THE TRAFALGAR 200 COOKIE PART 2

Celebrating a major event like the 200th anniversary of the death of Admiral Lord Nelson and the battle of Trafalgar takes some planning, just a Nelson did on the day. And what an event it was.

See event details

Returning to cookies, and looking at the ingredients likely to be held on board a ship-of-the-line around 1805, we find flour available, sugar, spices for the officers (probably from a private supply) and salt. Some dried fruit could be available and butter and eggs in limited supply when close to shore. Goats were the main source of milk as cattle were large and kept for fresh meat.

Molasses could have been available as it is sugar in a form suitable for long term storage. It was made in the West Indies from the 15th Century. Nelson had spent time in the West Indies and would, most likely, have come across it.
And, of course, that naval tradition of rum.

Cooking was done using a single oven that could supply the whole 175 man crew of the Victory with a hot meal. It was called a 'Brodie' stove after its inventor. It could boil, roast and bake bread, so cookies could have been prepared.

See the stores list for HMS Victory

Continued...

Yours

Tony
Feedback and favorite recipes welcome!
www.easy-sugar-cookie-recipes.com/basic-sugar-cookie-recipes.html

THE TRAFALGAR 200 COOKIE

This year is the 200th anniversary of the battle of Trafalgar, probably the most famous naval battle ever.

See the story here.

We were invited to join some friends on their motor yacht to see the Fleet Review off Spithead in Southampton water, a central part of the celebrations.

See event details

So I wondered if Nelson would have had cookies of any sort, and if not, what might have been?

Well it turns out hat the only biscuits that would have been on board were 'hard tack'. These are biscuits that were very tough and baked very dry to give them good keeping qualities, a far cry from the cookies we know today. To eat them they generally had to be soaked to soften them. Not the best food for famous Admiral!

So then I looked at likely ingredients and cooking methods.

Continued...

Yours

Tony
Feedback and favorite recipes welcome!
www.easy-sugar-cookie-recipes.com/basic-sugar-cookie-recipes.html

An Introduction to Gingerbread Cookies

Hi & welcome back,

Gingerbread cookies are amongst the most popular. Whether they are straight cookies or gingerbread men does not seem to matter. Whenever they are on a plate and within reach they disappear.

Gingerbread has a long and interesting history, call by the web page to read about it before you try the classic gingerbread recipe.

http://www.easy-sugar-cookie-recipes.com/gingerbread-story.html

Enjoy (and then munch some!)

Yours

Tony
Feedback and favorite recipes welcome!
www.easy-sugar-cookie-recipes.com/basic-sugar-cookie-recipes.html

My first recipe

So, with hundreds - if not thousands - of recipes where do you start?

I found that the answer was with a recipe - which might not be the best - but is certain to deliver a good result and is easily repeatable.

Then I had to consider that, as it is published on the web, it could be read by people anywhere around the workd. So I've published it in American units (cups/ ounces/ Farenheit) and also European units (grans/ Centrigrade).

You can find this guaranteeed cookie recipe at

www.easy-sugar-cookie-recipes.com/basic-sugar-cookie-recipes.html

Scoll down to the section called "Important Note" and choose the recipe type you favor.

There are four to choose from as I've published this first recipe either as a standar recipe format or as a set of very detailed instructions if you are new to baking as I was. Follow these and you are sure to succeed.

Yours

Tony
www.easy-sugar-cookie-recipes.com/

Feedback is welcome, as are recipe suggestions.

Blogging for sugar cookies

Hi, and welcome to this blog all about sugar cookie recipes.

When I share the results of one of my bakings with someone new they inevitably ask...

"How come you are baking cookies or biscuits? "

The answer is simple - I got hooked.

My wife is a good, and professionally trained, cook. She has cooked by far the bulk of our family meals for many years. As the children grew older I, and they, took it in turns to cook family dinner from time to time. As a result they can all feed themselves and the eldest two are now much better than their Dad.

However I had never tried baking of any sort. So, when the children had left home I decided to give it a go. Not cakes, my wife is certainly the expert there, but cookies and biscuits.

I became hooked as I tried to interpret an old book of recipes. Very hard to get consistent, or even edible, results as they all assumed much experience and 'feel'. So I started to rewrite the recipes as I mastered them making them much easier to follow.

Then, as a result of people asking about the recipes, I put them up on the web.

You can see them at
www.easy-sugar-cookie-recipes.com

New recipes are being added as I get to them.

Enjoy!

Yours

Tony