Posted by: hearttohearthcookery | June 11, 2010

The Cheese Stands Alone?

New and Old Cheeses

Making its first public debut, is the cheese that has been turned twice daily since being removed from the cheese press to form a nice rind.  This cheese (the most yellow in the picture)  is the same cheese from my blog post “The Follower is Lifted”.  It is not ready to be eaten yet but is aging very nicely.   In front and less yellow is a cheese from the Spring of 2009-a year old.  I am doing a presentation on dairying and showing how to set a curd with rennet.  This was a hands-on demonstration and many hands worked on kneading the curd.  At the end of the demonstration, several pigs were delighted to have the whey from the program!

Visit my website at www.hearttohearthcookery.com

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Posted by: hearttohearthcookery | June 9, 2010

Cattail Pollen

Mixing cattail pollen and corn flour for bread

Mixing cattail pollen and corn flour for bread

It is an exciting time of year, when I see the golden yellow color on the male part of the cattail!  It is found directly above the brown velvety female part of the same flower.  I should have a bumper sticker on my van that says “I stop for cattail pollen”.  On June 2nd, I did exactly that!  I had my camera so that I could take pictures (see below) and I rummaged through my things for the appropriate container to capture this talcum-

Cattail pollen

Cattail pollen

powder like pollen that blows away in the lightest of air currents.  With the pollen that I harvested, I prepared pollen bread mixing the saffron colored cattail pollen with yellow corn flour (see picture).  With the addition of water, I baked the cattail pollen flat bread on a hot rock.  The bread has a “nutty” flavor and is high in nutrients from the pollen. 

Visit my website at www.hearttohearthcookery.com!  Wanishi!

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Posted by: hearttohearthcookery | June 3, 2010

To make Cheese and Cream-Another Way

To make Cheese and Cream-Another way

Today I used fresh milk from the cow to make a soft cheese for a 17th century table.  The process was the same for my pressed cheese but after the curds were “cleansed from the whey”, I filled “dishes” with the fresh curd and “pressed” them to the shape of a small cheese and “turned them out whole” on the pewter plate.  Poured over the cheeses is a mixture of cream seasoned with “beaten Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Rose water and Sugar and thickened with grated Naple-Biskit. Cinnamon and Sugar are thrown on top.     Visit my website at www.hearttohearthcookery.com

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Posted by: hearttohearthcookery | May 31, 2010

Wtehimall (Strawberries)

Wtehimall

It is time to give thanks for the first berry of the season-Wtehimall (w-tay-heem’-all), the Lenape word for strawberries.  A half-cup of Fragaria Vesca and/or Fragaria Virginiana, two types of true wild strawberries, have more fragrance and aroma than a whole quart of today’s much larger cultivated local strawberries!  There is NO comparison to the non-local strawberries.  I have a small basket of these strawberries drying in the sun (the ones that do not find there way to my stomach) for use in future Lenape programming.  My next Lenape program is listed on my Moonwater Woman page of this blog. 

Visit my website at www.hearttohearthcookery.com

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Posted by: hearttohearthcookery | May 22, 2010

Chocolate Cream Ice

Chocolate Cream Ice

Today was my 2nd Annual Confectionery Workshop.  And this receipt for Chocolate Cream Ice, 1752 was one of the confections!  This is a marriage of 100% pure cacao processed on a metate with fresh, rich spring cream, sugar and egg yolks.  We used 3 chocolate “cakes” for this divine, creamy ice!  We “put (the composition) in the sabotiere (pictured) to make it congeal after the usual manner”  There was little talking as we seriously devoured all the Chocolate Cream Ice in the pot.

Visit my website at www.hearttohearthcookery.com.

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Posted by: hearttohearthcookery | May 19, 2010

The Follower is Lifted

The Cheese in the Press

The Cheese in the Press

It is so exciting when it is time to take the weights off the follower (the wood circle to the right of the picture). lift the cheese cloth (fine linen) and see for the first time my first cheese of the dairying season!!!!  The next step is the removal of the cheese from the press.  More to come!   And remember I do both cheesemaking demonstrations and power point presentations on Curds and Whey.  Please visit my website www.hearttohearthcookery.com for more information.

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Posted by: hearttohearthcookery | May 19, 2010

18th Century Bill of Fare

18th Century Bill of Fare Presentation Flyer

I have a number of power-point food history presentations that I give to historical societies, annual meetings, service clubs, Quester groups, libraries and many other organizations.  Earlier in this month, I presented my program on the 18th century Bill of Fare to a group of very interested participants at the Hunterdon County Library. (Program flyer-left) It was a wonderful experience for me to share my experimental archaeology of food and explain many of the food preparation technologies of the past and the seasonal nature of foods presented at table. 

I have many power-point presentations available on food history topics and can provide my own power-point projector.  Please visit my website www.hearttohearthcookery.com for more information on programs.

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Posted by: hearttohearthcookery | May 18, 2010

Cutting the Curd

Cutting the Curd

Cutting the Curd

 The cow has freshened and it is cheesemaking time!  I have seven plus gallons of milk in the dairying kettle that has been heated until blood warm.  From the rennet stomach I had processed and dried, I prepared a rennet “tea” and stirred it into the heated  milk.  When all the milk in the kettle turned into one large curd “junket”, I used my cheese knife (as you see in the picture) to cut the curd.  The whey starts separating immediately.  After the cutting process, the curd is heated in the whey.  You can see in the right hand corner of the picture, just a part of the cheesebasket lined with a linen cloth readied for separating the curds from the whey.  The cheese is on its way and I will be spending the next several days tending the cheese in the cheese press and  then forming  the rind.  I will post more about the cheese as the process continues.  One of my many varied food history programs is a presentation on Curds and Whey, please visit my website- www.hearttohearthcookery.com– for more information.

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Posted by: hearttohearthcookery | May 12, 2010

Sparagus in the Pot

To keep Sparagus all the year

To keep Sparagus all the year

I now have my violets and cowslips candied and today it was time to “pot” my asparagus.  I used Robert May’s receipt in The Accomplisht Cook 1685-To keep Sparagus all the year.  I parboiled the asparagus “very little” and clarified butter.  The asparagus is placed in the stone ware crock and covered with clarified butter.  When the butter is “cold”, the crock is covered with a leather.  Next month I will “refresh” the butter and store the crock in a very cool location. 

Coming soon is the May 22nd Confectionery Workshop. This a great opportunity to learn the sugar work of the 17th and 18th centuries!  Visit my web site at www.hearttohearthcookery.com

 

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Posted by: hearttohearthcookery | May 9, 2010

Veal Collops and Devonshire Junket!

The Hearth

The Hearth

The class and 19th century dinner
The class and 19th century dinner

These wonderful ladies (pictured at left) worked hard yesterday May 8th to honor all the hard work and love 19th century Mothers put in preparing food for the family.  And it was wonderful that we had a Mother-daughter team working together as a Mother’s Day experience! The class (at Historic Speedwell)  prepared a very seasonal spring dinner with receipts (recipes) from an 1806 and 1829 receipt book.  The dinner included Baked Shad, Veal Collops, Spinach and Eggs, To boil asparagus, Potato Rolls, Devonshire Junket and Cheesecakes.  The hearth (see picture) was very busy as we utilized many different hearth cooking techniques to prepare our spring feast.  There was much silence as we enjoyed our successful days labor!  My next class is a Confectionery Workshop on May 22nd.  For more information on that workshop and other workshops and  programs, visit my website at www.hearttohearthcookery.com

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