Fudge is expensive when you buy it in candy stores, but it’s easy to make. The hard part is beating the mixture because it gets so thick.  Electric mixers make the job easy for people today, but years ago, fudge was mixed by hand. Candy thermometers became available to household cooks in the early 1900s, but they were expensive.  Prior to that, people determined the temperature of their candy mixtures by dropping a bit of the syrup into cold water.... Read More Read More The post Making Homemade Fudge appeared first on Vintage Recipes and Cookery ..read more

Cookbooks published in the 1800s often contained household hints and medical advice. Of course, this advice is from over 200 years ago! I discovered a comprehensive online document called “Glossary of Medical Terms Used in the 18th and 19th Centuries“ to help me identify some of the diseases mentioned below. In the 1960s, our mother used to dose us with Father John’s Cough Syrup when we were young. It was made of cod liver oil. I remember it being thick... Read More Read More The post Medicinal, Herbaceous, and Other Drinks for Invalids, etc.  appeared first on Vintage Recipes and Cookery ..read more

Cheesecake is made with a soft cheese and usually with only a bottom crust. It contains no yeast, so the flavor is more like a dessert, similar to a custard. The earliest cheesecakes were made from curd or by using rennet to make milk sour. In 1872, modern commercial cream cheese was developed by William Lawrence in New York. This cream cheese was heavier and creamier than most homemade versions. Later, other dairymen created their own versions.  Cheesecakes were baked... Read More Read More The post Making Cheesecake the Old-Fashioned Way appeared first on Vintage Recipes and Cookery ..read more

In the 1800s, most fruits were only eaten while in season unless they were canned or dried. Fresh bananas and oranges were often shipped long distances, but not other fruits. 1800s cookbooks never mention eating dried fruit as a snack, like we do today. Instead, dried fruit was mostly used to flavor bread or desserts.  INFORMATION BELOW COMPILED FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS VARIETIES OF DRIED FRUITS There are a number of fruits that are dried before they are put on the... Read More Read More The post Using Dried Fruits for Cooking appeared first on Vintage Recipes and Cookery ..read more

People who lived during the 1800s ate fresh fruit in season, but they needed ways to preserve fruit for other times. Apricots, nectarines and large plums were also preserved in the same ways as peaches. There are two types of peaches; freestone and clingstone and several varieties within each type. Freestone peaches are easy to eat out of hand, since the pit (stone) easily pulls away from the fruit once you bite or cut into the peach. The flesh of... Read More Read More The post Ways to Preserve Peaches appeared first on Vintage Recipes and Cookery ..read more

Sauces may be a little more trouble to add to a cooked meal, but they can certainly enliven a plain dish. Although we can buy ready-made or powdered packets of… The post How to Make a Variety of White Sauces appeared first on Vintage Recipes and Cookery ..read more

A poached egg is an egg that has been broken, gently slid into boiling water, and gently cooked. The egg should have a runny yolk, while the white stays attached to the egg and is thoroughly cooked. It takes skill to cook poached eggs that retain their shape and look appetizing. Poached eggs are often added to other dishes. INFORMATION BELOW COMPILED FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS POACHED EGGS If the eggs are fresh, they will look most inviting, but the way... Read More Read More The post How to Make Perfectly Poached Eggs appeared first on Vintage Recipes and Cookery ..read more

Making relish was a good way to preserve fruits and vegetables. Plus it added flavor to a plain meal and was especially welcome in the winter when produce was not in season. INFORMATION BELOW COMPILED FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS PICKLINGFoods preserved by pickling are known as either pickles or relishes. While both products are similar in many respects, relishes are distinguished from pickles in that, as a rule, they are made up from more than one kind of fruit or vegetable... Read More Read More The post Making Fruit and Vegetable Relishes appeared first on Vintage Recipes and Cookery ..read more

Anchovies is a name given to approximately 140 species of small “forage fish.” This means they are foraged and eaten by larger fish, sea birds, and marine mammals. Today, anchovies are mostly canned whole, bones and all.  When cooked, they will almost completely dissolve, leaving only the flavor. I never realized the many ways you can use anchovies until I began reading through 1800s cookbooks. INFORMATION BELOW COMPILED FROM FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS BUYING ANCHOVIES These delicate fish are preserved in... Read More Read More The post The Many Ways to Use Anchovies in Recipes appeared first o ..read more

In the 1800s, people often lived far from a doctor or couldn’t afford to pay one. So they treated illnesses by following advice from neighbors and family members, or by reading cookbooks or medical books. If a patient didn’t feel like eating, it was important to offer a variety of nourishing drinks. INFORMATION BELOW COMPILED FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS: The preparation of food and drink for the sick and convalescent person is even more important than the preparation for the strong... Read More Read More The post Nourishing Drinks for Invalids and Convalescents appeared first on Vintage Recipes and C ..read more