Dip Pens and Period Inks

         I love using dip pens. It is very calming to watch ink flow from the pen onto the paper.  Contrary to popular opinion, you don't  have to dip your pen in ink after every word, or even in after every sentence. Dipping the pen is hardly an inconvenience at all. It is so enjoyable I wonder why it went out of fashion--that is until I shake a large splotch of ink onto my paper and then smear my hand it in.
         Believe it or not, my other half used to use a dip pen throughout his high school career and  reports only having one very  bad spill in the classroom.  I was not so brave and used a cartridge calligraphy pen in class and a dip pen at home for drawing. I've had very few serious accidents with ink myself.

       Nothing beats the look and feel of pen delivered ink on paper.  It leaves a very crisp line that is slightly raised to the touch.  The inks vary in color but you can always produce some really beautiful effects and drawings with whatever ink you have. Just remember to clean your pens after each use ( I should take my own advice.)

An Ink Receipt From The New Family Receipt Book (1811):

 To Make Excellent Ink.

            “Take a pound of the best Aleppo galls, half a pound of copperas, a quarter of a pound of gum-arabic, and a quarter of a pound of white sugar-candy. Bruise the galls, and beat the other ingredients fine; and infuse them all in three quarts of white wine, or rain-water. Let this mixture stand hot by the fire three or four days; and then put it on a slow fire so as to boil. Stir it frequently, and let it stand five or six hours, till one quarter of it be evaporated. When cold, strain it through a clean coarse piece of linen; bottle and keep it for use.

            The communicator of this good old receipt is convinced that much pains have been taken to ascertain the due proportions of the galls and copperas: for he has found that, on diminishing or increasing their relative quantities as above, the ink has always been pale; but this defect will sometimes happen if the materials be not of the best kind The quality of the paper written on will also make a difference in the colour of the ink.

            The grand secret in preparing this ink, which will never change its colour, if properly attended to, though kept never so long, consists in the keeping free from that mouldiness, which in hot weather particularly, is apt to form upon the surface. The best way, is to put it into a large, glass bottle with ground stopper and to shake it frequently.”

As some of these chemicals are hard to come by today, I've found some receipts that utilize the same chemistry as the original ink. These are quality inks and seasonally appropriate as they require walnuts as their source of tannic acid instead of  Aleppo gulls. If you like the slightly brown ink of antique documents, you will like the walnut ink.

• For a look into the chemistry of this type of ink click here. 
• A Receipt using  black  walnuts : How to Make Black Walnut Ink 
•  A Good Site for a Receipt for dry ink click here: A Stitch In Time At Home
• A recipe using beets How to make Beet Ink. 

Garter Pattern from Godey's Lady's Book 1862

"A New Style of Garter"

       This knitting pattern was taken from a Godey's Lady's Book from the year 1861.  I was ecstatic to find it. No more tight non-period elastic bands holding up my socks! They look so feminine, knitted with a delicate tassel. I can't wait to knit these and I hope you enjoy.
    These garters make me think of Sarah Morgan, a southern girl during the Civil War. While visiting the army, the buggy she was in flipped over, crippling her for months. She reported of that day not only the embarrassment of being hurt but the embarrassment of losing a garter too: " My garter, a purple silk ribbon, lay in the center of the ring. By the respectful silence observed (by the onlooking soldiers), I saw they recognized its use, so, unwilling to leave such a relic behind, I asked aloud for my 'ribbon' where-upon Anna says the officers pinched each other and smiled."

         

I drew out my rendition of the garter (above) because the directions were not very clear. The directions should mention that you are using white and a color. I drew out where the colored parts should be, you could make the tassel colored or white.

I also drew a close up of what the loop at the beginning should look like on the needles.


Pattern: Cast on six stitches in colored worsted on fine steel needles. Knit forty-five rows plain knitting. Double this piece to form a loop; take up the stitches on one needle, making twelve stitches in all.

            Join the white worsted: knit one row plain, one row purl until you have six rows; then reverse the rows so as to make a rib he other way: six rows in each rib. Do this until you have thirty-three ribs.

            Join the colored worsted; knit one row plain, then narrow one stitch at the end of the row for two rows; then knit one row across plain, and repeat the last three rows until all the stitches are off.

            Make a short cord and tassel.

Preserving Leftover Herbs

     Many people grow their own herbs and can't use it all, those who buy their fresh herbs normally find that they bought way too much for their uses.  If you have lots of leftover herbs, you can preserve them by freezing them into ice cubes. It is economical and tastes just as good as fresh herbs.    
    The "herb cubes" can be added directly to your food while cooking it. It tastes fresh and is easy to cook with. Herbs such as mint, basil, parsley and tarragon freeze nicely. If you use mint, you can add cubes of mint to lemonade in the summer or you could make herb mixtures such as a "spaghetti sauce" mix of herbs.

 Take an ice cube tray or other container, I use a plastic chocolate mold, the size of each cube is a lot smaller than a normal ice cube tray ice cubes and is a good size for a big pot of spaghetti. (I've been trying to find a mold that will make little squares the size of dice.)







Wash and dry the herb. Chop it up into fine pieces (or big ones if you like chunks in your cooking.) You could also use a food processor if you are making large quantities.





Place herb pieces in tray.






Add just enough water or olive oil to keep the leaves together. Place in freezer and make sure the family knows whats in there and not to knock it over. Once they are frozen, tap the tray down on a plate and put the homemade herb cubes into freezer bags or labeled plastic food containers and keep them in the freezer until you need them. Enjoy!

Civil War Era Receipts for the Fall

 Receipt is the historical term for what we now call a recipe. Since it is getting colder I thought I'd share some Civil War Era recipes that will not only warm the body, but keep us all in touch with eating seasonal foods. We sometimes forget that before there were large supermarkets that imported foreign foods all year round, we had to rely on what would grow locally during each season. We also have to remember that we would have to can or otherwise preserve anything we hoped to have in the winter.

Pumpkin Bread from the Confederate Reciept Book; a Compilation of Over One Hundred Receipts Adapted to the Times (1863)

Pumpkin Bread

 “Boil a good pumpkin in water till it is quite thick, pass it through a sieve, and mix flour so as to make a good dough. This makes an excellent bread.”

• Note the simplicity of this bread. Just two ingredients, one really gets a feel for what southerners had to get by with during the blockade years.* 
•  This also seems like a good way to get rid of all of the goop inside the jack O' lanterns this year.      Remember to bake the seeds as well.
  
• Here’s a modern day recipe with spices galore: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/pumpkin-bread-iv/Detail.aspx

Carrot Soup from Godey’s Lady’s Book (1861)

      Carrot Soup

     "Take six or eight full-grown carrots, of the red sort, scrape them clean, and rasp only the outer rind, or soft red part, and, if you have a single ripe tomato, add it, sliced, to the raspings, but use no other vegetable except onions. While this is doing, the broth of any kind of fresh meat which has been got ready should be heated and seasoned with a couple of onions fried in butter, but without pepper, or any other seasoning, except a small quantity of mace and a little salt. When all is ready, put the raspings into two quarts of the skimmed broth, cover the stewpan close, and let it simmer by the side of the fire for two or three hours, by which time the raspings will have become soft enough to be pulped through a fine sieve, after which the soup should be boiled until it is smooth as jelly, for any curdy appearance will spoil it. Thus all the roots, and most of such vegetables as can be easily made into puree and combined with any sort of broth, will, in this manner, make excellent soup of different denominations, though all founded on the same meat-stock. The gravy of beef is always preferred for savory soups, and that of veal or fowls for the more delicate white soups; to which from half a pint to one pint of cream, or, if that cannot be had, the same quantity of milk and the yolks of two raw eggs, should be added for every two quarts of soup; remembering, however, that the latter will not impart the richness of cream." 

• Regular orange carrots should work for this too. 
• You are only using the outer shavings of the carrots so the insides of the carrots can be used later in stew or if using you use regular carrots, the whole carrot can be pureed. 
• Here's a similar modern recipe for Carrot Puree Soup.
  

Lettuce Soup from Godey’s Lady’s Book (1863)

    Lettuce Soup

"Cut up the white parts of two or four lettuces as needed, a quart of stock, free from fat, and boiling; into this throw the lettuces and a small onion, chopped very fine, and a teaspoon of salt; let it boil twenty minutes; thicken with two teaspoonfuls of flour, first rubbed smoothly in cold water, and a little soup added to it, then strained before putting it to the soup, then throw in a small bit of butter not larger than a walnut; let the whole boil up just once, and serve.

German Chocolate from The Housekeepers Encyclopedia by Mrs. E. F. Haskell (1861)

German Chocolate

“Four large table-spoons of the best chocolate grated fine, two quarts rich milk added gradually to the chocolate, the whites of four and yolks of two eggs beaten light, but not separated; add one gill of cold milk to the eggs, beat well; add gradually a coffee-cup of the chocolate to the milk and egg while hot, beating constantly. Take the chocolate to the milk and egg while hot, beating constantly. Take the chocolate from the fire, keep it hot but not boiling, and add the egg and milk gradually; stir constantly, or it will curdle; flavor with nutmeg, vanilla, or cinnamon, as desired; sugar it to suit the taste. The Germans use no sugar. The egg is to be added just before serving This makes a very delicious drink. Serve in chocolate bowls.”

• This recipe is a bit confusing, I think you are supposed to heat four large tablespoons of grated chocolate with two quarts of milk. While that heats, in another bowl, beat the whites of four eggs with the yolks of two and add one "gill" of milk.  When the chocolate mixture is hot enough , remove from the fire and slowly mix in the egg/milk mixture, stirring the whole time to prevent curdling. Add vanilla, cinnamon or nutmeg and serve in mugs.

*Note: This article is very good at describing the inconsistencies and measurements in Civil War Era receipts:

When is a Cup not a Cup?

Civil War Era Socks from Godey's Lady's Book

    Godey's Lady's Book is an invaluable resource to those reproducing Civil War Era clothing and accessories. At the time, it was the most popular women's magazine in the United States. In 1860 (the publication year of this sock pattern, the magazine had 150,000 subscribers!

   Each issue included engravings of the newest fashions, fiction, poetry, recipes, drawing lessons, sewing patterns, knitting and crocheting instructions as well as informative articles about foreign  countries.

    I've been meaning to learn how to knit socks. I have never attempted but gosh don't these look warm and fuzzy today! The cold has made me wish I had knitted these back in July.

     If anyone ends up knitting these, I would love to post a picture of the finished project and will definitely post mine...when I get around to knitting them.

To knit this pattern today, you'll need a guide to convert the 19th century terms in to todays knitting terms. This guide: Knitting, written by Colleen Formby is great. She gives the different terms for wool and yarn and a conversion table to convert needle sizes to common sizes used today.