Period "Corporal's Kitchen-Drinks to Ring In The New Year"

Joined
Jul 12, 2007
Location
Aledo, IL
Corporal’s Kitchen
New Year’s Eve and Day mark the traditional end of the holiday season and are celebrated by millions of Americans. During the Civil War, there was little cause for celebration as the calendar changed from one year to the next.
On the last day of 1862, thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers clashed in the first day of battle at Stones River, Tenn., one of the bloodiest engagements of the western theater. After a successful effort on December 31, southern commander Braxton Bragg sent a telegraph during a respite on the following day proclaiming “God has granted us a Happy New Year.”
Bragg’s declaration proved premature, as the Federals responded on January 2 to end the battle in a draw. Some 12,900 Yankees and 11,700 Confederates were lost in the two-day fight.
Those on the homefront also struggled for comfort. In North Carolina, Catherine Edmondston wrote in her diary on January 1, 1863 of New Year’s dinner and “a quiet chat over glove knitting.” The menu included “goose, wild ducks (and the)...luxury of a Pudding.” With a nod to food shortages, Edmondston added that “a dinner of four courses is … a rarity now-a-days, but the New Year must have a face to welcome it.” Edmondston’s celebration reflected the Southern cause. “We wound up the old year with all the customary honors, had our Egg Nog, and the attendant good wishes,” she wrote as the man of the house wished the servants “Happy New Year, Good Luck, and death to the Yankees.”

This month’s “Corporal’s Kitchen” offers a variety of drinks and Punches to help ring in the New Year with your family and friends. The following recipes are taken from “How to Mix Drinks, Or The Bon-Vivant’s Companion”, by Jerry Thomas, New York, 1862.

Brandy Punch (For a Party of Twenty)
1 gallon of water, 3 quarts of brandy, ½ pint of Jamaica rum, 2 lbs of sugar, Juice of 6 lemons, 3 oranges sliced, 1 pine apple pared and cut up, 1 gill of Curaçoa, 2 gills of raspberry syrup, Ice and add berries in season. Mix the materials well together in a large bowl and you have a splendid punch.

Irish Whiskey Punch
This is the genuine Irish beverage It is generally made one third pure whiskey, two thirds boiling water in which the sugar has been dissolved. If lemon punch, the rind is rubbed on the sugar and a small proportion of juice added before the whiskey is poured in.

Baltimore Egg Nogg (For a Party of Fifteen)
Take the yellow of sixteen eggs and twelve table spoonfuls of pulverized loaf sugar and beat them to the consistence of cream. To this add two thirds of a nutmeg grated and beat well together then mix in half a pint of good brandy or Jamaica rum and two wine glasses of Madeira wine. Have ready the whites of the eggs beaten to a stiff froth and beat them into the above described mixture. When this is all done, stir in six pints of good rich milk. There is no heat used. Egg Nogg made in this manner is digestible and will not cause headache. It makes an excellent drink for debilitated persons and a nourishing diet for consumptives.

Champagne Cocktail
One bottle of wine to every six large glasses. Per glass ½ teaspoonful of sugar, 1 or 2 dashes of bitters, 1 piece of lemon peel. Fill tumbler one third full of broken ice and fill balance with wine. Shake well and serve.

Champagne Punch (Per Bottle)
1 quart bottle of wine, 4 lb of sugar, 1 orange sliced, the juice of a lemon, 3 slices of pine apple, 1 wine glass of raspberry or strawberry syrup. Ornament with fruits in season and serve in champagne goblets. This can be made in any quantity by observing the proportions of the ingredients as given above. Four bottles of wine make a gallon and a gallon is generally sufficient for fifteen persons in a mixed party. For a good champagne punch see “Rocky Mountain Punch”.

Rocky Mountain Punch (For a Mixed Party of Twenty)
From a recipe in the possession of Major James Foster. This delicious punch is compounded as follows: 5 bottles of champagne, 1 quart of Jamaica rum, 1 pint of maraschino, 6 lemons sliced, Sugar to taste. Mix the above ingredients in a large punch bowl then place in the centre of the bowl a large square block of ice ornamented on top with rock candy, loaf sugar, lemons or oranges and fruits in season. This is a splendid punch for New Year's Day.
 
Corporal’s Kitchen
New Year’s Eve and Day mark the traditional end of the holiday season and are celebrated by millions of Americans. During the Civil War, there was little cause for celebration as the calendar changed from one year to the next.
On the last day of 1862, thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers clashed in the first day of battle at Stones River, Tenn., one of the bloodiest engagements of the western theater. After a successful effort on December 31, southern commander Braxton Bragg sent a telegraph during a respite on the following day proclaiming “God has granted us a Happy New Year.”
Bragg’s declaration proved premature, as the Federals responded on January 2 to end the battle in a draw. Some 12,900 Yankees and 11,700 Confederates were lost in the two-day fight.
Those on the homefront also struggled for comfort. In North Carolina, Catherine Edmondston wrote in her diary on January 1, 1863 of New Year’s dinner and “a quiet chat over glove knitting.” The menu included “goose, wild ducks (and the)...luxury of a Pudding.” With a nod to food shortages, Edmondston added that “a dinner of four courses is … a rarity now-a-days, but the New Year must have a face to welcome it.” Edmondston’s celebration reflected the Southern cause. “We wound up the old year with all the customary honors, had our Egg Nog, and the attendant good wishes,” she wrote as the man of the house wished the servants “Happy New Year, Good Luck, and death to the Yankees.”

This month’s “Corporal’s Kitchen” offers a variety of drinks and Punches to help ring in the New Year with your family and friends. The following recipes are taken from “How to Mix Drinks, Or The Bon-Vivant’s Companion”, by Jerry Thomas, New York, 1862.

Brandy Punch (For a Party of Twenty)
1 gallon of water, 3 quarts of brandy, ½ pint of Jamaica rum, 2 lbs of sugar, Juice of 6 lemons, 3 oranges sliced, 1 pine apple pared and cut up, 1 gill of Curaçoa, 2 gills of raspberry syrup, Ice and add berries in season. Mix the materials well together in a large bowl and you have a splendid punch.

Irish Whiskey Punch
This is the genuine Irish beverage It is generally made one third pure whiskey, two thirds boiling water in which the sugar has been dissolved. If lemon punch, the rind is rubbed on the sugar and a small proportion of juice added before the whiskey is poured in.

Baltimore Egg Nogg (For a Party of Fifteen)
Take the yellow of sixteen eggs and twelve table spoonfuls of pulverized loaf sugar and beat them to the consistence of cream. To this add two thirds of a nutmeg grated and beat well together then mix in half a pint of good brandy or Jamaica rum and two wine glasses of Madeira wine. Have ready the whites of the eggs beaten to a stiff froth and beat them into the above described mixture. When this is all done, stir in six pints of good rich milk. There is no heat used. Egg Nogg made in this manner is digestible and will not cause headache. It makes an excellent drink for debilitated persons and a nourishing diet for consumptives.

Champagne Cocktail
One bottle of wine to every six large glasses. Per glass ½ teaspoonful of sugar, 1 or 2 dashes of bitters, 1 piece of lemon peel. Fill tumbler one third full of broken ice and fill balance with wine. Shake well and serve.

Champagne Punch (Per Bottle)
1 quart bottle of wine, 4 lb of sugar, 1 orange sliced, the juice of a lemon, 3 slices of pine apple, 1 wine glass of raspberry or strawberry syrup. Ornament with fruits in season and serve in champagne goblets. This can be made in any quantity by observing the proportions of the ingredients as given above. Four bottles of wine make a gallon and a gallon is generally sufficient for fifteen persons in a mixed party. For a good champagne punch see “Rocky Mountain Punch”.

Rocky Mountain Punch (For a Mixed Party of Twenty)
From a recipe in the possession of Major James Foster. This delicious punch is compounded as follows: 5 bottles of champagne, 1 quart of Jamaica rum, 1 pint of maraschino, 6 lemons sliced, Sugar to taste. Mix the above ingredients in a large punch bowl then place in the centre of the bowl a large square block of ice ornamented on top with rock candy, loaf sugar, lemons or oranges and fruits in season. This is a splendid punch for New Year's Day.
While I'm not a big fan of rum, these all sound yummy. I am a huge fan of Irish whisky, especially Bushmills single-malt.
 
Corporal’s Kitchen
New Year’s Eve and Day mark the traditional end of the holiday season and are celebrated by millions of Americans. During the Civil War, there was little cause for celebration as the calendar changed from one year to the next.
On the last day of 1862, thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers clashed in the first day of battle at Stones River, Tenn., one of the bloodiest engagements of the western theater. After a successful effort on December 31, southern commander Braxton Bragg sent a telegraph during a respite on the following day proclaiming “God has granted us a Happy New Year.”
Bragg’s declaration proved premature, as the Federals responded on January 2 to end the battle in a draw. Some 12,900 Yankees and 11,700 Confederates were lost in the two-day fight.
Those on the homefront also struggled for comfort. In North Carolina, Catherine Edmondston wrote in her diary on January 1, 1863 of New Year’s dinner and “a quiet chat over glove knitting.” The menu included “goose, wild ducks (and the)...luxury of a Pudding.” With a nod to food shortages, Edmondston added that “a dinner of four courses is … a rarity now-a-days, but the New Year must have a face to welcome it.” Edmondston’s celebration reflected the Southern cause. “We wound up the old year with all the customary honors, had our Egg Nog, and the attendant good wishes,” she wrote as the man of the house wished the servants “Happy New Year, Good Luck, and death to the Yankees.”

This month’s “Corporal’s Kitchen” offers a variety of drinks and Punches to help ring in the New Year with your family and friends. The following recipes are taken from “How to Mix Drinks, Or The Bon-Vivant’s Companion”, by Jerry Thomas, New York, 1862.

Brandy Punch (For a Party of Twenty)
1 gallon of water, 3 quarts of brandy, ½ pint of Jamaica rum, 2 lbs of sugar, Juice of 6 lemons, 3 oranges sliced, 1 pine apple pared and cut up, 1 gill of Curaçoa, 2 gills of raspberry syrup, Ice and add berries in season. Mix the materials well together in a large bowl and you have a splendid punch.

Irish Whiskey Punch
This is the genuine Irish beverage It is generally made one third pure whiskey, two thirds boiling water in which the sugar has been dissolved. If lemon punch, the rind is rubbed on the sugar and a small proportion of juice added before the whiskey is poured in.

Baltimore Egg Nogg (For a Party of Fifteen)
Take the yellow of sixteen eggs and twelve table spoonfuls of pulverized loaf sugar and beat them to the consistence of cream. To this add two thirds of a nutmeg grated and beat well together then mix in half a pint of good brandy or Jamaica rum and two wine glasses of Madeira wine. Have ready the whites of the eggs beaten to a stiff froth and beat them into the above described mixture. When this is all done, stir in six pints of good rich milk. There is no heat used. Egg Nogg made in this manner is digestible and will not cause headache. It makes an excellent drink for debilitated persons and a nourishing diet for consumptives.

Champagne Cocktail
One bottle of wine to every six large glasses. Per glass ½ teaspoonful of sugar, 1 or 2 dashes of bitters, 1 piece of lemon peel. Fill tumbler one third full of broken ice and fill balance with wine. Shake well and serve.

Champagne Punch (Per Bottle)
1 quart bottle of wine, 4 lb of sugar, 1 orange sliced, the juice of a lemon, 3 slices of pine apple, 1 wine glass of raspberry or strawberry syrup. Ornament with fruits in season and serve in champagne goblets. This can be made in any quantity by observing the proportions of the ingredients as given above. Four bottles of wine make a gallon and a gallon is generally sufficient for fifteen persons in a mixed party. For a good champagne punch see “Rocky Mountain Punch”.

Rocky Mountain Punch (For a Mixed Party of Twenty)
From a recipe in the possession of Major James Foster. This delicious punch is compounded as follows: 5 bottles of champagne, 1 quart of Jamaica rum, 1 pint of maraschino, 6 lemons sliced, Sugar to taste. Mix the above ingredients in a large punch bowl then place in the centre of the bowl a large square block of ice ornamented on top with rock candy, loaf sugar, lemons or oranges and fruits in season. This is a splendid punch for New Year's Day.
Nice group of drink recipes ,albert.
 
Wish I had known about these when we still had medium sized parties..I suspect I’d have to provide sleeping accomodations after some of those potions! I can see that the Rocky Mnt. Punch must have been the Mimosa precursor! Yum!
 
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