Mrs. Winthrop’s Colonial Tea Cakes

Williamsburg does many things well. My children recently had the opportunity to participate in an event that represented the intersection of several of these. A local chapter of the Daughters of the American invited the city’s children to participate in a Revolutionary Shark Tank. The idea was for the children to present a business proposal from a trade that would have existed in the Colonial Era and try to persuade the DAR ladies to support their cause. It was an epic convergence of education, history, art and/or craft, persuasion, and presentation. For our family, it was also all the things we’ve been craving: friends, community—and baked goods! They may not be entirely historically accurate, but they taste amazing. My daughter was thrilled to share her recipe with the DAR ladies, and we’re thrilled to extend the favor to you! Enjoy!

Mrs. Winthrop’s Colonial Tea Cakes

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar or coconut palm sugar

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

• 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed

• 1/2 cup dried currants or finely chopped cranberries

• 1 large egg

• 1/4 cup heavy cream (or whole milk)

• For the glaze: 1 egg white beaten with 1 tsp water and a sprinkle of sugar.

Instructions

1. Mix Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

2. Cut in the Butter: Use a pastry cutter or your fingers to rub the butter into the flour until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.

3. Add Fruit: Toss in your currants or finely chopped cranberries.

4. Bind the Dough: Whisk the egg and cream together, then pour into the flour mixture. Stir until a dough forms. If it’s too dry, add a teaspoon more cream.

5. Shape: On a floured surface, roll the dough to about 1/2-inch thickness.

6. Use a fluted round cookie cutter to cut the cakes.

7. Glaze: Place on a parchment-lined sheet. Brush the tops lightly with the egg white wash.

8. Bake: Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 12–15 minutes, or until the edges are slightly golden.

Whole Food Yogurt Pie Filling

 https://www.stonyfield.com/recipes/strawberry-yogurt-pie

 

Festive Cheese Ball

We make this every Thanksgiving!

Festive Cheese Ball

2 packages cream cheese
2 C sharp cheddar
3 T green onions
1/4 C bell pepper
2 t seasoning salt
1 small can crushed pineapple, drained well
1/2 C pecan pieces
mix all into a ball, roll in pecans, chill well

Update

So it's been a few years since our family has been actively updating this blog, so let me post a quick update. We are now in North Carolina. We are still sugarfree at home, and mostly while away. My youngest is older than 3 now (see our story for why we wait until our kids are 3), so technically he could eat processed sugar, but I just keep that quiet. The social pressure is not near what it was when we started 16 years ago! We're still sugarfree at home. In 2018 and 2019, we offered a reward to each child not to eat processed sugar out of the home as well as in. They thought that was a great deal. Honestly, it was just to keep me from cheating. I really don't feel well eating any sugar. But the kids noticed that we have not gotten sick once since starting. We got sick a few times in Florida (when the kids got older and ate more food away from home), but before that we rarely got sick either. Interestingly, as soon as one of my daughters started eating sugar this year (at church events), she got sick! Luckily the rest of us avoided it. Even small amounts of sugar lower the immune system. So sad!

One of the kids discovered an egg allergy, so even away from home she needs to be careful. We have some diary sensitivities, so have to watch that away from home as well. We felt fine eating these things until we went without. Now the body screams and we can't get away with anything iffy. But not getting every little cold is so worth it! And we have cut oil. We never did a lot of meat. We cook everything pretty much from scratch still. Let me redefine that: it's mostly my kids that do the cooking now. I usually prepare two or three meals a week. The kids have a bunch of new recipes they love. Maybe I could convince them to post! We don't do as much pasta from scratch. And we have a lot more potatoes. But most of these recipes are pretty timeless to us. How are you cooking these days?

To 2018!

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.

Dear Reader,

If we do have any readers now or in the future, hopefully you realize we never intended to be particularly consistent here. We have been busily sugarfree all this while, but so busy living it we hardly found time to document it! We don't feel a need to keep posting recipes. We prefer the written word ourselves, and the internet is full of recipes like ours now. It's wonderful! This blog was started as a vehicle for a health presentation, and while it doesn't accurately represent all our of our cooking aspirations, some of you enjoy hearing a bit of what we do.

Last year we had Sugarfree baby #7. I (Mom) have difficult pregnancies. At least I find it hard to get enough nourishment (or keep enough down) to supply myself and the darling creature inside of me. My body was sensitive to everything, and I ended up eating a diet that was entirely vegan, flour free, with all grains sprouted. Google Dr Christopher Herbal Legacy if you want more details of why I did this. I kept nearly all of my food down, and had my easiest pregnancy. While it was a lot of work to consume enough calories, he was my 2nd biggest baby, so I call it a success.

Well, after baby came and I found I could again tolerate all kinds of food, we continued to sprout our grains but also added sourdough, some meat, and dairy for those of us who tolerate it. We are of course sugarfree. Mostly. If just creeps in like a weed, so in 2018 the children were making New Years resolutions and one of my daughters wanted to not eat any sugar. We don’t really have any processed sugar at home, so that’s easy, but she wanted to avoid it outside our home as well. Which requires a lot of self control in the environments she is in. The other children thought that was a good idea, but weren't really interested until I offered $100 to do something fun with to anyone who wanted to join her. Then they all jumped right into the bandwagon!

We’re all Sugarfree right now, except the 6 year old who found daddy's powdered sugar at the top of a cabinet and has been sneaking it by handfuls. As a child my parents offered me to go off candy two separate years growing up for the same incentive I am offering, so the fact that I am not rising with inflation helps me feel the reward is small enough that the majority of the motivation will be internal. That is how I judge if an external reward in appropriate. If the effort required is far less than the reward itself is worth, the motivation is still internal, which is what I am going for. My kids could earn $100 in just a few days of piano teaching, so the money isn't the deciding factor. I feel great about that. I have nothing against a bit of worthy bribery.

We won't be offering any of our readers any financial reward, but you could promise yourself something! I did. I told the kids they could do something fun with their money. Fun for us would be buying books or going to a museum, but I bet you can think of something more exciting. The thought that my children might go without me has already kept me from eating a Lindt truffle that I could have eaten in peaceful solitude no one ever would ever have known about.

Here's to  a sugarfree 2018!

Crockpot Sourdough Rolls

1 cup sourdough start*
1 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon yeast (if desired)
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons honey
3 1/2-4 cups white wheat flour

Mix everything but the flour. Stir in the flour, then kneed until ingredients are well incorporated. Let rise until double. Form into rolls. Put directly into a crockpot on high for two hours or let rise until double again and bake at 475 for 12 minutes, lower to 350 for an additional 10 minutes.

*If you are not interested in cultivating your own sourdough culture from natural yeasts, mix one part water with one part flour and add yeast. Feed as usual.

Blueberry Jam

1 cup strawberries (or blueberries)

5 cups blueberries

4 Tablespoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons lemon zest

sweetener to taste (1/3 cups apple juice concentrate, ¼ cup honey)

1/3 cup cornstarch

dash salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mash fruit with lemon juice and zest, let sit 15 minutes. Bring to a boil. Once hot, add cornstarch mixed in apple juice concentrate. Heat for 15-20 minutes, adding sweetener after 10 minutes. Once thick, remove from heat and add salt and vanilla and can or enjoy immediately!