The wonders of oatmeal

Before everything we could possible want – even those things we didn’t know we wanted – was available to us in our shops and on-line, people used what they had and were creative and imaginative, economical and less wasteful. In Sue Robb’s interesting little book ‘Recipes From a Farm Kitchen’ she shares old ways of doing things, old ways that were used by farmers’ wives on remote farms in small communities.

As well as oats and oatmeal being used in ‘conventional’ recipes (especially biscuits, oatmeal biscuits, Quaker oats biscuits, flapjacks), there is a whole array of other uses for them, especially in a section titled ‘Health Foods’:

Oatmeal drink:
– these oatmeal drinks were considered to be more healthy and superior to any alcoholic mixture

• ¼lb fine oatmeal
• ¼lb coarse sugar
• ½oz ground ginger
• 30 drops lemon essence
• 1 gallon boiling water

1. pour the boiling water over the other ingredients and stir very well, boil for about 3 minutes

A thicker and more nourishing drink can be made by using ½ to ¾ to the gallon of water. Use inside a few days.

A gallon? A gallon of oatmeal drink to be drunk within a few days? I guess maybe there would be a large family, maybe six children, maybe the farm hands and servants would drink it as well… but a gallon?!

A very old  recipe for oatmeal milk:

1. 1 tablespoon of oatmeal in a jug
2. pour over 1 pint boiling water and stir
3. strain through a sieve to remove lumps, then through a muslin so it is quite clear

This was a health drink used as a variation to ordinary milk.

I guess the English version of lemon barley, which is still popular as a bought fruit squash (and other flavours now available)  is very similar to this. Maybe before lactose intolerance was properly diagnosed this would be a natural substitute?

Oatmeal Hand Cream

A large tablespoon of coarse oatmeal was steeped in a bowl of boiling water and left overnight. After the hands had been thoroughly washed in hot water, this oatmeal mixture was rubbed in. it was rinsed off in cold water and the hands dried on a rough coarse towel before butter making.

As I first began to read this, I thought that maybe this was used to treat the sort of skin problems farm workers might experience, wear and tear on the hands n cold or hot weather, skin complaints and allergies, but no… this was to thoroughly clean the hands before making butter.

Oatmeal face pack

1. cover 1oz of fine oatmeal with warmed milk, which should contain a good percentage of cream.
2. when cold spread over the face and neck, then wash off in cold water.

To do this regularly would ensure skin would remain clean and the neck free from any yellow tinge.

People buy commercially produced oatmeal face packs and masks today… how much simpler and cheaper to make it yourself!

Oatmeal drink

Nursing mothers were given an oatmeal drink.

1. put one heaped teaspoon oatmeal in a tumbler.
2. pour in a little cold water and stir well
3. fill halfway up with boiling water and top with boiling milk
4. season with salt

This sounds a little like runny porridge… would the oatmeal have cooked properly? Was it drunk warm, or left to stand and steep? Who knows, Mrs Robb doesn’t tell us!