Memorial Day

Thank you

The Horsford Cook Book, 1895

I realize that your world doesn't revolve around whether or not I blog about history, but it's been a MONTH and I feel a need to 'splain.

This next Saturday I will be taking a walk in a funny hat. To receive my M.A. in historical studies. YEE-HAWWWWW! So that's my excuse for abandoning the blog for a while, although I haven't abandoned history. In fact, my 70-page final "paper" involved designing an eight-week undergraduate course on "Great Plainwomen to 1950." And did I ever meet some amazing women designing that course! In coming weeks, I'll introduce some of them. The course does an overview of the Great Plains, and then segues into one week each studying indigenous women, homesteaders, educators, military women, business women, political activists, and religious leaders. Just this past week I transcribed a few pages of an 1836 diary written by Eliza Wilcox Merrill, the wife of Moses Merrill. Together, the Merrills founded a school for Otoe Indian children in what would one day be Nebraska. Reading Mrs. Merrill's diary connected me with a sister in Christ I look forward to meeting one day.

IN THE MEANTIME ... don't you just love opening an old book and finding something handwritten from the past? That happened to me this past week as I sought a historical recipe to share in an upcoming novel. I can't help but wonder who wrote the above recipe for "Filling for Graham Crackers" on the page opposite this little book. My dear mother-in-law gave me The Horsford Cook Book by Fannie Merritt Farmer, principal of the Boston Cooking School, many years ago. It's a very fragile 107 page book that measures only 4 x 6 1/2 inches. At the bottom of the title page, one reads, "The publisher will send a copy of this book free, postpaid, on receipt of four labels from the bottom of the can of Horsford's Baking Powder." So I wonder whether the original owner paid 50 cents (the price that's listed) or saved up labels to get hers free.

I haven't given much thought to early improvements in things like baking powder, but Eben Horsford, who was quite the advocate for women's education (and was connected to Albany Female Academy and Wellesley College in his lifetime) actually became quite successful when he reformulated baking powder and created a more reliable product. He also improved condensed milk. 


Fannie Farmer is credited with standardizing measurements in recipes and thereby assuring more reliable results. The year after Rumford Chemical Works published this little cook book in my collection, the first edition of the still-in-print Fannie Farmer Cookbook was published.


Farmer's note in my little cook book references the issue of standardizing measurements, as she explains, "A cupful of dry ingredients is a level cupful. A cupful of liquid is all that the cup will hold. Butter and lard should be packed solidly into the cup."


Today I made the graham cracker filling. 

1 cup powd. sugar

1 tablesp. melted butter

2 teasp. cocoa

3 teasp. cold, mild coffee

1 teasp. vanilla

Add little cream if too thick.

It reminded me a little of Nutella, and the consistency would make it great frosting for cupcakes. I think I'd like it better if the coffee flavor were stronger ... and if I used European butter. Overall, though, I give this little recipe a "thumbs up," and the thing I like most about it is that I can pronounce every single ingredient and actually know what they all are. 

One thing I find fascinating about the cookbook is the fact that baking directions are nonexistent. For example:

                         Cream Almond Cake

1 cup butter                                      2 cups flour

2 cups sugar                                     2 level teasponfuls Horsford's Baking Powder

1 cup milk                                       5 egg whites

1 cup cornstarch                               1-2 teaspoonful almond extract

Cream the butter, add gradually the sugar, add the almond. mix and sift the flour, cornstarch and baking powder. Add alternately with the milk to the first mixture. Beat the whites until stiff; add, and beat vigorously. This makes two loaves.

Oh ... really? What size? And how long do I bake them? And at what temperature? I don't suppose 19th century ovens had temperature control, so I understand that, but it seems that we'd at least be given a hint. "Moderate oven for X minutes" or "until a knife inserted comes out clean" ... or something?!

Still, that cream almond cake sounds good .... 

The little book concludes with "A Suitable Dinner for Every Month." The menu for MAY is:

Tomato Soup. 

Croutons.

Baked Shad.

Sauce Hollandaise.

Saratoga Chips.

Lettuce and Radish Salad.

Bread and Butter Pudding.

Cold Sauce.

Bon appetit!.......................................................................................................................Stephanie

Keep Your Blood Flowing

A little reality check here, my own personal PSA. I was in the hospital this week with blood clots in my leg—and my lungs. I’m recovering at home. I could have died. I’m not out of the woods yet.

Once I experienced blood clots for myself, I saw references everywhere. Looking through current events and deeper into history, I found a string of people who’ve suffered from clots—and not survived. Some are famous, and some are ordinary people. Some health issues defy all distinctions of society.

From a young video-gamer who died after getting clots from sitting for 12 hours playing his games, to a young women in England who suspected she had blood clots in her leg, went to a walk-in clinic, was told she had muscle issues and was sent home—to die a few days later.  

NBC correspondent David Bloom died from blood clots after spending days inside a tank while covering the war in Iraq. The rapper Heavy D died after a long international flight.  Actress and model Mia Amber Davis died of clots after knee surgery.  We lost country singer Tammy Wynette, and former presidents Richard Nixon and Theodore Roosevelt to blood clots--Teddy was only 60.  

Biltmore builder and philanthropist George W. Vanderbilt was recovering from an appendectomy when he developed fatal blood clots. Just moments before his collapse, he was reading a newspaper and chatting with his wife. He asked her to get him a glass of water and another newspaper. She found him collapsed and he died soon after.

Former vice president Dick Cheney and tennis star Serena Williams survived their clots.  Just last month "America's Got Talent" MC (and Mariah Carey's husband) Nick Cannon suffered blood clots to his lungs after being in the hospital. 

Throughout all history, bed-rest has been considered the logical prescription for sickness--and it is.  But not for too long.  And not without moving our legs about.  Who knows how many people throughout history have died from ignorance of this one stipulation?  It reminds me of the horrible practice of blood-letting that was thought to cleanse the body of disease, when in fact, it only made the patient weaker.

Each story of blood clots breaks my heart—and honestly, scares me. There but for the grace of God, go I. Go we. Blood clots can happen to any of us. The good news is that we live in the twenty-first century, where we have access to medical care and information.

There are things you can do to lower your chance of blood clots--or DVTs (deep vein thrombosis):

• Blood clots usually start in the lower legs due to inactivity. Long plane rides, car rides, sitting for long hours in one position—anything that impedes blood circularion—can be the cause. When seated for a long time, take breaks and move around every hour. Walk. Flex your ankles. Move your toes, march in place (even while seated). Keep the blood flowing.

• Don’t get dehydrated. Drink plenty of water. And remember, alcohol and caffeine dehydrate.

• Blood clots sometimes occur after surgery or hospital stays when other health issues have made you inactive. If you can't get up and walk, move your legs and feet, or if that's not possible, your doctor can put compression sleeves on your legs that are attached to a machine that periodically massages them to keep the circulation going.

• Pregnant women need to be aware--especially if you've had a C-section.

• Obesity adds to the risk

• Your risk can be higher if you take birth control pills or hormone replacement

• Smokers are at higher risk

It’s also vital you know the symptoms. With DVTs you may have some or all of these warning signs:

• A touch-sensitive red skin rash

• Pain in the calf, inside of leg, or behind the knee. This can feel like a muscle cramp or a knotty feeling to the veins.

• Red streaks on the leg

• Your skin feels hot to the touch in the affected areas

• Swelling when you stand. This is the most common symptom. When you sit, put your leg up, and straighten it, the pain and swelling may lessen. But as soon as you stand or sit with your knee bent, the leg can swell up to varying degrees, from slightly, to twice its size, even looking like a sausage about to burst. It also might get very red.

What to do if you think you have a blood clot in your leg(s):

• Get to a doctor or to an ER. Depending on the severity, you may be admitted to the hospital and told not to move much or even stand. The danger is that a blood clot can dislodge and travel up the main leg artery to the heart and lungs. This is a pulmonary embolism and can be fatal.

What are the symptoms of a blood clot in your lungs?

• Shortness of breath

• Chest pain

• Rapid heart rate

• Unexplained cough

I’d had a blood clot in my leg for three days and was stupidly waiting for a weekday to go to the doctor—I’m one to avoid the ER if I can. But Sunday morning (again being stupid) I was heading to church, and at the end of my driveway got intense chest pains. My husband drove me to the ER where I had blood clots in my leg, and all three lobes of my right lung! After a few days in the hospital, I’m taking blood thinner now (which doesn't actually thin the blood, but keeps new clots from forming and existing clots from getting bigger.)  I'm at home now, waiting for my blood to "thin" to therapeutic levels.  There are many good websites full of information.  Here's Mayo Clinic's site: BLOOD CLOTS - DVT  and WebMD: DVT

Sorry to go on and on, but with so many of us leading sedentary lives, I want you to be aware.  How long are you sitting every day?  As a writer I’m at my computer for hours at a time, and do not exercise like I should--though that's going to change after this wake-up call.  Add to that our our mobile lives—whether in cars, trains, buses, or planes.  We can cross the world in a few hours' time.  A good thing--with intrinsic dangers. But knowledge is power. And good health involves being proactive and active. Don’t let your personal history end in heartbreak.//Nancy