fresh from the oven. What I mean by light touch is to handle the ingredients with gentle mixing.

Tip: Before I put my Angel Biscuits in the oven, I dust dry flour over the top of each unbaked biscuit just before I put it in the hot oven. This gives your homemade biscuits an unmistakable homemade look. My Grandma Holcom and my Grandma Shook McGee both did this to nearly all their yeast baked breads.

Angel Biscuit Ingredients

1 pkg Dry Yeast
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups buttermilk

5 cups flour
3 Tablespoons sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup cold shortening

First thing to do is sift all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl (flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda). Next, go ahead and mix the yeast and warm water so it gets a nice start going and set it in warm area close by.

Now comes the 'gentle touch' part: cut the cold shortening into the sifted flour mixture. I emphasis this part because it took me years to be able to cut in the shortening so perfectly that my biscuits actually float in the air. I'm not bragging -- but practice does make perfect biscuits.

The flour/shortening mixture should be crumbly, like small peas. At that point, blend in your yeast mixture and add the buttermilk. Mix all together until moist.

Now you can put the biscuit dough in the icebox until you're ready to bake a batch.

Getting Biscuit Dough Ready for the Oven

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Take out a hunk of biscuit dough and roll it out on a floured board to desired thickness (I use 1/2" thickness). Use a glass or cookie cutter to cut out biscuits. Place on lightly greased baking flat. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Test a biscuit at 10 minutes and bake longer if necessary.

No Electricity -- Cook on Wood Cook Stove

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 02:05:00 +0000

Pioneer living involved cooking on a wood stove for most women. I have been without electricity (living out in the countryside) enough times to know I want a nice little wood stove available in my kitchen to use when all other resources are unavailable.

I want a wood cook stove that looks just like the photo on the left. It would warm the house, do all necessary cooking and baking, warmer for bread above the stove. I love it.

I use all cast iron pans, skillets, and baking pans so I'm ready to go! Let me know if any of you see a stove like this one. I am a real pioneer cook and I want to be prepared for all events.

Brine CuredPickles

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 20:25:00 +0000

When I was a little girl living in way out in the country outside Lawrence, Kansas, I always knew that I could reach into the giant crock jar on our back porch and pull out a big whole pickle at any time. I do not remember my siblings and I so much as rinsing our hands before reaching in the crock for the pickles. I don't remember us even thinking we should rinse our hands. The hardest part of getting a pickle was lifting that heavy crock lid off.

Those were the best pickles I have ever eaten in my whole life to date. My grandmothers, both of them, had crock pickles also but they kept theirs in their cellars, along with bushels of apples, sacks of potatoes, shelves of canned vegetables and fruits in Mason jars, jams, jellies and sacks of nuts. I don't remember one time with either grandma when I saw her sitting in her rocker but that she wasn't shelling nuts, crocheting, or doing something productive with her hands.

Brine Pickles

Gently wash cucumbers -- don't bruise them. Get an estimate on how much the cucumbers weigh. Put the cucumbers in your crock and cover with a 10% brine solution. The best temperature for brining pickles is in the 80 F degree range.

Brine Solution: 1 cup salt to 2 quarts water.

To test if your brine is right put a fresh egg in the solution and if it floats, your brine is at 10%.

Now weight the cucumbers down with a plate or something else that works for you. That's all you can do now. The following morning, however, add 1 cup of salt for each 5 pounds of cucumbers. This is important because it maintains the brine solution at 10%. Also note that it is best to add that salt on top of the plate weighing down the cucumbers and let it dissolve there; otherwise, it will sink to the bottom of the crock and will form too strong a brine down there.

You'll need to remove the scum when it forms on top of the brine. This is another important step: if the brine is not removed it will destroy the acidity of the brine and your pickles will be spoiled.

At the end of a week and for the next 5 weeks, add 1/4 cup salt for each 5 pounds of cucumbers. Remember, add salt on top of the plate weighing them down so it doesn't sink too fast. Let the fermentation (bubbles forming) continue for about 4 weeks.

If you like real crisp pickles, add some grape leaves or cherry tree leaves. Some women back then also used alum or lime. Not any of those are necessary for crisp pickles if you follow the procedure properly.

How to Plant an Apple Orchard

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 04:37:00 +0000

Larry and I are preparing a sunny location out behind the barn for planting an apple orchard. It is a triangular shaped piece of land perfect for an orchard.
I'll take a picture of it tomorrow and post it as is. As we dig holes and fertilize and do other work out there, I'll post those pics also.

Step One is getting the dream of having an apple orchard. That is the step we discussed just now.

Ozark kitchen photo from 1936

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 15:30:00 +0000

This Lake of the Ozarks kitchen photo was taken in March 1936 by Carl Mydans for the Farm Security Administration - Office of War.

I could not determine if the photo was purchased or if the whole Ozark cabin was purchased (I believe it was the latter). Back in 1936 the nation was in the Great Depression so not just Ozark cabin homes looked this stark.

The woman of the house was impressively creative as she made her home homey with newspaper wallpaper. She even cut scallops along the newspaper over the window to give it a curtain look. The child looks quite happy and proud of the home. The laundry tub and washboard on the front right of the picture was a common way to wash clothes in those days.

Old Mother Hubbard Went to Her Cupboard

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 02:43:00 +0000

drawing by Stan Simpson

In grocery stores and food markets, 2010 will bring a new consumer reality—or, rather, a continuance of the new reality that began with the economic downturn of late 2008.

More people will continue to cut down on meals at restaurants and opt to cook at home, where more homemakers will evolve from "food assemblers" to actual cooks.

Consumers will display less brand loyalty and be more willing to switch back and forth based on sale prices.

And more of us will discover and patronize the burgeoning "big box" grocery store formats like Save-A-Lot, Grocery Outlet, and ALDI source

Free-for-the-Picking Green Salad 9

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:01:00 +0000

See the bundle of collard greens freshly washed and in a strainer: well, the person who eats these greens, raw or cooked, will receive a walloping clear-off-the-chart charge of nutrients Vitamin-K, Vitamin-A, Vitamin-C, and manganese.

Those are only the nutrients that are so readily available in collard greens that the nutrients will actually feel like they 'kick in' and you are good to go. Look at some of the other nutrients in the chart.

Organizing Small Kitchens

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 21:30:00 +0000

Last summer we moved from a large house to a very small house and I had to get beyond creative to create spaces for things. I felt so pleased with myself when I hung a white two-shelf rack on the front of my cabinet door. How original I thought.

But today when I went to write about organizing a small kitchen I googled 'spice rack' and this photo came up. It looks like I took a photo of my spice rack, but I didn't. Someone else had already done this idea.

Nevertheless, in a small kitchen space is always at a premium and organization is not optional; convenience is also important. So I hung a white rack like the one in the photo on the outside of a cabinet door close to my stove. This placement has already saved me hours of work and frustration that I would have had to go through if I'd squeezed my spices and herbs inside the cabinet.

For My Valentine, i.e. you

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 12:55:00 +0000

This little valentine card is an antique found in an abandoned house about to be torn down years ago. I scanned this valentine and dozens more and date them around 1914.

I chose 1914 a the valentine year because of the style of the bloomer outfits for boys and girls looks like it is from that period; and because some of the other valentine cards depict children dressed in World War I uniforms.

Checking Amazon to see if they sold old fashioned valentine cards, I found several but the one on the left most closely matching all the cards I have.

Twitter Pie Recipe for Your Tweetys

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:28:00 +0000

Why do you need to know how to make Twitter Pie? My reason is simple. This recipe is quick and easy and allows me more time to twitter around, lots of tweets of interest come through at supper time. So here's your recipe for more time to tweet tonight.

Twitter Pie Recipe

Fry a couple pounds of ground chuck with an onion diced up in it.
Put the fried ground chuck and onion mix in a casserole dish (big)
Add a layer of carrots, a layer of frozen peas, a layer of quartered potatoes
Wisk or mix together a can of chicken, mushroom, or celery soup and a can of water
Pour the uncooked soup over the mixture in the casserole dish
Option: top with Velveeta cheese
Bake at 325 degrees until potatoes are soft

You can prepare this great supper at any time during the day and when supper time comes, bake it in the oven while you continue to tweet your heart out.

Early Colonial Kitchen Charm

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 02:44:00 +0000

The woman who cooks in this kitchen wouldn't even notice if a storm took out the power to her home. This woman is independent of everything except her own power.

I look at this kitchen and after being without power many times back here in the Ozarks (i.e., ice storms, high winds, tornadoes), I would feel safe if this was my kitchen.

If high winds were blowing and snow and ice covered the world outside, the family that lives in a place like this would be warm and cozy. That is beginning to mean a lot to families these days.

Pioneer Cookbook

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 13:37:00 +0000

Pioneer Cookbook was my first (and only) published cookbook. The lady on the cover is my grandma (Nellie Pugh Holcom of Lawrence Kansas). This cookbook sells out each time I do a new printing.

But I no longer have the space available nor the printing equipment and supplies I used to have and stopped printing it completely. Now, however, now that I understand the potential for online e-books, I am going to make this cookbook into an e-book.

I have the entire book set up on Adobe Publisher but in a format to print front and back. How difficult will it be to turn that material into an e-book? Have no idea. But if I don't have it online on this blog before the end of February, then it is apparently difficult.

Ice Box Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 10:10:00 +0000

Ice box cookies were almost a staple in many families. The recipe is easy and doesn't require any ingredients out of the ordinary but the big benefit was, and still is, that the cookies dough could be rolled into a dough log, wrapped in wax paper and then placed in the ice box or freezer (kept longer) until needed.

If company showed up unexpectedly, the lady of the house could pull out a cookie log, slice it into cookies, and within minutes, she could serve warm delicious cookies.

I am a dough eater and when I was a little girl and found these cookie logs in the ice box, I'd slice off a couple raw cookies and run outside, climb up in my tree house (couple of pieces of lumber I'd placed over a couple tree limbs), and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy. Here is our old family recipe which I still use today:

Ice Box Cookies

1 c sugar
1 c brown sugar
3 eggs
1/2 c milk
1 c crisco
1 t vanilla

Mix all the above ingredients together well

4 c flour
1 t baking powder
1 t salt
1 t soda

Sift dry ingredients into the beaten mixture. Note: the more flour you use the crunchier the cookie; use less flour if you like soft cookies.

Place a section of the dough on a large piece of wax paper and roll into a log. Flatten the dough log so that cookies are rectangle shaped when cut or leave it round to make round cookies, although tradition has ice box cookies as rectangle. Bake in moderate over until done.

Recipe Box Beauty

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 06:34:00 +0000

Even folks who seldom cook often have a recipe box. I found this photo of an old recipe box online. I choose it because it is identical to the one my mother used. Mom put the recipe she was going to use in the lid, the way it looks here. She would set the recipe box with her chosen recipe out on the counter early in the day. Then she built her day around her choice.

My grandma, on the other hand, never had a recipe for anything and although she had measuring cups and spoons, I seldom saw her use them.

For a long time I thought Grandma was almost magical the way she could go in her big white country kitchen, cabinet doors would open and dishes would clatter gently, then I'd smell something real good baking, and as if by magic a beautiful three-layer chocolate cake would be cooling near her west kitchen window.

Pioneer Spirit Equals Survival Mode

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 10:34:00 +0000

I remember when I first saw one of these statues of a pioneer woman with her children; both my children were by my side and they were very young then; the statue was in northern Missouri but I forget the town; I saw this statue and it struck me with awe; so huge and magnificent the statue looked. The sight of it gave me strength and at that time, I needed more strength. My own children were only a few years older than her children. Yes, I thought, I can make it because I too have a pioneer spirit. And I was right. So this entry is a tribute to whoever created this magnificent symbol of the strength of the American pioneer woman.

Spiced Peaches

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 07:07:00 +0000

What better time than during the dead of winter to think about the juicy peaches we'll have this summer. If you are fortunate enough to have a peach tree in your yard, then the next time you pick a small basket of fresh peaches, try this old time recipe loved by pioneer families.

Peaches were especially delicious back then because if you didn't grow peach trees you didn't usually get to eat peaches.

Spiced Peaches
Peel and pit a pan full of peaches. Cut extra large peaches in half. Set aside for a moment.

Mix together in a large saucepan: 1 cup of white vinegar and 2 cups sugar, add cloves, couple sticks of cinnamon, and any other spices you enjoy.

Bring the mixture to a boil.

Now add your raw peaches and simmer until they are the firmness you like.

Place in a sterile canning jar, adding the whole spices and the sauce as well. Put the jar in the icebox for a week or so before using. Heavenly peachy and very special treat.

Butterscotch Pudding Homemade

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 08:54:00 +0000

My grandma could whip up butterscotch pudding complete with lumps (which I always asked for) and to me, as a child, the pudding just appeared and it was the best most-flavorful pudding in the world.

Only much later in life after she turned 70 years or so, did she even consider buying Jello Pudding packages and it embarrassed her to have the packages in her kitchen.

Here is her recipe which she varied at will depending on what she had in the kitchen:

Homemade Butterscotch Pudding
1 c brown sugar
1/4 c cornstarch
1/2 t salt
1/3 c butter
3 egg yolks, beaten
1 c water or fresh milk
1 2/3 c fresh milk
1 1/2 t vanilla

Cook sugar and water together (note: for fluffy pudding, don't use water -- use all milk). Stir in cornstarch, milk and egg yolks. After it gets thick, add vanilla and butter. Yum!

I also found these old-fashioned cookbooks you might find interesting:
Betty Crocker's Old-Fashioned Cookbook
The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook: Old-Fashioned Recipes From New York's Sweetest Bakery
The Old-fashioned cookbook
The Pioneer Lady's Hearty Winter Cookbook: A Treasury of Old-Fashioned Foods and Fond Memories

Kitchen Garden Tips

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 04:23:00 +0000

This is the way my kitchen garden will look when I am able to give it some more time. I have dozens of hosta plants which I have collected for at least twenty years.

I also have the wood ferns which grow wild here in the Missouri Ozarks. Granted those are not herbs but they are great for filling in greenery in an herb garden.

I have three birdbaths which I will string out along this path and I'll plant these herbs because we use these herbs daily:

lemon mint for my tea
basil
parsley which we use on everything
thyme
lavender for my tea
and others if I can find some.

I had to leave my herb garden when we moved six months ago and will need to start over but at least this time I know what to do to make it perfect:

start the garden close to the kitchen door for convenience
make it easy to walk through
make it very easy to water
make sure it gets at least 6 hours of golden sunlight
use lots of garden containers for convenience and movement

Herman 10-day Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 08:36:00 +0000

The day you get the Herman starter, give it a feeding of: 1/3 c sugar, 1 c flour, 1 c milk. Stir each day by hand. Feed Herman again on the 5th day. When ready to bake on the tenth day, measure out 2 c. batter. Keep one cup of Herman starter batter for yourself and give the other cup of starter to a friend.

Herman Cake
Add and blend in the following ingredients to the remaining 2 cups of batter:
2 c flour
2t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 t soda
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1 c sugar
3/4 c milk
2/3 c oil
2 eggs beaten

Beat this together thoroughly

Place this batter in greased and floured cake pans. Now make the topping and put it on the batter before you bake it all.

Topping
1 T flour
1 c brown sugar
1 t cinnamon
1/4 c butter

Mix until crumbly and sprinkle on top of the cake batter. Now you can bake it at 350 for 30-40 minutes. Check with a toothpick at 30 minutes.

Glaze
1/2 stick butter
1/2 c milk
1 c brown sugar
Boil this for 5 minutes. Pour it over the cake as soon as you take it from the oven.