Cooking Recipes

During the time the farmstead was first built people used open fireplaces, outdoor fires and smoke houses to prepare meals. Heavy cast iron pots and skillets and Dutch ovens were used daily to make delicious savory and sweet dishes. Below you will find some recipes we enjoy cooking with our field trip groups and during the Lifestyles Exhibition.

Ginger Cookies

Ingredients:
3/4 C Shortening 2 tsp baking soda
1 C sugar 1 tsp cinnamon
1 egg, well beaten 1/2 tsp cloves (ground)
4 tbsp. molasses 1 tsp ginger
2 C Flour 1/2 tsp salt

Cream shortening and sugar. Add egg and molasses and beat well. Set aside. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and salt. Add to shortening mixture a little at a time. Roll a small amount about a teaspoonful into a ball. Roll the ball in the sugar. Place in a metal pan inside the Dutch oven. Have coals under the Dutch oven and scoop coals onto the lid. When you start to smell the wonderous smell of ginger and cinnamon they are done. If you are using a modern day oven, place rolled cookies balls on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Cornbread

Ingredients:
2 eggs 3/4 tsp salt
1 C milk 4 tsp baking powder
1 C flour 1/4 C sorghum
1 C cornmeal 1/4 C oil

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl. Next put milk and eggs in a tightly closed container (mason jars work great). Shake the milk and eggs until well combined. Stir wet mixture in to the dry mix. Stir until completely mixed. Over the hearth heat the spider with oil. Add the dough. Make sure there are coals under the spider as well on on the lid. Cook approximately 20 minutes. If you are using a modern day oven, put the dough in a greased baking dish and bake at 400 degrees for approximately 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Fresh Butter

Ingredients:
1 pint heavy whipping cream
Salt (optional)

Fill and airtight container (small mason jars work great) about half full with cream. Add a pinch of salt if you like your butter to have a hint of salty taste. Tightly close the container. Shake the container until butter forms, it takes about 7 to 10 minutes for this to happen so you might want to take turns shaking the container. Sometimes, adding a glass marble to the container before shaking will speed up the process. The butter will be white in color, you can add a little yellow food coloring if you like.

Apple Butter

Delicious apple butter would be made in big kettles over an open fire. Today you can use a similar recipe to make some in a crock pot.

Ingredients:
5 lbs. of your favorite apples
1 C brown sugar
1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 dashes of salt

Directions:

Peel, core and slice the apples
Add the apples to the slow cooker. Add the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and slat
Cover and cook on high for 5 hours or on low for 8-10 hours.
After the apples cooked , use an emulsion blender and pulse for about a minute or until the mixture is smooth.
Use on toast, biscuits or over a nice bowl of ice cream.
Store in the refrigerator.

Rock Candy

Rock candy is almost as much fun to make as it is to eat, however it does take patience. Creating rock candy is a science experiment as well as a way to make a yummy treat. Rock candy forms when supersaturated solution of sugar and water are given time to crystalize. The candy can be eaten by itself or added to drinks such as tea.

Ingredients and supplies:
1 and 1/2 cups water Pot for boiling solution
4 C sugar Mason jar or glass
1/2 tsp Flavoring (peppermint, vanilla, or other extract) 4 Wooden skewers (cut off sharp ends)
Food Coloring 4 Clothespins

Directions:

Place skewers in a mason jar full of water for about an hour. Remove the skewers and and roll the soaked part in sugar. Allow to dry. Don't skip this part!
Add one and one-half cups of water to a pan over high heat. Allow water to come to a boil. Remove from the heat and gradually add 4 cups of sugar. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. At this time add the desired amounts of food coloring and flavoring.
Carefully pour the solution into a mason jar and move the jar to where the jar will be for growing the crystals. It is best to leave the jar in the same spot until the crystals are grown (1-2 weeks).
Put the skewers in the jar with a clothespin on each skewer keeping it upright and about an inch from the bottom of the jar.
Now it is time to wait. It will take about 1-2 weeks for the crystals to form. The longer you wait the larger the crystals. Once they have formed remove the skewers from the jar and lay on a plate to allow the crystals to dry. Now enjoy!