{"id":4679,"date":"2018-07-17T16:38:52","date_gmt":"2018-07-17T20:38:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/HatchetOnline\/?p=4679"},"modified":"2024-08-16T08:58:58","modified_gmt":"2024-08-16T12:58:58","slug":"bridgets-kitchen-spring-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/bridgets-kitchen-spring-2012\/","title":{"rendered":"Bridget’s Kitchen, Spring, 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

First published in Spring, 2012, Volume 7, Issue 2, The Hatchet: Journal of Lizzie Borden Studies<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nChristmasthyme! Tis the only time of the year I almost enjoy it at the Borden house. Everybody is mostly in a good mood. That\u2019s when ya step out to go visitin\u2019 or to the shops. Oh, once in a while a shop keeper will ask me when \u201cOld Man Borden\u201d is gonna send him his money for somethin\u2019 Miss Lizzie took. I just keep my eyes lowered and say I don\u2019t know nothin\u2019 about it. And I mostly don\u2019t. I don\u2019t hear every word that\u2019s said in the house. Darn it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mrs. Borrden, who goes out every day somewhere, and don\u2019t not go nowhere as the girls tell their friends because as Miss Lizzie says \u201cShe is too fat to get thru the door,\u201d brings home a temptin\u2019 treat nearly daily. A pie or a cake, somethymes cookies. She\u2019ll sit \u2018em on the table at supper time to try to get them to take the later meal with herself and Mr. Borrden. They don\u2019t even come downstairs at this thyme of year. Mrs. Borrden tries not to show it bothers her, and she\u2019ll simply take the dessert up to her room and in the mornin\u2019 bring down the empty platter. Oh, I don\u2019t mean to say she eats it all. She always offers me a portion. A small portion \u2026 I dare not complain in the presence of Mr. Borrden for sure. She don\u2019t ask him if he wants enny. He never has sweets. He says they ain\u2019t worth the price ya later pay at the dentist.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I cannot hardly wait till I\u2019m done cookin\u2019 the last of the family\u2019s Christmas dinner. Then my Christmas truly starts at my cousin\u2019s house on 5th street. I don\u2019t do enny of the cookin\u2019 cuz I\u2019m so busy doin\u2019 it for the Borrdens. I generally bring a bottle of spirits that\u2019s gone before they know it.<\/span><\/p>\n

My cousin, Colleen, gave me her wonderful recipe to share with you that she makes every Christmas. I think you\u2019ll enjoy her<\/span><\/p>\n

IRISH
\nPLUM
\nPUDDING<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Yer gonna need:<\/span><\/p>\n

3 ounses of white bread crumbs
\n1 \u00bd ounses of flour
\n<\/span>2 eggs
\nhalf a cup demerara sugar*
\n<\/span>half a cup prepared suet
\nhalf a cup sultanas
\n<\/span><\/span>half a cup raisins half a cup currants
\n<\/span>half a half a cup sliced almonds
\njust a wee bit of chopped cherries
\n<\/span>a medium pincha orange peel
\nhalf a lemon rind plus juice
\n<\/span>a pincha nutmeg
\none small spoon of mixed spice
\n<\/span>a pincha bicarbonate of soda
\nsome salt<\/span><\/p>\n

Take all yer dry ingredients together and mix in a bowl. Add yer eggs, lemon, orange rind and that lemon juice. Colleen says ya gotta mix it real good or you\u2019ll be sorry. Put it all in a bowl that\u2019s been well greased, that can hold 2 pints. Then cover the bowl with two pieces of greaseproof paper that ya grease good. (How can ya grease greasproof paper? Well, I\u2019ll try to remember to ask Colleen and tell the answer in the next issue.) Ennyway, ya steam the mixture 6 hours then take the paper off.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Enny fat on top of the pudding will be absorbed. When it\u2019s cold (the pudding, not the fat) get the bowl and ya wrap the whole thing with new paper. You can drown it in rum or brandy from thyme to thyme. When Christmas morn comes, ya need to steam it for three hours.<\/span><\/p>\n

Colleen serves this by pourin\u2019 spirits over it then settin\u2019 it on fire. She don\u2019t tell me on her paper here how to put the fire out, but I\u2019ve been there plenty of thymes and can tell you.<\/span><\/p>\n

BRANDY
\nBUTTER<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

This goes on top of the pudding. You can make it up to 3 weeks in advance. You\u2019ll have a better thyme of it if ya taste it as ya go along.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yer gonna need:<\/span><\/p>\n

6 big spoons of brandy
\n<\/span>Almost a cup of unsalted butter
\n<\/span>Almost a cup of dark brown sugar<\/span><\/p>\n

Make sure yer butter ain\u2019t chilled, so take it outta yer ice box a good hour before ya start makin\u2019 this. Take yer whisk and whip it with the brown sugar till it\u2019s creamy. Wait till it\u2019s smooth, then add in just a little brandy. Mix it real good. And ya keep goin\u2019 back and forth from mixin\u2019 to addin\u2019 brandy till all the brandy is used up. Taste it, and add more brandy if ya think (or if ya can think) it needs enny more. Seal it up and serve this cold from the ice box on the pudding.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

*This \u201cdemerara sugar\u201d \u2013 tis sugar that\u2019s a rich, golden kind with a hint of molasses. They call it that back home. You could try to send for some, or you probably could use light brown sugar and maybe put in a little molasses.<\/span><\/p>\n

May all the Saints be with you
\n<\/span><\/em>This Christmas sure and fine
\n<\/span><\/em>And may all your silver glisten
\n<\/span><\/em>Cuz yer servant made it shine.
\n<\/span><\/em>And when yer in the stores in town
\n<\/span><\/em>And chosen every gift
\n<\/span><\/em>Be kind to all you love and know
\n<\/span><\/em>Add yer work girl to yer list!<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sherry Chapman assumes the identity of Bridget Sullivan and offers her favorite recipes for your eating and reading pleasure.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":4903,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bridgets-kitchen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4679"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4679\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5099,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4679\/revisions\/5099"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}