The recipes, or ...

receipts, as they were called back in the day. As promised, here are some more pictures and how-tos of what we made at camp.




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 scratch

1 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 cream

1 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.