Receipts

This word means the printout from the store, right? With all the items you bought, with the cost, all of that stuff. The word meant something else as well in the mid 1800’s. It meant RECIPE!

If you look up the word receipt in the dictionary today, you will find the first definition is a written acknowledgment of a purchase, but a few definitions down, is the words “archaic – recipe”. The use of the word recipe as instructions for preparing food was first recorded in 1743. Before that it was receipt!

I am a part time cook for a Living History program. I choose receipts from the mid 1800’s and prepare them on a beautiful wood cook-stove. (In the summer months I cook over an open outdoor fire - the wood stove makes the house too hot!).

When I choose a receipt, I keep in mind the time of year. On the frontier, not all food items would be available to an average family all year round. For example, there would be no lettuce in the winter, no apples in the spring. This time of year I will choose a dish that contains sturdy foods that can be stored throughout the winter: potatoes, cabbage, onions and carrots.

I use several cookbooks, but these are my three favorites.

You can tell that I have used these a lot, right?

After I choose a receipt, I copy it onto plain paper, with pencil.

This way I can follow the directions as I cook, and the “modern” cookbook is out of sight. Also, it feels right to do it this way. A woman on the frontier in 1870 would not likely have a cookbook, but she would have a collection of receipts.

I have a fabric envelope I made, and I keep all of my hand written receipts inside.

I will be preparing a meal on the cook-stove in a week or so. I will let you know the receipts I have chosen, and I will make sure to report to you on my activity!