Doors Open - Saturday February 7, 1925

Very warm + sun still shining, very little fire + doors open.
The earth still wags.

Bill came home early.
Baked Bread + Kuchen.1

B., D., H., R., + M. played 5 handed 500.
Bill won 1 game, D.-1, R-1, H-0 + m-3. Played until 12:10 P.M.

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1. In researching a 1920's era recipe for the Kuchen that was probably made in this area of Ohio, I came across an interesting website about food timelines and regional food differences. I thought this would be interesting since our writer makes Kuchen frequently so she may be descended from those German and Amish in the area:

Ohio's early culinary heritage

"Ohio was settled by veterans of the Revolutionary War who were given land grants...The pioneers in Ohio experienced many of the same lifestyles as their forefathers when they settled the East Coast. Cooking was done in iron pots in the open hearth. Food was raised of hunted. The pioneer women baked once a week in the hearth oven. Cookies and bread were baked first, followed by cakes and pies...Almost every farm home had a bean separator, since beans were a major ingredient in the farm diet. This hand-made machine, which threshed...beans, could be operated by dog power...Other items of the early Ohio kitchens were sausage stuffers and a lard press...Many settlers brought their native customs and cuisines to Ohio. The transplanted New Englanders brought with them their recipes for baked beans and salt pork and molasses. Dumplings makde with sour milk, chicken potpie...Some of these early settlers used bread stuffings for pork and beef, mainly to stretch a meal...The Germans brought their love for sausages, sauerkraut, and hearty meat and potato meals. Czech immigrants brougth one of their favorite dishes--fish boiled with spices andserved with a black sauce of prunes, raisins, and almonds... No fruit was more imporant to pioneer life than the apple...John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, left a trail of apple orchards throughout Ohio...Many of the first permanent settlers of Ohio were Germans from Pennsylvania...Cincinnati was established after the War of 1812 and became an elegant metropolis. Oysters were the luxury food...In the mid-nineteenth century Cincinnati was the world's greatest pork-packing center, turning hogs from Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky into hams and sausages."
---Taste of the States, Hilde Gabriel Lee [Howell Press:Charlottesville VA] 1992 (p. 159-161)