The Virginia House-Wife, by Mary Randolph, is one of the most significant historic cooking manuals ever printed in the United States. The collection, just reissued on the 200th anniversary of its first printing in 1824, features an assortment of recipes using food that was commonly available in 18th- and 19th-century Virginia, as well as helpful household hints and instructions to make soap, lotions, and perfumes. To purchase on Amazon, click here.
Rebecca Suerdieck, in partnership with Virginiana Press and Historic Tuckahoe where Mary Randolph once lived, reissued this influential classic guide in August. Below are additional recipes, reprinted directly from this historic hostess’ original collection of recipes.
QUIRE OF PAPER PANCAKES.
Beat sixteen eggs, add to them a quart of milk, a nutmeg, half a pound of flour, a pound
of melted butter, a pound of sugar, and two gills of wine; take care the flour be not in
lumps; butter the pan for the first pancake, run them as thin as possible, and when
coloured, they are done; do not turn them, but lay them carefully in the dish, sprinkling
powdered sugar between each layer–serve them up hot. This quantity will make four
dozen pancakes.
BREAD PUDDING.
Grate the crumb of a stale loaf, and pour on it a pint of boiling milk–let it stand an hour,
then beat it to a pulp; add six eggs, well beaten, half a pound of butter, the same of
powdered sugar, half a nutmeg, a glass of brandy, and some grated lemon peel–put a
paste in the dish, and bake it.
TO MAKE A TRIFLE.
Put slices of Savoy cake or Naples biscuit at the bottom of a deep dish; wet it with white
wine, and fill the dish nearly to the top with rich boiled custard; season half a pint of
cream with white wine and sugar; whip it to a froth–as it rises, take it lightly off, and lay
it on the custard; pile it up high and tastily–decorate it with preserves of any kind, cut so
thin as not to bear the froth down by its weight.
VANILLA CREAM.
Boil a Vanilla bean in a quart of rich milk, until it has imparted the flavour sufficiently–
then take it out, and mix with the milk, eight eggs, yelks and whites beaten well; let it
boil a little longer; make it very sweet, for much of the sugar is lost in the operation of
freezing.
SWEET POTATO BUNS.
Boil and mash a potato, rub into it as much flour as will make it like bread–add spice
and sugar to your taste, with a spoonful of yeast; when it has risen well, work in a piece
of butter, bake it in small rolls, to be eaten hot with butter, either for breakfast or tea.
APPLE FRITTERS.
Pare some apples, and cut them in thin slices–put them in a bowl, with a glass of
brandy, some white wine, a quarter of a pound of pounded sugar, a little cinnamon
finely powdered, and the rind of a lemon grated; let them stand some time, turning them
over frequently; beat two eggs very light, add one quarter of a pound of flour, a table-
spoonful of melted butter, and as much cold water as will make a thin batter; drip the
apples on a sieve, mix them with the batter, take one slice with a spoonful of batter to
each fritter, fry them quickly of a light brown, drain them well, put them in a dish,
sprinkling sugar over each, and glaze them nicely.
TO PREPARE COSMETIC SOAP FOR WASHING THE HANDS.
Take a pound of castile, or any other nice old soap; scrape it in small pieces, and put it
on the fire with a little water–stir it till it becomes a smooth paste, pour it into a bowl, and
when cold, add some lavender water, or essence of any kind–beat it with a silver spoon
until well mixed, thicken it with corn meal, and keep it in small pots closely covered–for
the admission of air will soon make the soap hard.
TO CLEAN SILVER UTENSILS.
Dissolve two tea-spoonsful of alum in a quart of moderately strong lye–stir in a gill of
soft soap, and skim off the dross. Wash the silver clean in hot water, let it remain
covered with this mixture for ten or fifteen minutes, turning it over frequently; then wash
it in hot soap suds, and rub it well with a dry cloth.
This is web-exclusive content from the October 2024 issue.
