Time Travelers Colonial Life: Day 8

For Day 8, we completed Lesson 13: Colonial Pleasures & Pastimes

We had so much fun this day! We played all sorts of colonial games. Some of the games we played where:

Nine Men's Morris
Cat's Cradle
Made a "Fortune Catcher"

We Created Silhouette's as well. To make the silhouettes, some kids designed their own pictures from black construction paper, cut them out and glued them on the red paper so the pencil side didn’t show. And some children used the graphics provided in the study. I added my silhouette of Jake. Both Jess and Greg said I didn’t do it free hand, but I did!

We also talked about Bees (a little more in-depth then in previous lessons), Spree's, & "BEAUS" a.k.a. courting.

One of the interesting things parents did in regards to courting was to use a candle (known as a courting candle), to determine the amount of time a boy could visit with their daughter. If they liked the boy, they would sit the candle high in the candle holder so the candle took longer to burn. If they didn't like the boy, they would place the candle as low as possible in the candle holder so the visiting time would be very short.

Another tidbit (learned separately from the curriculum), about the candle is the phrase, "burning the candle at both ends". Yes, it could mean many things, but in regards to courting, sometimes parents would light the candle at both ends making the candle burn as quickly as possible to shorten the amount of visiting time. Amazing!

Below are some picture of our review board game. If the kids answer a question correctly, they would receive a candy. If they choose a bonus card, they would receive 2 candies for answering the question correctly.

And someone brought us Lemon Puff's, a recipe from the Book of Goode Cookery! They were so yummy I could have eaten the whole plate by myself. They were light like a marshmellow, but yet crisp.

And with Amy's permission, here is the recipe:

Lemon Puffs

Take a pound and a quarter of double refined sugar beaten and sifted and grate the rids of 2 lemons, and mix well with the sugar, then beat the whites of two new-laid eggs very well, and mix them well with the sugar and lemon peel; beat them together an hour and a quarter, then make them up in what form you please; be quick to set them in a moderate oven do not take off the papers till cold.

(A Modern Translation) Thank goodness for this!

1/2 c. sugar

grated rinds of 2 lemons

2 egg whites

1 tsp. lemon juice

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Beat egg whites with mixer in a separate bowl until it forms soft peaks. Beat in one-half (1/4 c) of the sugar and continue on high speed until it forms stiff, firm peaks. Briefly mix in the lemon joice. Fold in remaining sugar and lemon rind, being careful not to overwork the mixture. Place by the spoonful on parchment-covered cookie sheets, or place spoonfuls on oiled brown paper bag on a cookie sheet. Place in oven and cook for around 40 min. or until delicately golden. Allow to cool completely before removing.