Welcome to the first week of the FSU Special Collections & Archives Great Rare Books Bake Off! As always, we begin our week with a series of cocktails and mocktails. Please go visit our earlier post this week to see how to participate!
Because we’re back on campus this semester, for this first post we’re showing you books that are not currently digitized, but can be viewed in the the Special Collections Reading Room, by appointment or walk-in. Within the pictures, you can also see two of our handling materials, snake-weights and book cradles. In some pictures you may even see multiple book cradles being used for a single book – we do this to avoid putting any pressure on stiff spines to keep them from cracking. Snake-weights are placed along the edges of pages to help hold them down without damaging the binding. The SCA employee in the reading room will always set this materials up for you before you are given access to the material.
Quite a few recipes describe how to make alcoholic beverages from scratch, even walking you through how long to wait for fermentation! While these may not be recipes that we can try ourselves, they are an insightful look into what these processes looked like, and how prevalent they were. Other recipes are intended to serve large groups, but can be scaled down to serve only 1 or 2 drinks. Several recipes shown here today don’t call for any alcohol (including a mouthwatering Spanish hot chocolate), and others could be easily made without. This can be done by substituting the alcohol with club soda, flavored seltzers, sparkling ciders, and so on. We encourage you to get creative with how you use these recipes! Don’t forget to participate and let us know how your creations turned out!
The Scots kitchen: its traditions and lore, with old-time recipes by Florence Marian McNeill (1929). https://fsu-flvc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01FALSC_FSU/pag4dr/alma990279996680306576.
ATHOLE BROSE Heather honey, whisky, cold water. Put a pound of dripped honey into a basin and add sufficient cold water to dissolve it (about a teacupful). Stir with a silver spoon, and when the water and honey are well mixed, add gradually one and a half pints of whisky, alias mountain dew. Stir briskly till a froth begins to rise. Bottle and keep tightly corked.
HIGHLAND CORDIAL White currants, lemon, ginger, sugar, whisky. Take a pint of white currants stripped of their stalks, the thin peel of a lemon, a teaspoonful of essence of ginger and a bottle of whisky. Mix and stand for forty-eight hours. Strain, add a pound of loaf sugar, and stand for a day to dissolve. Bottle and cork. It will be ready in three months, but will keep longer.
TODDY Whisky, sugar, hot water. Pour boiling water slowly into a tumbler till about half full. Let the water remain until the crystal is thoroughly heated, then pour it out. Put in loaf sugar to taste with a glassful of boiling water. When melted put in half a glass of whisky and stir with a silver teaspoon. Then add more boiling water, and finally another half glass of whisky. Stir, and serve hot.
A HARVEST DRINK Oatmeal, sugar, lemon, water. Put a quarter-pound of oatmeal and six ounces of sugar into a pan. Mix with a little warm water and the juice of a lemon, and pour over it, stirring all the time, a gallon of boiling water. Boil (still stirring) for three minutes. Strain and use when cold. This is said to be very strengthening. Half an ounce of ground ginger may be mixed with the dry ingredients.
Burdine’s cook book: a volume of tested recipes by Grace E. Denison and Burdine’s (Department Store) (c1932). https://fsu-flvc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01FALSC_FSU/pag4dr/alma990203314890306576
LEMONADE 4 lemons; 4 tablespoonfuls sugar; 1 qt. water, or a bottle of Apollinaris. Four lemons, rolled, peeled, and sliced; four large spoonfuls of water. Put lemons (sliced) and sugar into a pitcher and let them stand for an hour, then add water and ice. If you substitute Apollinaris for plain water you have a most refreshing drink.
MILK PUNCH 10 or 12 lemons; 1 bottle brandy; 1 grated nutmeg; 2 lbs. sugar; 2 bottles rum; 1 pt. lime juice; 1 bottle fresh milk. Steep rinds cut from lemons in brandy for three days with a grated nutmeg; shake frequently. Dissolve sugar in one and one-half bottles water, add rum, lime juice and above lemon brandy. Bring one bottle of fresh milk to a boil, and that instant pour it into the other ingredients, stirring constantly. Let stand for twenty-four hours and strain through a double flannel; cork well. Will keep any time.
CAFE FRAPPE 1 qt. strong coffee; white 1 egg; sugar to taste; whipped cream. To coffee sweetened, add the beaten white of one egg and freeze. Serve in glasses with whipped cream on top, or with vanilla ice cream.
BLACKBERRY CORDIAL Pound and squeeze enough blackberries through a course muslin bag to make a quart of juice. Put this into an agate-iron or porcelain-lined kettle, with a pound of sugar, two teaspoonfuls each of grated nutmeg, cinnamon, and all-spice, and one teaspoonful of cloves. Tie the spices up in little thin muslin bags and stir the sugar until dissolved. Set over the fire and cook together, after the boil begins, fifteen minutes. Take off the scum, turn into a jar, and cover closely while it cools. When perfectly cold strain out the spices and add a pint of good brandy. Bottle and seal. This cordial will keep for years and is valuable in case of summer complaint and other intestinal disorders.
Clarita’s cocina: great tradition recipes from a Spanish kitchen by Clarita Garcia (1970). https://fsu-flvc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01FALSC_FSU/pag4dr/alma990205450970306576
CHOCOLATE AL MOLINILLO (SPANISH HOT CHOCOLATE) A molinillo is an ancient wooden hand mill used to prepare chocolate a la Espanola. The gadget is an average 12-inch stick, similar to a drumstick. At one end, there is a round flexible wooden base which “churns” the chocolate as the stick is twirled between the hands. Frankly, an electric hand beater or rotary hand beater does the work faster and smoother, but it’s fun to use. Here is the typical Spanish chocolate recipe:
2 cups milk; 2 cups light cream; 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg; 1 tablespoon butter; 9 squares semi-sweet chocolate; 3 tablespoons sugar; 1/2 teaspoon salt. Combine milk, cream, nutmeg, butter, chocolate squares, and salt in a saucepan. Place over low heat and stir constantly until chocolate is dissolved. Use a wooden spoon for stirring. Remove from heat and wait 1 minute. Again beat until foamy. Return to heat and stir constantly until it reaches a boiling point. Remove from heat and stir constantly until it again reaches the boiling point. Repeat this 2 more times. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly, then beat vigorously and pour into 4-ounce chocolate cups. El chocolate should be thick and creamy. Yields 6 to 8 servings.
PONCHE DE PITO (PITO’S DAIQUIRI PUNCH) This is an excellent party drink, especially for the ladies. Prepare the recipe twice and, to serve, pour into pretty silver pitchers. Pour from the pitchers into elegant champagne glasses.
1 egg white; 1/3 cup powdered sugar; 6 maraschino cherries plus 3 tablespoons cherry juice; 1/3 cup crushed pineapple plus 3 tablespoons pineapple juice; 6 ounces light rum; 1 (6-ounce) can concentrated limeade. Use a 2-quart electric blender. Fill blender container three quarters full of crushed ice. Add ingredients in the order listed and blend at high speed until foamy. Repeat recipe. Serves 6 to 8 persons (2 servings each).
PONCHE “OLE!” (SOCK-IT-TO-‘EM PUNCH!) It won’t take too many cups of this punch to make you dance la jota (Spanish folk dance).
1 (fifth) bottle rose wine; 1 (fifth) bottle sweet sherry; 1 (fifth) bottle cognac; 1 (6-ounce) can frozen lemonade concentrate; 1/2 cup sugar (more if you like); 1 (quart) bottle sparkling water; 1 (fifth) bottle sparkling burgundy. Combine all ingredients except last two, in a suitable pot with cover that may be refrigerated. Stir to dissolve frozen lemonade and sugar. Cover and chill 3 to 4 hours. Remove from refrigerator. Add sparkling water and sparkling burgundy. Pour over block of ice in punch bowl as needed. Yields approximately 50 punch cup servings.
SANGRIA #2 (SPANISH WINE PUNCH #2) 1 small lemon; 1 small orange; 1 (fifth) bottle burgundy wine; 1/2 cup pineapple chunks; 1 fresh peach, or 1/2 cup canned sliced peaches; 1/2 cup cognac; 1/4 sugar; 1 (7-ounce) bottle soda water; small ice cubes. Cut lemon and orange in half. Squeeze 1 half of each and slice thinly the other halves. In a large pitcher, combine juices, wine, pineapple chunks, peach, cognac, and sugar. Stir with a wooden spoon (there is a special wooden mixer for sangrias, you know) to dissolve sugar. Stir gently so the fruit will not be injured. Cover pitcher and let stand 1 hour refrigerator. Add soda and ice cubes. Serve very cold in water goblets of ice-tea glasses. Yields 10 to 14 moderate servings.
Slàinte Mhath! Salud! Make sure to check back as we post new recipes throughout the month and remember to share how your beverages turn out!
Illuminations 