Today during our Christmas Blog Party, welcome Cathy Brakefield, author of Wilted Dandelions.

What kind of food do you cook for Christmas in the middle of the Oregan wilderness in 1837?

That’s what her heroine in Wilted Dandelions has to figure out…

…are you ready? Whether it is ham or turkey, duck or goose, it will be served with all the trimmings passed down from mother to daughter from generations. Speaking of which, what would my heroine in Wilted Dandelions have prepared in the Oregon wilderness in 1837. Her mother’s recipes were of little use to her.

Rachael had grown up in a well-to-do family in Buffalo, New York. So pioneer living was as new to her. A marriage of convenience between her and Jonathan enabled these two headstrong individuals to become missionaries in the new Oregon Territory. They learned to accept each other’s idiosyncrasies, and this coincidence of convenience disclosed God’s handiwork of endless possibilities and created a love story only a loving Savior could accomplish! 

Now, in their first year of marriage, Jonathan builds Rachael a sturdy wooden shanty, or log cabin, a one room building with a dirt floor.  Jonathan would later cover the dirt with a type of varnished cloth. Rachael would work all day inside her windowless room and often had to use candlelight to see with.

Cook stoves were a luxury and impossible for Jonathan to carry over the rugged Rocky Mountains, so Rachael cooked her Christmas meal over an open-hearth fireplace with blackened iron cookware utensils. Here she would boil, roast, bake, and steam her food.

Because stone chimneys drew poorly, Rachael worked teary-eyed in a haze of smoke. She’d air out the cabin by opening the door. A Dutch oven, a log-handled fry pan, an iron griddle, and a tea kettle would become her most cherished kitchen possessions.

Rachael’s kitchen corner consisted of a few shelves, a roughed out wooden trough-like box would serve as her sink, which had no drain. A wooden sideboard held a pitcher, wash basin, and towel. The rain barrel under the cabin eaves collected her water. If she needed more, she would have to hike down to the stream.

Refrigeration was a wooden box or rock house built over a stream or spring that allowed crocks of milk and butter to sit in the cool water in summer. During the winter months, that wooden box was next to the cabin in the snow.

Their Christmas tinsel was meager, but the spirit of these devout missionaries made up for that! Their voices would rise in song around their little fern tree garnished with holly spray, pine cones, and, hopefully, mistletoe.

They had arrived in Oregon too late in the season to plant a garden, and their flour and sugar supplies were depleted. Their neighbors, Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, provided the staples Rachael needed.

Rachael happily passed around her dandelion greens, crackl’n bread, and dandelion jam. With God’s help, she had accomplished her first Christmas dinner far from home. Jonathan proudly sliced into the roasted venison and wild turkey he had shot.  And for dessert, Snow Ice Cream! What a feast they had that first Christmas in their new wilderness home.

What is one of your favorite Christmas dishes/food?

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If you would like to enjoy Crackl’n Bread, Dandelion Jelly or Snow Ice Cream here is a peek at the ingredients. For full instructions check out Old Pioneer Recipes by J. S. Collester. The pioneers certainly knew how to use what they had!

Crackl’n Bread Recipe (Crackl’ns are meat scraps left in the skillet after the fat is cooked out) : ¾ cup cornmeal, ¼ cup boiling water, 1 tsp. baking soda, 1 tsp .baking powder, 1 tsp. salt, 1cup whole wheat flour, ½ cup brown sugar, 2 cups buttermilk, ¼ cup crackl’ns

Dandelion Jelly One quart dandelion blossoms, 2 quarts water, 1 pkg. pectin, 5 1/2 cups sugar, 2 Tbs. orange extract

Snow Ice Cream 4 quarts clean snow, 4 eggs, beaten, 2 cups milk, 1 cup sugar, 2 tsp. vanilla, 1 tsp. nutmeg

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Wilted Dandelions

Spinster Rachael dreams of becoming a missionary in the new Oregon Territory. Dr. Jonathan Wheaton is desperate to find a wife. They enter into a marriage of convenience and discover God doesn’t create coincidences—He designs possibilities! 

Just as Rachael and Jonathan learn to tap into that inner strength God gives to us to rise above the pits of despair into the starlight of answered dreams and so can you!

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Giveaway rules: This giveaway will run through Tuesday, December 13th. Must be 18 years old to enter. Open to residents of continental USA. Winners will be chosen at random. Winner will be notified by email and have 3 days to respond with a mailing address or book will be awarded to another entrant.

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Catherine is the author of the inspiration historical romance: The Wind of Destiny, Wilted Dandelions and Destiny Awaits (Publication date spring, 2017).  History books: Images of America, The Lapeer Area and Eastern Lapeer County.

Her short stories have been published in Guidepost Books Extraordinary Answers to Prayers, Unexpected Answers and Desires of Your Heart; Baker Books, Revell, The Dog Next Door and The Horse of my Heart,; CrossRiver Media Publishers, The Benefit Package and Abba’s Promise. Bethany House, Jesus talked to me Today.

She lives in Michigan with her husband, Edward and her Arabian horses. Her children, grown and married, she and Edward are blessed with three grandchildren.

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