Some days there is no better way to sooth frayed nerves than sitting in the midst of someone’s garage sale; especially if it brings you back home.
That’s what the Medway Area Historical Society’s garage sale is for, I keep telling them. To bring us home for a visit.

Twice a year a few devoted society members unpack boxes, lug heavy donations from one end of Neff’s old greenhouse to another, set up tables with wobbly legs, shoo away flies and bees, pray for no rain while unrolling blue tarps just in case and put all their energy into this melee of dusty old and bubble-wrapped new items.
For us shoppers it can be a task just to see everything. I don’t believe I have ever been there and accomplished that. But I have my special items I look out for. Of course, the head of the list is old cookbooks and very old magazines. Next are the little-to-no- consequence items that spark a memory.
This year’s first sale was exceptionally fulfilling. Among the cookbooks was a copy of 200 Years of Recipes from the Golden Lamb; Recipes from Our Farm-Rothschild Farm/Urbana, OH; a facsimile of 1860 Mary Randolph’s The Virginia Housewife; the Pennsylvania House Museum cookbook, Springfield, OH; Farmer John’s Cookbook-The Real Dirt on Vegetables.
The largest cookbook I found was the unique 1947 Gold Cook Book by Master Chef Louis P. De Gouy. This is the book made famous by its blank page chapters. The Chef wrote so many other single topic cookbooks that he directed the reader to those rather than make chapters in the Gold book for such things as game, bread and ice cream desserts.
The smallest collection of recipes was a 2004 copy of Pennsylvania to Ohio In The Kitchen. I was thrilled to see the little green booklet that I wrote as part of the Germantown Ohio Bicentennial activities back then. I matched up their history to much of Medway’s and combined recipes of both towns. The ladies at the garage sale put in their requests so here they are-Enjoy. And thanks again for a lovely morning. Next time-clothespins and cheese boxes.
Buttermilk Pie
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon lemon flavoring
2 cups buttermilk
Single pastry for 9-inch pie

     In mixing bowl, combine sugar and flour.
Add eggs, butter, flavoring and milk. Mix well.
     Pour into unbaked pie shell. Bake at 400 degrees
for about 10 minutes. Reduce oven to 350 and continue
to bake for about 30 minutes longer.
     Test pie as you would for custard pie.
(Use a dinner knife, insert it in filling almost to
middle of pie. Do not press hard, just
enough to insert it into custard. Pull it out, it should be
clean. If not bake a few minutes longer.)
     Cool completely before serving.

McClain Family Peach Cobbler

1 cup flour
½ cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
Butter the size of a walnut
Pinch of salt
½ cup milk
4 large peaches, peeled, sliced
Syrup: ½ cup sugar dissolved in ½ cup water

     Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in bottom of
a 2-quart casserole. Add milk and stir until smooth.
     Cut butter into small pieces and dot batter. Place
sliced peaches on top of batter. Pour syrup mixture over
peaches.
     Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes then turn oven down
to 400 degrees. Continue baking for about 25 minutes until
top is golden brown. Makes 4 large servings.
Connie’s Note: I loved this old recipe with its measurements
of grandma’s day. Size of a walnut was about 1 tablespoon.
Pinch was amount that could be picked up between index finger
and thumb.
Contact Connie at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .