When we talk about the pioneers, it is usually as people who sought out a better life where they could exercise their religion in freedom. In focusing on their pursuit of freedom, we often gloss over the fact that the early pioneers were incredibly brave…
And also incredibly self-sufficient. Pioneer life was not easy and the daily chores of managing a house where more than a full time occupation. Cooking was a major part of each day. Early settlers butchered their own meat and made corned beef, sausage, smoked and dried meats. Large gardens yielded produce for canning, pickling and other preserves. Root cellars stored potatoes, carrots, and onions. Milk was separated into cream for butter and baking and milk for drinking. Breads, cakes and pies were of course all baked at home from scratch from whatever was available.
For the most part meals were informal and the food hearty. Nothing was wasted. Dried bread was made into bread pudding; a bone was turned into soup and extra milk was made into pudding or cheese. Often there was a shortage of some ingredient. As you will see from the recipes, many are based on very basic ingredients and several on how to make a meal with only a few ingredients. Recipes would not only be for food but also for perfume, home remedies, wine and soap making.
Recipe books were not common and cooking was very much a passed down art or trial and error. It is interesting to read recipes from this period, as often they are vague and written with a few small hints that only the person who wrote them would understand. The three day bun recipe and by guess by gosh gingerbread are good examples of this.
There were hardly any stores along the Oregon Trail (or the numerous other pioneer trails) where they could pick up provisions. They had to know how to forage their own food and cook meals out of practically nothing.
It truly is hard to imagine how they successfully fed themselves. When I started to research this article, I was surprised by the variety of foods. Although basic there was still a vast number of recipes to choose from. I was also surprised by the ingenuity of the recipes like Mock Apple Pie and Butterless, Eggless, Milkless Cake and by the fact that I and many other prairie people still commonly make some of these recipes like boiled raison cake and cookies. It proves that these recipes although practical in the past still are alive today because of their flavour.
Even once they were settled, the pioneers still had to be resilient. A single storm could take out half a year’s of food supplies. There wasn’t any refrigeration and even home canning didn’t become common until later (which, of course, you’d need access to jars to do!).
I personally find all aspects of pioneer life fascinating: how they organized labor, how they handled medicine, how they built their homes…
But how the pioneers ate is one of the most fascinating aspects of their life. It gives you insight into how creative and hard-working they were in their endeavors to sustain their families in tough situations.
Below are some of the foods that the pioneers ate – and what we might be eating again if a disaster strikes
Pioneer Foods
Bread: The pioneers didn’t have packages of yeast. They usually made their bread with the “salt-rising” method. The bread dough was mixed in a kettle while they were traveling. Natural bacteria in the dough would make it rise. Then the dough was baked in the kettle over a campfire at night. Read more about it here.
Cured Meat: Without refrigerators, meat was preserved either by smoke curing or salt curing. To salt cure meat, salt was rubbed into the meat. The meat was then covered with salt for about 1 month, during which time more salt was continuously added. Bacon was a particular favorite of the pioneers. More about food preservation here.
Cornmeal, dried corn: The pioneers brought along dried corn and would grind it into meal to make cakes and breads.
Lard: Forget fancy olive oil! The pioneers used fat from animals to cook their food. It was a staple on the trail.
Eggs: Pioneers on the Oregon Trail did bring chickens along in crates tied to the backs of their wagons. However, it is doubtful that they laid eggs in the bumpy, stressful conditions. Eggs were mostly used in pioneer recipes once they got settled.
Rabbits, squirrels and small game: These could be easily hunted along the way.
Squash: Squash, such as pumpkins, don’t spoil quickly and can also be found growing in the wild. The pioneers would make mashes and cakes out of them.
Dried fruit: To dry fruit, pioneers would lay the sliced fruit out in the sun.
Tubers (potatoes, turnips, etc.): These were also a pioneer favorite because they lasted a long time without spoiling. Tubers could also be foraged easily on the frontier.
Pioneer Recipes
Sea Foam
| 3 cups | brown sugar | 750 mL |
| water enough to moisten (about 1/2 cup/125 mL) | ||
| vinegar (about 1 tbsp/15 mL) | ||
| 2 | egg whites, beaten still | 2 |
Boil sugar, water and vinegar until it forms a hard lump in cold water. Beat 2 egg whites stiff. Beat syrup in egg whites gradually. Spread on an oiled cake pan to cool. Break into chunks.
Source: United Farmers of Canada Saskatchewan Section Limited (Women’s Section) Cookbook, published in 1940.
Chinese Chews
| 1 cup | dates | 250 mL |
| 1 cup | walnuts | 250 mL |
| 3/4 cup | flour | 175 mL |
| 1 cup | granulated sugar | 250 mL |
| 2 | eggs | 2 |
| 1 tsp | baking powder | 5 mL |
Spread 3/4 inch thick in a pan and bake slowly for 20 minutes. Remove while hot. Cut in squares. Roll in icing sugar.>
Source: United Farmers of Canada Saskatchewan Section Limited (Women’s Section) Cookbook, published in 1940.
Three Day Buns
At noon put into a quart sealer 1cup (250 mL) flour, 1 cup (250 mL) water, 1 yeast cake. Let soak till next morning. Then add 1 cup (250 mL) sugar, 1 cup (250 mL) shortening, 6 cups (1.5 L) cold water, handful salt, flour to stiffen. Knead well and keep kneaded down. Let stand till night. Mold into buns at night and bake the next morning.
Source: United Farmers of Canada Saskatchewan Section Limited (Women’s Section) Cookbook, published in 1940.
Three Day Buns
| 1 | pkg yeast or 1 yeast cake | 1 |
| 1 1/2 cups | potato water or cooled scalded milk or lukewarm water | 375 mL |
Source: Saskatoon Fair Pion-era Cookbook No. 1, published in 1966.
Mock Apple Pie
It is hard to tell this is not apple pie. Texture is the only give away!
Boil in a pan:
| 1 1/3 cups | sugar | 325 mL |
| 1 1/2 cups | apple juice | 375 mL |
| 1/2 tsp | cinnamon | 2 mL |
| 1/2 tsp | nutmeg | 2 mL |
| 1 tbsp | butter | 15 mL |
| 1 tsp | cream of tartar | 5 mL |
| 1 tsp | vinegar | 5 mL |
| 1/2 tsp | salt | 2 mL |
| 1/2 tsp | vanilla | 2 mL |
Line your pie plate with pastry. Break 14 soda crackers into the plate and pour the boiled mixture over them. Cover with top crust and bake 45 minutes at 350°F (180°C).
Source: Saskatoon Fair Pion-era Cookbook No.3, published in 1968.
Butterless, Eggless, Milkless Cake
Amazingly this works. However, it is best eaten fresh out of the oven.
| 1 cup | brown sugar | 250 mL |
| 1 cup | cold water | 250 mL |
| 1 1/2 cup | raisins | 375 ml |
| 1/3 cup | shortening | 75 ml |
| 1 tsp | cinnamon | 5 mL |
| 1/4 tsp | nutmeg | 1 mL |
| 1/2 tsp | cloves | 2 mL |
| 1/2 tsp | salt | 2 mL |
Boil the above together for 3 minutes. Let cool. The add:
| 1 tsp | baking soda dissolved in 2 tbsp (25 mL) hot water | 5 mL |
| 2 cups | flour | 500 mL |
| 1/2 tsp | baking powder | 2 mL |
Bake in a flat pan at 350°F (180°C) for 35 to 40 minutes.
Source: Boomtown’s Second Edition of Women’s Auxiliary of the Western Development Museum Cookbook, published in 1966/1967.
Roasted Rabbit
Wash rabbit in cold water, season with salt and pepper. Insert dressing and sew up. Roast at 325°F (160°C) for 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours.
Dressing:
| 1/2 lb | sausage meat | 250 g |
| 2 cups | dried breadcrumbs | 500 mL |
| 1 tbsp | onion juice | 15 mL |
| 1 tbsp | parsley | 15 mL |
| salt and pepper |
Source: Boomtown’s Second Edition of Women’s Auxiliary of the Western Development Museum Cookbook, published in 1966/1967.
Spoon Bread
| 1 cup | boiling water | 250 mL |
| 3/4 cup | cornmeal | 175 mL |
| 3 tsp | butter | 45 mL |
| 3 | eggs | 3 |
| 1 cup | buttermilk or sour cream | 250 mL |
| 1 tsp | salt | 5 mL |
| 1 1/2 tsp | baking powder | 7 ml |
| 3/4 tsp | baking soda | 4 ml |
| 3/4 cup | flour | 175 mL |
Separate eggs, beat whites stiff. Sift dry ingredients. Pour boiling water over cornmeal, slowly; stir until cool. Add butter, egg yolks and flour mixture alternately with buttermilk to cornmeal mush. Beat well; fold in egg whites. Pat in 1 1/2 quart (1.5 L) baking dish. Bake.
Source: Boomtown’s Second Edition of Women’s Auxiliary of the Western Development Museum Cookbook, published in 1966/1967.
Old Time Sheep Sorrel Pie
During pioneer times lemons usually were very scarce. In order to satisfy their taste for lemon pie, women learned to use the pink-flowered sheep sorrel that grew wild on the prairie as a substitute for lemons. They used a regular lemon pie recipe but substituted a cup of shredded sheep sorrel for the lemons. The pie has a tart lucious flavour, similar to real lemon pie.
Source: Saskatoon Fair Pion-era Cookbook No.1, published in 1966.
By-Guess By-Gosh Gingerbread
Pioneer recipes were seldom as specific as recipes today but this one has me puzzled. She wrote, “I always take some flour, just enough for the size of the cake I want to bake. I mix it up with some buttermilk if I happen to have any around, just enough for the flour. Then I take some ginger; some like more, some like less. I put in a little salt and pearl ash, and then I tell one of my children to pour in molasses until I tell him to stop. Then the children bring in wood to build up a good fire and we have gingerbread for company”. No doubt Grandma got better results from this recipe than I would.
Source: Saskatoon Fair Pion-era Cookbook No.1, published in 1966.
Old Time Beauty Hints
Perfume
Spread fresh, unsalted butter on two plates of the same size. Then fill one plate with roses, jasmine, violets or any other flowers you wish. Turn the other plate over it and let stand for 24 hours. Then scrape off the butter from the plate and add a little alcohol or whiskey. Cork tightly.
Note: This must have been the equal of “My Sin” or “Parisian Nights” for anybody’s money in the pioneer days.
For Spring Fever: For curing ” Spring Laggin’s” is the interesting title for this recipe I found in my Grandma’s “receipt” book. “Take sasparilla, yellow dock, black alder bark, burdock root, sassafras bark, wintergreen. Of each, one ounce mixed with four pints of syrup. A wine glass of this three times a day.
Source: Saskatoon Fair Pion-era Cookbook No.1, published in 1966.
“Food for a Barn Raising”
This bit of information was found in a quaint, old handwritten recipe book from great grandmother’s day. It included here mainly for the purpose of giving us a peep into the past. As many of us know, a “barn raising” was quite an event during those early years. When a new barn was built, all the friends and neighbours came on the specified day to help put up the framework of the barn. This policy is still carried out in some communities where neighbours are neighbourly. Homemakers of our day will no doubt be astounded at all the food consumed in one day. What is more difficult to believe is that it was all made in great grandmother’s kitchen. Here is the list:
| 115 | lemon pies |
| 500 | fat cakes (doughnuts) |
| 15 | large cakes |
| 3 gallons | applesauce |
| 3 gallons | rice pudding |
| 3 gallons | cornstarch pudding |
| 16 | chickens |
| 3 | hams |
| 50 lb | roast beef |
| 300 | light rolls |
| 16 | loaves of bread |
| red beet pickles and pickled eggs | |
| cucumber pickle | |
| 6 lbs | dried prunes, stewed |
| 1 | large crock stewed raisins |
| 5 gallons | stone jar of white potatoes and the same amount of sweet potatoes |
| enough food for 175 men! |
Boiled Raisin Cake
| 2 cups | raisins | 500 mL |
| 2 1/2 cups | water | 625 mL |
| 1 cup | butter or oil | 250 mL |
| 2 cups | brown sugar | 500 mL |
| 2 | eggs | 2 |
| 1 tsp | vanilla | 5 mL |
| 2 1/2 cups | silfted flour | 625 mL |
| 2 tsp | baking soda | 5 mL |
| 1 tsp | baking powder | 5 mL |
| 2 tsp | cinnamon | 10 mL |
| 2 tsp | nutmeg | 5 mL |
| 1 tsp | salt | 5 mL |
Simmer the raisins and water for a few minutes. Cool. Mix butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Add the raisin juice. Sift the dry ingredients together and add to other mixture. Stir. Fold in raisins. Pour into a greased, floured 9 x 13 inch (3.5 L) cake pan and bake at 350°F (180°C) for 40 minutes. Cover with Caramel Icing.
Caramel Icing
Melt 1/3 cup (75 mL) butter. Add 1 cup (250 mL) brown sugar and boil over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in 5 tbsp (75 mL) milk and heat until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm. Stir in 11/2 & 2 cups (375 & 500 mL) sifted icing sugar and beat until thick enough to spread.
Source: Canadian Prairie Homesteaders, published in 1979
Ranch House Stew
| 4 lb | beef rump or stew meat, cut into cubes | 2 kg |
| 4 | large onions, chopped | 4 |
| 3/4 cup | flour | 175 mL |
| 1 tsp | paprika | 5 mL |
| 1 cup | canned tomatoes | 250 mL |
| 1 | glass beer (optional) | 1 |
| 2 tsp | Worcestershire sauce | 10 mL |
| 4 cups | brown stock or water with beef bouillon cubes dissolved | 1 L |
| 3 | bay leaves | 3 |
| 1 tsp | parsley | 5 mL |
| 1/4 tsp | thyme | 1 mL |
| 2 cups | mushrooms, whole or sliced | 500 mL |
| 1 tsp | salt | 5 mL |
| pepper to taste |
Source: Come ‘n Get it At the Ranch House by B.M. Barss
Turnip Puff
| 4 cups | boiled, mashed turnips | 1 L |
| 4 tbsp | butter | 60 mL |
| 2 tsp | sugar | 10 mL |
| 1 tsp | salt | 5 mL |
| 2 | eggs, separated | 2 |
| pinch | nutmeg | pinch |
| pepper to taste |
Add the butter, sugar, salt, nutmeg, pepper and egg yolks to the turnips. Beat together. Whip the egg whites until stiff, as for meringue, and fold into the turnip mixture. Pile into a buttered 1-1/2 quart (1.5L) casserole dish and bake at 300 to 360°F (150-180°C) for 15 to 20 minutes.
Serves 6.
Source: Come’ n Get it Cowboys and Chuckwagons by B.M.Barass.
Coleslaw
| 1/2 | head cabbage, shredded to make 4 cups ( 1 L) | 1/2 |
| 2 tbsp | vinegar | 25 mL |
| 1/2 cup | vegetable oil | 125 mL |
| 3 tbsp | sugar | 45 mL |
| 1/2 tsp | salt | 2 mL |
In a jar shake together vinegar, oil, sugar, and salt. Add to cabbage and mix. Refrigerate for several hours.
Serves 4 to 5.
Old-time gardeners were ahead of their time! Their ideas for wildflower gardens, children’s gardens, organic pest controls, decorating with houseplants, healing with herbs, and more are at the forefront of modern gardening trends. Take a look back to the future of gardening with this incredible collection of gardening advice from successful 17th-, 18th-, 19th-, and early 20th-century gardeners.
Early gardeners knew what they were doing–they had to, since they depended on their plants for food, medicine, home decorations, and recreation! Whether you’re growing vegetables, flowers, herbs, fruits, trees, shrubs, wildflowers, houseplants, or lawn grass, these old-time tips will help you get the most out of your plantings. Do you want a lusher lawn? How about more beautiful flowerbeds or hints for making your yard look bigger? You’ll find all that and more in Old Time Wisdom.
Old-Time Wisdom” boxes present early gardeners’ best planting notions.
* Tried-and-true recipes from early kitchens will tickle your tastebuds.
* “Strange but True” boxes reveal weird, wacky, and wonderful gardening techniques.
* A source list makes it easy to locate wonderful old-time plants.
* Authentic old-time illustrations take you back to a time when garden tips were on everyone’s lips.
* A “Recommended Reading” list guides you to more great ideas from the past.
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