Ever wonder what Early Thyme Cooking terms meant?

I received this today from Amanda (Old Fashion Tips) and just had to share this with all my blogettes..or bloggers, as the case may be *s*.

I found this information invaluable and am sure you will as well.
I'm sure a lot of you have along your life path, picked up cookbooks at thrift stores or perhaps your Grandmother gave you one of her treasured cookbooks from yesteryear...you know the kind...the ones compiled with recipes from all over rural America, with fabulous home cooking recipes.

While they are a treasure trove of wonderful recipes, they are a bit old and out dated in their directions and instructions. They often lack modern terms, temperatures, methods and ingredients.

So to make easier to follow those nostalgic recipes and make those delicious olde style dishes of early thymes, below you will find the translations which will prove quite helpful.

Oven temperatures:
Slow = up to 300 F
Very moderate = 300 F - 350 F
Moderate/Medium = 350 F - 400 F
Hot/Quick/Fast = 400 F - 450 F
Very Hot/Very Quick = 450 F - 500 F

1 pound yields:
4 cups sifted flour
4 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
3 1/2 cups graham flour
3 cups cornmeal
5 1/2 cups rolled oats
2 1/4 cups white sugar
2 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1 1/3 cups molasses or honey
2 cups milk
4 cups nut meats, chopped
3 cups dried fruit

lard = use shortening
fat = means butter
sour milk = buttermilk OR 1 tablespoon vinegar added to 1 cup whole milk
sweet milk = milk (whole is best for baking, but 2%, 1% and skim can be used succesfully)
cake compressed yeast = 1 package active dry yeast

pint = 2 cups
quart = 4 cups
gill = 4 ounces (1/4 pound, metric = 5 ounces as a metric pound is 20 ounces)
peck = 8 quarts
bushel = 4 pecks

And just for fun, here's a recipe you might enjoy:

Tea Bread

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup chopped dates or raisins
1 cup milk

Mix dry ingredients, rub in peanut butter, add fruit, stir in milk. Pour into small greased bread pan and bake in moderate oven about an hour.

Wishing all a primilicous day enjoying your Tea Bread *s*

*NorthwindStar*