Pioneer Recipes is a wonderfully illustrated cookbook intended to introduce children to a pioneer kitchen.
This description short-changes this terrific book, because it is a great learning tool for adults as well.
It not only contains easy to make, authentic pioneer dishes, but also describes how our ancestors prepared their meals and their methods of cooking.
With it being Autumn, fresh apple cider is easy to find, so for my first recipe, I decided to make "Native Pudding." My husband and I share our home with three dogs and a cat, but since they don't eat pudding (although they'd probably like to), I cut the recipe in half.
It was interesting tasting, although the texture was not as smooth as you would expect pudding to be. This was understandable, as the recipe called for cornmeal rather than flour. This recipe also used molasses rather than sugar, so it wasn't as sweet as our modern puddings are. Ingredients such as flour and sugar were very expensive during "pioneer" times and were only used on special occasions.
When trying out these pioneer recipes, it is best you keep in mind that something sweet was a nice change from an everyday fare of meat (if Dad was a good shot) and vegetables.
Most of the ingredients for "Native Pudding" are still produced locally. Milk, cornmeal, apple cider, butter, eggs and raisins are fairly easy to find. You could make your own molasses from sorghum cane, which can be grown in Southern Oregon. You could also make salt the old-fashioned way by taking a trip over to the coast, filling a pot with sea water and boiling it down to salt and other minerals. The only other ingredient is cinnamon, most of which comes from Sri Lanka and South India.
Pioneer Recipes can be purchased at the Josephine Historical Society's Bookshop located in the Research Library at 512 K Street, Grants Pass; or at their Online Bookshop.
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