A Bunch of Ole Kooks

We got a book, Cooking Up US History, and there are lots of great recipes! We used the Berry Ink recipe and are looking forward to making candles and, hopefully, soap! If you are like me, you are wondering where the food recipes are? Well, there are a few for the Colonial Time Period. We tried Johnny Cakes when we went camping, so yesterday we decided to make Ole Kooks. I can’t find anything on the internet that tells what Ole Kooks are, so I need to check the authors resources =) Anyway we decided they are doughnuts! So, we rolled them in cinnamon-sugar! I am not a fryer, so some are a bit over done… BUT day old tasted just like Apple Fritters, minus the apple =) So, next time, we will add apples and eat them the next day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ole Kooks

Ingredients

2 cups milk                                                                3 ½ cups flour (I used about 6)

1 cup butter                                                               ¼ cups chopped raisins

3 eggs, separated                                                     ½ tsp nutmeg

1 ¼ cups sugar                                                         ¼ cup milk

1 package dry yeast (1 ½ tsp)                                   hot fat for deep frying (I used Crisco)

¼ cup warm water

Steps

1. Put milk in a small saucepan

2. Add butter and warm over low heat until the butter gets soft. Set aside

3. Put the egg yolks into a small bowl. Beat well, adding sugar while beating. Continue beating until all sugar is mixed in.

4. In a small metal or glass bowl, beat egg whites until light peaks form

5. In a large bowl, mix together yeast and warm water

6. Stir in milk, egg yolks, and egg whites into yeast mixture

7. Add enough of the flour to make a soft dough. Add more if necessary. Knead to mix all ingredients

8. Put dough back in the large bowl. Cover with a soft cloth

9. Put dough in a warm place and let rise until double in size, several hours or over night.

10. Soak raisins and nutmeg in ¼ cup of milk for about 30 minutes

11. Pour off mils and mix raisins and nutmeg into dough that has risen

12. Prepare hot fat for frying by heating to 370 degrees

13. Pinch off pieces of the dough about the size od an egg. Fry them in the hot fat 10 to 12 minutes, until they puff up and brown ** this went a lot faster for me, but I was not deep frying. **

14. Drain on paper towels

**15. roll in cinnamon sugar**

 

Serves 10 ** I first made big ones. They really puffed up! So, I made bit sized ones and hade at least 3 dozen!**

Those Darned Socks

today we were learning about the daily lives of colonial children and we learned that they would darn the socks. So, of course we have some holes, so we got to work =) I only got pictures of completed work since I was helping Benjamin.

This is a great picture for art on perspective =)

 

So, this second picture was actually taken first. Isaac used pink thread for his black sock. When he told me he was done, I couldn’t stop laughing because he left the thread with the needle attached to the sock! Bekah had to help hold him down while I got the camera out =) The top photo is his finished job the second time around =)