Friday, February 22nd, 1861. To day I went home and found Bill at work on the mill house. In the evening the little woman & Florence with Father, Mother & Toby came up. They returned home late in the evening. This being my birth day I took a milk punch. weather changable & warm for the time of year. James Madison Hall
This photo shows the 500+ pages of my copy of the 1860-1866 Journal of James Madison Hall . . . on today's page, he mentions that he took a milk punch in honor of this being his birthday . . . what is a milk punch? . . .
Cool. From PETERSON'S MAGAZINE, March 1868 . . . Put two quarts of French brandy, eighteen lemons, three-quarters of a pound of best loaf sugar, and three pints new milk to two quarts of water. Strain this frequently through a jelly bag until it becomes clear and fine. Make two or three days before it is required, and bottle it off.
Warm. From PETERSON'S MAGAZINE, March 1868 . . . Throw into two quarts of new milk the very thinly pared rind of a fine lemon, and half a pound of good sugar, in lumps; bring it slowly to boil; take out the lemon rind, draw it from the fire, and stir quickly in a couple of well-whisked eggs, which have been mixed with less than half a pint of cold milk, and strained through a sieve; the milk must not of course be allowed to boil after these are mixed with it. Add gradually a pint of rum, and half a pint of brandy. Mix the punch to a froth and serve it immediately with quite warm glasses.
See also . . . Benjamin Franklin's Milk Punch Recipe . . .
Here is a modern version of the recipe . . .
ReplyDelete1 cup fresh milk
Dash of cream
1 ounce light rum
1 ounce bourbon
Maple syrup
Freshly grated nutmeg
Ice
Combine everything but the nutmeg in a glass and stir to combine. Add the maple syrup to taste. Grate the nutmeg over the top to add fragrance and a tiny hit of heat and spice.
I played with my flip-pal for today's photo . . . these journal pages are printed on legal size paper (8.5x14) . . . and the bed on my desk-top scanner is 8.5x11 . . . so I removed the cover from my flip-pal and scanned today's journal page in six different sections . . . and then stitched them together . . . and then created a multiple exposure collage in Picasa using the stitched image and a vintage-looking scan of old paper . . . then I printed that collage on photo paper . . . and trimmed the image with deckle-edge craft scissors . . . that stitched / collaged / deckled image is laying on top of the plain white copies I work from when preparing the daily entries from that 150-year-old journal . . .
ReplyDeleteThat is a lot of work, but, the photo is outta this world fab!!
ReplyDeleteLove the recipes too!
This journal has been in my possession for 10+ years . . . it was sooo overwhelming to think of sitting down and typing out seven years worth of daily entries . . . but when it dawned on me that the sesquicentennial of the war between the states was approaching, I made it my goal / plan to publish one entry per day on the 150th anniversary of each individual entry . . . only six more years to go!
ReplyDeleteWOW!!! I am impressed.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful treasure and project this journal is, Vickie... I very much look forward to what James Madison Hall did on a daily basis as you post. I would so love to have discovered a journal in our family...I don't think any of my ancestors were journal keepers...very sad. You are doing an amazing job, and the gift you are giving and leaving for the generations to come, is priceless.
ReplyDeleteIt's great that you got the Flip-Pal mobile scanner worked out...I have scanned many photos and I love it...it's wonderful! I love that it sits next to me on my desk...it's so very convenient.
I have yet to attempt the "stitching" option...I have an old picture (drawing) of my birth town, Augsburg as it was in the late 1800's, I am guessing. I am going to try scanning that with my Flip-Pal and stitch it together...we will see what happens. Thanks for a great post.
Oh, and a very interesting drink...I had never heard of it until now.