Bread Recipes from History
(Adjusted for today's cooks)

With the air cooling, fall here, and winter on its way, what could smell or taste better than bread straight from the oven? Here are some bread recipes from the pages of history:

German Lovefest Rolls
1/2 cup hot, stiff mashed potatoes without seasoning
1/4 cup cooled, scalded milk
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup margarine or butter
1 beaten egg
About 3/4 pound flour
Pinch nutmeg or mace
1 package dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon orange rind
1 tablespoon orange juice
1/4 teaspoon ginger
Cream margarine or butter and sugar. Add potatoes and mix well. Pour in lukewarm milk and egg and mix well.

Dissolve yeast in warm water and add to mixture. Fold in other ingredients, except flour. Add enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead on a well floured board or counter. Place ball into greased bowl, cover with a cloth, and let rise in a warm spot until twice its size. Punch down and let rise some more for about 10 minutes. Flour hands well and form small rolls from the sticky dough. Place on a greased cookie sheet. Slash tops with a sharp, floured knife to let air bubbles escape. Cover and let rise again until doubled in size. Bake at 350 degrees until desired brownness, about 17 minutes. Makes about a dozen buns. 

Old German Spiced Quickbread
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup shortening
3 egg yolks
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon allspice
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup cold water
3 egg whites, beaten until stiff
Nuts and/or raisins if desired..
Blend sugar and shortening and add egg yolks. Add spices, flour, and water. Fold in beaten egg whites and add nuts or raisins to taste. Pour into greased loaf pan and bake in 350 degree oven until done.

Honey Wheat Bread
1 cup white flour
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 package dry yeast
2 tablespoons brown sugar 
1/4 cup honey
1 1/4 cups warm water
1 beaten egg
1 tablespoon shortening
1/2 cup dry, powdered milk
Mix warm water, sugar, and honey in a bowl. Sprinkle in yeast and wait until mixture begins to bubble. Add milk, salt, egg and shortening. Mix in white flour and gradually add whole wheat flour. Place on floured board or counter and knead until smooth. Put in a greased bowl, flip dough ball, and let rise until it grows to twice its size. Punch down. Form into a loaf shape with floured hands. Place in a greased loaf pan. Brush tops with a little melted margarine. Let rise until doubled in size and bake at 375 degrees until golden brown, about 42 minutes.

The Moretz family in Cleared for Planting was German. These are all recipes coming from the German heritage of our country.

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How Can You Be Certain You're Going To Heaven?

Back when I was much younger, I heard Billy Graham make the

statement that he knew he was going to heaven. At that time, I thought this sounded like an arrogant thing to say. Since then, I've grown to agree with him. If you have asked Christ to come into your life and save you; if you have made him Lord of your life, then you can be assured you're heaven-bound. It is as simple as that. Salvation comes from God's mercy through Christ's sacrifice on the cross. It's free for the asking, so no person will feel proud that he's earned it. We could never be good enough, anyway, and that's why Jesus went to the cross for us.

"Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" (Matthew 7:14).

What is this? Is Jesus saying that few are going to make it to

heaven? I believe there are many people sitting in pews today who call themselves Christians, who have professed with their lips and been baptized, but who are bound for hell if they don't see the light. They've just gone through the motions and done what they thought was required to get them into heaven, but they've never really changed. They haven't accepted Christ into their lives and asked the Holy Spirit to help them make the needed changes. They haven't become a new creature in Christ. They are those lukewarm Christians that Jesus says He will spit out of His mouth in Revelations 3.

"Wherefore the Lord said, "Forasmuch as this people draw near to me with their mouth and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men" (Isaiah 29:13).

Francis Chan agrees with me. In his book, Crazy Love, he writes  “…chruchgoers who are 'lukewarm' are not Christians. We will not see them in heaven.” 

Don't think you have to be perfect, for you don't. But you need to desire perfection, even though you're going to keep messing up. You need to want to be obedient to God, although you will fail many times. You need to work on total surrender to the Lord and let Him take over your life, and yet this may be a process and not something you can achieve all at once. As long as your heart is right, grace has you covered, no matter how many times you fall short.

"If ye love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15). "Jesus said unto him, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself'" (Matthew 22: 37-39).

There is no reason to not to live the kind of life God wants for you. It's so much better, fuller, and more satisfying than anything you'll ever find on your own or that the world can offer. And, your final reward is to be with Him for eternity! If you've really asked Christ into your life with your heart, and not just given it lip service, then you know you're going to heaven.

(photo by Amber Speight)

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Doc Tom Scott's Last Real Medicine Show

"Step right up and get your bottle of herbs roots, barks, and berries gathered from all parts of the globe and blended into one mild yet effective tonic laxative. It's good for the entire family - the old folks, dads, and all, and it's sold with a money back guarantee." Tom Scott's clear Southern voice rang out in the pitch of the old time medicine show barkers. Wearing a bright striped shirt with garters on the sleeves, a vest, a bow tie, and a tall top hat, he had been working the medicine show since 1936, when he joined Doc Chamberlain's medicine show as a teenager. He began by picking and singing to bring in and entertain customers. When Chamberlain got ready to retire, he gave Tom his secret formulas for the medicine and asked him to carry on the tradition, which Tom had already been doing for 51 years when I met him. I had traveled to Taccoa, Georgia, to interview him for Good Old Days magazine in 1989. At that time, he had the last remaining traveling medicine show.

Chamberlain actually gave him formulas for two medicines, Herb-O-Lac, an herbal laxative, and Snake Oil, a liniment. Both were first mixed by Chamberlain in the 1800's with the help of a Cherokee Indian, and both were made from natural ingredients. Tom vouched for his products, and I got the sense that he felt a need to defend it from the bad reputation historically stemming from unscrupulous shysters who tried to deceive. Of course the Pure Food Drug Act of 1906 changed all that. Many medicine shows folded when the owners could no longer mix their own medicines, and the Depression did away with others. Tom's medicine was made and bottled by a company in accordance with federal regulations after 1906. When I interviewed him, most people attended Doc's Scott's medicine shows because of their historical value and folk culture rather than to buy a bottle of elixir. Tom still made music, sang, and entertained, too.

Doc Scott died at the age of 96 in September 2013 from injuries he sustained in an automobile wreck. If his appearance was any indication, he was good advertisement for his medicine. I feel privileged to have met him. I loved his enthusiasm for life and his allegiance to the Last Real Medicine Show. 

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Kudzu Crazy

In 1876, kudzu was first brought to the United States, where it was displayed in the Japanese pavilion at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. It made another another appearance at the New Orleans Exposition in 1883. From then until the early 1900's, it was planted as a decorative plant that produced shade. Some kudzu owners reported that the plant "took root with a vengeance, grew over the bushes, and climbed the pines, smothering them with a mass of vegetation which bent them to the ground and became an awful tangled nuisance." But the word never got out, and people all over the South had been planting it as a quick growing vine or ground cover. From about 1910 to the mid-30's, it was grown to feed

livestock, both in the field and harvested and dried. The hay-day for kudzu, however, came from the 30's to the 50's, when much of the soil in the South had been over-planted and stripped of nutrients. Kudzu would still grow and seemed to be the answer to the problem. By the mid-forties, the plant covered much of the South with Georgia alone boasting 480, 000 acres by 1948. However, by the mid-50's, Southerners began to see another side of kudzu. It seemed to turn on it's owners and become an enemy. It became so prolific it was called "a national

disaster," and would not be stopped, causing a panic. It not only caused problems for farmers and land owners, but also the timber industry. Utility companies even reported the vine pulling down lines and poles. Highway and railroad crews had to battle the plant, which has been known to weaken bridges.

Since those earlier days of kudzu, some have realized the plant is likely here to stay in some form, despite efforts against it. There have, therefore, been efforts to find some positive use of it. Besides the ones already tried, there have been crafts woven with the vine, medicinal uses, and cooking.  It can be powdered and used as a thickening, cooked as noodles, or made into jelly (see below). There are kudzu recipes for soups, sauces main dishes, side dishes, desserts, and beverages. For more on this, try a computer search or look for books.

Kudzu Jelly

4 cups kudzu blossoms - flowers only
4 cups boiling water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 package powdered pectin
5 cups sugar
Pour boiling water over kudzu flowers, cover, and let set in refrigerator for about 6 hours. Stain and save the liquid. Add lemon juice and bring to a full boil, stirring constantly. Stir in sugar (add 1/2 teaspoon margarine to reduce foaming if desired). Return to a rolling boil, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Pour immediately into hot sterile jars, filling 1/4 inch from the top. Wipe jar rims, cover with lids, and screw on rings. Process in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes. Remove and let cool.

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A Brief History of Quilting in America

When the colonists first came to America, they had little time to make quilts. When they did began to quilt, the first ones were made of whole cloth, similar to the ones they'd had in Europe, and not pieced or appliqued. Most surviving examples are made after 1760, and even these are extremely rare. Most wore out long ago. These whole cloth quilts were made by using the same material to make the top, and they were often quilted together with intricate patterns of stitching. A few whole cloth quilts were made from silk, but most were made from linsey-woolsey, a blend of linen or cotton and wool. Prints also became widely used for whole cloth quilt tops. Oriental prints became especially popular when they were brought over by the East India Company. Quilters then began cutting some of the patterns from the print cloth, and stitching them to the whole cloth. These commonly became known as chintzes.

White work was another type of early whole cloth quilts. Solid white quilts were made with elaborate quilting. Originating from Italy, some were corded to make a raised design known as trapunto. The earliest surviving ones of these date back to the early 1800's.

Appliqued quilt on whole cloth

As these whole cloth quilts began to wear out, women patched them for a few more years of wear. These probably resulted in the first crazy quilts. An unknown woman in New England is believed to have pieced together scraps left over from making clothing to make the first pieced patchwork quilt, considered to be an American

Monkey Wrench pieced quilt

invention. This is the kind of quilt most people picture when they think of a quilt today. Patchwork patterns grew in number and names, and they were traded between women much like recipes.

Appliqued quilts were made from cutting a

Morning Glory block applique

design from fabrics and sewing them onto a whole top or blocks to be sewn into a top. These were often fancier and more expensive to make. Seen as "best quilts" they were often given better care, and many survived. Some appliqued quilts in the Baltimore Album pattern made around 1850 have sold for more than 30,000 dollars, but most are valued for much less.

The album and autographed quilts became popular in the mid-1800's. They served as memories for brides, ministers, teachers, and special friends, especially ones that might be moving away. Each block was made and signed by a different person. Then they were put together, quilted, and given to the intended person. 

Finally, in the Victorian era and beyond came fad quilts. These were a different take on quilting, like the Crazy quilt, usually with impressive embroidery stitches over the seams; the Cathedral Window, a folded and stitched quilt; or Seminole piecing allowing for tiny pieces. 

Today's quilter has an array of styles and techniques to choose from. The art quilt, one designed to be viewed and not used, has also become an important and beautiful quilt form. The variety in quilt making is almost endless.

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Early Wagons West

The move west really began quite early in American history. As the first settled areas along the Atlantic coast became more populated, the push west began. Daniel Boone was among those who kept moving west into the frontier.

Early Philadelphia

Another migration pattern came when some of the people who had come to Pennsylvania decided to swing southwest where land was still free or cheap. Daniel Boone's family had done this early on, when they moved from Pennsylvania into the Rowan County area of North Carolina. Many of the German families would also move from Pennsylvania to the Appalachian Mountains.

Mabry  Mill photo by Ken Christison

This is what had happened to the Moretz family in Cleared for Planting. Edgar's grandfather had moved his family from Pennsylvania to the North Carolina Appalachians and settled in the Meat Camp area, where they started a grist mill. Edgar's father, Frederick (Fred) Moretz, had moved from Meat Camp to a

Bost Grist Mill

mountain in the Linville River area when he married and wanted to farm. It is this farm that eventually becomes the main setting for Cleared for Planting, Sown in Dark Soil, and Uprooted by War in the Appalachian Roots Series.

In order to transport these families on the move, as well as goods from one place to another, the Conestoga Valley in Pennsylvania began to make a sturdy, well-made covered wagon. These wagons were

touted as "the finest wagon the world has ever known." They were first used in considerable numbers after 1760. It's construction helped keep the freight from shifting and made it especially suited for mountain roads. Some of them could carry as much as six tons.

In Cleared for Planting, the Cagles couldn't afford a Conestoga wagon for their move up the mountain, so they settled for a well-used farm variety. However, when Fred Moretz came to their rescue after they were stranded, he drove a nice covered wagon. 

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A Stitch in Time

Needlepoint

Almost as soon as man began to make clothing, he began to decorate the garments. The oldest piece of embroidery was found in an Egyptian tomb, but artwork showing embroidery goes back into the caves of earlier man. 

Embroidered dress on handmade doll

For years, embroidery was done with hand-dyed yarns stitched in simple designs. As time progressed, embroidery became more elaborate, and different types developed - crewel, cross-stitch, needlepoint, candlewicking, etc. By the Middle Ages, women of high social standing were expected to be skilled at needlework. The Bayeux Tapestry is a well-known example of a large piece of work depicting the victory of William the Conqueror and dates from about 1100. Churches were often adorned with embroidered pieces. When the steel needle was

Crewel

developed in the 1500's, England became the center for it's production, and needlework became very popular. Affluent families began to hire embroiderers for their estates, but some preferred to do the artwork themselves. Famous embroiderers include Queen Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, Charles I, and Charles II. Of course, the skill of embroidery crossed the Atlantic Ocean with the American colonists.

Crewell

I've done many different crafts over the years and loved them all, but embroidery holds a special place in my heart. I started embroidering when I was five years old. I was sick at the time, and my mother wanted to keep me in bed. We didn't have a television then, so she ironed an embroidery transfer design of a small Scottie dog onto a white square. I still have that piece, but I've done hundreds of projects since. It is a fascinating art with so many variations that it's never become boring.

Cross-stitched pillow

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