Things Mother Used to Make: A Nostalgic Collection of Traditional Miscellaneous Recipes

There’s something incredibly comforting about traditional recipes that have been passed down through generations. These recipes not only fill our kitchens with delightful aromas but also bring back fond memories of home-cooked meals. This collection includes a variety of dishes—from hearty meat and fish recipes to simple yet satisfying egg dishes, and a few miscellaneous favorites. Let’s dive into these nostalgic recipes and recreate the warmth and love of a mother’s kitchen.

Traditional Egg Recipes

To Boil Eggs

Instructions:

1. Place the eggs in a bowl suitable for serving.
2. Pour boiling water over the eggs and let stand for eight to ten minutes.
3. Ensure the water is boiling when poured over the eggs.

Note: This method is recommended for invalids as it enhances the appearance and digestibility of the eggs.

Eggs on Toast

Ingredients:

• Slices of bread
• Butter
• Salted water
• Eggs
• Pepper (optional)

Instructions:

1. Toast the bread slices and butter them well.
2. Pour just enough salted water over the toast to soften it.
3. Bring a dish of water to a boil, stir it round with a spoon or fork, and drop the eggs into the swirling water.
4. Cook for four to six minutes, as preferred.
5. Place one egg on each slice of bread and serve hot, with a dash of pepper if liked.

Plain Omelette

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoonfuls of water
• Pinch of salt

Instructions:

1. Beat the egg whites and yolks separately.
2. Combine them, add salt, and stir in the water.
3. Pour into a hot, buttered frying pan and fry one side until puffed up.
4. Fold the omelette in half and serve immediately.

Ham Omelette

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoonfuls of water
• Pinch of salt
• 2/3 cupful of chopped boiled ham

Instructions:

1. Prepare a plain omelette as directed above.
2. Add the chopped boiled ham to the egg mixture before pouring into the frying pan.
3. Cook both sides until done and serve hot.

New England Poached Eggs

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 8 tablespoonfuls of milk
• Butter the size of a walnut
• 1/2 teaspoonful of salt

Instructions:

1. Break the eggs into a saucepan with milk, salt, and butter.
2. Cook until the mixture thickens, stirring constantly.
3. Remove from heat before it wheys and serve hot with a dash of pepper.

Traditional Fish Recipes

Clam Fritters

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1 cupful of milk
• 1 cupful of bread-flour
• A little salt
• Clams

Instructions:

1. Beat the egg and half the milk, gradually adding the flour to make a smooth batter.
2. Add salt and the remaining milk.
3. Dip one clam into one teaspoonful of batter and drop into boiling lard.
4. Fry until golden and serve hot.

Fish Balls

Ingredients:

• 1 cupful of hot mashed potatoes
• 1/2 cupful of shredded cod-fish
• 2 teaspoonfuls of melted butter
• 2 tablespoonfuls of milk

Instructions:

1. Rinse the fish under cold water in a piece of cheesecloth and squeeze dry.
2. Mix all ingredients together.
3. Take a little flour in your hand and roll half a tablespoonful of the mixture into a ball.
4. Fry in deep fat until golden brown.

To Boil a Lobster

Instructions:

1. Fill a large kettle with enough water to cover the lobster and bring to a boil.
2. Add one cupful of salt if sea water is unavailable.
3. When the water is galloping, put the lobster in head first, keeping it underwater.
4. Boil for 20 to 35 minutes depending on the size.

To Dress Lobsters Cold

Instructions:

1. Carefully crack the shell of the claws and remove the meat, placing it on a platter.
2. Turn the lobster on its back, place a heavy knife on the middle of the tail up to the body, and give it a gentle blow with a hammer.
3. With both hands, turn back the shell and draw out the tail intact.
4. Remove the claws from the underside of the body and take out the stomach and sandbags.
5. Split the tail lengthwise on the underside, remove the black vein, and dress with parsley.

Baked Mackerel

Ingredients:

• 1 mackerel
• 3 small slices of salt pork
• Salt to taste

Instructions:

1. Split the mackerel, remove the head and insides, and wash it clean.
2. Lay the mackerel in a baking pan on a well-buttered paper or cheesecloth, skin side down.
3. Spread the salt pork slices and a little salt over the fish.
4. Bake in a moderate oven for 20 to 30 minutes.

Oysters on Toast

Ingredients:

• Slices of bread
• Oysters
• Pepper and salt
• Hot water

Instructions:

1. Toast the bread slices as needed.
2. Wipe the oysters clean and season with pepper and salt.
3. Put a little hot water over the bread and place in a very hot oven until the edges of the oysters curl.
4. Serve hot with a white sauce.

Baked Shad

Ingredients:

• 1 shad
• 5 or 6 crackers
• Poultry dressing
• Salt
• Butter
• White paper or cheesecloth

Instructions:

1. Make a dressing of finely rolled or soaked crackers, seasoned with poultry dressing, salt, and a small piece of butter.
2. Wash the shad and stuff it with the dressing.
3. Place the stuffed shad on a buttered piece of white paper or cheesecloth in a baking pan.
4. Bake in the oven for one hour.

Traditional Meat and Pork Recipes

A La Mode Beef

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds of beef
• 6 onions
• 4 or 5 white turnips
• Potatoes
• Salt

Instructions:

1. Wash the beef and place it in an iron pan, sprinkling salt over it.
2. Add the peeled onions and thinly sliced turnips around the meat.
3. Pour a quart of cold water over everything.
4. Bake in the oven for three hours, adding more water as needed.
5. Add peeled potatoes an hour and a half before serving.
6. Thicken the gravy with flour mixed with water before serving.

Beefsteak Pie

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds of beef (any cheap cut)
• 1 onion
• 1 tablespoonful of salt

Instructions:

1. Cut the meat into small pieces and cover with cold water in an earthen dish.
2. Add salt and chopped onion.
3. Bake in the oven for three hours.
4. Half an hour before serving, cover with a crust made of flour, baking powder, salt, lard, and water or milk.
5. Bake until the crust is golden brown.

Beef Stew with Dumplings

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds of shin-bone with meat
• 2 large onions
• 6 potatoes
• 1 tablespoonful of salt

Instructions:

1. Wash the meat and place it in a kettle, covering it with cold water.
2. Boil for four hours, adding more water as needed.
3. Add salt and sliced onions, boiling for an additional two hours.
4. Add sliced potatoes and cook for three-quarters of an hour.

Dumplings

Ingredients:

• 2 heaping cupfuls of flour
• 2 teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoonful of baking soda
• 1 teaspoonful of lard
• 1/2 teaspoonful of salt
• 1 glass of water

Instructions:

1. Mix the ingredients to form a dough.
2. Roll out to an inch thick and cut into round pieces.
3. Place the dumplings on a wire plate over the stew, cover, and let boil for twenty minutes.
4. Remove the dumplings and thicken the stew with flour mixed with water.

New England Boiled Dinner

Ingredients:

• Corned beef
• White and sweet potatoes
• Cabbage
• Beets
• Turnips
• Squash
• Parsnips
• Carrots

Instructions:

1. Boil the corned beef for four hours.
2. Add beets and cook for three hours.
3. Add cabbage and cook for one and a half hours.
4. Add squash and turnips and cook for three-quarters of an hour.
5. Boil all together in one kettle.
6. Cook beets, carrots, and parsnips with skins on, then peel them after cooking.

Brunswick Stew

Ingredients:

• 1 chicken or 3 pounds of lamb
• 4 ears of corn
• 6 tomatoes
• 1 onion
• 4 potatoes
• Salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Cook the chicken or lamb until tender in two quarts of water.
2. Remove the meat, chop finely, and return to the liquor.
3. Add corn (cut from the cob), chopped tomatoes, onion, and potatoes.
4. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Cook for two hours.

How to Corn Beef

Ingredients:

• Fresh beef (7-8 pounds)
• Cold water
• Ice-cream salt (1 1/2 cups)

Instructions:

1. Place the beef in an earthen dish and cover with cold water.
2. Add ice-cream salt and let sit for 24 hours.
3. When ready to cook, remove from the brine, wash, and cook in cold water for four hours.

Corned Beef Hash

Ingredients:

• Corned beef
• Potatoes
• Butter
• Milk
• Salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Chop the corned beef finely and mix with an equal amount or slightly more potatoes.
2. Melt butter in a saucepan and add milk or water.
3. Add the meat and potatoes, season with salt and pepper, and stir.
4. Let stand until a crust forms at the bottom.
5. Loosen the hash with a cake-turner, place a warm platter over the pan, and turn the pan and platter together to serve.

Breaded Pork Chops

Ingredients:

• 6 pork chops
• 1 cupful of bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cupful of milk
• Pinch of salt

Instructions:

1. Beat the egg and milk together with the salt.
2. Dip the chops into the mixture, then into the bread crumbs.
3. Fry in hot fat until golden brown.

Potted Beef

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds of a cheap cut of beef
• 3 onions
• 1/2 can of tomatoes
• Salt to taste

Instructions:

1. Put the meat into a kettle and cover with cold water.
2. Boil slowly for three to four hours.
3. Add salt and chopped onions.
4. Pass the tomatoes through a colander and add to the meat.
5. Continue boiling, adding water as necessary.
6. Serve the meat hot, and use the liquor for soup thickened with flour.

A Fine Way to Cook Veal

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds of veal
• 1 egg
• Bread crumbs
• Milk, salt, and pepper

Instructions:

1. Cut the veal into serving-sized pieces and season with salt and pepper.
2. Dip each piece into beaten egg, then into bread crumbs.
3. Fry in pork fat or lard until browned.
4. Transfer to the oven and cook slowly for ten minutes.
5. Cover with milk and bake slowly in a covered pan for one hour.

Veal Patties

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cupfuls of boiled rice
• 1 cupful of veal
• 1/2 teaspoonful of poultry dressing
• 1/2 teaspoonful of salt
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoonful of milk

Instructions:

1. Grind or chop the veal, mix with salt, rice, and poultry dressing.
2. Beat the egg with milk and stir into the mixture.
3. Drop a tablespoonful of the mixture onto a griddle and fry like griddle cakes.
4. Chicken, pork, or lamb can be used instead of veal.

Miscellaneous Recipes

Boston Baked Beans

Ingredients:

• 3 cupfuls of small white beans
• 7 teaspoonfuls of sugar
• 1 teaspoonful of salt
• 1/2 pound of salt pork (fat and lean mixed)
• Water

Instructions:

1. Pick over and wash the beans, cover with cold water, and soak overnight.
2. In the morning, scald the beans (do not boil) in the same water.
3. Drain and place in an earthen bean-pot.
4. Add sugar, salt, and salt pork.
5. Cover with water and bake from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., adding more water as needed.

A Breakfast Dish

Ingredients:

• Stale brown bread
• Cream

Instructions:

1. Boil the stale brown bread until it is soft like pudding.
2. Serve hot with cream.

Cracker Tea for Invalids

Ingredients:

• 4 Boston crackers
• 1 quart of boiling water

Instructions:

1. Split the crackers open and toast to a delicate brown on each side.
2. Place in a bowl and pour boiling water over them.
3. Let stand on the back of the stove for half an hour.
4. When cold, give two or three teaspoonfuls to the patient.

Note: This tea is nourishing and can be retained by the stomach when nothing else can be taken.

Crust Coffee

Ingredients:

• Crusts or pieces of stale brown bread
• Boiling water

Instructions:

1. Bake the crusts until hard and brown.
2. Place in a tea-pot and pour boiling water over them.
3. Boil for 10-15 minutes, then strain and serve hot with cream and sugar.

Grape Juice

Ingredients:

• 10 pounds of grapes
• 3 pounds of sugar
• 1 cupful of water

Instructions:

1. Pick and wash the grapes.
2. Cook the grapes with a little water until tender.
3. Strain through a flannel bag without squeezing.
4. Return the juice to the kettle, add sugar, and boil for five minutes.
5. Seal in glass jars while boiling hot, slanting the jars to prevent cracking.
6. Dilute with water when serving.

Mince Meat

Ingredients:

• 4 cupfuls of chopped meat
• 12 cupfuls of chopped apples
• 2 cupfuls of chopped suet
• 1 cupful of vinegar
• 3 cupfuls of seeded raisins
• 1 cupful of currants
• 5 cupfuls of brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cupfuls of molasses
• 6 teaspoonfuls of cinnamon
• 3 teaspoonfuls of cloves
• 1 teaspoonful of nutmeg
• 1/2 pound of citron
• Rind and juice of one lemon
• Butter the size of an egg
• Salt

Instructions:

1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Moisten with cold coffee or strong tea.
3. Cook slowly for two hours.

Home-made Potato Yeast

Ingredients:

• 4 good-sized potatoes
• 1 quart of boiling water
• 2/3 cupful of sugar
• 1/3 cupful of salt
• 1 1/2 cupfuls of old yeast (or 1 1/2 cakes of compressed yeast)

Instructions:

1. Boil, peel, and mash the potatoes.
2. Add boiling water, sugar, and salt.
3. Add old yeast or compressed yeast.
4. Place in a warm spot to rise, keeping it covered.
5. Use two-thirds of a cupful to one quart of flour.

These traditional recipes bring a touch of nostalgia and the warmth of home into your kitchen. Enjoy the rich flavors and fond memories as you recreate these beloved dishes.