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    Some receipts from this era attempted to give medicinal advice. Many dangerous, and in some cases, deadly, "cures" were given, reflecting the primitive knowledge of that time period. Don't assume everything you read here is safe to try! Recipes and Receipts posted here are for Historic Research Purposes, enjoy them, learn from them, discuss them!

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Preservation Red Cabbage Pickled

red cabbage pickled
(From The Cook's Oracle by William Kitchiner, MD, 1829)

Ingredients:

Purple cabbage​
Salt​
Pickle for red beets (recipe below)​

Instructions:

Get a fine purple cabbage, take off the outside leaves, quarter it, take out the stalk (core), shred the leaves into a colander, sprinkle them with salt, let them remain till the morrow, drain them dry, put them into a jar, and cover them with pickle for beet roots.​
Pickle for beet roots
Add to a quart of vinegar an ounce of ground pepper, half an ounce of ginger pounded, same of salt, and of a horseradish cut in thin slices; and you may warm it, if you like, with a few capsicums, or s little Cayenne; put these ingredients into a jar; stop it close, and let them steep three days on a trivet by the side of the fire: then, when cold, pour the clear liquor on the beet-root, which have previously arranged in a jar.​

 
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A woman I work with has a similar recipe and it's very tasty. Warning Label should be attached, "Can be hazardous to others due to GI discomfort."....LOL
 
Stand back! :redface: Love red cabbage and sauerkraut, too. Funny - my husband is a good part German and hates the stuff!

You know, I don't think they know how to properly pickle things anymore. Maybe it's been left to the commercial characters too much. (Although a Korean gentleman in town buries and resurrects a mighty kim chee!)
 
Stand back! :redface: Love red cabbage and sauerkraut, too. Funny - my husband is a good part German and hates the stuff!

You know, I don't think they know how to properly pickle things anymore. Maybe it's been left to the commercial characters too much. (Although a Korean gentleman in town buries and resurrects a mighty kim chee!)

I do not know how the land lies in US. But here in the UK people now rarely "grow their own". We had a small garden where my father regularly grew many, mainly vegetables. After reaping the crop, much was handed out to neighbours after our share was selected. Another portion was set aside for pickling or storage. This was real small scale, but the knowledge of "how to" was established. This is not happening nowadays, and the reliance on shops to provide, is dominating our eating habits. Not only is the skill lost, but that unique taste, and pride in having produced it yourself. Has been lost to future generations.
 
I do not know how the land lies in US. But here in the UK people now rarely "grow their own". We had a small garden where my father regularly grew many, mainly vegetables. After reaping the crop, much was handed out to neighbours after our share was selected. Another portion was set aside for pickling or storage. This was real small scale, but the knowledge of "how to" was established. This is not happening nowadays, and the reliance on shops to provide, is dominating our eating habits. Not only is the skill lost, but that unique taste, and pride in having produced it yourself. Has been lost to future generations.

That's something I've long been unhappy about, and count myself lucky to be able to have a good size garden as well as crops on my ranch - mainly feed. My sister has a postage stamp yard at her apartment and can't grow even a tomato plant - her nutty landlord cut off everybody's outside water. :eek: During the Depression, my parents said nobody knew there was a depression on - grew our own and were used to making do without and, besides, you don't miss what you never had! But now I'm seeing big orchards and good ranch land being taken up and houses built on it - overpriced McMansions and many empty. I think that is disturbing. Tear off the topsoil of good farmland, build an overpriced cheap house - and the subdivision sits vacant, or almost so. Most of these developers are based in Germany or Russia. Kind of weirds me out. It's like they don't care about selling the houses but do care about getting rid of the ability to grow your own food. I don't want to eat grapes from Chile when I know the guy down the road sells great grapes! And I know him - how careful or not careful he is, what he uses, etc. And few people, as you say, know how to properly can and freeze. When Grandma's in Chicago, you're in San Francisco, and the kids are in Denver - it's hard to get those family things going. I'm lucky most of my family is still hanging out around the rez - we Indians never get far when we leave home!

You make a wonderful point about the sense of community that develops when everybody gardens and swaps the food around. When we lived in town, lots of times people would be banging on the back door with a box of vegetables or a jug of good milk, or bring over their zucchini bread or blackberry pies. There's a real satisfaction in this good, wholesome food and of sharing it as well. It's nice to watch Auntie Vi's eyes light up - maybe a little greedily! - when she opens her door and sees you have a box of tomatoes, squash and peaches for her!
 
Another benefit I remember vividly diane, was sitting around the kitchen table just mundanely getting on with shelling peas, or sorting out damaged potatoes. Selecting and working away while easily chatting with each other. Priceless times.
 
Ah, the good ol' days! Sitting on the porch in the cool of the evening. (our 60's version of A/C) Stringing and snapping pole beans. Or using the old hand grinder to grind up home-grown peppers, onions, cucumbers for mom's home made relish. Or cabbage for home made kraut or chow-chow. Neighbors would always come by, and if we were good and lucky would get to hear stories about their "good ol' days" or sometimes ghost stories. No wonder their were no mass killings in those days. Everyone interacted with their neighbors and of course knew everyone's business.:D
 
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