Sunday, March 20, 2011

Recipes


I am posting this picture for Julia who asked to see the whole
tree. This is one of the peach trees, it is called a Fair Time Peach.
It comes off about September about the time our local fair
starts and it is a wonderful peach. Much better than say a
cling or something like that.

I make my menu's once a week and then go grocery shopping
so that I only go to the grocery store once a week, and so that
I just have to look at my menu to know what I am going to be
having for dinner. It has saved my sanity.
I am a little bored with my recipes so yesterday I was going through
my cookbooks and I ran across this little old cookbook that had
been in my grand mothers things. I thought I would share some of them.
I will be reproducing
them just the way they are written.

Hard Times Coffee
Short of coffee an' too pore to buy any? Here's yore answer if you have
the followin' ingredients.

Mix well 2 quarts wheat bran with 1 pint yellow corn meal. Add 3 well-beaten
eggs and 1 cup best sorghum molasses. Beat well; spread on pan and put to dry
in oven. Use great care by stirring often while it is browning---this is the secret
of good coffee. A hand full is sufficient for two persons. Sweet cream improves the flavor
of the brew, but as with store-bought coffee, this is a matter of personal taste.

Possum
"It jest stands to reason thet if your're jest newly hitched, you might not know th'
best way to fix' possum---(sum mothers fail to teach their young'uns th' important
things) So if you wants to weasel yore way into yore man's heart---spring this recipe
on him."
Take a possum and parboil until tender. Take out of water and put in bread pan.
then pepper to taste. Take three large sweet potatoes and boil until tender. Lay these around
possum in bread pan, put in oven and bake until brown. Serve warm.

"If you keep a mule shoe in th' stove oven it will keep hawks away frum th' chickens."

This cook book has recipes for Coon, turtle, carp, and all kinds of venison and quail.
I love reading through it, it has recipes for feeding the invalid. It has one that I thought was cute for making " Home Brew."

" Chase wild bullfrogs fer three miles to gather up hops. To them add ten
gallons of tan bark, 1/2 pint of shellac, an' one bar of homemade soap. Boil
36 hours, then strain through an I.W.W. sock to keep it from workin'.
Add one grasshopper to each pint to give a kick. Pour a little into th'
kitchen sink if it takes th' enamel off, it's ready to bottle."

I don't know what an " I. W.W. sock is and I don't know what tan bark is
and I think it is a joke so don't try it.

My great, great grandmother's favorite food was something that was
fixed with squirrel brains. My grandmother told me how they would have
to go out in the woods, and hunt squirrels to fix this dish and it took twelve squirrels.
My grandmother hated doing it but they had to anyway. Maybe that is why she
had this book in her things.

I won't be fixing any of these recipes this week. I just enjoyed reading them.
I thought you might like it too.
The cook book is called " Ma's 'Cookin' mountain recipes. It has a picture of a
woman in a bonnet cooking over a black pot outside.

I just thought I would share a few.

Have a lovely day,
~Kim~

10 comments:

Florence said...

I am thinking I won't be following any of those recipes soon. HeeHee!!! I do like to look at those old books and wonder. Florence

Janettessage.blogspot.com said...

This is just great...you made my day...I have to copy this off and give it to my daughter-in-law. Too funny!!! Thanks!!
Oh love the peach tree...we had one on Austin that would get so full of peaches we had to brace the limbs up...I do miss it!

TexWisGirl said...

Loved the chasin the frogs to catch "the hops"! Ha! Eek!!! Possum, coon, yikes!

Meg said...

That's so funny! Maybe I should be gettin' me a possum...

Dawn said...

hilarious!

That's a beautiful photo!

Kim said...

That book sure is a treasure. What a hoot. Squirrel brains? Seriously ? Yuck

Julia said...

Kim, how sweet of you to post a picture of your cherry tree for me. Thank you so much.

I love to read about your grandma recipe cook book. It sure would keep me slim and trim, I can tell you. lol. This is so funny. Thanks for sharing and have Happy Spring Day to you and your family.. JB

Uncovered Ruby said...

Kim,
Those recipes are hilarious! I'm gathering they were in all seriousness, and I suppose if I was starving and there was nothing else....
I got your message about white ;-). I want people to come into my home too and take off their shoes and relax. I have a lot of rich and darker colors that make my home feel warm (to me anyways!). While I appreciate white also, a palette of all white seems cold to me (just my opinion). We should post pictures of our homes! I'd love to see the inside of your house!
Lisa
p.s. I love a good storm too!

Miss Debbie said...

I.W.W......International Workers OF the World! I googled it! :-) Funny recipes...like you, I think I will pass on making them!
Thanks for praying for the baby. They took her off the ventilator this afternoon...PTL!

Sue said...

These recipes are a hoot, Kim. I remember my grandparents eating squirrel ,but I don't know about the inner parts. lol.
This cook book is a treasure.
Hugs,
Sue