1800's foods Holiday foods Specialty Foods admin 5 years agoNovember 22, 2021

Holiday Cooking & Baking #23 1880’s Thanksgiving Dressing, Pudding, Oyster Stuffing & 1950’s Turkey & all the Fixings plus decoration Ideas

Holiday Cooking and Baking #23 Thanksgiving

Glenburn Maine 1880’s

How to make a Thanksgiving Pudding

Just shelve yours for a season while you try this one: Pour four cupfuls of hot scalding milk over one and one-fourth cupfuls of rolled common cracker and let stand until cool, says the Woman’s Home Companion. Add one cupful of sugar, four eggs slightly beaten, one half of a grated nutmeg, one teaspoonful of salt and one-third of a cupful of melted butter. Parboil one and one-third cupfuls of raisins until soft by cooking in boiling water to cover, seed and add to the mixture. Turn into buttered pudding dish and bake slowly two and one-half hours, stirring after the first half hour of the cooking to prevent raisins from settling. This pudding may of course be made a day or two in advance and re-heated for serving.

How to make a Turkey Dressing.

To make a dressing for the Thanksgiving turkey take three pints of stale bread, one pint of cracker crumbs, two eggs, two teaspoonfuls of salt, two-thirds of a teaspoonful of pepper, two-thirds of a spoonful of sage, one spoonful of savory, one teaspoonful of marjoram, one teaspoonful of thyme and two-thirds of a cupful of butter. Soak the bread in cold water until soft; then press out all the water; add all the other ingredients to the bread and mix well; fill the breast of the turkey with this and put the rest in the body of the turkey.

How to Make Oyster Stuffing.

To the ordinary stuffing for a turkey, of dry breadcrumbs seasoned with parsley, thyme and sweet marjoram and moistened with melted butter, add two dozen small oysters chopped fine. Stuff the breast of the turkey with this.

There are a lot of recipes that fit this Holiday from this set of cook books, and several decoration ideas as well.

These first recipes are from a nice set of books I got from Columbus, Wisconsin, belonging to a Mrs. Corinne Christians; they are mostly dated in the 1950’s, except one book is dated in the 1920’s. She was likely a secretary as a lot of the recipes are written in shorthand; I will need to find someone who knows how to read that, I certainly do not!

Columbus Wisconsin 1950s

Luella

Meat Relish

3 unpeeled apples, 1 onion, 1 med dill pickles. Core apples – put all thru food grinder. Add ¼ c vinegar & ¼ c sugar – let stand a few hrs.

Martha B.

Cranberry Fruit Relish

4 c. cranberries, 2 apples, unpeeled or peeled; 2 whole oranges, 1 lemon, grind all – add 2 ½ c sugar – let chill 24 hrs. Use with chicken, ham etc.

Martha B.

Roasting Turkey

300degrees 8-12 lbs. turkey – 3 hrs. for 8 lbs. 5 hrs. 12 lbs. 6 hrs. 16 lbs.

12 lb. turkey

Corn Bread Stuffing

5 or 6 c. crumbled cornbread made 2 days ahead. 6 c. breadcrumbs, ½ c. butter, ½ c. other fat, 1 c. nut meats (optional), 1 c. celery, ½ c. onion, ½ c. green pepper, 2 t. salt, ¼ t. pepper, 1 t. poultry seasoning. 2 beaten eggs, 1 c. water. Cut butter into tiny pieces & mix with corn bread. Cook onion & celery 5 min. in other fat. Mix all together lightly. Sprinkle water over gradually.

Thanksgiving Carson Gulley

Sweet Potatoes.

Make sugar & water syrup – bring just to boil. Add sweet potatoes uncooked and bake till done.

Turkey Stuffing

Try using bouillon in place of any other liquid in dressing. 1 qt. crumbs, 1/3 c. fat, ¾ c. chopped celery, 3oz. parsley, 2 T. onion, ½ t. sage, ¾ t. salt, pepper to taste.

Chicken Dressing – Turkey

6 -8 c. bread crumbs, 1 stalk celery (2-3), ½ c. onion, brown in 1/3 c. butter. 2 well beaten eggs, ½ t. B.P., 1 ½ c. milk, salt, pepper, sage. Mix all together very lightly.

Salsify mixed with a little canned salmon will give almost exact oyster flavor.

Orange, parsnips, apple, pineapple strips. Lemon juice & mayonnaise; chill fruit and parsnips.

Martha Crane 3:30 Feature Foods Program

Popping corn – salad oil or regular popping oil.

Carving turkey (prof. Hayes)

Aleen Hazard

1 good sharp knife, 2. Remove drumsticks, slice or serve whole same with thighs and drumsticks. Slice white meat parallel to bone. (Tuck legs into slit into abdomen fold wings across back. To prepare for roasting) Put neck part away from body before you start

Thanksgiving Turkey

Rub inside with baking soda & wash thoroughly. Season inside with salt. Should be stuffed the day its cooked. Dressing should be very hot, stuff loosely 1 c. dressing to each.

1 lb. coffee makes 40 -50 cups. 1 tree produces only about 1 to 1 ½ lbs. per year. About 30 lbs. in its lifetime. Coffee is good only when made of 2 level t. to every 6 oz. water.

Carson Gulley’s

16 lb. turkey dressing, 4 qts. Dry bread, 4 c. celery, 1 c. onions, 1 t. sage, 4 t. salt, 1 t. white pepper, 2 c. butter or fat (not bacon), 4 c. stock or 4 bouillon cubes & 4 c. water. Sauté onion, celery, seasonings, add stock & mix with bread or 2 qts. Bread & 2 qts. Corn bread. Tie legs to tail. Oil bird & dust lightly with flour. Brown in 375degrees oven, reduce to 300degrees no cover, no water, 25 min. per lb. 12 lbs. or less; 15 – 20 min per lb. 16 lbs. or less.