{"product_id":"2940013012158","title":"Baking Recipes \u0026 Home Remedies From the Time of the War For American Independence","description":"Baking in the American Colonies was far from an easy task.  In fact, it was an incredibly complicated endeavor, and certainly not one to be taken lightly.  \u003cbr\u003eThe women of the house made quite an art out of baking tasty loaves of bread, pastry, pies, cakes, cookies, and all of their other homemade goodies.  \u003cbr\u003e     Large brick ovens,  found in every home of the brave and hearty new immigrants had been left behind in England, Ireland and Scotland.  \u003cbr\u003eThe new settlers in America couldn’t at first find much clay for making bricks.  \u003cbr\u003eCertainly none could be found along the desolate shores of the broad Atlantic where the Pilgrims landed. And the Colonists were not at first equipped to manufacture bricks.  Therefore,  bricks were scarce in the new land.  \u003cbr\u003eNot only were homemakers expected to know how to prepare the mixtures, they also had to make certain the fireplace was hot enough for baking.\u003cbr\u003e     The coals had to be raked and banked and ready for cooking. Should the fire go out, a family member was handed a “fire spoon” and told to rush over to a neighbor and borrow some hot coals to start a new fire. \u003cbr\u003e     Cooking? Yes, cooking, because most baking was initially done by placing the bread  or cake or rolls directly on the smoldering coals.  Or it was later done by placing the baked goods in front of the hearth in a dutch oven.\u003cbr\u003e     Then came what is known as a roasting method where a reflector was placed in front of the hearth.  This reflected heat back into the fireplace. \u003cbr\u003eMost homes in early America simply had a rather crude fireplace.\u003cbr\u003e     The more affluent homemakers in the Colonies fared a little better. They had a fireplace with an oven off to the side.\u003cbr\u003e     Most recipes found in cookbooks of the Colonial period were written in a paragraph format. The paragraph contained all the ingredients needed, correct amounts to use, and how to properly mix them.  Unlike today’s recipes, it didn’t have an orderly list of ingredients followed by simple instructions for preparing the cake, bread, or whatever was to be baked.  \u003cbr\u003e       Martha Washington had a marvelous collection of recipes handed down to her by her mother-in-law (mother of her first husband, Daniel Custis) Frances Parke Custis.   Mrs. Custis collected them in a small bound book divided into two sections.  The first section, “A Booke of Cookery,” contains 206 handwritten recipe entries.  The second section, called “A Booke of Sweetmeats,” contains 326 handwritten entries.  Each section also contains a neatly arranged table of contents.  \u003cbr\u003e     The book’s inscription reads: “This book, written by Eleanor Parke Custis’s great grandmother, Mrs. John Custis was given to her, by her beloved Grandmother, Martha Washington – formerly Mrs. Daniel Custis.” Other recipes are sometimes credited directly to Martha Washington, as they came from her own personal “Rules for Cooking.” This book is a legible, neatly arranged group of recipes collected by Martha over the years as she, Dolly Madison, Martha Jefferson, and other lady friends exchanged their best recipes.  Martha eventually had more than 500 of her favorite recipes in her collection.  The followingg recipe is exactly as it was originally written.  \u003cbr\u003e “To Make Exolent Pan Cakes\u003cbr\u003e“Take eggs, beat them very well, put to them a quart of Cream \u0026amp; as much flower as is needfull, then put in a pd of frefs Butter and a grated Nutmegg \u0026amp; Salt, and let it Stand where it may keep warm but not too hot, so frye it in a fine frying pan without butter.”\u003cbr\u003eMartha would sometimes vary this recipe by adding a cup of small pieces of ham or a cup of grated cheese to her batter before cooking.  \u003cbr\u003eMany other recipes handed down through a family were no more than a simple a handwritten list of ingredients.  There were no instructions telling the woman of the house what to do with them.  Mothers and daughters in the Colonies were expected to already know how to properly mix the ingredients.  \u003cbr\u003eSusannah Carter became a household name in the kitchens of almost every Colonial housewife. Her popular cookbook, The Fruigal Housewife or Female Companion was reprinted in 1772 Boston. \u003cbr\u003e     The man credited with making the printing plates for this cookbook might have otherwise been forgotten.  But he was later made a legend by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s when he wrote his fabled “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.” \u003cbr\u003e     Most recipes found in cookbooks of the Colonial period were written in a paragraph format. The paragraph contained all the ingredients needed, correct amounts to use, and how to properly mix them.  Unlike today’s recipes, it didn’t have an orderly list of ingredients followed by simple instructions for preparing the cake, bread, or whatever was to be baked.","brand":"Freedom \u0026 Liberty Foundation Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47147492901104,"sku":"2940013012158","price":1.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013012158","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}