Things Mother Used to Make A Collection of Old Time Recipes, Some Nearly One Hundred Years Old and Never Published Before

by Lydia Maria Gurney

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Ebooks, Food, History, Reference

88 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1913

Reviews

[Jason Koivu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tis the season for old timey home-cookin'!

I'm an amateur cook with a degree in terrible taste, but that doesn't stop me from trying! I love to fry up this, sauté that, and get down on some good old fashioned baking, especially this time of the year. So, what better time than now to read Things Mother Used to Make: A Collection of Old Time Recipes.

Originally published over a hundred years ago, the accumulated knowledge within probably dates back to tried-and-true practices of the "old country". The recipes are for simple fare, require few ingredients and are easy to follow.

The author was a New Englander and it's reflected in these traditional recipes for chowdah, coffee cake, gingersnaps, sponge cake, Boston baked beans, rhubarb pie, and hasty pudding.

I suppose some of those may be familiar to certain people and others not. It all comes down to what mom used to make. For instance, even though I was born and raised in Massachusetts, I'd never heard of huckleberry dumplings, bannocks, rolley polys or hermits.

Beyond recipes, Things... also includes a section of how-to suggestions with tips on boiling a lobster, canning peaches, ways to make pies brown and shiny, and how to corn beef. I picked up a tip for a lighter cake by beating yolks and whites separately. The bit on how to prevent children from losing their mittens is classic mom ingenuity.

There's also a section on "Household Hints Old and New for Housekeepers Young and Old," where I learned a thing or two I may try out, like keeping the iron clean with newspaper and salt...wait a minute, I can just use a scouring pad. Okay, so maybe some of this stuff is a little dated.

Additions like a weights and measures page shows that practicality was the name of the game back in the day when a book like this was the kitchen bible.

I read a kindle version and it didn't come with any bells and whistles. No pics, minimal design. Quite spartan. However, something tells me the original wasn't overly decorative either.

All in all, it's a solid book filled with tried and true wisdom....though I'm not sure about that racist and insensitive recipe "Cracker Tea for Invalids".

[Yaaresse · Rating 3 out of 5]

I almost hesitate to rate this since it's hard to either categorize or describe. The work is in the public domain, so the ebook, like many public domain ebooks, is a hot mess as far as formatting goes. The ingredients are written without punctuation in paragraphs, which makes them a pain to read. There are typos, and the formatting is not hyperlinked. (What do you expect in a free book -- I mean one that isn't free just because the writer or publisher is making it free to troll for good reviews?)

As for the content, it will be of interest mostly to those of a historical bent rather than as a cookbook. Instructions are sparse as they assume the person reading it is a competent cook already and knows what a gem pan or moderate oven is or how much a "teacup of flour" is. Obviously there are no pictures, nor much hand-holding at all. Still, it's a fascinating look into the domestic skills of 19th century New England. (Most of the material comes from the New England states.) Tucked in the pack are some interesting (and sometimes hilarious) tips on housekeeping. So if you ever need to dye cloth with onion skins or clean anything (almost always with kerosene -- making me wonder what they cleaned kerosene lamps with), it's there.

[Poppy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The instructions for how to sweep the floor is one of the most unconsciously funny things I've ever read:

=The Proper Way to Sweep a Room=

Dust the furniture and put it in another room. Dust bric-a-brac and put on the bed if you are sweeping a sleeping room, if another room put them on the table, or in an adjoining room. Brush the draperies, take down and lay on the bed or table. Cover these and bric-a-brac with a sheet. Wet a newspaper, tear into small pieces and spread on the rug or carpet. Now you are ready for sweeping. If the floor is carpeted, sweep all dirt to the center of the room. Sweep the corners with a small whisk broom. Move every piece of furniture lest there be dirt left underneath. Open the windows before sweeping. When the dust is settled take a pail of warm water, put in a tablespoonful of ammonia, then with a clean cloth wrung from this wipe the window glass, mirror and pictures; polish with dry cloth. Wipe all finger marks from doors and mop boards.

Now take a pail of clean water, with ammonia, and with a small scrubbing brush go over the rug or carpet, to remove dust and brighten the colors. Replace furniture, bric-a-brac and draperies and your room will be sweet and clean. With care, once in two or three weeks, will be often enough to do this.

[Marian Otis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice little homemaker's guide.

It's good to know one can make breads, confections, jams, pickles an a variety of main dishes using simple ingredients, basic cooking techniques, and common, inexpensive spices and seasonings, and come up up with tasty, healthy fare for the family. Granted that many recipes call for what the modern cook considers to be very long cooking times, and that might render many impractical for a working woman, but being able to putter on the kitchen sounds delightful to me. The book is good historically, and aside from a couple of unfamiliar ingredients (bread soda, liquid glass?) very well-written and usable. It lost a star for not having an inter-active, searchable table of contents or index (normally a two-star deduction from me) but the price was right - free for Kindle - so I cut it some slack. Would agree to pay for it, knowing what I now know.

[skein · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like popovers! And brown bread! And also she saved the wrapping around crackers to wax the iron
and pieces of twine
and the children's underpants for use as dustrags which skeeves me out a bit no matter how many times I come across this "hint"

[Vikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book interesting. I did not have a clue what some of the measurement terms were. I am always interesting in our history and reading how our ancestral mothers did normal everyday chores was interesting to me.

[Basiliki-rhiannon Barrowman · Rating 4 out of 5]

How about baked potato

Good to have. Has all kinds of stuff I never thought. just like to know to bake an unspoiled potato or so....

[Kristin Holt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Things Mother Used To Make: A Collection of Old Time Recipes, Some Nearly One Hundred Years Old and Never Published Before by Lydia Maria Gurney

This title has been published with many different covers by many different publishers, particularly since it entered Public Domain. All of the displayed artwork represents the same recipe collection and same book content.

New Englander Lydia Maria Gurney collected recipes handed down from generation to generation, and tested most of them in her own kitchen. In her foreword she explains, “These recipes and Household Hints are written very plainly, for those who have had no experience. . .They are very simple, not expensive, and if followed closely, will ensure success.”

One of the biggest challenges when researching 19th century American recipes is that most home cooks never used recipes. They simply knew, from practice and tutelage from mothers, sisters, aunts, grandmothers, and hired cooks. Ingredients were understandably simple. In the American West Victorian Era, homesteaders and townsfolk used what they grew, harvested, and could obtain from a general store.

The recipes in Lydia Maria Gurney’s book are true to mid- and late-nineteenth century cooking. While one version was created in 1922, an earlier (first of the Amazon shop buttons, below, on the far left) version was released in 1913, but had been in print previously (“This material was originally published in Suburban Life, where it obtained such recognition as seemed to warrant its preservation in book form.”). This history-worthy title is now in the Public Domain, hence its many varied versions available in print and digital.

The formatting of both print books and digital leaves much to be desired. Ingredients are listed in paragraph form without breaks between. Often the instructions are out of order, convoluted, and difficult (for my 21st-century experience in the kitchen) to follow. I imagine my great grandmother, a contemporary of Ms. Gourney, would have found it a simple read and easy to follow.

The recipes are organized by type:

1. breads of all kinds,

2. cakes (interestingly enough– includes cookies),

3. candies,

4. desserts,

5. eggs,

To Boil Eggs:

Put your eggs into a bowl which can be sent to the table. Pour boiling water over them and let stand eight or ten minutes. It is essential that the water be boiling. This way of boiling eggs, though so simple, is going out of fashion, unfortunately, as it makes a wonderful difference in the appearance of the egg when broken open, and above all, in its digestibility. Eggs should never be boiled in any other way for invalids.

6. fish (she was a New Englander, after all),

7. meat dishes,

8. miscellaneous (Boston Baked Beans, Crust Coffee, Mince Meat, Pickles, etc.),

9. pies

10. preserves (including bread pudding, steamed chocolate pudding, and graham pudding– apparently just out of order and in the wrong category)

11. sauces

12. soups

13. vegetables

14. appendix (Household Hints Old and New for Housekeepers Young and Old, a recipe for homemade shortening, how to store eggs from the abundance of summer clear through winter, washing lamp chimneys, removing disagreeable odors from house, how to clean nickel stove trimmings, how to make old velvet look new, using onion skins as a dye, and how to color lace ecru… and so much more.

In short, this book is an historian’s dream.

The recipes and instructions are true to the era as evidenced by the simplicity of ingredients, scarcity of instructions (everyone knew what “sour milk” and “scald” meant), and measurements (“the size of half an egg”, “1 dessertspoonful of salt”). What is a dessertspoon? My 21st-century measuring spoon set doesn’t have a “dessertspoon”. In case you’re interested, a dessertspoon is equivalent to approximately 2 teaspoons.

Regarding sour milk, the appendix emphasizes: Never Throw away Sour Milk [sic]. It is excellent for graham bread, gingerbread, brown bread, griddle cakes, and doughnuts, also biscuit [sic].

One more element I can’t wait to try in my modern-day homemade (from scratch) chocolate cake: “Yolks and whites, beaten separately, make a cake much lighter than when beaten together.” At least one cake recipe and one omelet recipe contained in this treasure trove instructs beating yolks and whites separately, but doesn’t explain why. Now we know!

I learned so very much about the history of food in the 19th Century American northeast (easily translatable to the West… as that’s were the vast majority of immigrants came from). I chuckled. I asked my mother and grandmother lots of questions. I found myself curious and interested and reminded of more modernized versions of old-fashioned favorites.

For example: Cream Pie. Yummy! Maddox Ranch House is an icon of Northern Utah restaurants. One-of-a-kind, scrumptious beef, chicken, bison, and seafood. Potatoes. Yeast rolls to die for. And old fashioned cream pie. I can’t dine there without wanting a slice at the end of an incredible meal, all the better for the raspberry sauce on top.

RICH PIE CRUST

3 Cupfuls of Flour

1 Cupful of Lard

1 Dessertspoonful of Salt

Put salt and lard into the flour, working in the lard with the hand until thoroughly mixed. Add enough water to barely wet,–ice-cold water is best. This is sufficient for two pies.

CREAM PIE

1 Cupful of Sweet Cream

White of One Egg

2/3 Cupful of Sugar

1 Teaspoonful of Vanilla

Bake with two crusts. Beat white of egg till stiff; add sugar, beat again; stir in the cream and flavor.

That’s it. No baking temperature… not even “moderate oven” or “hot oven”, and no length of time. Why? Because such things were common knowledge. Like how to wash a dish or sweep a floor, children learned everything about it from the time they helped around the house. Mothers taught their daughters (and often, their sons) as a matter of a life’s education.

Whether this book catches your eye because you’re a fan of baking, a “foodie”, a student of all things history, or simply find the subject interesting, I recommend it. Particularly because at least one Kindle version is FREE ($0.00 to own).

http://www.kristinholt.com/archives/2110 on 7-29-15.

[Channon Coats · Rating 1 out of 5]

My mother knew a decent editor!!!

It is difficult enough to read an old book, although this receipt book isn't that old to even call it a receipt book, but the incredibly poor editing has made something which might be very good, extremely poor. The ingredients, often determined by me, are usually in 2 columns, jammed together, so one can only TRY to figure out what goes with what. You have to see it to even understand the problem. the amounts are often in an unfamiliar shorthand. I don't know what an Mcup is, but it's different than 1cup, bc that format is used as well. I would have liked to enjoy this book. I would have. I would have liked my reputation as a positive critic to remain intact as well, but I can't let other people be as disappointed as I was, after paying good money. Frankly I want my money back, or a substantial editing fee. The intro was so clever and so funny, I had expectations. Wrong, just clever lazy hype.Well

[Goth Gone Grey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Old fashioned recipes and advice

Given this is an old fashioned recipe book, I was surprised to see accurate measures. My family recipes are good for notes like "enough to make dough stiff" rather than 2 cups. I didn't try any of the recipes yet, but recognize some that are often used - bread pudding, scalloped potatoes, and lemon meringue pie.

Not having cooking temperatures may throw some people, but cooking in wood stoves is different than our gas or electric ovens. Looking up similar recipes for temperatures should help.

The last section contains advice for maintaining a clean home. I found this bit curious:

"Never Leave a Glass of Water or Medicine, Uncovered in a Room

This is very important. Water will absorb all the gases, with which a room is filled from the respiration of those sleeping in the room."

Overall a lovely read, a decent snapshot of a different time.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Things Mother Used to Make: A Collection of Old Time Recipes, Some Nearly One Hundred Years Old & Never Published Before, by Lydia Maria Gurney in 1913. It is full of basic recipes using ingredients such as graham meal, flour flavoring, and butter is measured in balls the size of an egg.

The recipes are written in sentences with no markings between each ingredient, so it took a bit to figure out how to read them, as they are different from the listing of ingredients. The wording was different too for amounts, using a cupful, a teaspoonful and a tablespoonful.

At the end of the book were suggestions on how to run a house, including everything from cleaning with how often it should be done, a daily schedule for keeping house and how to make a closet in a room without one from a board, hooks and cloth. It was all basic and somewhat entertaining and a lot of hard work. It was also informative and compared to today, much harder to keep a clean and healthy home.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a quick read of old New England recipies. Oh for the days for all the sugar and fat you want to eat LOL. It was interesting; and I would a try a few of the recipies. Some would be impossible, as where you would find the ingredients today? It was interesting to see what went into of some old dishes we have heard of, but only have a vague idea of what they are ie porridge.

There is also a section on how to be a good housewife - tips and tricks where everything was cleaned with kerosene! My farvorite: Never leave a water glass by your bed at night. It will absorb all the gasses from your snoring ha ha.

I did not delete it from my device, going back to re-read and try a couple of items like: Parker House rolls and popovers!

[Tiffany Day · Rating 5 out of 5]

This popped up as a free DL for my Kindle, and I am so happy I gave it a chance. Will I make many of the recipes here? No, but they are certainly very interesting to peruse, as both a low-level foodie, as well as a history lover. Plus, I might actually have a go at a few. My biggest question was the dating of them. The title states some are nearly a century old, but it looks like the publishing was about that, too... After looking at it a while, I concluded many of these are from the 19th century, making them that much more interesting. Also, I disagree with others about the editing - I love the unique style, and it keeps it more genuine and authentic. A fast and easy, no-cost 5 stars here - with some hidden gem tips in there, to boot!

[Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was interesting. My mother wasn't from the US, but I had aunts (dad's side) who were American and they always intrigued me. Older generation American women always fascinated me as I knew so few of them and saw them so seldom. The recipes were interesting, but for the most part, I've never been overly fond of American cooking. Household hints were interesting and I may try a few. Fun read for anyone interested in how great grandma or grandma (depends on your age!) kept house. You may even find a recipe to try that you'll enjoy.

[Abby Stopka · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really good book, especially if you're interested and looking at recipes that are older that we don't really use anymore or methods that we don't really use anymore. If you're not into some advanced cooking, or have not studied historical cooking, some of the stuff such as ingredients in this book will not make any sense to you. However if you're looking to do some recipes from the past this is the best book probably. The reason that I am giving this a four stars is it is not really laid out all that well for a screen reader in the Kindle app.

[Dee-Dot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book

I truly enjoyed reading this book. There were several cleaning tips that are inexpensive and definitely worth trying. Also enjoyed learning they use of brown flour and how to make it. The recipes in this book are based on methods from earlier 1900's, but easily adaptable to current methods. Recipes for everything you could imagine and then some.
I loved this book.

[Michael Bierbaum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quaint, Mrs Beeton's it ain't

Considering that it was published in 1914 these are ALL over 100 years old. Some are just quaint and historically interesting, some are simply impossible because they assume general cooking knowledge that has been lost. Some are amazingly current. Some are foundational. I'm going to have fun modernizing and creating some of these and more fun learning the traditional way. Eat up, and eat well.

[Nadia Stephens · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not Worth Buying

A lot of useful ideas and recipes but I had no idea of some of the things Lydia Maria Gurney was talking about in Things Mother Used to Make. For example, liquid glass is the same as water glass and can be used to preserve eggs. What is the point of purchasing a cookbook when you still have to Google or YouTube how to use it.

[Denise Past · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much fun to read

I really enjoyed this book. Some of the recipes & suggestions have been handed down through my family and I do today. Some things were very new to me, but I can see myself doing them. The recipes are basic & simply done. Of the every day suggestions, many are still practical.

[cathy ostrowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun!

This was a fun read. I love really old cooking books, written before standardized measuring, this has a few really old recipes, even though it is not THAT old. The household cleaning and management tips made me very thankful for vacuum cleaners, washing machines, and detergent!

[Alisa Burdick · Rating 5 out of 5]

In lieu of my grandma

I found this in a mass group on Amazon. Seeing as I no longer have my grandma or my mom, I found this book insightful. I learned a lot about the basics of cooking that I never got to learn, plus more.
Very worth grabbing and a must for any person starting life for their first time... Or starting over again.

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the resources at hand this ebook does what it sets out to do. Formatting issues aside, these recipes are exactly what they say they are. Home-cooked, old fashioned made the old fashioned way. I like recipe books like this. They make me feel like Anne of Green Gables churning butter om Sunday afternoon.

[Judy P Constant · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ole time ideas

I personally found the book entertaining. Some of the suggestions I already knew. The recipes were from very long ago. Not many were useful in this day and age.

I would recommend for those who want to remember things our mothers or grandmothers may have mentioned to us as youngsters.

[Don Nuzzolo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting

You can imagine being in those early kitchens and the dedicated cooks of a far earlier time where none of the shortcut products of today were available. A little more effort on their part cooking these old hardy meals while doing those daily chores listed at the back of the book-God love them!

[Ameliedanjou]

I hate when the publication date is when a book got webbed, rather than when it was first published. So, 1914. If the title is true, then this is a 19th century cookbook.
Some of the recipes sound like dishes my mother made - probably she learned them from her mom.

[Sam Gamgee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historical recipes for those with time, molasses, and know what Indian meal is

Enjoyable just for a quick read, or to find some truly savoury old recipes. Make bread, jam, candy, or pickles from scratch.

[Benita Pyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting book on how things were cooked long ago. I am interested in history and this was informative on how things were cooked.

Anyone interested in cooking would probably enjoy this book. The recipes are very good and could be adapted to today.

[Mandy Crumb · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great peak at some recipes, advice, house cleaning schedules, what to serve with different types of meat and more. This one was a fun little collection! I marked some of the recipes to try as soon as I buy the ingredients. Molasses, I am looking at you! Loved the names of some of recipes!

[Christi Barron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good recipes from way back

Makes me wonder what has been cooked in my old farmhouse for the past 125 years. Great recipes and an excellent tips and tricks section. An enjoyable read.

[Amy Towery · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is that how Grandma made that?

Interesting read. It’s probably good for general ideas but be prepared to do what good cooks do - use this as a starting point.

Loved the measurements; butter the size of a walnut?