1856 Cruller Recipe: Historical Food Fortnightly

"Hither came to us in our isolation, the North Star, laden with packages for the brave men, who were far away from home fighting for their country. How we blessed the little hands that shaped the crullers and made the pies and the kind hearts of fair maidens in whom an appreciation of the heroic is never wanting."

-Brown University in the Civil War

The Challenge: "If They’d Had It… November 2 - November 15

Have you ever looked through a cookbook from another era and been surprised at the modern dishes you find? Have you ever been surprised at just how much they differ from their modern counterparts? Recreate a dish which is still around today, even if it may look a little - or a lot - different!"

The Recipe:

The Date/Year and Region: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Although cruller comes from a dutch word, krullen, which means "to curl," crullers have traditions in Dutch, German, Scandinavian, Austrian and Polish foodways. The Dutch and Germans are credited for bringing crullers to the United States. The recipes differ in flavorings and proportions but are still deep fried, twisted stick shaped doughnuts. Crullers were a popular dish on Shrove Tuesday and differ from French Crullers which are made with pate a choux and are circular.   


How Did You Make It:

Ingredients:

- About 3 Cups of Flour
- 6 Tablespoons Sugar
-1 Stick Butter
-1 Tablespoon Ground Cinnamon
-2 Tablespoons Brandy
-1 Tablespoon Salaeratus ( 3/4 Tablespoon Baking Soda)

Instructions:

Cream the sugar into the butter. Whisk the eggs in a separate bowl, add the brandy and the cinnamon. Add the egg mixture to the butter mixture and add flour until it forms a dough. Roll the dough out to about 1/2 inch and cut into long strips. Fold each strip over and twist the dough around itself and pinch at the end. Deep fry the crullers in lard. Sprinkle with sugar when cool. 

Time to Complete: 40 minutes.

Total Cost: I had everything on hand, but the ingredients would cost a few dollars.

How Successful Was It?:  I had no success with making longer crullers, perhaps if I added more flour they wouldn't have fallen a part so easily. The dough tasted very plain even with the cinnamon. I believe frying them in lard would have added a lot of flavor. If I were to make these again I would cover the crullers in cinnamon and sugar. 

 How Accurate Is It?: I exchanged the brandy for vanilla extract as it's what I has on hand and fried in oil instead of lard (vegetarian.)

How to Care for and Repair Vintage and Antique Quilts: Guest Post by Ann Wasserman

I am so excited for this post and to introduce everyone to Ann! Ann has a degree in anthropology and many years of experience working with vintage and antique textiles. She has a wealth of knowledge as can be seen on her blog and website and is so inspirational. Thanks Ann!

Hello! My name is Ann Wasserman. Stephanie Ann has graciously invited me to write a bit about my experience with repairing and caring for antique quilts (30 years). I also have more recently begun repairing vintage clothing (5 years).

Quilts (and clothing) are an important part of this country’s history, and of family histories, too. When you are working on an antique quilt, you are taking stitches in a three-dimensional, historical document. All quilts, not just “museum-quality” quilts, hold valuable information. In a hundred years, there may be only a few quilts from the 1940s left intact. They will be as rare and collectable as quilts from the 1840s, even the plainest ones, are now. A future quilt historian may someday find a great deal of information in your quilt if it is treated kindly now.

Over the years, I have developed three basic "rules" of quilt care:

- Do as little as possible.
- Don’t do anything that can’t be undone.
- Preventative maintenance is the best medicine.

These rules could just as easily apply to any antique or vintage textile items. And really, they are also pretty good to keep in mind with any new heirlooms that you are making or acquiring.

Here are some ways these rules can be put into use:

- Do as little as possible.

- Remember that doing nothing is always an option, especially if you are feeling unsure of techniques.

- Each quilt and its problems are unique and must be carefully considered before you start.

- I avoid inserting my own color and design tastes into the original look. Duplicating the original as closely as possible maintains the vintage ambiance of the quilt.

- There are two very different routes to choose between:

“Restoration” is often referred to as “repair.” A quilt is restored as closely as possible to its original state by replacing or fixing missing or worn fabrics.

Patches on a 1950s-60s Bowtie quilt:

Mending torn edge of a 1940s quilt:

“Conservation”, on the other hand, stabilizes and maintains the current condition of the quilt. The only fabrics added to a quilt are those that give necessary structural support. A pleasing visual presentation takes second place to maintaining the historic information embodied in the quilt.

Applying crepeline silk on a c.1860s Old Italian Block quilt:

Don’t do anything that can’t be undone.

- When patching, don't remove the old, worn fabrics. If anyone ever wants to see the original quilt, they would be able to find the original underneath your patching. Also, removing fabrics and cutting threads can cause new problems, such as weakening and skewing the structure, or causing more stitching to unravel.

- Stay away from mending with fusibles. Besides being permanent, some can stiffen the fabric, and longterm effects of the glues are unknown.

- Keep all your knots in the new fabrics you are applying to avoid making knot-size holes in the older fabrics.

Preventative maintenance is the best medicine.

- This includes careful storage, gentle cleaning, and so on. These things are sooooo much easier than sad and difficult repairs down the road.

- Storage: Never in plastic - Never in unheated or damp attics or basements - Use moth and rodent protection.

- Cleaning: Wet wash only when the soil is actually damaging the fabrics or the quilt is too dirty to be bearable - Be very, very careful if you do decide to wash, eg. never agitate in the washer, don't use stain removers - Vacuuming to remove dust is the safest.

- Old fabrics should never be handled as if they were new. Natural fibers are made from plants and animals, from parts of living things. When the fibers are harvested from the plant (vegetable fibers) or animal (protein fibers), they, in essence, have died. They immediately begin to degrade, or decompose. Synthetic fibers seem stronger, but are also susceptible to aging and wear.

Other guidelines:

- A good knowledge of the history of fabric colors and styles helps in finding fabrics for repairs. Some books that I use often are:

-Clues in the Calico, by Barbara Brackman
-Dating Fabrics, books 1 and 2, by Eileen Jahnke Trestain
-Fabric Dating Kit, by Cindy Brick

Also, just browsing through quilt history books and books with vintage photos of all sorts can really hone your eye.

- My favorite source for reproduction fabrics is a shop entitled, most appropriately, Reproduction Fabrics. (This is an unsolicited endorsement. I'm nothing more than a very happy customer.) The owner, Margo, and her staff are super friendly and super helpful and super knowledgeable. They'll send out huge swatches in no time at all, and fill orders just as quickly. The website is sectioned by era, but searches can be done by color as well.

- The sewing needed is relatively simple, i.e. no fancy stitches required. But this is pretty much all handwork, so be prepared for a long-term project. What's nice is that you can relax and take larger stitches (at least, large compared to what quilters usually do). Larger stitches are less likely to pull on and break the weak, old fibers.

- Professional conservators have tons of skills, tools, labs, and information that homesewers do not, myself included. If you have a very valuable, fragile, or historically significant quilt, consult with a conservator.

Here are pix (and links to my blog posts) of a few of the lovelies I've had the pleasure of repairing.

Six-Pointed Stars, part 1 and part 2       
 

Embroidered Crazy Quilt: Link to post.

Friendship Dahlia: Link to post.

Snowflake, part 1 and part 2

I would also like to introduce you to the book I've written that covers all these topics and more.

http://www.annquilts.com/book.html

Thanks to Stephanie Ann for including me in her blog! There are lots more photos and stories on my blog and at my website.

Knitted Civil War Era Talma Shawl Cape Pattern

As it is getting colder, I am routinely exploring historical knitting patterns.

Here is a crazy pattern for a Civil War Era Talma. I do not have the patience to start a project with 650 stitches right now but have seen these being worn and they are absolutely beautiful and practical.

I'm slowly modernizing this pattern but will not post it unless I have more experienced eyes look it over. :)

I am currently knitting 1700s fingerless gloves for work and just finished a Monmouth cap. I don't know if this will make the list this year, but one can dream.

This is what I have so far but is just the beginning and very, VERY preliminary. 
 

Cast on 650 stitches in red.The knit all, purl all knit all, purl all rows should be in red, the rest white.

1,3: Knit all.
2,4: Purl all.
5: K2, YO, K11, sl1, K2TOG, psso (this is the center of each point) *K11, YO, K1, YO, K11, sl1, K2TOG, psso* Repeat ** to end, K2
6: Purl
7: K2, YO, K11, sl1, K2TOG, psso (this is the center of each point) *K10, YO, K1, YO, K11, sl1, K2TOG, psso* Repeat ** to end, K2

Alternate Rows 6 and 7 until row 22.

23: Purl all, k3TOG at center of each "point."
24: Knit all
25: Purl all
26: Knit all

27: K2, YO, K10, sl1, K2TOG, psso (this is the center of each point) *K10, YO, K1, YO, K10, sl1, K2TOG, psso* Repeat ** to end, K2
28: Purl

Alternate Rows 27 and 28 until row 46.

46: Purl all, k3TOG at center of each "point."
47: Knit all
48: Purl all
49: Knit all
50:K2, YO, K91, sl1, K2TOG, psso (this is the center of each point) *K9, YO, K1, YO, K9, sl1, K2TOG, psso* Repeat ** to end, K2

Secret Life of Bloggers Blog Party: Post #29

I can't believe October is over already. I thought for sure that September just started. I am not looking forward to the winter. I don't feel like I have a lot to look forward to just yet. The winter always fills itself up though.

I've been enjoying the outdoors but not blogging so much because blogger has been giving me posting issues again. I have a few great posts that I am excited to get out, including a guest post that I am ecstatic to share once all of the html bugs are out of it. I hope everyone is enjoying October and settling down for November. 

Hagley Museum and Library. Gunpowder Mill.

10-6-2014

Fall is officially here. It's frosty in the morning and sun beats on you in the afternoon.

10-7-2014

10-8-2014

10-9-2014

10-10-2014

10-11-2014

10-12-2014

Andy on Gazela.

10-13-2014

I was trying to clean but this knot was way too distracting.

10-14-2014

10-15-2014

 I'm learning to work with horses. I've always been generally afraid of them.

10-16-2014

10-17-2014 

 Making candles.

10-18-2014

10-19-2014

10-20-2014

10-21-2014

The farmer at work.

10-22-2014

Moved manure in the rain.

10-24-2014

Knitting fingerless gloves for work. Winter is coming.

10-26-2014

Visited the Pocono Mountains, which are always beautiful.

Old City Seaport Festival 2014

Last weekend I went to the Old City Seaport Festival hosted by the Independence Seaport Museum at at Penn's Landing in Philadelphia. Ships in attendence were Gazela and Jupiter of Pennsylvania, Mystic Whaler of Connecticut, A. J. Meerwald of New Jersey, and the Pride of Baltimore II from Maryland.

Saturday was cold, wet and rainy but didn't stop some people from wanting to tour the ships. It really is a fantastic sight to see tall ships together. It makes you think about the times when tall ships were the form of shipping and travel and harbors looked like forests.

If you have never seen a tall ship in person, it is well worth it. We see them in movies but can't quite imagine the size or the smells or the motion of a ship. It's a direct link to the past.  All of the dangers of a ship are still real and all of the work to keep a ship floating still need to be done. Historical ships are not a hobby that can be put away once summer is over much like many historical sites that can close their doors until the weather breaks. They are special sites that are almost living. 

The Old City Seaport Festival is special because it is an event for kids. It is pirate themed so you can expect lots of cheery pirates. There are games for kids to play, scavenger hunts, crafts and comedy acts.  Many sailing events are not designed for child audiences as many maritime events are focused on and run by, well, sailors. :)

 

Father teaching his son to climb in the rigging.

The festival is a lot of fun and it is an opportunity to see a lot of ships in one place. Wooden ships don't last forever and are constantly under threat so it is great to see them while you can. As many know the Bounty sank in 2012 and Argus (click to see horrible photo of poor Argus) sank back in January, while waiting for the same work that Gazela has been waiting for for years but costs hundreds of thousands of dollars.

 

Maritime Heritage funding has been cut recently and the National Maritime Alliance is fighting to get the funding back to its original levels. I'm not asking everyone to write their committee members but if you know someone who really likes boats, please send them this link.