Some warm-weather recipes from Godey's, 1854.

California beach, ca. 1905.  Wikimedia Commons.

 Despite the weather forecasts of rain and showers in the next few days, it's only been sunny and humid around here, warming up the house quickly and not cooling down until late in the afternoon.  Those of us in older houses with no air conditioning try to get by with doing as much as possible in the morning and evening when it's a bit cooler, but sometimes you have picnics or barbecues to go to, where you're expected to bring some of the food.  Who wants to heat up the house even more by cooking something?  Luckily, there are tons of ideas in Victorian cookbooks and women's magazines for dealing with warm weather; even if you have to bring a dessert somewhere, you're not limited to fruit salad or ice cream if you use a recipe like one of those below:

              "STONE CREAM.—Put in the dish you mean to send to table three spoonfuls of the lemon-juice with a little of the peel grated, to apricot jam; boil together a pint of cream, half an ounce of isinglass, and some sugar; when nearly cold, pour it on the sweetmeat.  A few macaroons at the bottom of the dish is an improvement.  To be made a few hours before using. 

Celebrate Halloween the Victorian way: with Parlor Amusements from Godey's Lady's Book!

Bobbing for apples. Image: http//clipart.edigg.com

Of course, you could pull out the old washtub and get some apples for traditional apple-bobbing, you could hang an apple from a string and have your friends try to bite it without using their hands, or play other old-fashioned games tonight, (even if you're going out trick-or-treating), but why not create some science "magic" in your own parlor (or living room, or kitchen)?  Here are some of the safer-sounding "parlor amusements" from Godey's Lady's Book of 1855:

"PARLOR AMUSEMENTS.
The magic whirlpool.—Fill a glass tumbler with water, throw upon its surface a few fragments or thin shavings of camphor, and they will instantly begin to move and acquire a motion both progressive and rotary, which will continue for a considerable time.  During these rotations, if the water be touched by any substance which is at all greasy, the floating particles will quickly dart back, and as if by a stroke of magic, be instantly deprived of their motion and vivacity.

Telling fortunes with apple peels.
Image: http//clipart.edigg.com

Visible and invisible.—Write with a piece of French chalk on the looking-glass, wipe it with a handkerchief, and the characters will be invisible; breathe on it, and they will reappear; this change will take place a considerable number of times.  This is a curious fact, and at one time was considered a great secret."

Happy 4th of July!

Clipart from http://clipart.edigg.com

It looks like Independence Day will be a scorcher in much of the U.S.A., so be sure to have plenty of iced tea and lemonade around!  Have a barbecue and avoid heating up the house.  Ice cream and popsicles are good, too.  Here are some recipes that sound good for the 4th of July:

Strawberry Lemon Iced Tea
Blueberry Lemonade
Dried Cherry Scones with clotted cream
Roasted Red Pepper Tapenade Crostini
Cold Strawberry Soup 
Mini Apple Tarts
Strawberry Shortcake
Blueberry Cream Cheese tarts

If you want, you can add a few antique recipes to your menu, according to what the Founding Fathers and Mothers might have enjoyed.  There's even an old recipe for Independence Cake, but it sounds like it makes a huge amount ...

Independence Cake
Twenty pounds of flour, fifteen pounds of sugar, ten pounds of butter, four dozen eggs, one quart of wine, one quart of brandy, one ounce of nutmeg; cinnamon, cloves, mace of each three ounces, two pounds citron, currants and raisins, five pounds each, one quart of yeast, when baked frost with loaf sugar, dress with boxwood and gold leaf.
-- from American Cookery by Amelia Simmons, 1814. Rare Books Exhibit from the Richard L. D. & Marjorie J. Morse Dept. of Special Collections, Kansas State University Libraries.

The main thing is to keep cool and stay safe while you celebrate the great nation that America still is!  Our ideals are worth celebrating!

“Review of Haagen Dazs Sweet Chai Latte ice cream”
"Tea history: what type of tea did American founders drink?"
"Tea with the Founders: an 18th century style tea menu"

Another vintage recipe for tea on a winter's day!

"Apples a la Caramel.
Partially pare (in alternate rounds) tart, juicy apples. Remove cores and insert a caramel in the center. Sprinkle sugar over the outside and put in a deep pan to bake. Baste with slightly sweetened water to which a tablespoon of lemon juice has been added. When apples are tender, remove to the serving dish and return pan to the oven to allow the juice to become thick and brown as caramel syrup. Pour over the apples. Serve with or without whipped cream." from "Reliable" Cooking, a ca. 1910 recipe booklet advertising the Reliable Gas Stoves and Ranges.

Like with many vintage and antique recipes, the oven temperature and cooking time is not specified. I would probably set the oven to 350 degrees F, let the apples bake for half an hour, and keep an eye on it the whole time.

This is a simple recipe; it only has three basic ingredients! I happen to have some caramels left over from Halloween, some apples and some lemons from the trees in the backyard. Sugar is in the cupboard. I have the last half of this week off from work, so I may be making these baked apples in the near future ... They sound so good, and especially with a nice hot cup of black tea, no milk or sugar. Well, maybe milk, but the apple and caramel would be so sweet that I wouldn't want sugar in my tea!

A nice holiday recipe: Pumpkin-Apple Pie

"Very Nice Tart.-- Boil apple as you would for puffs; and boil, also, an equal quantity of pumpkin, and mash them well together. Add a few currants, and sugar and nutmeg to taste. Bake with a light crust top and bottom. The pumpkin must be strained as dry as possible." from Godey's Lady's Book, January 1860.

I'm sure you could use prepared apple sauce and canned pumpkin puree and avoid having to boil and mash the apples and pumpkin yourself.

And for the "light crust" or pie pastry:
"A Light Puff Paste – American: One pound of sifted flour; one pound of fresh butter; two teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar; one teaspoonful of soda; a little water.
Work one-fourth of the butter into the flour until it is like sand; measure the cream of tartar and the soda, rub it though a sieve, put it to the flour, add enough cold water to bind it, and work it smooth; dredge flour over the pasteslab [sic] or board, rub a little flour over the rolling pin, and roll the paste to about half an inch thickness; spread over the whole surface one-third of the remaining butter, the fold it up; dredge flour over the pasteslab [sic] and rolling pin, and roll it out again; then put another portion of the butter, and fold and roll again, and spread on the remaining butter, and fold and roll for the last time." from Warne's Model Cookery and Housekeeping Book, ca. 1891.