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Hermits
Hermits
1 ½ cup sugar
2/3 cup shortning cream
together
2 eggs
1 cup of choppted raisins
1 teaspoon soda
little salt dissolved
in 3 tablespoons of milk
all kinds of spice.
Hermits.
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup shortning cream
together x
1 egg.
¾ cup of sour milk
1/3 cups chopped raisins
Back:
Mrs. Jorko
Custom House and Post Office, Rockland, Me.
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon nutmeg
.. cinnamon
" cloves
little salt.
Hermits.
2 cups sugar.
1 cup butter or lard or half
and half and cream togeth
1 cup raisins, 1 cups currants
chopped 2 eggs 1 half cup
of sour milk, salt, teaspoon
soda teaspoon cloves, nutmeg
cinnamon, flour to roll sti
---
# Hermits (Three Versions)
## Version 1 — Drop Hermits (Inferred)
### Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2/3 cup shortening
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup raisins, chopped
- 1 tsp baking soda
- Pinch salt dissolved in 3 Tbsp milk
- Spices to taste (see Editor's Notes)
- 2–2 1/2 cups flour (see Editor's Notes)
### Instructions
1. Cream sugar and shortening together until light and fluffy.
2. Beat in eggs one at a time.
3. Stir in chopped raisins.
4. Dissolve baking soda and salt in 3 Tbsp milk; add to mixture.
5. Add spices and flour gradually until a soft drop cookie dough forms.
6. Drop by spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet.
7. Bake at 375°F for 10–12 minutes until set and lightly browned at edges.
8. Cool on pan for a few minutes before removing.
---
## Version 2 — Sour Milk Drop Hermits (Inferred)
*(Incomplete — see Editor's Notes)*
### Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 2/3 cup shortening
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup sour milk
- 1/3 cup raisins, chopped
- Spices to taste (see Editor's Notes)
- Flour to make a soft drop dough (approximately 2 cups — see Editor's Notes)
### Instructions
1. Cream sugar and shortening together until light and fluffy.
2. Beat in egg.
3. Stir in sour milk and chopped raisins.
4. Add spices and flour gradually until a soft drop cookie dough forms.
5. Drop by spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet.
6. Bake at 375°F for 10–12 minutes until set and lightly browned at edges.
7. Cool on pan for a few minutes before removing.
---
## Version 3 — Rolled Hermits (Traditional) (Inferred)
### Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup butter, lard, or half butter and half lard
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 cup currants, chopped
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup sour milk
- Pinch salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cloves
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- Flour to roll stiff (approximately 4–5 cups — see Editor's Notes)
### Instructions
1. Cream sugar and butter or lard together until light and fluffy.
2. Beat in eggs one at a time.
3. Stir in raisins, currants, and sour milk.
4. Add salt, baking soda, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon; mix well.
5. Add flour gradually until dough is stiff enough to roll without sticking.
6. On a floured board, roll dough to approximately ¼" thickness.
7. Cut into rectangles or squares.
8. Place on a greased baking sheet.
9. Bake at 375°F for 10–12 minutes until set and lightly browned at edges.
---
## Editor's Notes
**What are Hermits?**
Hermits are a classic American spiced drop or rolled cookie dating to at least the 1870s, particularly associated with New England. Dense, chewy, and heavily spiced with dried fruit, they were prized for keeping well in a tin for several weeks — a practical virtue for farmhouse baking.
**Baking instructions missing from all versions:**
All three versions end at the mixing stage; baking was assumed knowledge. Baking details inferred from standard period Hermit recipes.
**"All kinds of spice" (Version 1):**
Deliberately vague — Version 3 gives the likely intended blend: cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Recommended starting point: 1/2–1 tsp each. Allspice and ginger are also period-appropriate additions.
**Flour missing from Versions 1 and 2:**
Neither version specifies flour quantity. Estimated from fat/sugar/egg ratios: approximately 2–2 1/2 cups for Versions 1 and 2 (drop cookies); approximately 4–5 cups for Version 3 (rolled cookie).
**Version 2 is a fragment:**
Original card instructions end after "Cream sugar and shortening together" — all subsequent steps inferred from Versions 1 and 3. Spices and flour entirely absent from original. Flag as significantly incomplete.
**"Sour milk" (Versions 2 and 3):**
Period term for naturally soured whole milk, similar to buttermilk. Modern substitution: add 1 Tbsp white vinegar or lemon juice per cup of whole milk and let stand 5 minutes.
**Version 3 has duplicate nutmeg:**
Original card lists nutmeg twice (likely a transcription error on the card itself). One tsp nutmeg intended.
**Drop vs. rolled:**
Versions 1 and 2 are soft drop cookies; Version 3 is the older, more traditional rolled-and-cut style. The three versions together suggest the recipe evolved in this household from rolled to drop over time, or reflect different sources.
**Three versions on one card:**
Unusual and archivally significant — suggests the contributor was actively comparing or consolidating recipes rather than copying a single trusted source. -
Date Cake
Date Cake
1 cup chopped dates
1 ,, hot water with 1
teaspoon soda turned over
dates.
Let stand while mixing
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup butter and la[rd]
mixed,
1 1/2 cups flour wit[h] p[inch]
of salt
1/2 cup cho[pped nuts]
Back:
[1] teasp vanilla
Saving some of the
nuts to sprinkle over
top before baking.
Bake 3/4 hr.
350 oven
---
# Date Cake
## Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped dates
- 1 cup hot water with 1 tsp baking soda, turned over dates
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup butter and lard, mixed
- 1 1/2 cups flour with pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup chopped nuts (save some to sprinkle on top)
- 1 tsp vanilla
## Instructions
1. Pour hot water mixed with baking soda over chopped dates. Let stand while mixing remaining ingredients.
2. Mix together sugar, egg, and butter and lard mixture.
3. Add flour with pinch of salt and mix together.
4. Stir in chopped nuts and vanilla.
5. Pour batter into pan. Sprinkle reserved nuts over top before baking.
6. Bake at 350°F for 3/4 hour. -
Frosting for Cake or Pie
Frosting for
Cake or Pie - Leona-
Mrs. Parent
2 egg white
½ cy. white Karo
Beat eggs a little —
and add syrup and
beat good.
for cakes - Pies
Lemon - chocolate
white cake - chocolate
June 1922 Lawsegarding
Married to America
Back: blank
---
# Frosting for Cake or Pie
*From Mrs. Leona Parent*
## Ingredients
- 2 egg whites
- 1/2 cup white Karo syrup
## Instructions
1. Beat eggs a little.
2. Add syrup and beat good.
## Notes
Suitable for: cakes and pies — Lemon, Chocolate, White Cake, Chocolate
*June 1922 — Lawsegarding — Married to America* -
Frosting
Frosten
3 tablesp Milk
3 " " sugar (granulated)
2 teasp butter
3 tablesp cocoa
cook on stove all to
gether until boil -
cook a little then
add enough Powder
sugar to be stiff
a soft frosten .
B. Green
Mar - 3, 1956
Back: blank
---
# Frosting
*From B. Green, Mar 3, 1956*
## Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp milk
- 3 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 tsp butter
- 3 Tbsp cocoa
- Powdered sugar, enough to stiffen
## Instructions
1. Combine milk, granulated sugar, butter, and cocoa in a saucepan.
2. Cook on stove together until boiling.
3. Cook a little longer, then remove from heat.
4. Add enough powdered sugar to make a stiff, soft frosting. -
Molasses Sponge Cake
MOLASSES SPONGE CAKE
1 cup molasses
½ cup sugar
½ cup Crisco
1 egg
2½ cups flour (scant)
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 heaping teaspoon soda
½ teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon salt
Beat well and add 1 cup boiling water.
Beat again. Bake 350 about
Doris Withee 40
Priscilla #69 minutes
4/22/63
good
Back:
(reverse side — text is bleed-through from front, no additional content)
---
# Molasses Sponge Cake
*From Priscilla*
## Ingredients
- 1 cup molasses
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup Crisco
- 1 egg
- 2 1/2 cups flour (scant)
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 heaping tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp cloves
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup boiling water
## Instructions
1. Beat all ingredients together well.
2. Add 1 cup boiling water and beat again.
3. Bake at 350°F for about 40 minutes. -
Corn Cake
Corn Cake AlCox.
1 egg beaten light
1 tablespoon shortning (melted)
1 cup sweet milk
1/2 " sugar (scant)
3/4 " corn meal (granulated)
1 1/4 " flour (all round)
2 teaspoons Cream Tartar
1 " Soda 15 Minutes
1 " Salt 375 Oven
good
Back: blank
---
# Corn Cake
## Ingredients
- 1 egg, beaten light
- 1 Tbsp shortening, melted
- 1 cup sweet milk
- 1/2 cup sugar (scant)
- 3/4 cup corn meal (granulated)
- 1 1/4 cup flour (all-round)
- 2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
## Instructions
1. Beat egg until light.
2. Melt shortening and combine with egg, sweet milk, and sugar.
3. Add granulated corn meal and all-round flour, mixing well.
4. Stir in cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.
5. Bake at 375°F for 15 minutes. -
Sauce for Fruit Cake
Sauce for good
Fruit Cake
Nov. 26 1969
1/2 cup butter
1/2 .. light or heavy cream
1 .. sugar (white)
1/2 cook until firm — boil
Watch not
Put in double boiler and cook burn
for 20 minutes on fruit Cake
Back:
Laura G. Palmer
President of the Rebekah Assembly of Maine
requests the pleasure of your company
at a Dinner
Saturday Evening, November Fifteenth
at six o clock
MILO LEGION HALL
Please reply by November 8th
Mrs. S. E. Howland
Milo, Maine 04463
Price $3.00
---
# Sauce for Fruit Cake
## Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup light or heavy cream
- 1 cup sugar (white)
## Instructions
1. Combine butter, cream, and sugar and cook until firm — bring to a boil. Watch that it does not burn.
2. Put in double boiler and cook for 20 minutes.
3. Serve on fruit cake. -
Baked Beans
April 7th 193[?]
Bake Beans
1 lb salt pork
1 qt dry beans
1 teaspoon dry must[ard]
1/2 " salt
2 " sugar
1 teasp pepper
pinch soda
Cover with hot wa[ter]
make all day -
2 lbs - for 10 dry be[ans]
almost fills 4 qt[?]
Back:
Diam[ond?] - bacon - D[?]
[remainder illegible/torn]
---
# Baked Beans
## Ingredients
- 1 lb salt pork
- 1 qt dry beans
- 1 tsp dry mustard
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp pepper
- Pinch of baking soda
- Hot water to cover
## Instructions
1. Combine salt pork, dry beans, dry mustard, salt, sugar, pepper, and a pinch of soda.
2. Cover with hot water.
3. Bake all day. -
Lemon Chiffon Pie
• lemon chiffon pie
Beat egg yolks and put in top
of a double boiler with lemon juice, salt,
and ¼ cup of sugar. Cook over hot water
until of custard consistency. Then add
gelatin which has been soaking in cold
water. When gelatin has dissolved stir in
lemon rind. Cool. When mixture begins
to thicken, fold in egg whites which have
been stiffly beaten with the remaining ½
cup of sugar. Fill a baked 9-inch pie shell
and chill in the refrigerator. Sweetened
whipped cream makes a delicious top-
ping for this pie.
½ cup lemon juice
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup sugar
4 eggs
1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin,
dissolved in
¼ cup cold water
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
Tested by The American Home
Back:
[photograph of lemon chiffon pie]
• lemon chiffon pie
---
# Lemon Chiffon Pie
*Tested by The American Home*
## Ingredients
- 1 baked 9-inch pie shell
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup sugar, divided
- 4 eggs, separated
- 1 Tbsp unflavored gelatin, dissolved in 1/4 cup cold water
- 1 tsp grated lemon rind
- Sweetened whipped cream, for topping
## Instructions
1. Beat egg yolks and put in top of a double boiler with lemon juice, salt, and 1/4 cup of sugar.
2. Cook over hot water until of custard consistency.
3. Add gelatin which has been soaking in cold water.
4. When gelatin has dissolved, stir in lemon rind.
5. Cool.
6. When mixture begins to thicken, fold in egg whites which have been stiffly beaten with the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar.
7. Fill a baked 9-inch pie shell and chill in the refrigerator.
8. Serve with sweetened whipped cream as a topping. -
Cream Cheese Pineapple Spread
1 pkg Cream Cheese
1/4 cup miracle whip
1/2 tablesp. lemon juice
1/4 teasp salt
2/3 cup or small
can drained crushed
pineapple
6 cut up cherries
1/2 cup cream whipped
Put in Ref. + chill
will keep a long
plain crafty time
mixed
Back: blank
---
# Cream Cheese Pineapple Spread
## Ingredients
- 1 pkg cream cheese
- 1/4 cup Miracle Whip
- 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2/3 cup or 1 small can drained crushed pineapple
- 6 cherries, cut up
- 1/2 cup cream, whipped
## Instructions
1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Put in refrigerator — will keep a long time. -
Salad Dressing — Fruit
Salad Dressing Oct.
Fruit 24,'58
G. Smith
Juice 1 lemon
" 1 orange
1 cup sugar
2 eggs well beaten
Cook until thick like custard
When you use this
with whipped cream —
This will keep for
some time —
{add cream as you use}
Back:
Mr. John W. Thornton
205 Webster St.
Lewiston, Maine
---
# Salad Dressing — Fruit
*From G. Smith, October 24, 1958*
## Ingredients
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Juice of 1 orange
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs, well beaten
- Whipped cream (added when serving)
## Instructions
1. Combine lemon juice, orange juice, sugar, and well-beaten eggs.
2. Cook until thick like custard.
3. This will keep for some time.
4. When ready to use, add the dressing to whipped cream.
5. Add cream as you use it. -
Salad / Bread
Salad
1 cup macaroni
(before cooked)
large can shrimp
Cucumber cut
in large pieces
green or red pepper
mrs. Alice Neal.
Back:
Maid
1 egg well beaten
1 1/4 c. milk of scalded
take 1/4 c. dissolve
1 yeast cake
2 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon sugar
3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
---
# Salad
*From Mrs. Alice Neal*
## Ingredients
- 1 cup macaroni (before cooked)
- 1 large can shrimp
- Cucumber, cut in large pieces
- Green or red pepper
## Ingredients
- 1 egg, well beaten
- 1 1/4 cup milk, scalded
- 1/4 cup (to dissolve yeast)
- 1 yeast cake
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 3 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp salt