GINGER BEER
two ounces of powdered ginger root (or more if it is not very strong - I used fresh grated ginger),
half an ounce of cream of tartar,
two large lemons, sliced,
two pounds of broken loaf sugar (I used 1 cup of granulated sugar.)
two gallons of soft boiling water.
Put all ingredients into a kettle and simmer them over a slow fire for half an hour.
Remove from heat.
When the liquor is nearly cold, stir into it a large tablespoonful of the best yeast.
After it has fermented, which will be in about 24 hours, bottle for use.
* source: Gaspee Days Colonial Drinks and Recipes
I have heard it is better to store the fermenting ginger beer in plastic 2-liter soda bottles rather than in glass. Apparently the carbonation can cause the glass to explode. I poured the drink into the glass bottle pictured here after fermentation was complete and it was ready to serve. I always wondered why the old ginger beer bottles that my husband likes to collect were made of stoneware. Mystery solved?
Noodles from scratch1 cup flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 tsbp vegetable oil
3 tsbp water
flour for rolling and dusting
Mix ingredients together in a bowl, stirring with a wooden spoon. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Let rest for at least 30 minutes. Roll out to 1/8 inch thickness. Let dough rest again for another 20 minutes. Cut into thin strips. Sprinkle with flour as needed to keep the dough from getting sticky. Place strips on a floured tea towel to allow them to air dry. This can take up to 2 days.
The noodles we made never completely dried like store-bought noodles do, but they cooked up just fine. Boil in salted water for 9 minutes. 
When finished, drain off water and toss noodles with butter and herbs of your choice.
Two of my co-workers taught the kids how to use a cider press. Very cool.
Colonial ice cream1 qt table cream
1/2 cup sugar
2 heaping tsbp cherry jam
You have to watch this little 1 minute video. Using this method, it took about 45 minutes of constant spinning to make solid ice cream (and muscles). It was delicious. The kids all took turns spinning. They were sweetly rewarded for their labors.
Next camp we are going to attempt cheesemaking. We'll see.
20 comments:
I am most definitely making ginger beer now and my children will be set to work making noodles this holiday. They'll probably want to dress up as well. Then we can pretend we're all at one of your camps! Love the photo of the little girl in the door way.
I'm thinking of attempting making this ginger beer as well, however I probably will opt out of cooking it over a fire :-) Thanks for sharing you camp pictures and recipes!
Jodi,
These are precious memories you share so generously. My husband is a big homebrewer and I can attest to the glass bottles blowing up (that was his first batch. Have learned a lot in the many years since). The picture of the geese in the window is adorable! I have been out of the loop but catching up with you has been a treat. I think I need some Ginger beer.
Cheryl and Rachel, I hope you do make the ginger beer and let me know how it turns out.
Laura, thank you. The geese were funny/scary. They kept pecking at the glass as if they wanted to break in.
I love that the kids got to dress up! Those geese sure have been causing some mischief.
I have a gallon of wine that is almost ready and then I will try to make the ginger beer. Where would you go to get the ingredients? Thanks for posting the recipe.
I don't know what broken loaf sugar is and is ginger root powder in the spice section? Is grated ginger the ginger root found in the produce section? I know I sound dumb, but I want to get the correct stuff.
Dear sugar moon, in Colonial times, sugar was sold in a solid loaf (cone) form. You would break it into chunks to use it. Just use 1 cup of granulated sugar. Ginger root powder is powdered ginger. And yes, grated ginger is the ginger root found in the produce section that you can peel and grate yourself. P.S. Your questions are not dumb. :)
Stephanie, Yes the geese have been causing lots of mischief!
ohhh, it's been too long!
your pictures! i'm going to eat them up! and you along with them. delicious.
Yummy! I think I want to live next door to you. I know we would eat very well, taught by you, should the electricity ever fail for a long time.
Hi Jody. I love having your noodle recipe. That sounds so fun; maybe I'll do it one of these days.
I really love the idea of making ginger beer...I think I'll try making some when it warms up a bit here...also making cheese isn't too difficult...I use a recipe that just uses milk and lemon juice and it makes pretty delicious cheese!
Fun to read about this....You brought back a funny memory. The herb Society I belonged to was working at a local Pioneer Day. We were selling cups of apple slices and raisins cooked together. We ran out of apple slices and I went to a table behind our booth to use our old-fashioned hand turned apple corer and slicer. Pretty soon people began to arrive asking me how much it cost to slice apples "like that". We began charging 50 cents each to do one apple and made a fair amount of money from that over the day and all thought it was amazing and hilarious.
My son used to make wine and did wine for his sister Emily's wedding. The label was great and so was the taste.
What is broken loaf suger?
Smiles,dottie
Oh, those ducks! What an adorable entourage. They seem very curious and gossipy--definitely liking to be on top of things. Hope you enjoy them--wish I had a pond for some.
Hi Jodi,
This is one link to making cottage or curd cheese with lemon juice...
http://myedibles.blogspot.com.au/2011/12/how-to-make-cottage-cheese-paneer.html
if you need any more info let me know, Trixi
Trixi, Thank you very much. I'll give it a try.
Dottie, in Colonial times, sugar was sold by the loaf, or cone. That was its shape, unlike loose sugar that we buy today.
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