Students - Traditional baking

ANCHOR BOOKS EDITION, SEPTEMBER 2011

Copyright 1972, 1973, 1975 by The Foxfire Fund, Inc.

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Anchor Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

A portion of this work originally appeared in The Foxfire Book, 1972 by Brooks Eliot Wigginton. Reprinted by permission of Random House, Inc.

A portion of this work originally appeared in slightly different form in Foxfire 2, 1973 by the Southern Highlands Literary Fund, Inc. and Brooks Eliot Wigginton. Reprinted by permission of Random House, Inc.

A portion of this work originally appeared in Foxfire 3, 1975 by The Foxfire Fund, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Random House, Inc.

Anchor Books and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

eISBN: 978-0-307-94821-2

v3.1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A NOTE ABOUT THE FOXFIRE AMERICANA LIBRARY

For almost half a century, high school students in the Foxfire program in Rabun County, Georgia, have collected oral histories of their elders from the southern Appalachian region in an attempt to preserve a part of the rapidly vanishing heritage and dialect. The Foxfire Fund, Inc., has brought that philosophy of simple living to millions of readers, starting with the bestselling success of The Foxfire Book in the early 1970s. Their series of fifteen books and counting has taught creative self-sufficiency and has preserved the stories, crafts, and customs of the unique Appalachian culture for future generations.

Traditionally, books in the Foxfire series have included a little something for everyone in each and every volume. For the first time ever, through the creation of The Foxfire Americana Library, this forty-five-year collection of knowledge has been organized by subject. Whether down-home recipes or simple tips for both your household and garden, each book holds a wealth of tried-and-true information, all passed down by unforgettable people with unforgettable voices.

BREADS

CORN PONES

1 pint corn meal/ teaspoon salt1 teaspoon baking powder1 tablespoon lardmilk

Mix together meal, powder, and salt, cut in lard, and add enough milk to make a stiff batter. Form into pones with hands (or add some milk and drop from the end of a spoon), and place in a greased pan. Bake in a hot oven for about half an hour.

CORN CAKES

2 cups corn meal1 kitchen spoon flour2 eggs1 teaspoon salt2 teaspoons baking powder1 tablespoon melted butter or lardmilk

Beat eggs, add meal, flour, salt, baking powder, and butter. Add enough milk to make a thin batter. Pour out onto a hot griddle and flip to other side when brown. Good with butter and syrup.

HUSH PUPPIESMix 1 cup flour, 1 cup corn meal, and a pinch of salt and soda. Add 1 egg and buttermilk until it is the right consistency to hold its shape when rolled into a ball. Mix in 1 medium onion chopped up, roll into balls about an inch to 2 inches across, and drop into a couple inches of hot fat. Let them deep fry until theyre brown and crispy; drain a bit on some paper, and serve hot.

LIGHT BREAD

1 cake yeast3 teaspoons sugar1 pint warm water2 medium potatoes2 teaspoons saltflour

Dissolve the yeast in 1 cup of the water. Cook the potatoes, mash very fine, and add yeast along with 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sugar, and the rest of the water. Put in a jar and leave in a warm place to rise. Sift flour, and mix it in with the yeast mixture along with 1 more teaspoon salt and 2 more teaspoons sugar. Keep adding flour until it makes a firm dough. Let rise to double, knead, and make into loaves. Let rise for one hour, and then bake at about 350 until it tests done.

BRAN BREADMix together 1 quart each of bran flour, white flour, and buttermilk. Add 1 cup each of seeded raisins and molasses, and last mix in 1 teaspoon each of baking soda and salt. Put into loaf pans and bake until done.

RYE BREADSift together 1 cup of wheat flour, 1 cup rye flour, / cup of corn meal, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon baking powder.

Add enough buttermilk to make a firm dough, adding / teaspoon of soda per cup of buttermilk. Cut in 3 tablespoons of shortening, mix thoroughly, and roll out to about / inch thick. Cut as you would biscuits, place on greased sheet, and bake at 450 for ten to twelve minutes.

CRACKLIN BREADPrepare corn bread by using 2 cups of corn meal, 2 teaspoons of salt, 1 cup of buttermilk, 1 teaspoon of soda, and / teaspoon of baking powder. Mix / cup of cracklins into the mixture. If it is too dry use some lukewarm water to make the right consistency for corn bread. Put in oven and cook until brown.

ASH CAKESMix up dough for corn bread, and make sure its thick enough to hold its shape. Clean out a corner of the fireplace, put the cake in it, and cover it with a clean cloth. Put hot ashes over the cloth, then put hot coals on top of that. It takes about half an hour.

MOLASSES SWEET BREADSift together 2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, / teaspoon salt, / teaspoon soda, 2 teaspoons ginger, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Add / cup melted butter, 1 cup molasses (or / cup sugar and / cup molasses), / cup buttermilk, and 1 egg. Mix well, pour into a loaf pan, and bake at 350 for about fifty minutes.

OLD-FASHIONED GINGERBREAD

/ cup sugar/ cup butter1 cup molasses2 cups flour/ teaspoon soda1/ teaspoons ginger/ teaspoon cinnamon/ cup sour milknuts or raisins if desired

Mix all ingredients together, put into a large loaf pan, and bake for about an hour. (This recipe is at least a hundred years old.)

SYRUP BREAD

Mix up flour, soda, salt, and buttermilk as you would for a plain bread recipe, and instead of using sugar to sweeten it, use homemade syrup. Bake like any other bread.

CAKES

CARROT PUDDING OR CAKE

/ cup sifted flour1 teaspoon baking powder/ teaspoon baking soda/ teaspoon salt/ teaspoon cinnamon/ teaspoon ground cloves/ cup milk/ teaspoon nutmeg/ cup sugar/ cup currants/ cup raisins/ cup grated rawpotatoes1 cup grated raw carrots

Mix and sift ingredients. Add the fruits, stir until well coated, then stir in potatoes, carrots, and milk. Pour into a greased pan and cover with a lid and steam in a large pan of hot water for 2/ hours.

Serve with Carrot Pudding Sauce, made as follows: Mix 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 large teaspoon vanilla or wine, and the yolks of two eggs. Beat. When ready to serve, add / pint cream whipped.

PUMPKIN CAKE

1 / cups corn oil2 cups sugar3 cups flour2 teaspoons baking powder2 scant teaspoons soda1 teaspoon salt2 teaspoons vanilla4 eggs2 cups pumpkin1 cup raisins or fruit cake mix1 cup chopped nuts2 teaspoons pumpkin spice

Mix corn oil, sugar, flour, spice, powder, soda, salt, and pumpkin. Add eggs beaten well. Add vanilla, nuts, and raisins that have been mixed with / cup of extra flour. Bake in a loaf pan for about an hour at 400450.

DRIED APPLE CAKEMix up a regular white or yellow cake recipe, and bake it in four thin layers. Mix 1 pint dried apples with 1 pint of water, and cook until thick and the apples are mashed. Sweeten to taste with syrup and add some spices. Let cool a bit, and spread the mixture between the layers and on top of the cake. You can cover the sides if you want.

MOLASSES COOKIES

1 cup brown sugar1 egg1 cup molasses/ cup melted lard or butter/ cup boiling water salt to taste

Add enough flour to knead. Roll, cut out, and bake in hot oven.

PIES

TAME GOOSEBERRY PIEMix 2 cups of berries with / cup of sugar, and cook, stirring to mash the berries, until thick. Make some plain biscuit dough, roll out, and cut into 1 wide strips. Pour the berries into a pie plate, lay the strips of dough crosswise on the berries, and bake at about 450 until the crust is done.

SWEET POTATO PIE

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