Stuhr
Museum Games & Fun!
Pioneer
Foods
Pioneers traveling
along the Mormon Trail did not have all the modern kitchen appliances
that we have today. Prepared foods and frozen foods did not exist:
no microwaves, and certainly no picking up a pizza for dinner!
Most of the pioneers' cooking was done in the morning or in the
evening during supper.
Recipes
from our own Stuhr Museum Education Department Kitchen
Aunt
Annie's "Make Do" Corn Cob Jelly
Ingredients
12 cobs of red field corn
Water
1 (1 3/4 oz) package powdered fruit pectin
4 cups sugar
Directions
1. Remove the kernels of corn from the corn cobs
2. Boil the cobs in water to cover, for 20 minutes
3. Drain the liquid through a jelly bag or cheesecloth
4. Measure 3 cups strained liquid into a large saucepan
5. Stir in pectin
6. Bring to a full, rolling boil, then add the pre-measured sugar
all at once
7. Bring again to boiling, stirring until the sugar is dissolved
8. Boil hard one minute or until jelly sheets between the tines
of a fork
9. Remove from heat, skim, and seal in hot, sterilized glasses
This is
a clear jelly, tasting a little like mild honey. It can be tinted,
if desired, with food coloring.
Aunt Annie's Corn Gems
Ingredients
2 cups cornmeal
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
4 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 eggs
2 cups milk or fresh buttermilk
1/2 cup oil
Directions
1. Stir dry ingredients together in a large bowl
2. Beat eggs slightly in small bowl
3. Add milk and oil into small bowl
4. Add to dry ingredients all at once, stir only until moist (Do
not overmix)
5. Pour into well-greased gem pans
6. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes
Fills 3
gem pans.
Other
fun Pioneer Recipes
Butter
Today when we want some butter for our toast or bread we go to
the refrigerator and get the butter that was bought at the grocery
store. The pioneers could not do that. This is how a young girl
of twelve describes how she made butter in 1850 while on the Mormon
Trail:
"The way we made our butter was we'd milk the cows in the
morning and strain the milk into large churns, which were put
in the back of the wagons. At night, through the constant motion
of the wagons all day long, there would be pieces of rich yellow
butter clinging to the sides of the churn; some of which would
be the size of goose eggs."
Ingredients
and Equipment
1 Pint Heavy Cream
Dash of Salt
1 wide mouth quart clear plastic shaker container (If you do not
have a quart container, use a pint shaker and use half the heavy
cream.)
Directions
1. Pour the cream into the shaker
2. Add the dash of salt
3. Put the lid on tightly
4. Shake for about twenty minutes until the butter separates from
the liquid whey.
5. Remove lid and pieces of butter. Use on the Johnnycakes or
flapjacks.
6. Discard the remainder (the whey).
Flapjacks
Flapjacks, or pancakes as we know them today, are another food
that pioneers ate. Today we can buy prepared pancake mix and batter
at the grocery store. The pioneers, however, were not that lucky.
Below is a recipe similar to one used by the pioneers. When you
have made the flapjacks you can also use the butter made with
the earlier recipe.
Ingredients
and Equipment
1 ½ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 ¼ cup milk
greased frying pan or electric griddle
Directions
1. Mix dry ingredients
2. Add milk, eggs, butter
3. Stir until moistened
4. Fry until golden brown on both sides
Johnnycakes
Johnnycakes are another pioneer food similar to flapjacks. They
also taste good with homemade butter on them.
Ingredients
and Equipment
¾ cup of cornmeal
¼ cup of sugar
pinch of salt
½ cup boiling water (enough to make ingredients into a
smooth batter)
greased frying pan or electric griddle
Directions
1. Combine cornmeal, sugar and salt in mixing bowl
2. Add boiling water and mix until the batter is smooth
3. Heat frying pan, add grease and pour mixture
4. Fry until golden brown on both sides
A
recipe from Henry Fonda
Stuhr Museum:
Home of Henry Fonda’s Birthplace!
The Story of Bessie’s Sugar Cookies
Douw Fonda,
Henry's cousin, tells the story of "Bessie's Sugar Cookies”:
When Douw Fonda was only 8 years old, his mother, Ethelyn Hinners
Fonda, died. His father, Ten Ike Fonda, Jr., hired a housekeeper
named Bessie Vicorine. Bessie took loving care of Douw, his two
brothers, Hilton and Garett and his sister, Virginia. Douw fondly
remembered, "What a wonderful cook she was. At holiday times
the house always smelled of marvelous cakes, pies and all kinds
of cookies baking in the oven." Douw's cousins, Henry, Harriet
and Jane were there often to help sample whatever Bessie was baking.
One of Henry's favorites was a crisp, orange flavored sugar cookie
that she made. Bessie remained as housekeeper for 27 years.
One year during the Christmas holidays when Henry was appearing
in a play at a Chicago theater, Bessie baked a batch of Henry's
favorite sugar cookies, packed them neatly in a box and tied it
with a big red ribbon. She caught a ride to Chicago and delivered
them in person to a surprised Henry Fonda. She was treated royally
with a front row seat and was invited backstage. Henry passed
the cookies around to cast and crew. Everyone wanted the recipe.
After that first bite, Bessie's sugar cookies were expected at
Christmas wherever Henry was. And the recipe became famous, too.
Bessie’s
Sugar Cookies (Made for the Fonda Family!)
Makes "a
zillion," depending on how thin you roll them, the size,
the shape and how close you place the cutters. Don't let the dough
dry out. The excellence of this rolled, slightly orange flavored
sugar cookie depends on how thin it is rolled. I was instructed
to firmly clip a pastry cloth onto a counter, (Bessie used a marble
slab), use a pastry cloth cover on a rolling pin, both floured
slightly and keep renewing the "dusting" of both the
cloth and the pin as you roll out each batch. Bessie always said,
"You roll it until you can read a newspaper through it."
I say, "Maybe, almost."
½ c.
butter or shortening
5 tsp. baking powder
1 c. sugar
5 T. orange juice
1 egg
Rind of 1 orange, grated
2 ¾ c. unsifted flour
Combine; chill
in refrigerator, cover. You can freeze dough at this point: wrap
the dough in foil in one or more balls. After the batches thaw,
you may need to use more flour on the board before rolling out.
Use small amounts of dough to roll out and keep the rest of the
dough covered or in the refrigerator if you are interrupted. Be
stingy: place the cutters close together. It is best to only roll
out once. Sprinkle with white or colored granulated sugar, deorettes,
or chopped almonds. Press the décor lightly into each cookie
to make sure it sticks. Bake in 375-degree oven for 7-10 minutes
on greased cookie sheets. Watch! Time may vary so go on the low
side to be safe. Bake only until lightly browned. Remove at once.
Cool: store in tins--out of reach!
The butter,
johnnycakes, and flapjacks recipes are taken from This is the
Place: The Story of the Mormon Trail by William E. Hill, Hill
House Publishing. www.hillhousew.com
These activity books are sold at Prairie
Treasures, Stuhr Museum's gift shop.
