Civil War Era Purse Knit-Along!!

Many people expressed an interest in a knitted Civil War Era purse knit-along. Many thought that June would be the best month for it. I have changed the pattern since I have started planning this, if anyone wants the original pattern, feel free to e-mail me. I found that the "honeycomb" pattern was a little too difficult for some knitters and is almost impossible to fix if a stitch is dropped. I found this simple pattern and am happy that it makes a pretty purse that I think a lot of my readers will be happy with. As with the sontag knit-along, I will put a widget on my blog that allows participating knitters to post their progress every Friday. I understand that June is a reenactment month so will leave the widgets up until the next Wednesday.

 



The pattern I have chosen is from 1858 is simple and makes a pretty purse. A sample swatch is shown at the left. The purse is pretty on both sides. 






I will be posting the instructions today. I tried to make them easy to print. If you would rather have a PDF copy of them, please send an e-mail to TheSailorsWifeSa@Aim.com.

Let me know what you think! I think we'll keep this one going until the end of July. Although it is a tiny purse, there is a lot of knitting to do. The result is very pretty and I can't wait to make one to hold all of my ball items. The cost of the purse should only be $4.00 unless you have to buy needles in which case the total will be close to $9.00. I wanted to make a purse that was affordable for everyone and within the ability of the majority of knitters.

Civil War Era Macaroni and Cheese Recipe

Macaroni and cheese is a new receipt that my Civil War reenacting group is considering trying this year. We try to find something decent that I can eat as many period meals are meat heavy and I am a vegetarian. 

Most recipes for "Maccaroni Cheese" from the period call for "pipe maccaroni" and Parmesan cheese. The closest thing to "pipe maccaroni" today is Bucatini. Ziti or Penne Rigate are more widely available but a bit thicker.  In the Hand-book of the Useful Arts published in 1852, "MACARONI is a dough made of the flour of superfine wheat made into a pipe form, as thick as a goose-quill." In a pinch, the noodles from packaged macaroni and cheese today will work, just discard the cheese packet.
 

Period recipes recommend that the macaroni be boiled in water, milk or a meat broth and the spices for the dish frequently include white pepper, salt, cayenne pepper, mace, and mustard  It could also be made in a puff paste and baked or mixed with bits of cooked ham or bacon. It is different from modern "mac and cheese" because it was more of a seasoned butter cream sauce with cheese added instead of the entire noodle being saturated in cheese.

 

"Maccaroni and Cheese" Recipe from Godey's Lady's Book, 1861

Ingredients:

- 6 ounces Bucatini / Perciatelli Noodles ect.(2 Cups)

- 1/4 Pound of Parmesan Cheese ( 1 Cup)

- 1/2 Cup Milk or Cream

- 1 Tablespoon Butter

- Salt to taste

- 2 dashes White Pepper

Boil your noodles in water with a pinch of salt according to the directions on the box. It normally takes about 9-12 minutes. Once the noodles are soft, strain them in a colander and cut the noodles into pieces about 1 inch long. Place a layer of noodles in the bottom of a small casserole dish. Add  layers of cheese and  layers of noodles making sure that you end with layer of cheese on top. Add salt and pepper to milk. Pour milk mixture over the noodles, cut up the butter in small pieces and place over the noodles. Bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. If you want you can add breadcrumbs over the top before baking.     

**Note: White pepper was not included in the recipe from the book but is included in a similar recipe in The United States Cook Book which was published in 1856. Also keep in mind that macaroni was an imported good then and definitely not army fare.

There is a receipt for it in Mary and John Spaulding's Civil War Recipes: Receipts from the Pages of Godey's Lady's Book which dates the recipe to 1861. The recipe is for "Maccaroni Cheese" and reads as follows "Boil the maccaroni in milk; put in the stewpan butter, cheese, and seasoning; when melted, pour into the maccaroni, putting breadcrums over, which brown before the fire all together."

I have not found the recipe in the 1861 magazine but have found  it in the October issue of 1863. This doesn't mean it was not in the 1861 magazine, because sometimes receipts in the magazine were repeated after a few years. I did find a different recipe for "Maccaroni Cheese" in the 1861 issue which I will include here.

This is the recipe I used above.

Why is this distinction important? Because the recipe has hit the internet for the "150 anniversary" and has been cloned and promoted on other sites as being from 1861. (This recipe is so popular it even has its own facebook page.) :D This is a good example how an error in a secondary source can become multiple errors in the history field. Does this mean that the book is horrible and no one should read it? No. It's a great book that brings a lot of great recipes together for people who can't access the real thing. It is one of my favorite books. But it does point out that you should always check your secondary sources against the real thing before you label something as fact. Everyone makes mistakes, just check to make sure you aren't amplifying a mistake.

Does it mean that the online recipe is not good? Not at all and the recipe clearly states that the author took it directly from the book implying that they did not check an actual copy of Godey's Lady's Book. Their intent was clearly to provide a period recipe for the masses to make and they succeeded. It's a recipe I would make in my kitchen but not in the field. We have to be careful: stating that they "had Mac and Cheese" during the Civil War may mislead the public or new reenactors into thinking it was the same as is today.

Watermelon, Yum!

The watermelon in the local produce stores is now fully ripe and delicious! 

Watermelon is native to Africa and appears to have reached America in the 1600s. The plants were grown by Native Americans and grew wild. A French explorer in the Louisiana territory described watermelon to the people of France: "The space within that is filled with a light and sparkling substance, that may be called for its properties a rose-coloured snow. It melts in the mouth as if it were actually snow, and leaves a relish like that of the water prepared for sick people from gooseberry jelly."

Not many people eat the rind, but in the mid 1800s, the rinds were flavored and preserved. The rind is actually much more nutritious than the pink flesh but the flavor is so bitter, many people are put off by it. The leaves in the recipes are to dye the rind a yellowish-green color. The preserved rinds were used to decorate the tops of baked goods. 

In China, salted watermelon seeds are a yummy treat. They prefer watermelons with seeds much larger than we import into the states. They are available commercially in bags much like sunflower seeds and are eaten much the same way: The seeds are opened with the teeth, and spit out and the inside seed is eaten. They are a popular snack to eat during movies. (If you want to watch some Chinese movies while you eat these, "Blind Shaft" and "Raise the Red Lanterns" are the movies we watched while being adopted Chinese for a weekend.) 

 

 
It really makes you think about how much is really edible that we don't eat and how cultural influences really have a strong impact on what people deem food.I've been enjoying my favorite watermelon dish "watermelon balls" which is just watermelon scooped in little balls. 

Civil War Era Crochet Purse Pattern

If I could crochet, this is one of the first things I would make. I have seen similar originals and they are absolutely gorgeous. These types of purses are made with thin "purse silk" which isn't sold much anymore. You can buy it as "beading silk" but they sell it in short lengths. A fair substitution is crocheting cotton. You can buy it inexpensively and although it lacks the feel and luster of silk, it still makes for pretty items.

Some period examples:

• Australian Purse circa 1860 :This one looks knitted to me but the style is similar and the striped pattern is pretty. 
• Striped Purse mid to late 1800s from LibraryCompany.org from the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Until I learn to crochet, I'll have to leave this pretty purse to the readers who can. If you do end up making this purse, please let me know. I would love to post some photos.

Enough is Enough!

I have been thinking lately on what it means to have "enough." I feel very bored when I am out shopping because I feel like I have hit the point where I have "enough." All of my needs are taken care of and many or most of my wants have been met. I'll find myself looking in a shop and thinking that an item might be nice to have but I'll think more about it and figure that I already have something similar, will not really have a place to put it or that it's cool but I don't need it to be happy. Sure, I like the occasional new toy but I've really been considering the total price of a new item before I get it. Does the price justify the amount of joy I will get from owning an item? For example, my Kindle was expensive but I use it constantly and get copious amount of joy from it but sometimes I will see a cake pan or some other thing that I like and see that it is only a few dollars then realize that the joy the cake pan will bring me really wouldn't be worth the few dollars. As Lydia Maria Child says in her 1835 home manual "Nothing is cheap that we do not want." I could not have said it better. 

My mom and I were watching the show "Extreme Couponing" in which people systematically collect coupons to drastically reduce the prices of the things they buy in supermarkets. At first, I was interested in the show. I am a very frugal person and thought we would be seeing frugal shoppers. Instead we saw greedy people, many who were taking advantage of cashiers, stores and companies.  These people did not just buy 10 identical items that they might need in the future, but hundreds! One woman bought a whole basket full of headache medicine. That is more medicine than 10 families could use in a lifetime! Many other purchases were just as puzzling. If you reasonably do the math, these people were buying more than their families would ever need in 20 years. Many items would expire before a year or two anyway.

http://www.thekrazycouponlady.com

Many of them had "stashes" of stockpiled goods. I do believe that stockpiling is a good thing, but the degree to which they did this was appalling. Many of them had stockpiles so large that rooms of their houses were unusable and one little girl even had her bedroom holding a collection of salad dressing. One family's stockpile was insured for thousands of dollars, (which to me defeats the purpose of getting the items on sale.)

Many of them bought things that they did not need because they were "free." One lady bought a bunch of large bags of cat food and another a large collection of diapers. The first lady did not have a cat and the second said that she might have a baby someday. Almost all of the people on the show mentioned that they donate some of the stuff to charities. I believe everyone should donate to charities, but I do not believe in ripping off someone in order to donate something to someone else.  One woman is under investigation for coupon fraud.

One lady said that she started couponing because she couldn't feed her children. That struck me as mismanagement as they lived in a rather expensive house. I believe whole-heartily in living within your means. Some of these people spent upwards of 30 hours a week on clipping coupons and pay lots of money for coupon services. The husband and children of one wife on the show admitted that she didn't spend much time with them as she was always couponing. If these items were really invaluable to these families, they should be willing to pay a price for them. It's very nice to get things that you want or need inexpensively but what of the things that they don't want or need? It was nice to get my Kindle free as a birthday present, but if it broke, I would be willing to pay $500 for a new one if I had to: it is that valuable to me. I think their joy comes from "beating the system" and not from their ability to care for their families which is unfortunate.

I believe the people on this show put an unhealthy focus on something that is not important and ignore things that are important. Every person has a different level of comfort of what "enough" is. To me enough is comfortable plus a little. I try to keep moderation in mind. There are a lot of people who work constantly and live beyond their means. I am not one of those people who work a lot now in order to ensure happiness in the future. Happiness is not a destination.