READ ME! Receipts of the Blue & Gray - Nomination Thread

CivilWarTalk

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Hi Food & Recipe Lovers of CivilWarTalk!

As you probably already know, we've been compiling the best sourced receipts from the Civil War period into our own little collection on the forum, if you haven't already seen it, you can find it here:


We have found many great Recipes & Receipts to put in our collection, but I'm sure there are many more we can find to include!

It's important to remember the rules for the Receipts of the Blue & Gray forum: all recipes must be period receipts, posted from a book as originally published or sold in the United States between the years 1796 and 1880, or if from a Newspaper Clipping or Periodical, you are limited to receipts published between 1858 and 1866.

We really want the source included whenever possible, and links are always appreciated!

FAQ - or - How can you help?

Have you found a thread with a good receipt in the 1st post on CivilWarTalk & it's not already in the Receipts of the Blue & Gray forum? (or RB&G forum for short!)


This is a good opportunity to post a link to that thread in the reply box below, so we can take a look at the thread, and see if it can be added!​

Have you found a good new receipt deep inside a thread, and not at the top in the first post!??! What to do?

Post a reply below with a link to these posts. I it's eligible, we can often grab a copy of these posts and reformat them for the recipe forum, giving the original poster credit.​
Do you know about a receipt in a period cookbook, or in a newspaper or periodical, it surely meets our criteria, and you'd like to include it? Here is how...

Just post the recipe / receipt in a new thread in the Food Forum, and then post a link to it in this thread, we will review it, and move it to the BR&G forum if it meets our guidelines!​

Where can you find even more recipes from the era? Ones guaranteed to meet our guidelines? Try this link:

What if I have a family recipe passed down through the generations from the Civil War, can that go in the RB&G forum?

That depends on a number of factors, we will need to discuss that. For best results, post your recipe, or provide the link to it, and we can discuss.​
What if the recipe I want to include is already in the cookbook, what can be done then?

There is always room for multiple recipes, let us see your recipe, if it's eligible to go in, we will either insert it into the existing recipe thread, or create additional listings for that recipe.​
I found a mistake in the RB&G Forum! I have a suggestion for the RB&G Forum! Where do I put those?

Please let us know with a reply post below about any found mistakes in the RB&G forum, and please include a link to the mistake so we can find it easier.... You can also leave suggestions in the reply box.​

I want to help / volunteer to work and maintain the RB&G forum, how can I do that?

Please contact me directly, either with a reply in this thread, or by sending me a private conversation message.​
 
What WILL NOT get posted.....

Modern versions of Civil War Recipes.... for instance.... any recipe that says "Bake at 350 degrees" or preheating an oven to a specific temperature, will come under harsh scrutiny, during the Civil War era, and certainly prior, everything was made with a wood burning, or perhaps a coal fired stove or oven, or inside a fireplace or hearth. 350 degrees wasn't how temperatures were measured in those kitchens, they used temperatures like a slow oven, a fast oven, cooking was vastly different than it is today.

Replacement ingredients can also be an issue, if a recipe calls for double acting baking powder.... you've probably got a modern recipe. Although there were some early versions of baking powder prior to, and during the Civil War era, mass produced premixed and shelf stable baking powder wasn't common until about 1869. Prior to that, ingredients like saleratus, an early baking soda were in common use.

We really only want original recipes in our archive, that means modern cooking techniques and ingredients don't belong, so if you got your recipe from a book like:

"Civil War In The Kitchen Cookbook" by Hugh and Judy Gowan​
"The Taste For War" by William Davis​

You'll want to find the original source for the recipe, and submit that recipe instead. The "modern version" probably has copyright protection anyway!
 
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