World War I Cranberry Conserve Recipe

I wanted to to find a cranberry recipe for Thanksgiving that was slight twist on the traditional cranberry sauce. I found this recipe for Cranberry Conserve from the book Conservation Recipes (1917) by the Mobilized Women of Berkeley.

During World War I, food rationing in the United States was largely voluntary, spearheaded by the U.S. Food Administration under Herbert Hoover. Americans were encouraged to conserve food to support troops and allies overseas. Campaigns promoted "Meatless Mondays" and "Wheatless Wednesdays," urging citizens to reduce consumption of staples like meat, wheat, sugar, and fats. The government emphasized personal responsibility through slogans like "Food Will Win the War" and encouraged growing "victory gardens" to supplement household food supplies. While rationing wasn't mandatory, the widespread participation showcased a spirit of patriotism and unity on the home front.

The "Mobilized Women of Berkeley" formed during the war to coordinate the efforts of local women in supporting the war. They organized food drives, produced clothing and supplies for soldiers, and ran community initiatives like war bond campaigns and conservation education. This group became a powerful example of grassroots activism, demonstrating how women could unify to address the needs of both the war effort and their local community.

Conservation Recipes, 1917

World War I Cranberry Conserve

Ingredients:

- 4 Cups Cranberries
- 1 Cup of Walnuts
- 1 1/2 Cups Water
- 3 Cups Sugar or Brown Sugar
- 2 1/4 Cups of Raisins

- The Juice of 1 Orange

Instructions:

1. Rinse the cranberries and place in a saucepan on medium heat with the water until the cranberries burst (about 5 minutes.

2. Add the walnuts, sugar, raisins, and orange juice.

1. Rinse the cranberries and place in a large pan on medium heat with the water until the cranberries burst (about 5 minutes). You may want to cover your pot loosely to prevent splashes. 

2. If you picked your own cranberries, now is the time to carefully strain out any leaves, and twigs that might be present. If your cranberries are pre-cleaned move on to step 3.

3. Reduce the heat to a simmer. Add the walnuts, sugar, raisins, and orange juice. Stir occasionally. 

4. Cook for 25 minutes, uncovered or until thick.

5. Pour into sterilized canning jars. 

Conservation Recipes, 1917

You might think that 3 cups of sugar is decadent for a conservation recipe but this recipe makes about 64 ounces of conserve.  Jellies, jams, and conserves stretched far and were used to help make substitute breads and meats more palatable. 

The only change I made to this recipe was adding the rasped orange rind. I didn't want it to go to waste. After Thanksgiving I'm planning on using the leftovers to make Cranberry Cream Cheese and Cranberry horseradish sauce.  

World War 1 Turkish Bazlama

Concealment was impossible; besides, we were in our usual trouble for water. The only inhabitant seemed to be an old woman, who came out of the tent to find out why the children had run back...

 For some minutes the Circassian (for we thought she must be one) stood talking to the two envoys at the door of her tent. Then she signaled us to approach, and invited the whole party inside her abode. Here she offered the equivalent in the East of a chair — namely, a seat on the mats which covered the earthen floor. The amiable old dame next produced a large circular tray, which she set in our midst, and on which she placed some wafer-like chupatties and a couple of bowls of the inevitable " yourt." 

Never did simple meal taste so sweet, but the amount provided served only to whet the appetite of the eight hungry travellers. It was gently suggested that we should like a little more ; we told her we would pay for everything we had. At the same time we produced some of our mugs as likely to provide a method of eating the " yourt " more in keeping with our hunger...Not a thing, however, would our hostess sell : neither flour, wheat, cheese, goat, nor fowls. We asked her to make us some more chupatties, but without avail. No money would tempt her — she was evidently not a Turk, — even the offer of a little tea could not work the oracle. Her hospitality — and it was true hospitality that she had shown to us — was limited to what we might eat on the premises. From what we could gather from her rather peculiar Turkish, the old lady seemed afraid to sell us anything without her husband's consent. It was impossible not to admire her steadfast- ness, and as we left we presented her with three silver medjidies (worth altogether about twelve shillings). On this she relaxed to the extent of allowing us to take three eggs that she had. 

 We tried to find out how far we were from the sea ; but she seemed hardly to know of its existence, so cut off had she been all her life in her mountain fastness. She directed us, however, to some other tents farther down one of the valleys, and said we might be able to buy some food there; so thither we now wended our way. There was a well outside the tent, but it was dry at the time and was being deepened. A few drops of water which she had given us within had come from some distant stream, she said. "Yourt," however, is a wonderful thirst - quencher, so lack of water did not cause any worry for the time being.  

-Maurice Andrew Brackereid Johnston, 1919  

I was inspired to make this after reading 450 Miles to Freedom by Maurice Andrew Brackenreed Johnston, an Indian born soldier in the British army during WWI. In the book, Johnston details his account of his escape from a Turkish POW camp along with 7 other officers. He details eating Chupattis as part of their foraged food but he was likely eating Bazlama, a Turkish version of pita that includes yogurt. It is pronounced "baz-luh-ma." 

This recipe is really good. We ended up eating some of it fresh and the next day we ate it with falafel and tzatziki. Next time I make it, I might add some garlic and herbs. You can store them overnight in ziplock bags at room temperature or freeze them. 

Turkish Bazlama

Ingredients:

- 4 Cups Flour
- 3/4 Cup Water
- 3/4 Cup Plain Yogurt
- 1 Tablespoon Dry Yeast
- 2 teaspoons Salt
- 1 Tablespoon Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Oil

- Butter for coating
- Parsley for garnishing 

Instructions:

Mix the yeast with the lukewarm water. Combine flour, yogurt, salt, sugar, oil, and yeast water until a soft ball of dough is formed. Coat the dough in oil and cover the bowl with a warm cloth for about an hour.

Cut into 4-6 pieces and roll into balls. Let the balls sit, covered with a cloth for 10-15 mins. 

Roll the balls out on a lightly floured surface.

Preheat in a cast iron pan on medium to high heat until you see bubbles forming, flip and cook for about 30 more seconds. (Don't grease the pan.) 

Rub with a bit of butter and top with parsley. Eat fresh with some yogurt.    

Apple Sauce Candy Recipe | World War 2 Era

 

The weather outside is frightful. No really, we just got that pandemic blizzard. I tried to find something fun to do inside and stumbled upon this candy recipe in the December 1941 issue of Woman's Day Magazine. I liked that it's candy made from real fruit instead of the flavorings we're used to. 

These ended up being the consistency of fruit snacks and had a similar taste. I was hoping they'd be a bit spicy, but it's a very tasty but mild flavor.  

 

World War 2 Era Apple Sauce Candy

Ingredients:

- 3 Cups Apple Sauce, Unsweetened
- 2 Cups Sugar
- Powdered Sugar. 

- 1/4 Pound Red Cinnamon Imperials (4 ounces)

Instructions:

Cook apple sauce, sugar, and cinnamon candies in a heavy saucepan on medium heat, until thick, about an hour. Let cool about 15 minutes. Prepare a cookie sheet with wax paper. Pour the candy onto the cookie sheet, let it cool and use a spoon to flatten it to 1/4 and inch thick. Let stand overnight to dry. Once dry, cut into shapes and dip in powdered sugar. Let dry one more night on powdered sugar. Keep stored in a tin.  

Tips: Mine wasn't fully dry after one night, but I couldn't stop due to time constraints. If I was to make this again, I would plan it out to have at least 2 days of drying before cutting. I would also use more candies. These would be very fun as holiday cake decorations.  

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Clifton, Va
Sept. 18, 1864

[79th Regiment, New York Infantry] Dear Mother;

Punch would find rare pickings in the army. The everyday jokes and incidents of campaign life are rich enough. The other day in a cavalry charge the enemy broke and a rebel soldier was chased into a fence corner whence he could not escape. "I surrender! I surrender!" he cried to the pursuing trooper. "What do you think of the old flag now!" replied the soldier aiming a cut at him. The men in the ranks get off many a good thing. It is curious to see what a zest some of them take in man hunting, skirmishing, scouting and the like. They are as much pleased when they bring down an opponent as a successful sportsman with his bird. Everything has remained in its usual quiet since I last wrote. We have a most beautiful little camp for Headquarters, and are quite comfortable. I have gone to the length of building a stable for my horses, and if we don't move soon shall think about building a chimney for my tent. We have plenty of grapes peaches and apples and I found some sweet cider a few days ago. So you see we are very well off, as fare as physical comfort goes. General Grant, U. S. is here, which looks like action. Probably to see what is doing and whether any force can be spared to reinforce his army at Petersburg. As for McClellan, he will make a worse failure as a politician than as a soldier. I think his army strength is all gone. Few are left of his old army and they have changed in their feelings towards him to some extent. Nowadays they are making everybody Brevent Major General.

-Hazard Stevens letter to his mother Margaret Hazard Steven, September 18, 1864

Tit-Bits (Boston) 1864

Civil War Cider Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

- 5 Cups Flour
- 3 Cups Sugar
- 1 Cup Butter (2 Sticks)

- 5 Eggs
- 2 teaspoons Baking Soda (2 Tablespoons Baking Powder) 
- 2 Cups Cider 

- Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Cloves, Ginger (To Taste) 

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Cream 1 cup of butter with 3 cups of sugar. Beat in your eggs. Dissolve the baking soda in the cider and add to the mixture. Pour the liquid ingredients on the dry ingredients and spice to taste. Bake in a greased pan until a toothpick comes out clean (30-60 minutes.)   

This recipe makes enough for two 8 inch cake pans. 

How to Render Lard and Tallow for Cooking, Soap Making and Cosmetics

In early America, grease pots were a ubiquitous part of a kitchen. Grease was collected during cooking and butchering and was later rendered (made clean), and used to make soap, candles, grease pans, for cooking, and cosmetics. Tallow is the rendered fat of a ruminant and lard is fat from pigs. 

Today, so much good fat goes to waste.   

I'm using fat that my family saved for me from tacos and meatloaf. I don't eat meat so I'm reliant on friends and family whenever I need lard or tallow. My fat wasn't too gross. Yours might have chunks of meat on it, and that's fine for this. Just chop it into pieces and melt.

   

How to Render Lard

Put your fat in a pan on medium heat and add enough water to cover it.

Add 1 teaspoon of salt per pound of fat.

Heat until melted.

Pour into a sieve over a bowl.

Let the bowl Rest for 24 hours. 

Cut the tallow out of the bowl.

Rinse the tallow under running water.

You can repeat the process a second time with a finer sieve. Freeze in zip lock bags for up to a year. 

In the next few weeks I'll hopefully post a few tutorials on what you can do with rendered tallow. Stay tuned! 

Civil War Era Apple Pancakes Recipe

I was very interested to try this recipe as it has molasses, cornmeal, and apples, three flavors that were very common during the Civil War that have since fallen out of fashion. I found the recipe in
The American Economical Housekeeper and Family Receipt Book, 1850. The Housekeeper and Gardener (1858) stated to add "a little more flour than is given to a common pancake batter," so I added a bit more than I would for normal pancakes. 

We served ours with "maple molasses", as it was called then. They were very good. You can barely taste the cornmeal at all. We will be adding these to our regular food rotation. The recipe made about 12 pancakes so I would half it in the future.

. 

Ingredients:

- 2 Cups Milk

- 1 Teaspoon Saleratus (Baking Soda)

- 1 Cup Corn Meal 

- 1 Cup Molasses

- 3 Apples, pared and minced 

- 3 +/- Cups Flour

- Fat or Oil for frying

Instructions:

Combine cornmeal, molasses, baking soda,minced apples, and milk. Mix in enough flour to make a slightly thicker than usual pancake batter. Fry in oil on medium heat until solid (about 1 minute). Flip pancakes over. Fry other side for another minute.  

Colonial Era Cold Remedy That Actually Works: 18th Century Elderberry Syrup

It's the middle of September in 1774, your mother is sick and has sent you out to collect elderberries to make syrup. You know just where to find them as you have a favorite spot. You fill your basket and turn to leave but eye up a particularly nice stalk that you can hollow out later.

By the 1700s, Elderberry (Sambucus) was a well known plant. Herbal manuals from the 1600s include it, and it was a favorite plant among young boys for making, of all things, popguns. The berries were also used for making wine. Elderberry wine was a main ingredient in a remedy printed in The Family Physitian (1696) to help treat scurvy in the winter when "herbs are scarce." Elderberry wine and honey make a very simple cough suppressant if you didn't feel like making elderberry syrup.   

You could use sugar instead of honey in this but I prefered to have the extra antibacterial properties of honey. Elderberry is still being studied but there have been a lot of promising studies that support  the healing properties of elderberry in shortening the duration of cold and flu symptoms.

18th Century Herbal Remedy: Elderberry Syrup

Ingredients:

- 1/4 Cup Elderberry Extract
- 3/4 Cup Honey
- 3 Cups of Water

Or

- 2/3 of a cup of berries (fresh or frozen and defrosted)
- 3/4 Cup of Honey
- 3 Cups of Water

Optional Ingredients:

Ginger, cinnamon, and cloves.

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients together and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until the mixture is reduced by half. Pour into a bottle and let cool. If you used whole berries, crush them with a spoon, and strain into a bottle, let cool before use.  Take a Tablespoonful by mouth 3 times a day or mix the syrup into tea. You can refrigerate the syrup for up to 3 months or freeze them into cubes and use as needed.

For those of you asking if you can just buy it ( I get it, you're sick) I have used and recommend this brand: Gaia Black Elderberry 

If you are planning on buying I would greatly appreciate if you would use the affiliate links above. It doesn't cost you any more but helps me keep the website running.


DISCLAIMER: All information contained in this site is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as medical advice or take the place of a doctor. Use at your own risk. For further research please check: Web MD.

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Colonial Popguns 

If you've found your way to this page I'm assuming you're sick and since you're sick anyway I thought you might have fun passing the time reading about popguns. I have always been curious about what they would look like in the 18th century and how they would work. Making popguns has been a children's pastime for hundreds of years, only to be lost recently. The popguns in the 18th century likely looked and functioned something like this:

Be sure to watch this video of this gentleman having some fun with his homemade, elder popgun and apple chunks. Hope you feel better soon! Have you tried Elderberry Syrup? How did it work for you? Be sure to leave a comment with any elderberry tips you have. 

Civil War Era Orange Nuts Recipe

The holidays are coming and that means acres of oranges will enter our homes to grace tables, bob in punches and add tang to cider.  Orange Nuts, hard biscuits with a strong citrus flavor are the perfect, Civil War Era thing to compliment gingerbread, cider or tea. They are also a great way to use up all of those otherwise wasted peels.

Orange Nuts are a variety of Ginger Nuts, a recipe still popular today. Click the link to see the ginger nuts recipe I made last Christmas!  This recipe was also printed in Godey's Lady's Book and Peterson's Magazine in 1865 and was still being published verbatim in 1883.

Civil War Era Orange Nuts Recipe

Ingredients

- 1 1/2 Cups Flour
- 1 Cup Sugar
- 3 Eggs
- 2-4 Orange Peels, zested
- 2-4 Lemons Peels, zested

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix sugar and eggs in a large bowl and beat for 15 minutes. Add flour and zest and mix until fully combined. Add flour until your dough is stiff enough that it can be rolled in your hands without sticking. Roll into one inch balls. Place on baking sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes.

I hope everyone has a safe holiday season! I'm going to try and blog all of the different things I bake this year and would love to hear and see pictures of what you are baking!
  

Civil War Era Potato Chip Recipe

This recipe was cooked for the Historical Food Fortnightly. A yearly challenge that encourages bloggers to cook a historical food every two weeks. The challenge this week was "Meat and Potatoes" and mid 18th century potato chips fit both those categories. Being made with bacon grease, the chips from this recipe are fragrant, with a smoky bacon smell and a crunch that modern chips can't compete with.

The origins of potato chips are vague. Many people have claimed to have invented them when they became popular around the time of the Civil War, but recipes for similar dishes have been printed as far back as The Cook's Oracle (1822) with its recipe for “Potato Fried in Slices or Shavings." Recipes for them were printed on both sides of the Atlantic and a recipe for them even appeared in Godey's Lady's Book in 1865.

Today chips are known for being a side dish to a meat dish and this has historically been the case. A Manual of Domestic Economy (1856) suggested potato chips go out with the second course along with partridges and lobster. The Modern Cook (1858) suggested they be served with roasts and ptarmigans, a grouse like bird. The New England Farmer, and Horticultural Register (1847) recounted a trip through Mississippi where the author was offered "jerked venison and potato chips." The potato chips in this case being made from sweet potatoes but still being served with meat.

Civil War Era Potato Chips

The Challenge: Meat-and-Potatoes (January 1 - January 14) They’re a staple for the tables in the most rustic cottages as well as the fanciest banquet tables - and it’s also an idiom meaning a staple or the most basic parts of something. Make a historic “meat-and-potatoes” recipe - however you interpret it.

The Recipe:

The Date/Year and Region: London, England, though similar recipes were also printed in the U.S. around the same time.

How Did You Make It:

Ingredients:

- Potatoes or sweet potatoes
- Bacon grease or oil
- Salt

Instructions: 

Skin the potatoes then peel them in long strips in the same way you would pare an apple. Put the strips in a bowl filled with cold salt water until you are finished peeling. Remove the pieces and let them dry on napkins. You can blot the tops of the strips carefully. In a medium sized saucepan on medium heat, heat the grease or oil. The grease is ready to fry in when you put a small piece of chip in and it bubbles. Drop in as many pieces as you can without overcrowding them. Stir constantly with a long handled metal spoon or they will stick to the pan. Fry 3-5 minutes. The pieces will shrink and float but wait until the edges are a little brown before removing. Place fried chips on a sieve to let dry. Sprinkle with salt as they are placed on the sieve.

Time to Complete: 30 Minutes

Total Cost: A few dollars.

How Successful Was It?: Better than I expected.

How Accurate Is It?: For my personal chips I fried in oil as I don't eat meat but my family had the bacon fat variety.

Take a Pound of Suet: Fall Cooking Workshop with Clarissa Dillon

Last weekend I was lucky enough to get to attend another workshop with Clarissa F. Dillon at the Colonial Pennsylvania Plantation. It is part of a series, one being hosted in each of the seasons to get an around the year taste of Colonial cooking. There was a great group of people there, we made a pork and apple pie, stewed pears , a boiled cabbage pudding, cauliflower, and a "Regalia of Cucumbers" with a side of pickled gherkins. Everything was delicious, especially Clarissa's pickled gherkins.     

Clarissa Dillon

 One of the fun things about these workshops is that they have a more experimental archaeology focus and not so much of a 1st person cooking experience focus as many people who attend these workshops are already established hearth cooks and are more interested in trying archaic or little known cooking and preserving techniques.

Clarissa is currently working on one such experiment and I am very interested in seeing the results. She has eggs in slacked lime and plans to remove and try one egg every month for 2 years to see if the staying capacity of eggs in 18th century preservation receipts was an exaggeration.  We also got to try picked gherkins and claret which are typically hard to come by.
      

The busy kitchen.

Making the pie crust.

The pie filled with layers of pork and apples.

Sue chopping quite a bit of suet.

Cabbage for the pudding.

Before the boiling cloth.

Draining the pudding.

All tied up.

Into the pot.

The completed Cheshire Pork Pie.

The Stewed Pears.

Some of the recipes:

The food was delicious and everyone had a great time swapping hearth cooking and colonial stories. Can't wait for the next one.

Hearth Cooking Workshop with Mercy Ingraham

This weekend I had the great fortune to attend a hearth cooking workshop with cooking legend, Mercy Ingraham.

The nice fall day was perfect for gathering around the fire and cooking some hearty, cool-weather Colonial food. It's a funny feeling being a guest in your own kitchen (well a kitchen I cook in often enough.) But it was a real treat to get to see a master at work.

It was only minutes before the guests dug in and cooked. The scents in the air were fantastic: a smoky winter soup with sweet potato pie, stewed apples, and roasted pork.




 It was nice to see pie crust made, because I mess it up almost every time. We were lucky to have a pie making pro there as even Mercy admitted to the occasional store bought crust. I learned that I shouldn't worry about the lumps of butter/lard in the crust as that helps make it flaky.  I also learned a fancy pie crust trick, where after you roll the crust out on the table, you can wrap it around the rolling pin to transfer it into the pie pan.  
  

Co-cooks

Busy cooks.

Sweet Potato Pie

Soup with bread and grated cheese.

I am hoping to try making pies this fall and using my new pie crust knowledge. I still could use more tips.