World War 2 Era Bismarck Tea Ring

"OH NO! That looks nothing like the picture!" Yes, that happens sometimes but everyone said to bring it to the event anyway. It wouldn't be right if I didn't share the failures as well as the successes. It tasted fine but wasn't as pretty as it could have been.

I kneaded the biscuit dough about 5 minutes before I realized it was only supposed to be for 30 seconds. The damage had been done. It was near impossible to roll it out to a nice 1/8 of an inch dough. No pretty swirly rolls for me. The flavour was there but the result turned out to be kind of blobby. It wouldn't have been in the spirit of World War II if I threw it out and started over. All that flour and butter!

I ended up making and using apple jelly instead of raspberry as I had apples browning in my fruit bowl and was trying to keep the costs down. It might not look as pretty as it should but it tasted good. It was less sweet than we're used to but that could be fixed by an extra sprinkle of sugar over the jelly before rolling.

World War 2 Era Bismarck Tea Ring

 

Biscuit Dough

- 2 Cups sifted Flour
-2 teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 4 Tablespoons Butter or Shortening
- 3/4 Cups Milk

Mix flour, salt and baking powder and sift. Cut in the butter or shortening and add milk slowly until a dough is formed. Flour your hands and knead for 30 seconds or until all is combined. Roll out on a lightly floured piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet until the dough is a rectangle about 1/8 of an inch thick.

Filling 

 

-1/2 Cup Raspberry Jam

Glaze

 

- 1 Cup Powdered Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Milk
- 2 Tablespoons Raspberry Jam

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400° F. Spread a thin coat of raspberry jam on the dough. If you make it thick, it will slide out and make a mess. Starting at one long side of the dough, carefully roll it up until you have a log. Bend the two ends together to form a circle and cut 1 inch slices (leaving some dough to keep it in a ring). Twist each slice so the cut edges are facing up. Bake for 30 minutes on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Remove to a cake rack. Combine jam, sugar and milk to make a glaze. Drizzle glaze on the top with a spoon and serve warm.

A bunch of us looked at the original photo and aren't entirely convinced that the hole in the center wasn't cut out after it was baked. Some theorized it might have been baked in a bundt pan. My ring baked solid so I did what you're supposed to do when you cook a blob: covered it in gaze. I'd love to see what you end up with if you try it. If I make it again, I'll update with the results. This recipe is from 10 Steps to Perfect Baking (1937.)  

World War II Pumpkin Pie Recipe

I'm still a beginning pie baker and my grandma had no tips. She never learned to make crust and I've never been very good at it either. The 1940s baker could be economical and make pie crust from scratch but packaged pie crust mix was available. We may or may not have cheated.

This recipe is from Recipes for Good Eating (1944). The booklet suggested pre-making bulk crust mix and using as needed, as their recipe called for Crisco instead of butter and would not spoil in a container in the cupboard. The texture is less firm than modern pie but still has a good flavor.

Nearly 20 million Americans grew Victory Gardens to help with food shortages. The Us Department of Agriculture estimates that citizen growers  grew over 40% of the vegetables grown in the US at the time. I was going to make a victory garden on the pie but it ended up being a big pumpkin patch, which is okay because pumpkins are easy to grow and feed a lot of people.  The Victory Garden Handbook (1944) by the Pennsylvania State Council of Defense recommended them as a good source of Vitamin A, Thiamin, Calcium, Vitamin B and Iron. I recommend them because they are delicious.

Rosskam, Louise, photographer. Washington, D.C. Victory gardening in the Northwest section. District of Columbia United States Washington D.C. Washington D.C, 1943. May. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017853905/.

  

World War II Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Ingredients:

- 1/2 Cup Sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Ginger
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon Cloves
- 1 1/2 Cups Pumpkin Puree(canned or homemade)
- 2 Eggs
- 1 1/2 Cups Hot Milk
- Pie Crust

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 425°F.  Line your 9" pie pan with a crust.

In a mixing bowl, mix sugar, spices salt, pumpkin.

Beat the eggs and add them to the mix. Then stir in the hot milk.

Pour the mixture into your pie crust. Bake for 15 minutes

Reduce heat to 350 °F.  and bake for 30 minutes or until done in the middle. Let cool in the open oven for 15 minutes, then on a counter for 4 hours. Drizzle with chopped nuts and honey before serving.



I baked the crust decorations on parchment paper in a separate pans. Modern custards that use heavy cream can hold decorations during baking but I didn't want to risk it here as the batter was very thin before baking.

Wee used a 0 calorie sweetener for a second pie. Here are the nutrition facts if you want to do that.

If you make this pie, I would love to see photos!

WW2 Herbal Remedies Your Grandmother Knew (and a Few You Wish She Didn't)

The Old Herb Doctor is an advertising book published in 1941. The aim was to sell prepared tinctures but the book includes many herbal remedies submitted by readers all over the US. Food was not the only thing rationed during WWII. Medicines were being produced in bulk for use overseas, leaving people on the home front to make-do or find another way. This book likely sparked interest in those trying to fill the gap left open once some of the chemical medicines no longer available to the general public.

Herbal Remedy Excerpts from the book The Old Herb Doctor:

For Diarrhea -- Take Allspice and boil in water, take when cold 1/2 teaspoonful of the spice to half cupful of water. Writes Mrs. F.E., Munday, Tex.

For Cramps, bathe the feet in Wintergreen Leaves, with a handful of Common Salt, using water just as warm as the flesh will stand, but don't wipe the water off; just let it dry. This was given to me by an Indian Woman 86 years old and a wonderful woman. Writes N. W., Alma Center, Wis.

Cramps-- Here is a recipe for Cramps and ailments of the stomach, also for Colds when you can not sleep. I am sure anyone will find it useful. Two teaspoons of Catnip. Pour on 1 cup of boiling water, and let stand a few minutes. Then drink contents hot, sweetened with sugar to suit yourself, at bedtime. Writes Mr. W. D., Matawan, N.J.

Catnip

Old-Fashioned Fruit Laxative -- 1 pound Prunes, 1/2 pound Figs, and the same amount of Dates and an ounce of Senna Leaves. Remove pits from fruit and chop altogether, mold into bars or small sticks and dry. Dose--a piece the size of a hickory nut for an adult, less for a child. This formula will keep all winter. Writes Mrs. M.P., Cleveland Ohio.

Bull Nettle Cough Syrup- Take a large handful of the dried roots of Bull Nettle, put in a quart of water, boil down to a pint and strain. Add enough sugar and boil to a syrup. Take a tablespoon every hour until relieved. Dose--for children, 1 teaspoon every hour. Writes Miss T.R., Henryville, Tenn.

To Break Up a Cold-- Take 4 lemons and roast in oven until the juice comes through the skin, remove all the juice from them, and strain. Take 3 Tablespoonfuls of Horehound and steep in water, then strain and add enough water to make a thin syrup. When cold add the lemon juice and bottle. Writes Mrs. G. L. Pontiac Mich.

Horehound

During the epidemic I contracted the Flu and could not obtain a doctor. I ordered a strong brew of Boneset tea, mixed with lemon juice and sugar, and in the meantine I wrapped up in a blanket, then drank it as hot as possible. Writes M.E.S., Englishtown, N.J.

Here is a recipe for colds, coughs and hoarseness. The following is soothing, and healing to most ordinary coughs and colds. One pint of boiling water, two ounces whole flaxseed and the juice of two lemons and sugar. Writes Mrs. A.B., Harper, Wash.

Coughs-- Take a double handful of Pine Needles to a quart of water, boil for 15 minutes, strain and add 1 1/2 cups of sugar, boil to a thin syrup. This is excellent for coughs: take 2 teaspoonfuls night and morning. Writes F. S., Mena Ark.

For Earache-- Pour hot Olive Oil in ear and in a short while the pain will have vanished. Writes M.K., boston, Mass.

My Recipe for Burns-- Use linseed Oil on burns of any kind. Have used it for years, and there will be no blister. Writes Mrs. M. B., Manchester, Tenn.


And a few you might want to pass on:

For Congested Bowels-- Warm half pint or very near that amount of the best Olive Oil. Put in a fountain syringe and inject to bowel. It is best to raise the person a little so the oil will stay in the bowel, but if the pack is low down it won't stay. This is a sure remedy that will do the work. It takes a few hours for the oil to soften the stools, but if it stays in the bowel it will. I relieved many a person with this. Writes L.W., Cold Springs, Mo. 


Take skunk oil, be sure it is genuine. Warm three or four drops and put in ear, let run down good and then put in cotton loose. I have never heard of a case where it did not stop the earache. Writes A. D. D., Sedalia, Mo. 


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. All of the excerpts above are quoted directly and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs of the webmistress.

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 Pumpkin Bread Recipe from the Confederate Receipt Book

The blockade hit hard. Wheat prices rose fast. Speculators hoarded flour. By 1863, women were rioting in the streets of the South because they couldn't buy bread. The Richmond Examiner (1865) reported that shops were selling bread in 3 sizes: "The first is only visible by microscopick aid; the second can be discerned with the naked eye, and the third can be seen with outline and shape distinct."

Southerners rushed to show off their ingenuity by using substitutes for wheat and relied heavily on cornmeal but people soon tired of substitutes and worked to try to figure out more complex substitutes that better mimicked the real articles. Soldiers and civilians alike wrote about being sick of corn bread.

Sarah Morgan, expressed her joy of having received real bread in New Orleans in 1863:

One woman who has recently joined us has nothing except a matress... But then, we got bread! Real, pure wheat bread! And coffee! None of your potato, burnt sugar, and parched corn abomination, but the unadulterated berry! I cant enjoy it fully though; every mouthful is cloyed with the recollection that Lilly and her children have none.

This recipe is from The Confederate Receipt Book (1863.) The pumpkin in this recipe is used as a substitute for milk, eggs and butter and to help mask the taste of cornmeal. It has a slight taste of pumpkin but you might not even realize there is cornmeal in it. Topped with a little butter and molasses, it does taste surprisingly like regular wheat bread.

Civil War Pumpkin Bread Recipe

- 1 Cup Pumpkin Puree (fresh or canned)
- 1 Cup Cornmeal
- 2 Cups Bread Flour
- 1 Package of Yeast dissolved in 1/4 cup of warm water (105°F-110°F)
- 1 Tablespoon Molasses
- 1 Teaspoon Salt

In a medium sized bowl, mix the dry ingredients then add the wet ingredients. Knead on a floured surface for 6-8 minutes adding flour to make a soft dough. Place in a greased bowl and cover with a warm, wet cloth and set in a warm spot for 30 minutes to let it rise. Punch down the dough. Grease your bread pan(s) and form a loaf in it. Let it rise in a warm spot, covered with a wet cloth for an hour. Preheat oven to 375°F and bake for 20-30 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on a cooling rack.

 **I made 3 small loaves which baked fully in 20 minutes.

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