Keepers Of The Hearth, Cook Book Review:
A Look at 19th Century North Carolina Family Recipes
In the late 1990's, two local history lovers and members of Mill Prong House in Hoke County, North Carolina decided to publish a collection of recipes, etiquette tips, and entertaining advice for housewives, compiled from the papers of the Gilchrest and McEachern families. The papers had spent decades yellowing in the archives at St. Andrews College in Laurinburg, North Carolina, before their rescue by Marilyn Wright and Anne Wright. The result is a look at 19th century North Carolina family recipes and tips in a spiral-bound volume called Keepers Of The Hearth.
Kitchen Drugstore
As Marilyn Wright describes, in the pre-industrial years when most of these recipes were invented, American families could not rely on doctors to medicate them. Worse, little was known by average families about the nature of their infirmities; so family recipes (however eccentric or unlikely they sounded) played a central role in the handling of illness. Here is a list of several home remedies from the Gilchrest and McEachern family ledgers described in Keepers Of The Hearth.
From page 66: A great cure for sick family members requires combining two calf's feet, three pints of water, and new milk. "When cold remove the fat." Serve two cupfuls daily and be cured!
From page 67: For a headache, place feet in a bucket of hot water.
From page 67: For a cough, drink whiskey with cinders.
From page 64: Willow Tree leaves were boiled into tea and served the purpose of aspirin.
The Chemistry of Cooking
Preservation of foods was one of the most basic skills a 19th century housewife needed. Here are summaries of some of the best pickling and preserving recipes from Keepers Of The Hearth.
From page 81: For pear mincemeat, dice pears, seed one orange and one lemon, grind seeds and mix together with fruit, seeded raisins, sugar, butter, vinegar, and spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and all-spice).
From page 83: For Brandy Peaches, put fruit in hot water; pour syrup on top and boil. Make dense syrup and add along with an equal portion of brandy. Put the fruit, syrup, and brandy into a jar.
From page 85: For Plum Sauce, boil plums with a little water. Add sugar, spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and all-spice again), and vinegar. Boil one half hour and seal in a jar while hot.
Advice For Ladies
Scattered throughout Keepers Of The Hearth before, during, or following after recipes are bits of advice for women on how to behave in the household. Here is a sampling:
- Ladies do not wear gloves during dinner.
- Cautiously avoid relating in one house any follies or faults you may hear or see in another.
- In helping, wherever a spoon can be conveniently used, it is preferable to the use of a knife and fork.
For more information contact Keepers Of The Hearth at, P.O. Box 1801, Laurinburg, NC 28353.
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