FAMILY RECIPE FRIDAY–HOW TO MAKE BAKED CHICKEN FRICASSEE

My grandmother, Florence Bowden Milne left us a spiral bound notebook, written entirely by hand.  The notebook was begun about the time of her marriage to my grandfather, Joseph A. Milne in 1906.  In it she left a treasure chest of family information and wonderful clues to life back in the early 1900's.  
 
P.S.  That's my grandmother in the group picture of the ladies on the right side of my home page.  She's the one standing on the right.

TODAY'S FEATURED RECIPE

BAKED CHICKEN FRICASSEE

According to Wikipedia, a chicken fricassee is a “method of cooking meat in which the meat is cut up, sautéed and braised, and served with its sauce, traditionally a white sauce.”

This recipe from my grandmother doesn’t seem very detailed compared to the recipes I looked at online.  However, here it is, as written by her.  

My grandmother's recipe for baked chicken fricassee

Transcription: Select nice, fat chicken, butter the baking pan, cut chicken in small pieces, pepper, salt, butter & flour each piece thoroughly.  Cover with boiling hot water, cut in celery if desired, bake in slow oven and serve with hot baking powder biscuits.

Does this recipe need some tweaking?  I say, yes it does.

Here are some sites for chicken fricassee I found online that sound much more tasty.

http://www.marthastewart.com/925889/chicken-fricassee-fricassee-de-poulet-lancienne

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ingrid-hoffmann/grandma-titas-chicken-fricassee-recipe.html

http://blogcritics.org/julia-childs-chicken-fricassee-fricassee-de/

Well, there it is.  Today’s family recipe, brought to you by my maternal grandmother.  I will say, that of my two grandmothers, my paternal grandmother, Marie Lindsay Gould, was the better cook.  I sure wish I had her recipe book.  I can still taste her custard pudding.  

However, I cherish this notebook from my maternal grandmother.  There are many more recipes, both food and non-food, in this journal.  I will continue to share them with you as the weeks go by.  I find the recipes for complexion cream and how to make shampoo and other things like that, the most interesting.

Here are the previous posts from this series:

How to make complexion cream - http://www.michiganfamilytrails.com/2013/10/family-recipe-friday-my-grandmother_4.html

How to make shampoo - http://www.michiganfamilytrails.com/2013/11/family-recipe-friday-how-to-make-shampoo.html

How to make chocolate fudge - http://www.michiganfamilytrails.com/2013/11/family-recipe-friday.html

How to keep hair curled back in 1906 - http://www.michiganfamilytrails.com/2013/11/family-recipe-friday-how-to-keep-hair.html

Please, share your family recipes with me.  I’d love to read them.

Happy cooking,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2014   Diane Gould Hall

TREASURE CHEST THURSDAY–1905 GIFT TO MY GRANDMOTHER

There is today's treasure, the book given to my grandmother.  Also shown are photos of my mother & her parents on the right and my father and his parents on the left. The pictures in the background are of my grandmother, the recipient of today's treasure. 

I know many things about my Grandmother, Florence Bowden Milne.  One of those, is that she was an avid reader for all of her life. 

I remember when she and I were both living in Houston, Texas and she was in her 80’s, I would drive her over to the library where she would check out 8-10 books at a time.  A couple of weeks later, we’d do it all over again.  Her daughter, my mother, is also an avid reader and guess what?  So am I.  Guess it traveled through the generations in those genes. 

I was going through some boxes here at the house about 6 or 7 years ago and came across items that had belonged to my grandmother. One of those items was a book.

The book

Having heirlooms from your ancestors is a heart warming thing.  Well, at least to me it is.  These are items that we may have seen at the ancestor’s home, or they might have worn a particular item, like a ring or earrings.  For me, it gives me a closeness that brings me great joy and satisfaction.

Today’s item is a book that was given to my grandmother, who’s nickname to some of her relatives, was “Flossie.”  Short for Florence.  The inscription says “To Miss Flossie, Christmas ‘05, George & Alfred.”  The name of the book is The Story of the Iliad by A. J. Church, M.A., 1904.

Title page of the book

The inscription inside the book

My grandmother married my grandfather on 11 Apr 1906 when she was 18 yrs. old.  This would mean this gift was given to her the Christmas prior to her wedding.  

As to who George and Alfred are, listed on the inscription, I can only surmise from my family data.  There are an Alfred & George in the Thornton family, who were first cousins to my grandfather, Joseph Albert Milne, and not much older than my grandmother.  I do know that the Thornton family is documented often in my grandmother’s journal.

This book sits just above my computer where I can look at it all the time, along with family photos and my DAR certificate.
 
What items do you have that belonged to your ancestors?  

Some people are fortunate to have many, some only one or two.  But, whatever we have we hold dear.

I would love to hear from you about your family heirlooms.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2014   Diane Gould Hall

FAMILY RECIPE FRIDAY - COMPLEXION CREAM

FAMILY RECIPE FRIDAY

My grandmother, Florence Bowden Milne left us a spiral bound notebook, which I refer to has her journal. In it she left a treasure chest of family information and wonderful clues to life back in the early 1900's. P.S. That's my grandmother in the picture on the right side of this page. She's the one standing on the right.

A recipe doesn't necessarily have to be something that is for cooking. With that in mind I will be sharing various types of recipes, both for cooking and for other things from my grandmother's journal. These items range from recipes for complexion cream (featured today), to curling fluids for your hair to cures for blackheads or acne. You'll see them all here as the weeks continue. So come back often.

TODAY'S FEATURED RECIPE

COMPLEXION CREAM

RECIPE FOR COMPLEXION CREAM

Many of the items used in my grandmother's recipes aren't even available to us any more. But, what fun it is to look at them.

Have we ever thought of our ancestor's lives without all of our modern conveniences? Even something as common as a cream for your face had to be made by hand.

Can you find any old recipes from your family?

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl