University of Texas at Tyler Scholar Works at UT Tyler Special Topics Civil War Newspapers 2016 Recipes and Helpful Hints from Southern Newspapers, 1860-1865 Vicki Betts University of Texas at Tyler, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uttyler.edu/cw_newstopics Recommended Citation Betts, ickV i, "Recipes and Helpful Hints from Southern Newspapers, 1860-1865" (2016). Special Topics. Paper 20. http://hdl.handle.net/10950/788 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Civil War Newspapers at Scholar Works at UT Tyler. It has been accepted for inclusion in Special Topics by an authorized administrator of Scholar Works at UT Tyler. For more information, please contact [email protected]. RECIPES AND HELPFUL HINTS (Not including Dyes, Medical Assistance to the Military, Advice to Soldiers, Coffee and Tea Substitutes, Candles, Soap, Spinning, Weaving, Shoes, Knitting) DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA], January 19, 1860, p. 1, c. 2 Cranberry Pudding.--Boil one pint and a half of cranberries cleared of the stalks in four ounces of sugar and water, until they are broken and form a kind of jam; make up a large ball of; cover it well with rice washed clean and dry; then round each fold a floured piece of cloth, which tie as for dumplings. Boil them one hour; sift sugar over when served, and butter in a boat. DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA], February 10, 1860, p. 3, c. 2 Valuable Recipe for Dysentery--Take of peach leaves one handful, pour one pint of boiling water over them; then add one tablespoonful of Epson Salts. Take a wine glass full every two or three hours till it operates freely; then take the tea without the salts three times a day until cured. The tea must be cold when the salt is put. COLUMBUS [GA] ENQUIRER, May 15, 1860, p. 2, c. 8 A teaspoonful of salt and teaspoonful of mustard stirred quickly in warm water and swallowed after any poison taken into the stomach by accident, will instantly act as an emetic. As soon after as the stomach is quiet, drink a cup of coffee, clear and strong, or swallow the white of an egg. A simple but very effectual remedy for biliousness, arising from any cause whatever, will be found in drinking half a tumbler of lemon juice. It can be repeated, if necessary, and will put many a headache to flight. DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA], July 24, 1860, p. 2, c. 3 Preserving Fruit.--As many of our readers will soon be engaged in preserving fruit, we publish the following recipe, which is furnished the Mobile Tribune by a correspondent: Any glass jar, with a mouth large enough to admit the fruit, will answer the purpose. Corks to fit may be procured at any of the drug stores. Select the most solid ones, or those least porous. When the fruit is properly cooked, fill up the jars with it and the syrup, and let them stand fifteen minutes. By that time the fruit will settle down in the jars. Then fill up the jar with hot syrup, and put in the cork tightly and seal it over with a composition of one-third beeswax and two-thirds rosin, melted together and applied with a small mop. After the jars have cooled, fill up all the air holes that may be seen with more of the composition and put away the jars for use when wanted. A light syrup will answer, as there is no danger of fermentation if properly sealed. Crushed sugar makes the best syrup and is the cheaper in reality. Jars made for this purpose, with good corks in them, may be procured at the crockery stores. The jars should be tempered to prevent cracking, by putting into each but a small quantity of hot syrup at first. A small blister can be seen on the sealing wherever any air has escaped. BELLVILLE [TX] COUNTRYMAN, September 1, 1860, p. 3, c. 1 How to put up shirt bosoms.—We have heard ladies expressing a desire to know by what process the fine gloss observable on new linens, shirt bosoms, &c., is produced, and in order to gratify them, we subjoin the following recipe for making Gum Arabic Starch: Take two ounces of fine white gum arabic powder—put it into a pitcher, and pour on it a pint of more of boiling water (according to the degree of strength you desire,) and then having covered it, let it set all night. In the morning pour it carefully from the dregs into a clean bottle, cork it, and keep it for use. A table spoonful of gum water poured into a pint of starch made in the usual manner, will give to lawns, (either white or printed) a look of newness, when nothing else can restore them after washing. It is also good (much diluted) for thin white muslin and bobinet. BELLVILLE [TX] COUNTRYMAN, September 8, 1860, p. 1, c. 7 Hard Butter Without Ice.—To have delightfully hard butter in summer, without ice, the plan recommended by that excellent and useful publication, the Scientific American, is a good one. Put a trivet, or any open flat thing with legs, in a saucer; put on this trivet the plate of butter; fill the saucer with water; turn a common flower-pot over the butter, so that its edge shall be within the saucer and under the water; plug the flower-pot with a cork, then drench the flower-pot with water; set in a cool place until morning, or if done at breakfast the butter will be very hard by supper time. How many of our town boarding-school girls, who have been learning philosophy, astronomy, syntax and prosody, can write an explanation of this within a month. DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA], September 12, 1860, p. 1, c. 1 Useful Information.--A friend furnishes us the following facts, which will not spoil by becoming generally known: Cotton clothing of children, and adults also, will not burn with a flame, if rinsed in Alum water. A handful of alum to a tub of water is sufficient. Water standing in cases, in factories and on bridges, will keep sweet in warm weather, and not freeze in cold, if a few pounds of Lime are stirred in each cask. DALLAS HERALD, December 26, 1860, p. 4, c. 1 Cakes for the Holidays. A lady correspondent of the American Agriculturist gives the following receipts for making good cake for the holidays: Welcome Cake.—Stir a cup and a half of sugar and half a cup of butter together, with three well beaten eggs. Sift a teaspoonful of cream of tartar, and half a teaspoonful of soda with three small cups of flour; this, with half a cup of milk, must be mixed with the above, and baked in a moderately quick oven. By adding raisins and currents, ½ lb. of each, a very good fruit cake may be made. New Year's Cake.—1 cup of butter, 1 of sugar, 1 teaspoonful of cream of tartar, ½ teaspoonful of soda, and caraway seeds to the taste. Flour must be added till the dough is fit to roll—these require a quick oven. Spice Cake.—1 cup of sugar, 2 of molasses, ½ cup butter, a teaspoonful of spice, and one of soda dissolved in a little milk; add flour till it is quite stiff; then roll thin and cut in cakes. Bake quick. Wealthy Cake.—Take ½ pound of butter, ¾ pound of sugar, the same of flour, 4 eggs, 2 lb. of seeded raisins, 1 pound of currants, ¼ pound of citron, 1 gill of brandy. Spice well with nutmeg and ground cloves. Bake slowly three hours. This cake will keep six months. Icing for the cake: beat the white of two eggs to a froth, then stir in half a pound of powdered sugar. Flavor with a little essence of lemon, and spread on with a knife when the cake is cold. BELLVILLE [TX] COUNTRYMAN, February 20, 1861, p. 4, c. 1 Golden Pie.—Take one lemon; grate the peel, and squeeze the pulp and juice in a bowl—be sure to remove every seed—to which add one teacup of new milk, one tablespoonful of powdered starch, and the yolks of three eggs, well beaten; pour this mixture into a nice paste crust, and bake slowly. Beat the whites of three eggs to a stiff froth, and when the pie is just done pour it over the top evenly, and return to the oven, just to stiffen, not brown. SAVANNAH [GA] REPUBLICAN, May 4, 1861, p. 1, c. 6 Camphor and Flowers.—Two or three drops of a saturated solution of camphor in alcohol, put into half an ounce of soft water, forms a mixture which will revive flowers that have begun to droop and wilt, and give them freshness for a long time. Let the fair ladies, whose most appropriate sphere is among the flowers, try the experiment. CHARLESTON MERCURY, May 15, 1861, p. 2, c. 1 Keep Off the Moths.--It is usual, during the summer months, for dry goods and clothing houses, as well as private families, to use large quantities of camphor for the purpose of preserving their goods from the moths. Now, as camphor is one of the most necessary drugs for medicinal purposes, and as our means for receiving further supplies are restricted, it behooves us to husband the supply now on hand, especially as many other and more plentiful articles will answer equally as well for the removal of these destructive insects.