Vegetarians need not apply

The other day I was searching for a recipe (don't ask me why) and I came across a fascinating cook book by Adelaide Hollingsworth, The Columbia Cook Book, written in 1893. In it I found such complelling recipes as scrapple, ox cheek, baked calves head, tips for the preparation of racoon, possum, snipe, plovers, and blackbirds (for blackbird pie) and "how to broil, fricassee, stew or fry a squirrel."

But wait, there's more. It seems this is much more than just a cookbook. To cure "offensive feet", one should "take one part muriatic acid to ten parts water; rub the feet every night with this mixture before retiring to bed." To rid your mouth of the odor of onions, drink strong coffee. To keep milk sweet longer, add horseradish.

Hollingsworth also added sage medical advice - "don't sit between a fever patient and a fire" - and provided various techiniques for dealing with medical emergencies, such as accidental poisoning. Among the list of measures effective for inducing vomiting, she included: "Injections of tobacco into the anus through a pipe stem."

Hope this is helpful.

posted by Avi G @ 13:28