...I did the weekly InstaCart grocery pickup...
...a much smaller haul this week...and nothing of note...although we did not get frozen spinach or canned corn...still so weird...
...Our Airman's Christmas package finally arrived...mail delays are still a thing...
...so we waited until an appropriate hour...and FaceTimed with the little family in Japan...and opened our pressies...
...a beautiful hand-crafted little jewelry box that Our Airman had gotten on his TDY to Korea...so sweet...I put it on my dresser to hold the things that I wear most days...
...and now that Epiphany has passed...and all our gifts have been opened...it's time to undecorate...not my favorite task ever...
...I washed the placemats on the handwash setting on the washing machine...and it seems to have worked perfectly...we've had these for several years and I've only ever just sponged them off...so they really needed a good wash...and I figured if it ruined them....they'd had a good long use-life...
...and I also washed all of the table linens...
...I had forgotten to take the tassels off of the table runner...but found them in the washer so I just hung them over the cabinet knob to dry...feeling pretty lucky that they'd made it through the wash...and not wanting to risk the dryer...haha...
...all sorted and folded and ready to go back in the china cabinet...
...then I opened up my 200+ year old cookbook...(more on that later) to find an apple pie recipe...and found this one...
...absolutely no amounts of anything are given...and we've never encountered a recipe that includes all of the trimmings...
...but you cook those together with a little sugar...
...so you're basically making applesauce...
...which I passed through a sieve before adding it to the apples....I didn't want any seeds or pithy parts in my pie...
...I made sure the apple slices would fit in the pie crust...
...and then added the cinnamon and the 'liquor that you have boiled'...I also added a couple of spoonfuls of flour...as I hate a soggy pie and I was afraid this one would be as it doesn't have anything to 'thicken' it...
...put it all in the pie crust and covered it with another one...
...crimped the edges with a fork...
...and cut some slits in the top...and put it in the oven...
...then I got out the bread machine to make a half-loaf of vegan bread...
...this one is half white/half whole wheat...I've of course already eaten the 'heel'...as that's the best part...and nothing is better than hot fresh bread slathered with Earth Balance...
...the 'recipe' gives absolutely no cooking instructions...they really must have assumed that the 'cook' already knew how to do a lot of things...
...but it was certainly delicious...I used a half cup of sugar altogether as no amounts were given...and it was just about perfect...and not soggy at all...
...now back to the 1817 book...that I've had for about 2 weeks...
...apparently...it's really dangerous to try to open/read/use a 200+ year old book...
...as the front cover came off...
...while I was reading the first few pages of the introduction...arghhh...so sad...
...I'm still doing some research on how to fix it...(short of duct tape)...
...but then when I was searching for the apple pie recipe...the back cover also came off...arghhhh...again...
...but look what we found pinned (with an actual straight pin) to the inside back fly-leaf...
...it's a hand written recipe...in an absolutely beautiful script...there's no date...but it could be even older than the book...as there's a faint pencil header that we think says ...mother...
...so that was a super neat find...and a sort of silver lining to the whole broken binding affair...
...there will surely be more to come about this book...
~Wishing you a lovely start to your week!
For what its worth: This is the "hardcore" glue that I use to mend books at the library. Its very sturdy stuff and a little goes an incredibly long way. I might also suggest, if you haven't already, looking into "hinge tape" repairs for your book. The same company as the glue makes a commercial product, but I bet someone crafty like you could figure out some sort of DIY option.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.amazon.com/Brodart-Acid-Free-Bind-Art-Flexible-Transparent/dp/B003OTZBOY
DeleteThanks so much Beth,
Delete...I really appreciate it...I'm definitely thinking of doing a sort of hinge tape...hopefully I'll be able to embed it under the existing cover as it looks like I can pry it away a little bit...
~Have a lovely day!
That cookbook is really cool!! And will be fun to see the recipes you make from it. Sweet little box from Japan too. You had lots of different "Christmases"! Love, K
ReplyDeleteHey K,
Delete...yeah...we like to stretch Christmas out as long as possible...haha...and once I get it repaired I'm definitely going to 'use' the cookbook...
Love,
T
I love it! I have a cookbook from the 1800's, like yours no ingredient list or measurements. The last third of the book is dedicated to "Remedies". Some made us laugh so much, such as wipe the children down with kerosene to keep the mosquitos away!!
ReplyDeleteBean
Well. I suppose that's one way to do it. :)
DeleteI always love the "assumed knowledge" in those older cookbooks. People had skills to pay the bills! Modern ones tend to spell out every last detail for people like myself who grew up making Instant Rice and Cup-o-Noodles. Ha! It makes me smile.
hello friend -
ReplyDeleteyour pie looks fabulous!
your book is very neat! it is a bummer that the covers broke off, but it what is the point of having a recipe book that you never open and never use . . . and also - that hand-written recipe is amazing!
Dear Elizabeth,
Delete...thanks...and I definitely agree...and I'm definitely going to 'use' the cookbook once I get it repaired...and I'm going to mix up the hand-written recipe too...
~Have a lovely day my friend!
that is a well loved book! How sweet to receive a little jewelry box, I like getting presents after the holidays it keeps that festive feeling going on.
ReplyDeleteThanks Karen,
Delete...I love the little decorated wooden box...and the fact that Our Airman chose it just for me...love that...
~Have a lovely day!
I'm sad for your book.... those are precious...
ReplyDeletei-It reminds me of a cake recipe that an old lady gave me the year we were in England... she had a stand at the farmer's market of our village and i'd buy that cake every week...
Before we come back here i asked her for the recipe, and she was kind enough to write it down for me. It was on my fridge for years... and the ink is disappearing. There is not much left of it, but it's a huge souvenir so i keep it!
Glad you had your japanese pressies!!!!!
Take care!
And your pie looks absolutely perfect!
Hi Éphée,
Delete...yeah...it's too bad...but I'm definitely going to repair it as best as I can...and I hope you post about the recipe...with a photo...
~Have a lovely day!