Assorted Jams, 1845

And now for June/July's berry jam haul. I used Eliza Acton's  Modern Cookery, in all its Branches (1845) for each of these. And despite the different receipts, they basically all boil down to 'boil the fruit, skim, add half the fruit's weight in sugar, and boil it again.'

Strawberry jam: Approximately 4 dry pints fruit yielded 3.5 lbs (after removing stalks and picking out bad pieces), which combined with 42 oz sugar made 3 1/4 pints jam. 

Strawberry Jam

Red raspberry jam, from the same source. 3lb 5oz fruit, plus 1lb 11oz sugar made for 3 1/4 pints raspberry jam. I made a second batch the following week, for a total haul of 7 1/4 pints. We used one of the quarter-pint jars at Tenino Oregon Trail Days the other weekend, and it went beautifully on the hot Soda Scones (with or without butter).

Raspberry Jam!

Another good common preserve (mixed berry jam): This jam receipt is basically the summarized form of all the others, but giving permission to freely mix any soft summer fruits in any proportion, and then add half-as-much sugar. For this, I tried a mixed berry assortment, using all the fruit in season at my sibling's house the first week of July. I got 3/4 pint of jam from 12 oz mixed fruit, 6 oz sugar. Raspberries were the majority fruit, with some strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and black currants. The jars look like more raspberry jam, but we'll see if any of the other flavors come through.  

 

Pickled Cucumbers, etc.

The garden has bern going wild this year, and I've been canning something at least every week through June-July as a result. This is not unrelated to the dearth of blog posts

My first bunch of pickling cucumbers came ripe at the same time as well a decent crop of radish seed pods (with plenty more of each to come). In the spirit of efficiency, I decided to make both up with Beeton's Universal Pickle.

As before, I found it convenient to up make at 1/6 scale, using 1 qt vinegar, 3 oz salt, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, 1 tsp mace, 1.5 tsp tumeric, 2 tsp mustard seed, scant 1 oz ginger and scant 2 oz shallots (technically 2/3 oz ginger and 1 1/3 oz shallots, but my scale isn't that precise). This quantity filled the four pint jars exactly. Each contained 1 1/4 cucumbers, and a generous handful of radish seed pods (about ~1/3 cup). 

 Processed 10 minutes, per modern safety recommendations. 

Cucmbers and radish pods.

My second batch of cucumbers got a modern dill pickle recipe. The main problem with this year's plentiful cucumber harvest is getting the cucumbers picked while they're still small enough to fit in jars nicely. I'll clear them all on a Monday, and by Wednesday there are somehow more cucumbers, all two tall or wide for my pint jars. So, instead of whole, these dills got quartered lengthwise. At least the next receipt I found calls for them to be sliced.

Modern "fresh-pack dill pickles"

 

Pickled Asparagus, 1847

It's been a summer of pickling and making preserves. Back in June I put up three pints of pickled asparagus, based on the 1847 recipe in The Whole Art of Curing, Pickling, and Salting Meat and Fish. I also consulted a modern recipe to ensure that I was meeting safe levels of acidity and determine appropriate processing times.

The two jars of pickles not already eaten.

The big surprise was how little asparagus actually fits into each jars. Even after breaking off the tough portions, I ended up trimming most of the edible stem off each asparagus piece to get a spear short enough to fit in the pint jars. I am now less surprised at 10 lbs being needed to get 6 pints worth of pickled asparagus tips. The 2 pounds of asparagus I had nicely filled one jar with asparagus tips; a second was mostly filled with tips but needed to be supplemented with some of the extra stems to pack fully. 

I used the remaining stems in a third jar, which I opened and used over July 4. Despite being all-vinegar, I actually found these more mellow than most other period pickles I've tried. The mace/nutmeg/cloves flavor combination worked very nicely; I had been slightly concerned about those spices' association with sweetness conflicting with the asparagus. I'd like to try the modern receipt in full next year (garlic and dill is a classic for a reason), but I think this historic flavor profile is also a winner.

Original: Dressing Case, c. 1850

 And now for something clothing-adjacent: a dressing case from the early 1850s.

Dressing Case, c.1850, in the VAM.

I can across this example while researching period nail brushes for my July program at Nisqually. It was fun finding a surviving example of a dressing case to compare with the illustrated advertisements (such as this 1860 catalog, note the similarities to B49 in the upper left corner). I also appreciated that, while it does not have photographs of the different component pieces, the VAM's description of this case includes dimensions of each piece. While period writings mention the use of a nail brush, finding an illustration or description of one had proved more elusive. I'm still trying to figure out if two-sided brushes were used in the 1850s, but the dimensions at least point to this example having a handle, and a small brush-head similar in size to most modern nail brushes. 

The VAM link has more information, but I wanted to mention than this set includes both personal hygiene items and clothing maintenance accessories (clothes brushes and a button hook), as well as a strop for sharpening razors. And then there's a corkscrew.

July Mending

Too busy to post most of the month, but I did get some mending done this month. My 1850s underthings needed several small repairs (loose seams, a button replaced), and I also got to darn my red stockings in three places.

This break appeared as soon as I finished darning the first two. :(

Foods in Season: July, 1861

Late, but technically still in the right months, let's see what Beeton's Book of Household Management has in season in July.

Fish- Carp, crayfish, dory, flounders, haddocks, herring, lobsters, mackerel, mullet, pike, plaice, prawns, salmon, shrimps, soles, sturgeon, tench, thornbeck

Meat- Beef, lamb, mutton, veal, buck venison.

Poultry- Chickens, ducklings, fowls, green geese, leverets, plovers, pullets, rabbits, turkey poults, wheatears, wild ducks (called flappers).

Vegetables- Artichokes, asparagus, beans, cabbages, carrots, cauliflowers, celery, cresses, endive, lettuces, mushrooms, pease, radishes, small salading, sea-kale, sprouts, spinach, turnips, vegetable marrow, -various herbs.

Fruit- Apricots, cherries, currants, figs, gooseberries, melons, nectarines, pears, pineapples, plums, raspberries, strawberries, walnuts, in high season and pickled.

More changes in fish this month (seven new varieties, two removed), but none to meat, and only one addition to poultry (the wild ducks). Cauliflower and cresses are back in the vegetables, also joined by sprouts, mushrooms, turnips, and marrow, though I'm confused at the loss of cucumbers (as my own garden has been producing them in adundance all month) and potatoes (also producing well this month, though starting to wind-down). For fruit, peaches and rhubarb are out, replaced by figs, plums, and walnuts.

Foods in Season: June 1861

Let's see what Beeton's Book of Household Management tells us is in season in June.

Fish- Carp, crayfish, herring, lobsters, mackerel, mullet, pike, prawns, salmon, soles, tench, trout, turbot.

Meat- Beef, lamb, mutton, veal, buck venison.

Poultry- Chickens, ducklings, fowls, green geese, leverets, plovers, pullets, rabbits.

Vegetables- Artichokes, asparagus, beans, cabbages, carrots, cucumbers, lettuces, pease, potatoes, radishes, small salads, sea-kale, spinach, -various herbs.

Fruit- Apricots, cherries, currants, gooseberries, melons, nectarines, peaches, pears, pineapples, raspberries, rhubarb, strawberries.

We start with more changes in the fish category (two new, five removed since last month). Instead of a separate game category, venison is added to the otherwise unchanged meat list. Pigeons are out of the poultry category, replaced by plovers, turkey pullets, and wheatears. There are new additions in the vegetable realm with artichokes, radishes and spinach replacing cauliflower and cresses;  I'm confused by the cresses disappearing, since multiple varieties are flourishing in my garden just now (the curly cress has been doing well since mid-May while the nasturtium or Indian cress is just starting to reach useful size). There's even more expansion in the fruit category, losing only apples while apricots and currants come into more general use and peaches, pears, pineapple, and raspberry are all starting.