Date: Fri 01-Dec-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Illustration: C

Location: A-11

Quick Words:

cookbook-Sarah-Edmond-Booth

Full Text:

(Cookbook with recipes of Sarah Edmond Booth)

By Kaaren Valenta

After months of work, the Friends of the Cyrenius H. Booth Library have

published a cookbook with the baking recipes of Sarah Edmond Booth, wife of

Cyrenius and grandmother of town benefactress Mary Elizabeth Hawley.

Sarah Booth's tiny notebook of hand-written recipes was found in the archives

of the library last year. But when the Friends decided to use the recipes as

the basis of a cookbook, they faced a dilemma. Many of the recipes, which date

to 1840 and earlier, were merely a listing of ingredients, without directions

or cooking times. Some included ingredients which the Friends could not

identify.

Michele Grillo, an avid cook, and Carolyn Greene, a caterer and the cookbook's

editor, took on the challenge. They experimented with quantities, cooking

times and ingredients.

"It took quite a bit of time and creativity," Mrs Grillo said. "The first few

recipes did not turn out well at all."

Then she contacted Cheryll Compton, a Monroe resident who frequently teaches

colonial cooking classes at the Newtown Historical Society's Matthew Curtis

House.

"She helped identify some of the ingredients and adjust the quantities," Mrs

Grillo said. "We found out that pearlash, included in several of the recipes,

was baking soda which makes cakes rise. Since eggs were smaller then, we cut

the number of eggs by one third to one half."

Among the many recipes are New Year's Cookies, Ginger Bread and Shrewsbury

Cake.

"My favorites are the Shrewsbury Cake and the Ginger Bread," Mrs Grillo said.

"All of the recipes call for fresh, basic ingredients. That appealed to me

since I think people want this kind of cooking today."

Editor Carolyn Greene wanted to give cooks a sense of the period.

"We designed the cookbook to capture the formality and elegance of the early

1800s," she said. "We included Sarah's originals to give cooks an idea of what

recipes were like then."

According to library curator Caroline Stokes, Mrs Booth was a very

accomplished woman, not only in baking but also in needle crafts.

"Sarah made beautiful intricate quilts like the Trapunto quilt," Mrs Stokes

said. "We will display some of the quilts during the next month so visitors to

the library can see how talented Sarah was."

The Sarah Edmond Booth Cookbook can be purchased for $6 at the library. With

its marbleized cover and hand-tied binding of gold cord, the cookbook is

perfect for holiday gift-giving. Proceeds from the sale will benefit the

library.

Ginger Bread, Soft

3 cups dark molasses (two 12-oz jars)

1/2 lb unsalted butter

1 lg egg, at room temperature

2 cups milk, room temperature

5 cups sifted flour

3 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 Tbs freshly grated ginger (if using dry powdered, use 1 Tbs)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease and flour a large (9x13-inch) cake pan.

Combine the molasses and butter in a saucepan. Heat just to a boil and remove

from the heat. Let cool to room temperature. When molasses mixture is cool,

add egg, milk and ginger.

Mix together the flour, baking soda and baking powder. Add to the batter a cup

at a time. Stir briskly by hand or with an electric mixer until no flour is

visible. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for one hour or until cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

If cake is not done but is getting too dark, place a piece of foil lightly

across the top and continue baking.

Note: This recipe can be halved for an 8x8-inch pan. Bake 35-40 minutes. Serve

with sweetened whipped cream.

Variation: Try this as upside down apple-gingerbread muffins. Lightly butter

two muffin tins. Saute 3 medium-sized apples in butter and sugar until

starting to soften. Divide the apples into muffin tins. Add the batter. Bake

20 to 25 minutes. Cool 15 minutes. Turn out onto rack.