I also pressed my father into service as a taster because he ate and enjoyed stewed prunes as a child.

Many prefer the addition of a small quantity of lemon juice.įarmer recommends the prunes as a topping for hot cereal with sugar and cream but the orphans were eating their prunes straight so I opted to do the same. When nearly cooked, add sugar or molasses to sweeten. Put in a saucepan, cover with cold water, and soak two hours then cook until soft in same water.

This was THE cooking bible for American homes of the era. Pickford leads a prune uprising, which quickly fizzles and it’s back to prunes three times a day.įor this experiment, I used a stewed prune recipe from the 1918 edition of the iconic Boston Cooking-School Cook Book originally penned by Fannie Farmer (and the last edition completely penned by her before her death in 1915). The orphanage is not quite Dickensian but it is unpleasant and one of the worst aspects is the steady diet of prunes.

In Daddy Long Legs (1919), Pickford plays a spunky orphan who goes to college and dreams of becoming a published author. I traditionally launch new series with things that are related to The Sheik but I decided to shine the spotlight on one of Mary Pickford’s best films this time around. Be sure to read the other posts but be careful, this event may be hazardous to your waistline! This post is my contribution to the Food in Film Blogathon hosted by Silver Screenings and Speakeasy. Welcome to a new series! I’ve been writing Cooking with the Silent Stars for some time, which covers recipes attributed to silent era celebrities, but I wanted to try my hand at recreating the dishes shown in the silent films themselves.

Stewed prunes download