Jennifer Bohnhoff
  • Home
  • Upcoming Events, Presentations, and Classroom Visits
  • In the Shadow of Sunrise
  • Summer of the Bombers
  • Rebels Along the Rio Grande Series
  • A Blaze of Poppies
  • On Fledgling Wings
  • The Bent Reed
  • Code: Elephants on the Moon
  • The Anderson Chronicles
  • The Last Song of the Swan
  • Raven Quest
  • Thin Air: My Blog About Writing and My Books
  • Store

Salt Rising Bread: An Old Recipe

6/20/2018

2 Comments

 
Picture
​I’ve always been interested in the history of food, particularly as it might relate to the periods in which my novels are set. A year and a half ago, because I was interested in breadmaking during the Civil War, I wrote an article on the history of chemical leavening in breadmaking which you can access here.
​  
Now that school is out, I’ve got a little more time to play with historical recipes, and I’m back to making old fashioned breads. One I found curious, Salt-Rising Bread, appeared in my James Beard Cookbook, Beard on Bread. Beard called this recipe one of the oldest bread recipes in America, and included it as more of a curiosity than a successful bread. He warned that it could be temperamental and unreliable,  but that just piqued my interest, so I had to do a little more research and then give it a try.

Before the 1860s, when commercial yeast was developed, women had to rely on native yeasts (which are a form of fungus) or bacteria to leaven their baked goods. The leavening in Salt-Rising Bread is Closridium perfringens, a bacteria that can cause food poisoning but is rendered harmless by baking. Salt-Rising bread seems to have been developed in the late 1700s by pioneers in the Appalachian mountains. It is still produced in Kentucky, West Virginia, Western New York, and Western Pennsylvania. While this area does not include Gettysburg, where my novel The Bent Reed is set, it is close enough that it might have been baked there. It's also highly probable that the women of Gettysburg, like the women in every town and city in America, collected their own local funguses and bacteria to make similar recipes.
​
No one seems to know why this bread is called Salt-Rising. It does not taste salty, have an unusual amount of salt in it, and salt does not leaven the bread. One source suggested that early settlers kept the starter warm in a bed of heated salt. Another suggested that the salt inhibited yeast growth, allowing other leavenings to grow. I wonder if people just didn't know what leavened the bread, thinking it was the salt instead of bacteria from the potatoes.
The starter for salt-rising bread grows in less time than traditional sourdough, but at a higher temperature. Several recipes I looked at said the starter needed to be held at 38-45°C (100–113 °F) for between 6 and 16 hours. James Beard’s recipe suggested waiting 12 to 24 hours. My batch developed a head of foam 15 hours after I began it. Several sources warned that the starter would smell like very ripe cheese. I found that it smelled more like the socks a teenaged boy brought back from scout camp. I do not recommend you have friends with sensitive noses over while you allow your starter to develop.
​
To make a Salt-rising starter, place 1 1/2 cups hot water, 1 medium potato, peeled and sliced thin, 2 TBS cornmeal, 1 tsp sugar and 1/2 tsp salt into a 2 quart mixing bowl and cover with a lid. If you are going to do this the old fashioned way, place the jar in a bowl filled with boiling water and cover with quilts. A more modern way to do the same thing is to place the jar in an electric oven with the light on, or a gas oven with the pilot light on. Let stand for between 12 and 24 hours, until the starter has developed at least 1/2 inch of foam.
To turn the starter into bread, strain the starter over a mixing bowl. Pour 1/2 cup warm water over the potatoes in the strainer, then press down with the back of a spoon to release as much of the potato’s moisture as possible. Throw away the potatoes.
 
Add to the mixing bowl 1/4 tsp baking soda, 1/2 cup undiluted evaporated milk, 1 TBS melted butter, 1 tsp salt, and 2 cups of flour. Beat until very smooth. Continue adding up to 2 1/2 cups more flour, a cup at a time, until you have a soft dough.
​
Place a cup of flour on the counter. Turn your dough out of the bowl and knead it into the flour until the dough is smooth and soft. Shape into a loaf and place in a well buttered pan. Brush loaf with melted butter, cover with a piece of buttered (I use spray cooking oil) plastic wrap, and place in a warm, draft-free place to rise. I have a double oven, so I put it back into the oven with the light on.  Rising may take as much as 4 or 5 hours.

​Bake in a preheated oven at 375° for 35-45 minutes. Remove from pans to cool.
 
The resulting loaf had a very fine texture, but the top crust pulled away from the loaf. It had a slightly tangy taste to it, and was excellent with butter and toasted. It reminded me more of beer batter bread than traditional yeast bread, but I think it would be a good breakfast bread, and an excellent accompaniment to a hearty stew.

Jennifer Bohnhoff has written two novels set in the Civil War: The Bent Reed and Valverde. You can read more about all her novels here. 

​
2 Comments

Happy Father's Day to all you Daddies

6/17/2018

0 Comments

 
0 Comments

Shifting Geography

6/12/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
I love old books. They give me a window into a different time, showing me how people thought and what they knew. When a friend recently invited me to help her purge her bookshelves, I jumped at the chance.
One of the books I came home with was Mitchell’s New Primary Geography, printed in Philadelphia in 1871. By this date, I assumed all the world had been mapped, with the possible exceptions of the extreme north and south poles . Since 1871 was the year that Henry Morton Stanley began his quest for Dr. Livingston, I could guess that some of the African interior remained uncharted. But the circumnavigation of the globe was old news, and, I assumed, most of the information presented wouldn’t be that much different than what present day geography books contained.

I was wrong.

On the first page, the book states that there are eight planets. Oh, wait: that’s the case again today. Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto, the ninth planet, in 1930, but Pluto was demoted from planetary status in 2006.


Picture

But the second page says that there are three continents: the Western, the Eastern, and the Australian.  A map a few pages on has the words “Western Continent” spanning North and South America, while Europe, Asia and Africa are identified as the “Eastern Continent.” Antarctica is nowhere to be seen on this map. While I had always thought there were 7 Continents, a quick search of the web showed that some geographers are now combining Asia and Europe into one continent, setting the number at 6. Others count Greenland and claim 8 continents.

Later, on page 12, the continents are divided into the grand divisions of Europe, Asia, Africa (which is considered a peninsula), North and South America, and Oceania. Antarctica is nothing but a series of indistinct lines waving along the bottom of the map. I guess the Southern portion of the globe had yet to be mapped.

All of these differences are matters of exploration and/or different ways of organizing facts. Mitchell’s Geography becomes truly shocking to modern sensibilities on page 11, when it states that there are five races in the world, and that the White, or Caucasian is superior to the others. The book offers no explanation of this statement, but is presented as just as factual as the number of planets or continents. Perhaps the authors thought that White man's superiority could be attributed to climate. Mitchell asserts that the Earth is divided into three climate zones, which he states affect the constitution, customs, and health of mankind. The coldest parts of the globe, the Frigid Zone, makes men stupid and inactive according to this textbook. The Torrid Zone, where fruits and flowers abound, makes men weak and languid, with indolent habits. It’s only in the Temperate Zone where man is healthiest, happiest, and most civilized.

Page 12 divides the governmental systems of the world into empires, kingdoms and republics. There is no mention of tribal or communal organizations. The religions of the world are Christian, Jewish, Mohammedan, and Pagan. Strange, to lump Hinduism in with Native American religions into that last category.

When describing the population of the United States, this textbook states that “The population of the United States is upwards of thirty-eight millions, of whom about one-eighth are Negroes. The Indians are ignorant and barbarous, and are but few in number.” I suppose minimizing the number of Indians on the North American Continent helped justify the taking of their land. There is no mention of the Hispanics that occupied the Southwestern Territories of New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona.

I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised by the information provided in this old book, but still, it did shock me to see how very ethnocentric it was. Perhaps the world hasn’t changed much in 150 years, but our perception of it and the people who inhabit it certainly has. We still have a long way to go before society treats everyone equally, but at least we are no longer using textbooks that disparage so much of the human population.


0 Comments

Dinosaurs in New Mexico

6/4/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Last weekend my husband and I drove out to the North East corner of the state to meet with voters. Shaking hands and talking to people is something my husband has to do, now that he's been appointed to the State Court of Appeals and must run in a contested election to keep the seat. I just go along to offer mental support, answer questions that he can't (judges must be impartial, and therefore can't express opinions on subjects that might come before them!), and carry supplies.

Picture
Busy though our schedule may be, my husband is kind enough to include something of interest to me. This time, he took an hour to let me see Clayton Lake State Park. Like most of the lakes in New Mexico, Clayton Lake is man made, and not much to write home about. But in the 1980s, heavy rains caused the lake to flood over the spillway, and the water scoured away sandstone to reveal the sixth best set of dinosaur tracks in the United States! The walk from the parking lot to the track site is only a quarter of a mile, on a paved path that would be accessible for wheel chairs and strollers. Once at the site, there are stairs to get down to the walkway shown in the picture below. A day use permit, required to park, costs $5. Have exact change, as no park attendant may be present.

Picture
At least four different kinds of dinosaurs and some crocodiles left prints in the sandy beach of the inland sea that split the North American Continent in two during the Jurassic Period.  Some of the prints are deep, indicating wet sand. Others are shallow and indistinct, indicating that the sand was dry at the time the prints were made. In one place there is an elongated print and a tail impression, indicating that the dinosaur slipped and used its tail to regain its balance. In another place, two prints show superimposed prints, as if the dinosaur nervously stood on two legs and shuffled indecisively back and forth.

Picture
Most of the prints belong to two different species of Iguanodons, large plant eating dinosaurs that walked on two legs. Scientists can identify their prints because they show three distinct rounded toes. At least one baby Iguanodon walked long this beach. The tracks lead north and indicate that the dinosaurs were traveling together in a herd.

Picture
Other tracks show the three sharp talons that indicate a theropod. Scientists say these tracks were made by members of the Arocanthosaurus family, a relative of the Tyrannosaurus Rex that stood 12 feet high at the hip and could be 40 feet long. 


Picture
One of the signs suggested that the best time to see the most tracks was early morning or late afternoon, when shadows helped reveal them. The Judge and I visited this site in the late morning. There were lots of signs explaining what we were looking for, and we were grateful, because without the signs we might not have even recognized what we were looking for. I wondered how many times in the past I've traveled over sandstone shelves studded with huecos and depressions that might have been dinosaur tracks and hadn't even stopped to consider them.

Most modern people aren't used to looking at tracks, but the hunters of old did. I had to wonder what Apache, or an even earlier Clovis or Folsom men might have thought when they came across these monstrous and unfamiliar prints in the ground. I can only guess that their hearts beat hard as they mentally constructed an image of the beast that might have produced such prints. That might be a scene worth writing.
Jennifer Bohnhoff taught New Mexico History for several years and still enjoys learning about the state called The Land of Enchantment. She's yet to write about dinosaurs or early man, but she might someday. You can see her writing on more recent times at her website.
0 Comments
    Picture

    ABout Jennifer Bohnhoff

    I am a former middle school teacher who loves travel and history, so it should come as no surprise that many of my books are middle grade historical novels set in beautiful or interesting places.  But not all of them.  I hope there's one title here that will speak to you personally and deeply.

    What I love most: that "ah hah" moment when a reader suddenly understands the connections between himself, the past, and the world around him.  Those moments are rarified, mountain-top experiences.



    Can't get enough of Jennifer Bohnhoff's blogs?  She's also on Mad About MG History.  

    ​
    Looking for more books for middle grade readers? Greg Pattridge hosts MMGM, where you can find loads of recommendations.

    Picture

    Categories

    All
    A Blaze Of Poppies
    Ambrose Bierce
    Animal Stories
    Baking
    Baking Mixes
    Baltimore
    Baseball
    Beowulf
    Biography
    Bobbed Hair
    Cemeteries
    Chocolate
    Christmas
    Civil War
    Classic Western Writer
    Code Talkers
    Cookies
    Cowgirls
    D Day
    Dickens
    Drummer Boy
    Educators
    Exclusion
    Famous Americans
    Famous Women
    Fathers Day
    Feisty Women
    Fiction
    Folsom
    Fort Craig
    France
    Gabriel Rene Paul
    George McJunkin
    Gettysburg
    Ghost Story
    Glorieta
    Graphic Novels
    Great Depression
    Hampton Sides
    Hiking
    Historical Fiction
    Historical Novels
    History
    Horses
    Howitzer
    Isle Royale
    Jean Baptiste Charbonneau
    Juvenile Novels
    Karen Cushman
    Kit Carson
    Lewis And Clark
    Lindenmeier
    Middle Ages
    Middle Grade
    Middle Grade Fiction
    Middle Grade Novels
    Mother's Day
    Muffins
    Mules
    Museums
    Nanowrimo
    Native Americans
    Nazi
    Neanderthal
    New Mexico
    New Mexico History
    Normandy
    Paddy Graydon
    Pancho Villa
    Poetry
    Poets Corner
    Pony Express
    Poppies
    Prejudice
    Presidents
    Pumpkin Bread
    Punitive Expedition
    Race
    Rebels Along The Rio Grande
    Religious Persecution
    Sacajawea
    Scottish Americans
    Sleepy Hollow
    Song Writers
    Southwest
    Sports
    Spur Award
    St. Bernard Pass
    Swiss Alps
    The Last Song Of The Swan
    The Worst Enemy
    Travel
    Valentines Day
    Valverde
    Vichy Regime
    Western Writers Of America
    Where Duty Calls
    Wildfires
    World War 1
    World War Ii
    World War Two
    Writing
    Ya
    YA Fiction

    Archives

    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014


Web Hosting by iPage