Jam and jelly making over an open fire

Much of the cooking was done outdoors for various reasons - the main being to keep heat and smoke out of the rest of the house during hot weather. Cooking over an open fire meant taking many precautions and special utensils were developed to keep one from being burned. Skirts were long and a cook needed long handled tools to keep them from getting too close to the fire. Tripods, or poles driven into the ground with a cross member on top, suspended kettles and dutch ovens above the fire. Spiders were also used to hold pots off the ground or hearth, allowing coals to be placed under them.

Barter between families benefited each. A blacksmith who had made implements the ladies used in making their sweets, might receive jars of them as payment. I mentioned the surprising technology of the era; here is one very unusual item - a tasting spoon. These were constructed in different sizes and for different purposes. Handles were of iron as it was a cheaper, more readily available material, but the bowls were of brass. As brass does not hold heat but cools very quickly, the cook could sample her product without burning her lip. Don't you wish you had one?

Jams preserved fruits for times when they would be unavailable while retaining much of the nutritional values. They also were great for getting picky kids to eat or for impressing one's guests. Women took great pride in producing these treasured delicacies. They were made from most any available fruit and some vegetables. Native fruits and berries were used along with those from trees pioneers had brought with them from other regions. If one were lucky, they could purchase apples shipped from a northern market. Sweeteners were usually cane or sorghum syrups bartered from a neighbor. Occasionally one would have wild honey or purchase a cone of brown sugar. This hardened loaf sugar arrived wrapped in paper and sealed with a wax stamp to assure the buyer he had purchased a pure product which had not been tampered with and that it's weight was true. Special shears or guillotines were used to snip off some of this company sugar, which was then ground to a fine powder with a mortar and pestle. Frugal women served this to their guests in small containers to discourage them from using too much of this precious commodity. The guests, being from an era of somewhat better manners than ours, complied.

The process for making preserves was lengthy. A fire had to be built and coals must be readily available. While the fire was getting to the proper point, a woman could do other chores, or if her fruit was not ready to cook, she would wash and prepare it. Some fruits must be cored and cut up, some were peeled and others were used as is. Apple or pear butters were often made from whole fruit that had simply been washed. After cooking, the fruits were put through a small mill or colander and seeds and skins removed. Kettles of fruits were placed over the fire and very slowly cooked so as not to burn them. Each kettle had to be stirred often till it achieved the proper consistency. They were then put into jars and melted wax poured over the top to seal out air. (The jars had been washed and scalded to keep them from bursting when hot jam was put in them as well as to sterilize them.) Jars were filled about 1/2 inch from the top and a layer of 1/4 inch wax sealed it. Care was taken to make sure no air bubble formed in the wax.

Jams set better if underripe fruits, containing more natural pectin, are used along with the riper, full-flavored fruits. Sometimes lemon is added as the ingredients of jams and jellies are: fruit, pectin, acid, sugar. Pectin is a water-soluble substance present in plant tissues. Jelly stages are gaged by either setting a spoonful of the liquid in a cold spot to see how thick it becomes when cooled, or by dipping a metal spoon into the boiling liquid, holding it out of the steam and pouring the syrup out of it. If the drops gather together and run off in a sheet, the product is ready. As opposed to butters, jams and jellies should cook rapidly, but they must also be stirred often to keep them from scorching.

As you can see, this was an all day affair and then there would be the washing up of all the things one had used. Somewhere in the middle of the process, dinner had to be cooked and children looked after. A pioneer woman slept well at night!

Jam cakes were a favorite among the children. While mother was preparing dinner, she would often make a small white cake in which she had swirled about a cup of jam. Each child would get a portion of this quick cooking goody, served in a bowl (perhaps with milk poured over it). They were then told to stay out of mom's hair and I'll bet they did so gladly! Other quick breakfast foods were made so the lady of the house could concentrate on the noonday meal, which would in most cases be the main one of the day. (North Florida folk still say they are having dinner rather than lunch and supper in the evening.) One that my sister makes in a dutch oven is "Carrot Pudding." It is delicious and the recipe follows.

You can see in the photos how the dutch ovens have coals directly beneath them or are suspended above the coals. The lids hold more coals so there is heat from above as well. A cook must know her pots and the item she is making. She has no thermometer to tell how hot her fire is, nor does she have a recipe that calls for a "350 degree oven." Time is the best teacher and many a young cook, learning at her mother's feet, came close to ruining a meal. Since one could ill afford to toss something out, rest assured, mom was very watchful. She would likely let the novice get just to the edge of the point of no return before stepping in to set things right.

Recipes for a few favorites:

Carrot Pudding:

Line a buttered 1 quart baking dish with stale french or italian bread. Mix together the following; 4 eggs, 1/2 cup sugar (brown or white), 1 cup milk, 1/4 t nutmeg, 1 t vanilla, 1/4 cup wine or milk, 2 cups (about 12 oz. baby carrots) shredded carrots. Pour mixture into lined dish. Pour 2-3 T melted butter around edge, onto bread. Tilt pan to soak bread slices. If cooking over open fire, place pan in suitable sized dutch oven and arrange coals beneath as well as on top of pan. Cook till center is set, checking occasionally. If baking in conventional oven, bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes. Serves 4-6.

Bird's Nest Pudding

4 Gala apples
3 eggs
2 c milk
1 stick cinnamon
1/4 c brown sugar
1/4 t nutmeg or cinnamon
pinch of salt

Scald milk with cinnamon till bubbles form along the side of the pan. Set aside to cool. Beat eggs and other ingredients, add to cooled milk. Place 4 cored apples in a 1 quart baking dish. Pour custard over and around them. Bake as above till a knife inserted in custard comes out clean and apples are soft. Custard firms as it cools. Serves 4.

Jam Cake

1/2 c milk
1 stick butter
1 c sugar
1 c jam
2 eggs
2 c flour
1 t baking powder
1/4 t nutmeg or cinnamon

Cream butter and sugar. Beat eggs till lemon colored. Combine. Add flour mixed with baking powder and milk alternately. Beat after each addition. Use any kind of jam you like, adding it to the batter and swirling in a marbled pattern. Bake in 6" greased and floured tube pan at 325 degrees for 25-30 minutes. You may also use a small loaf pan. If baking over coals, this cake cooks in about 15 minutes.

Blackberry Jam

4 cups crushed berries
4 cups sugar

Sort and wash berries, removing stems. Crush, measure berries into a kettle. You may need to run very seedy berries through a sieve or food mill. Add sugar and stir well. Boil rapidly, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat; skim off any foam. Fill and seal containers. Makes about 4 half-pint jars.

Citrus Marmalade

1c grapefruit juice (1 fruit)
1 3/4 c orange juice (4 medium)
1/3 c lemon juice (1 lemon)
peel of 1/2 grapefruit
peel of 1 orange
peel of 1 lemon
1 quart cold water
3 c sugar

Wash fruit and extract juice. Remove membrane from inside peel. Cut peel into very thin strips 1 to 1 1/2 inches long. Add water to peel and simmer slowly in a covered pan until tender. (about 30 minutes) Drain and discard liquid; add 3 cups boiling water to the peel. Add sugar and boil rapidly about 20 minutes. Add the fruit juices and cook again about 25 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; skim. Fill and seal containers. Makes 3-4 half-pints.

Beaten Biscuits (from front page)

3/4 t sugar
1/2 t salt
3 c sifted flour
1/3 c butter or other shortening
1/2 c milk

Sift sugar and salt with flour, blend in shortening and just enough milk to make a very stiff dough. Knead on floured board until dough becomes soft and pliable. Run dough through a meat grinder or a biscuit machine using coarse knife or beat steadily with a wooden potato masher 30 minutes, or until dough blisters, keeping edges turned in. Roll to 1/2 inch thickness, cut with a biscuit cutter (don't twist the cutter, it will seal the edges), prick with a fork and bake in moderate oven (350) 30 minutes. The biscuits should be a delicate ivory color. Makes about 1 1/2 dozen biscuits.

The traditional way to beat biscuits was on a tree stump, using a hatchet or a flat iron. Many homemakers still have wooden blocks called "biscuit blocks" used to beat the dough. (Southern Cookbook, pg 217) Some links you may find interesting. 19th century recipes
Utensils, etc.
Recipes
Cooking on the Hearth