Colonial Boston Dinner- Well, Sort Of!

One of the home shooling thoughts for me was cooking our way through history. I let life get in the way, but Wyatt and I decided to go back and try it from Colonial times anyhow. So Saturday, we set out on our first adventure.

In the interest of getting through recipes which required hour hours of cooking before Charlie was ready to fall asleep, I let Wyatt use the mixer on the bread, which we began at 1:20 in the afternoon.

Wyatt made the Boston Brown Bread. He caught his sister glancing over, but not reading the history in the cookbook and called her out on it. I hadn't actually given her that instruction. Wyatt isn't exactly fond of raisins, so he wasn't too thrilled with making something that already had a strike against it! 

Also, we didn't have coffee cans to bake the bread in, so we used a metal loaf pan with really high sides in the water bath in the dutch oven.

Here is the roasting pan we used the way a dutch oven would be used, it was just a different shape to accommodate the pan...

Here it is with the pan in it.

 Here are the beans. The kids really tag teamed on this part. They boiled  the beans and bacon for over an hour and a half, before the other items were added and it was put it he oven. Good thing wood was plentiful during colonial times, as otherwise things would have taken a great deal of fuel!

The brown bread when it came out from cooking.

And once it was turned out on the plate.It is very dense, and you can easily taste the course grains. We all tried it, it seemed best with butter to offset the dense and dry nature of the bread.

And the Boston Baked Beans were also a hit.

Sunday Afternoon History Fun

Had a little fun this afternoon. The Native Americans would have used a large, flat rock to grind on, and a good smooth rock that fit nicely int he hand to grind with.  We didn't have any large enough rocks to grind on, so for the purpose of learning, the brick I thought would work.

Bailey and Wyatt worked on grinding mesquite pods down into flour. We talked a lot about the foods that were available in the different types of communities the Native Americans of Arizona lived in.  We also talked about the changes in the diet od Americans that came with time and how some of those changes that came with times like the Dust Bowl and the industrialization of the post WW2 food supply affected the nutrition of the tribes as they moved onto the reservations and changed their lifestyles with the changes that followed.

Wyatt got a good laugh out of the improvised tools, since his bottom brick broke!

Then he had to ham it up for one more photo...

They realized that mesquite flour was a very challenging meal ingredient indeed!

yeah... not sure I can explain this... but then we pulled out the ingredients which would have been available in the food commodities program...

We took a little break for evening walk around with Shadow Paws...

And then we tried to make frybread!  For all of the things that Wyatt can cook- this isn't on the list!

the fellow 4Hers should be thrilled that he didn't attend the tortilla lesson!

Bailey came through pretty well, but we should have made them a bit thinner.

Then we enjoyed a taste test for the whole family- one with powdered sugar, one with agave nectar, and one with honey.

You might ask the kids the next time you see them- what was the vote?

We have lots more fun tomes to come, thought you would enjoy the photos from this one!

Yummy Heritage Poultry Recipe[ Chicken and Dumplings

For anyone who has tried, cooking heritage bred poultry is a bit different than cooking the genetically modified, juice and stuff injected poultry from the factory farms. I have spoken with lots of folks who absolutely understand the value of the traditionally bred, pasture raised birds, the cost of the organic, un-subsidized healthier farming practices makes this very difficult. Another issue, these birds tend to be drier, and need to be cooked more slowly.

I know this can be another factor in the choice to go with organic, heritage bred poultry for your food choice, despite the knowledge that the choice for the environment and the health of those who eat the poultry may seem such a simple one.  So I am slowly sharing recipes that have passed the test of our family- my toughest critics!

So this would be the first installment, Chicken and Dumplings:

I know that not everyone likes veggies in their chicken and dumplings, so feel free to omit as appropriate to you....

1 whole chicken, without skin.

6-8 cups water

poultry seasoning

salt and pepper

6 medium potatoes

1 medium onion

2 cups veggies, if desired

1 cup butter

3 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

enough milk or broth for dough

Place the whole chicken in the crock pot, rub with poultry seasoning until liberally coated, add 3 tablespoons of chopped fresh garlic (bottled or chopped and frozen works just fine), and add 6-8 cups of water (enough that the chicken is mostly covered.)  Feel free to sprinkle in a little salt and pepper, then cover and cook on low for a couple hours.

Coarsely chop six medium potatoes, add them to the pot along with a diced medium onion.  By now, the chicken should be cooking well, feel free to add additional spices to taste. Cover and allow to cook again for another 2-3 hours. At this point, you should be able to begin pulling out the bones.

Add 2 cups of mixed veggies, I used some carrots, corn and peas and beans. (Note, in my opinion, corn is fine as an occasional component, but not the central focus of nutrition. You can include or omit veggies as you wish.)  Cover, turn the crock pot up to high, and let the broth heat while you make the dumplings.

Mix 1 cup of butter, 3 cups of flour and 1 tablespoon of baking powder, add milk or broth until a dough is reached.  You can choose to either roll out the dough and cut into strips, or roll into little balls or drop by spoonfuls into the hot broth of the crock pot. The broth being hot enough should seal the dumplings. COver and allow to cook to the desired dumpling consistency, serve hot.

Let me know how you like it!