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Cobblestone Farm Country Christmas Recipes

Cobblestone Farm Country Christmas Recipes image
Parent Issue
Day
9
Month
December
Year
1975
Copyright
Copyright Protected
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Donated by the Ann Arbor News. © The Ann Arbor News.
OCR Text

Conversations In The Kitchen

Cobblestone Farm Country Christmas Recipes

The Ann Arbor News

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FOOD GUIDE

BY CATHERINE ARCURE

News Special Writer

Cobblestone Farm's kitchen is an intriguing place.  A twenty-square-foot area embodies the changing history of kitchens from 1840 to 1950.

The Packard Road historical site, now in the midst of detailed study for accurate restoration by industrious local volunteers, is actually two houses joined together- one cobblestone and one wood and clapboard.  The joining takes place near the kitchen of the old wooden house.

Entries to the kitchen from servants' rooms and access from it to a milk room, drying rack room, wine cellar, smoke and ice house are evidence of the Cobblestone Farm's historical significance, says Mary Schieve-Achenbaum, president of the Cobblestone Farm Association.  They show, she explains, that it was a "simple working farm" but also that the owner was a well-traveled, scholarly person with a more sophisticated, cosmopolitan kind of life.

Through its many transformations over the years, the kitchen was not given the best of care, she says, which makes identification of what is truly authentic about the "old" far, difficult to ascertain and restoration more difficult.  1950 linoleum tile covers wooden plank floors.  Signs of all kinds of stoves are evident in the walls as progress was made from the simple hearth to Franklin stoves and coal and wood-burning types.

In what was once a sizeable hearth, there is not only a deep oven but a large bin with fittings for a very large kettle in which water was kept hot during the day for necessities such as cooking, washing and bathing.

Since the Cobblestone Farm Association began its work on restoring the old buildings, many renovations have taken place -  all with volunteer time, energy, private donations and grants.

Mary Schieve-Achenbaum notes that a new furnace, which still uses the old Victorian registers, has been installed, a new roof has been put on and rewiring done.

Replastering, opening fireplaces, decorating and many other projects, including the restoration of the original kitchen and pantries are yet to be tackled.

Anxious for the city to see what a turn-of-the-century Christmas might have been like at Cobblestone Farm and to celebrate the holidays with those who have spent so many hours working on the restoration, the Cobblestone Farm Association will open the site to the public from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday.  The country Christmas will include a showing of old-time holiday decorations and a miniature doll collection, a large tree decorated as it would have been at the turn of the century, country-style fiddling, Christmas caroling, weaving demonstrations and dulcimer playing.  Tours of the farm will be given.

TEA TARTS FOR THE CHRISTMAS TREE

1 pound sifted flour

1 pound sugar

1/2 pound butter

3 eggs

2 ounces cinnamon

Grated rind of 1 lemon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 - Break butter in small pieces; mix with the flour and the other ingredients except the baking powder to form a dough which is then set aside for a few hours or even overnight; it will not hurt the dough to keep it for a few days in a cool place.

2 - Flatten out the dough, sprinkle the baking powder over it, knead it; then roll the dough to less than 1/8 of an inch.  Cut out any shape or figure desired and place on a buttered pan.

3 - Bake in a moderate oven.

TURKEY WITH FORCEMEAT 

Turkey

3/4 pound chopped veal

3/4 pound streaky pork, choppied

1/2 cup melted butter

3 eggs and the whites of 2 eggs beaten to a froth

4 ounces stale bread, soaked in cold water and pressed

1 ounce sliced mushrooms or, better still, truffles

Turkey liver, finely chopped

4 veal sweetbreads cooked until half done with skin removed

Salt

Nutmeg

Capers

Finely chopped parsley

1 - Make a forcemeat of the above ingredients, stirring the eggs in at last.

2 - Fill cavity of turkey with forcemeat and roast as would normally.

TO PREPARE A HAM LIKE A WILD BOAR

Ham of between 8-10 pounds

1 large cupful vinegar

1 pint claret

Sugar

A teaspoon each whole and ground cloves

30 juniper berries

Chopped peel of 1/2 a lemon

Ginger

Butter

Cream 

Flour

1 - Mix the vinegar, claret, a little sugar, cloves, juniper berries, lemon peel and ginger.  Rub the meat well with the mixture.

2 - Put the ham in the mixture and leave it in the same for a few days, drenching it daily.  Sprinkle with salt, put into a pan with butter and let it cook.  Add a few cupfuls of boiling water and some of the marinating liquid.  Then roast until tender- 2-21/2 hours, basting frequently.  An earthenware or enameled pan is best.

3 - One hour before serving put two cupfuls of cream into the gravy, which is thickened with a little flour before serving, after taking off part of the fat.

DARK PFEFFERNUSSE

1/2 cup shortening

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1 egg

1/2 cup molasses

3 drops anise oil mixed with 1 tablespoon hot water

3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1 - Mix shortening, sugar, egg, molasses and anise mixture.

2 - Blend dry ingredients; mix in gradually with hands.  Knead dough until right consistency for molding.  If dough seems too soft, refrigerate until firm.

3 - Mold into balls 3/4 inches in diameter; place on greated baking sheet.  Bake about 12 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Store in airtight container with slice of apple to mellow them.  Cookies harden on standing.  Makes 8 dozen cookies.

 

Everyone is invited to attend a country Christmas open house at the Cobblestone Farm on Packard Road this coming Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m.  Mary Steffek, left, and Jacqueline Greenhut, celebration committee members, help decorate the farm for the festivities which will include Christmas caroling, weaving demonstrations and tours of the farm. (Photo by Jack Stubbs)