EPISODE 1,192 FIVE ROSES COOKBOOK, 1913—RICE PUDDING GIFT TO READERS
alan skeoch
december 4, 2024
Grandma pinned clippings in the Five Roses Cookbook. She loved
the poetry of Edna Jaques.
December can be a somber month for a lot of people so this episode should be
a little cheerful. Hope so anyway. There may be doubt until the rice pudding
comes out of the oven. Rice pudding? Marjorie found Grandma Freeman’s
cookbook — dated 1913 or 1915. The Freeman family moved from the firestorms
in Northern Ontario in 1914 — moved south to a rock covered 25 acre farm
in Erin Township, Wellington County. In addition to being a glacial dump
10,000 years ago the tiny farm had five swamps. It was cheap and Granddad, Edward
Freeman, professional gardener, had just about run out of options. he got a job as
a munitions maker in Toronto — no sense trying to make a living as a farmer
or market gardener.
So Grandma Louisa Freeman must have sent 30 cents and a mint 10 cent stamp
to get this copy of the Five Roses Cookbook in 1914. The book contains 900 true and
tested recipes. Tested? Yes! Some 750,000 of these books were sold…at one
point 50% of the kitchens in Canada had a copy.
Here is my choice for us to test.
RICE PUDDING
3 tablespoons of rice
1 pint milk (2 cups noted Grandma Freeman)
1 cup water
Butter size of an egg
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (or nutmeg)
Pinch of salt
Raisins may be added
Put in oven and bake for 2 hours — do not disturb the rice.
Take out and on top spread an icing made as follows:
ICING
2 eggs (whites)
1 cup sugar
1 cup raisins (chopped)
Put in oven to brown. Before putting
the icing on top, remove the brown that forms over the rice.
Note: This was cooked in the oven of a wood stove. Guess
the heat necessary on your electric stove…say 325 degrees
or more. How do I know this is a good recipe? I don’t
know for sure — grandma folded the page though. Whether
you fail or succeed is up to you.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!