Flaxseed Lemonade

Pour one quart of boiling water over four tablespoonfuls of whole flaxseed and steep three hours. Strain and sweeten to taste, and add the juice of two lemons. Add a little more water if the liquid seems too thick. This is soothing in colds.

Mrs. Lincoln's Boston Cook Book, by Mary Johnson Bailey Lincoln, Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1884

Pie Crust Glaze

In making any pie which has a juicy mixture, the juice soaks unto the crust making it soggy and unfit to eat, to prevent this:

Beat an egg well and with a brush or bit of cloth, wet the crust of the pie with the beaten egg, just before you put in the pie mixture.

For pies which have a top crust also, wet the top with the same before baking, which gives it a beautiful yellow brown. It gives beauty also to biscuit, ginger cakes, and is just the thing for rusk by putting in a little sugar.

Dr. Chase's Recipes by Alvin Wood Chase, M.D., Ann Arbor, MI 1864

Boiled Peanuts in the Civil War

The peanut was known in Peru around 1200 to 1500 B.C. Well preserved peanut plants have been found in Inca mummy bundles and burial sites.

Before the Civil War (1861-1865), peanuts were called groundnuts, goober peas, Monkey nuts, Pindars and goobers. The names "pindars" and "goober" are African tribal words.

The peanut is really a legume like a pea. Dealers of other edible nuts thought the peanuts only fit for the poor.

Union General William T. Sherman led his troops on their march through Georgia in 1865. The Confederacy was split in two and deprived of supplies.

Confederate soldiers roasted and boiled the freshly pulled (raw-green) peanuts over campfires. The peanuts were also used as a cheap form of coffee. No one knows who came up with the idea of adding salt, but it has been used as a preservative since ancient times.

After Appomattox (April 1865), soldiers returning home brought back peanuts to places where they were unknown. Within the next five years, peanut production increased by two hundred percent.

Some 19th Century Weights, Measurements & Substitutions Conversions

1 penny weight = 1/20 ounce

1 drachm = 1/8 ounce

1 salt spoon = 1/4 teaspoon

4 salt spoons = 1 teaspoon

1 dessert spoon = 2 teaspoons

1 gill = 1/2 cup

1 jigger = 3 tablespoons

1 pony = 2 tablespoons

1 wineglass = 1/4 cup

The Size of Butter

hen's egg = 2 ounces

walnut = 1 tablespoon

butternut = 1 dessertspoon rounded

filbert = 1 teaspoon rounded

1 oz. grated chocolate 1/4 cup

Oven Temperatures

Slow 300-325 degrees

Moderate 350-375 degrees

Moderately Hot 375-400 degrees

Hot 400-450 degrees

Very Hot 450 -500 degrees

Candied Orange Slices

1 large navel orange sliced 1/4 inch thick crosswise with a sharp knife (approximately 6 to 8 slices)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups water

Combine the water and sugar in a medium bowl. Pour into a very clean large skillet and bring to a boil until the sugar is dissolved.

Add the orange slices in a single layer and cook over a medium-low heat; gently turning the orange slices occasionally. Heat the sugar liquid and orange slices until the orange skin and whites are are translucent; about 40 minutes.

When the orange slices are translucent, remove the pan from the heat and let the orange slices cool in the pan.

Place parchment paper under a wire rack. Transfer the orange slices from the pan to the rack with a spatula and cool completely. You can also place the orange slices on a sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet and bake in a 200 degree oven for about an hour until the slices are dried.

Decorate the top of your Orange Cake with the cooled slices or place them in your refrigerator in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

Tidbit: Lemon slices can be done in this manner.

Morel Mushroom Hunting Tips

In the Midwest, Morel mushrooms can be found in late April to mid-May. Morels are known as an early spring mushroom.

May 12, 1990 in Oregon, Illinois, a man found a giant Morel weighing two pounds, measuring 11 and one-half inches and had a circumference of seven and one-half inches.

They say that a heavy snow fall will produce a great season. Most likely due to all the moisture the snow brings. Morels like a cold-snap after it has been warm for a few days. You need a few 70 degree days with a low in the 50's at night; followed by a cold-snap and then warm weather again.

The Morel mushrooms tend to grow around old Apple orchards and dead Elm trees and logs. Old stumps and fallen trees are a popular growing spot along with living White Ash and Maple trees.

When you see Redbud trees beginning to bloom, the Oak leaves just opening, and May Apple plants popping up in the woods, it is time to put on your hiking boots, get out the Deep Woods Off, put on long pants and long sleeved shirts to protect you from the poison ivy and prickly bushes.

Make sure you bring a compass or your GPS, a walking-stick to move the twigs, a drink and snack, and a mesh or cloth bag for your treasured Morels. Don't use a plastic bag.

For the beginner, know your trees before you take your trek in the woods and always go with an experienced hunter. There are dangerous plants and fungi that can be lethal.

When you spot your morels, be gentle and clip or break them off so they will continue to grow for years.

Now go back to your campsite and prepare your favorite Pheasant with Wild Rice and Morel Mushroom recipe from this blog. Or if you must, fry it in butter with a steak. Enjoy.

Tidbit: This article is dedicated to my mother, Dorothy and my Aunt Viola who taught me how to hunt mushrooms at an early age.

Roxe Anne Peacock

Ladies' Tea