"Mark Zanger" > wrote in
news:f2nLb.1809$5V2.1953@attbi_s53:

> In writing my American History Cookbook, I especially enjoyed the
> early American cakes with lots of cream and butter. Eliza Leslie's
> 1827 Lafayette Gingerbread is delicious, and so is her pound cake from
> the same book, which I used to explicate a manuscript recipe for
> "Preble Cake" of 1832.
>
> The spiced ketchups in Andy Smith's Pure Ketchup are very tasty.
>
> I also made the 18th century chicken fricassee in "Martha Washington's
> Book of Cookery," which Martha probably never made, and it is
> delicious, but so rich you can only eat a little as a side dish to
> plainer fare, which is how it was originally eaten.

I have made this several times. It really is delicious but, as you said,
so rich that one cannot make a meal on it.

> The first historical recipe I ever made was Lydia Maria Child's recipe
> for baked beans (no molasses or sugar) and I often come back to that
> one.

Curious, how does one make baked beans with neither molasses nor sugar?
Sounds interesting.

>
> The 1877 hermit cookies in my book are very good, also. They are white
> spice cookies with chopped raisins.
>
> Yield: About 100 cookies.1 cup salted butter, and some to grease
> baking sheets2 cups sugar1 cup raisins3 medium eggs (or two jumbo
> eggs)1/2 teaspoon baking soda3 tablespoons whole milk1 rounded
> teaspoon nutmeg1 rounded teaspoon cloves1 rounded teaspoon cinnamon6
> cups flourEquipment: rolling pin and board, round cookie cutter or
> glass tumbler, food processor, two or more baking sheets, standing
> mixer or pastry blender.1. Remove butter from refrigerator an hour
> before starting.2. Chop raisins in a food processor by pulsing
> briefly. Do not grind to a paste.3. Cream together butter and sugar
> in food processor, or with a standing mixer, or with a pastry blender
> or a large fork.4. Mix flour with spices. Grease baking sheets and
> dust with flour.5. Dissolve baking soda in milk.6. Beat eggs until
> creamy and light.7. Work eggs into butter-sugar mixture, than add
> flour, raisins, and milk mixture in turns.8. Work into a stiff dough
> but do not knead. You may need a little more milk.9. When dough
> sticks together well enough to roll, flour the board and rolling
> pin.10. "Roll about one-quarter of an inch thick and
> cut with a round cake cutter." Arrange cookies on baking sheets.11.
> Gather scraps and roll out with the next portion of dough
> until all the dough is used up. (You can also refrigerate or freeze
> dough and bake the rest another day.)12. Bake about 12
> minutes at 375 degrees.
>

I must try these. They are rather similar to a recipe I got from the
mother of a girl I dated in highschool, although those Hermits also
contained nuts and were baked as a drop cookie. The remaining ingredient
list is almost identical.

Cheers,
Wayne