Wise words from long ago about cooking ….. except ANYBODY can serve the soup!

I will now also be adding the term “muncheon” to my vocabulary.

All vegetables of the cabbage kind should be carefully washed, and examined in case of insects lurking among the leaves.

~Leslie, Eliza. Miss Leslie’s Complete Cookery. Philadelphia: Henry Carey Baird, 1861.

Nothing is more distressing than to see a roasted fowl come to the table “flying” with outspread wings, and legs looking as if the bird had kicked before the fire.  A turning of the wings and a bit of string around the legs would have converted the ridiculous object into a respectably dressed fowl.

~American Agriculturist for the Farm, Garden & Household. New York: Orange Judd & Co., Vol XXVIII Number 2, February, 1869.

Cut some writing paper into a handsome fringe, and twist it round the shank-bone before you send the ham to table.

~Leslie, Eliza. Miss Leslie’s Complete Cookery. Philadelphia: Henry Carey Baird, 1861.

…. a most ungenteel practice to cut ham into thick slices.

~Leslie, Eliza. Miss Leslie’s Complete Cookery. Philadelphia: Henry Carey Baird, 1861.

BAKED BEANS.  – Few people know the luxury of baked beans, simply because few cooks properly prepare them.  Beans, generally are not cooked half long enough.

~Clarke, W.F. (Editor). The Canada Farmer. Vol. I January to December. Toronto: George Brown, 1864.

To make the real old fashioned strawberry shortcake make a sour milk biscuit, which is really more tender than that made with sweet milk….

~Good Things to Eat and How to Prepare Them. Welland: Office of the Tribune, 1908.

The soup ladle should be placed in front of the lady of the house, who always serves the soup;…

~Kellogg E. E. Science in The Kitchen. Michigan: Health Publishing Company, 1892.

Spice in powder, kept in small bottles close stopped, goes much further than when used whole.  It must be dried before pounded, and should be done in quantities that may be wanted in three or four months.  Nutmeg need not be done, but the others should be kept in separate bottles with a little label on each.

~Mrs. Rundell, Domestic Cookery For The Use of Private Families. London: Jones & Co., 1845.

Chowders are really a kind of stew, but are usually classed as soups.  When served as a main course they should be fairly thick.

~Blue Ribbon Cook Book, Nineteenth Edition. Winnipeg: Blue Ribbon Manufacturing Company, 1905.

“Oysters and pork are better far, 

In any month that has an R.”

~”A Lady”. The New London Cookery, and Complete Domestic Guide. London: G. Virtue, 1827.

ICED CLEAR SOUP.

Many of the clear soups are delicious flavoured with a little sherry, and served ice cold.  Cold soups are always served in cups, never in soup plates.

~Magic Cook Book and Housekeepers Guide. Toronto, Winnipeg, Montreal: E.W. Gillett Co. Ltd., 1915.

Directions concerning Garden Things.

MOST people spoil Garden Things by over boiling them.  All Things that are green should have a little Crispness, for if they are over boil’d they neither have any Sweetness or Beauty.

~”By a Lady”. The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy. London: Printed for the Author, 1758.

Cold mashed potatoes, cut in slices an inch thick, and browned in the oven like toast, and buttered, is a nice dish for breakfast.

~Traill, C. P. The Female Emigrant’s Guide and Hints on Canadian Housekeeping. Toronto, C.W.: Sold by Maclear and Company, 1854.

(Regarding Beets) Cut off the tops to within an inch of the tuber;  scrub with a vegetable brush, never cut, or they will “bleed” and lose colour while cooking….  When done, plunge in cold water to remove the skins.

~Warner, Miss E. Purity Flour Cook Book. Toronto & Winnipeg: Western Canada Flour Mills Co. Limited, 1917.

To Cook Cauliflower. –  ….Take it up as soon as a fork will easily enter the stem:  a little longer boiling will spoil it.

~A. B. (of Grimsby). The Frugal Housewife’s Manual. Toronto: J.H. Lawrence, 1840.

In making pastes for pies and puddings, the handling is of the greatest importance;  a light touch and cool hand is absolutely necessary.

~Handbook of Domestic Cookery. London and Glasgow: William Coltins, Sons & Company, Limited, 1882.

Be not sparing of sugar to any fruit pie.

~Frazer, Mrs. The Practice of Cookery. Edinburgh: Printed for Peter Hill; by J. Ruthven & Sons, 1800.

Besides being the picnic stand-by, sandwiches are deservedly popular in many emergencies, such as informal luncheons, or “muncheons,” as a witty woman once called them.

~Five Roses Cook Book. Montreal: Lake of the Woods Milling Company Limited, 1913.

In making a white sauce for vegetables, meat or fish, the careful cook either uses white pepper, or else sprinkles black pepper over the top after the dish is ready for serving, never putting black pepper in the sauce.

~The Delineator. London and New York: The Butterick Publishing Co., Limited, April, 1895.

The salad-bowl may be rubbed with the cut surface of a clove of garlic….

~Hill, Janet McKenzie. Salads, Sandwiches and Chafing-Dish Dainties. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1909.

“To make a salad, four persons are wanted: 

“A spendthrift for oil; a miser for vinegar;  a counsellor for salt; and a madman to stir it up.”

~Young, B. M. Domestic Science Recipes. Ottawa: Ottawa Gas Co. 1895.

The time required for boiling asparagus depends upon its freshness and age.  Fresh, tender asparagus cooks in a very few minutes, so quickly, indeed, that the Roman emperor Augustus, intimating that any affair must be concluded without delay, was accustomed to say, “Let that be done quicker than you can cook asparagus.”

~Kellogg E. E. Science in The Kitchen. Michigan: Health Publishing Company, 1892.