Friday, April 20, 2012
Faithful Companion
Today's research finds me at the Church Cemetery, Wilmot, Merrimack, New Hampshire. Gravestones offer interesting bits of life from those that are Heaven Found. Frances Chase knew the importance of a faithful companion in the time of battle during the Civil War. So here is his dedication to that faithful companion "Billy Buckskin was a horse that belonged to Francis Chase and was a veteran of the civil war. His grave is marked each year with a flag, on Memorial Day."
Monday, April 16, 2012
Today's posting will be a recipe I found while researching the family. My Aunt had her own version of this called 1-2-3 Cake, that will stay in the family, but I think you will enjoy the Canadian version. Here is the history of the cake I found on the Internet. I left all the errors intact. Enjoy
1234 Cake
Culinary evidence confirms the practice of naming cakes for their measurements dates (at least) to the 18th century. In the days when many people couldn't read, this simple convention made it simple to remember recipes. Pound cake and cupcakes are foods of this genre. In fact? They were composed of the same basic ingredients of your 1234 cake.
There are several variations on the recipe for 1234 cake but "yr basic list" goes like this:
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 cups flour
4 eggs
This combination, it its purest form, produces a chewy dense cookie-type treat reminiscent of medieval jumbals, or sugar cookies. The Internet confirms many cooks "fudge" (pardon the pun) this classic 1234 recipe by adding other ingredients in various proportions. Most common? Baking powder, milk, fruit juice, spices and nuts. These additions affect the taste and texture of the finished product.
Canadian recipe, circa 1877
1,2,3,4,CAKE.
Augusta Simmers.
One cup of butter, two of sugar, three cups of flour, four eggs; add a little more flour, roll out very thin on sugar, cut any shape, and bake quickly."
---The Canadian Home Cook Book, Compiled by the Ladies of Toronto and Chief Cities and Towns in Canada [Hunter, Rose and Company:Toronto] 1877 (p. 307)
1234 Cake
Culinary evidence confirms the practice of naming cakes for their measurements dates (at least) to the 18th century. In the days when many people couldn't read, this simple convention made it simple to remember recipes. Pound cake and cupcakes are foods of this genre. In fact? They were composed of the same basic ingredients of your 1234 cake.
There are several variations on the recipe for 1234 cake but "yr basic list" goes like this:
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 cups flour
4 eggs
This combination, it its purest form, produces a chewy dense cookie-type treat reminiscent of medieval jumbals, or sugar cookies. The Internet confirms many cooks "fudge" (pardon the pun) this classic 1234 recipe by adding other ingredients in various proportions. Most common? Baking powder, milk, fruit juice, spices and nuts. These additions affect the taste and texture of the finished product.
Canadian recipe, circa 1877
1,2,3,4,CAKE.
Augusta Simmers.
One cup of butter, two of sugar, three cups of flour, four eggs; add a little more flour, roll out very thin on sugar, cut any shape, and bake quickly."
---The Canadian Home Cook Book, Compiled by the Ladies of Toronto and Chief Cities and Towns in Canada [Hunter, Rose and Company:Toronto] 1877 (p. 307)
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Ancestral Journey
I will be posting my journey while searching for my ancestors.
I think you will find the search interesting. Some of the people will be just your "Average Joe" type, while others are a little more colorful. Some will be relatives. A few will not be related,but I found the story interesting and thought you might like it. Please join me in my Ancestral journey down memory lane of my family.
The surnames I will be following are Stearns, Nelson, Chase and Fletcher. All four ancestors arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during the Great Migrations during 1630-1638. Tradition has it that Isaac Stearns arrived on the Arbella. The ship of Winthrop's Fleet carrying the Massachusetts Bay Colony Charter.
See you next time with my first antidote of history.
I think you will find the search interesting. Some of the people will be just your "Average Joe" type, while others are a little more colorful. Some will be relatives. A few will not be related,but I found the story interesting and thought you might like it. Please join me in my Ancestral journey down memory lane of my family.
The surnames I will be following are Stearns, Nelson, Chase and Fletcher. All four ancestors arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during the Great Migrations during 1630-1638. Tradition has it that Isaac Stearns arrived on the Arbella. The ship of Winthrop's Fleet carrying the Massachusetts Bay Colony Charter.
See you next time with my first antidote of history.
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