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Photo by Jim Craven McGrew (left), Lana McGraw Boldt and Ann Moore sample some of the recipes from the Hanley family kitchen under consideration for a cookbook from the Southern Oregon Historical Society. Old-fashioned favorites Historic cookbook items pave way for Hanley farm's destined place in history By BILL VARBLE The saucy baked beans were a hit, that's for sure. Same with the cucumber sandwiches, the cream puffs and the homemade chocolate ice cream. The menu for the picnic lunch at the historic Hanley farm east of Medford Tuesday relied heavily on old-fashioned favorites. Organizer Judy Barr knew the recipes from the Hanley family kitchen hadn't been tested in years. So she sent them to some two dozen Rogue Valley women, each of whom agreed to try her hand and bring the results for pot luck. Call it cooking for history. The Southern Oregon Historical Society for years has wanted to open the pioneer farm to the public, curator Margaret Watson explained. The major obstacle to that goal disappeared recently when Gov. John Kitzhaber signed a measure permitting museums to operate on land zoned for exclusive farm use. The SOHS now plans to open the old farm near Jacksonville to the public by next summer. "So now we're considering fund-raisers," Watson said. Hence, a cookbook, set for publication in the fall. Tuesday's gathering was a trial run before the final dishes are selected. The farm dates from 1852, when it was settled by the pioneering Clinton and Welton families. The Hanleys were Johnny-come-latelys in 1857. Their house dates from 1875. The farm was run by women for almost a century, the last of whom, Mary Hanley, died in 1987, leaving the farm to the SOHS. Among her possessions were dozens of cookbooks from the Hanley kitchen, some dating back to the 1890s, others as recent as the 1960s. For the tests, each volunteer followed a recipe from those pre-Olestra days when the deli aisle wasn't even a gleam in Fred Meyer's eye. Lana McGraw Boldt's cream puffs kept coming out wrong. "They were all top and no bottom," said the Ashland woman. "They were like popovers." She finally figured out that the ingredients were supposed to be mixed while being heated, although the recipe didn't say so. Alice Mullaly's meat loaf was also a problem. "Meat loaf it's not," the Central Point resident said, laughing. "It makes a great casserole, but it can't be sliced." Joy Hess of Phoenix had a recipe that called for "old English cheese." She called a friend in Wyoming, a dairyman who used to do a lot of work for Kraft Foods. He told her that was a reference to Cheddar, a village in Somersetshire, England, where the cheese was developed. Longhorn and colby are Cheddar cousins, he said. On a table under a shade tree were copies of the books, "Rebekah Lodge Cook Book of 1948" (Medford chapter), the "Central Point Cook Book of 1911 (contributed by THE LADIES of Central Point, Ore.)," the "Taylor Recipes for Jelly Making, Canning and Preserving," a 1927 entry from the Fisher Flouring Mills called "The Fairies Cook Book." There was more than food, too. Need a burn remedy? Just mix equal parts Karron oil, linseed oil and lime water _ all of which you have around the house, right? "Cooking Craft," a 1910 book, offered this remedy for "Bilbous Colic," apparently a common ailment of the day: one teaspoonful of Hoffman's Antodyne, 30 drops of laudanum. Just the thing for your bilbous colic, but the authorities might frown on it, since laudanum is a tincture of opium. "It will be history as well as cooking," Watson says. Oh, about those saucy baked beans? For cooks who can't wait until fall, here's the recipe: 6 slices bacon cut into 1-inch pieces 3 1-pound cans baked beans in pork and molasses sauce 1 cup chopped onion cup catsup cup brown sugar 2 tblsp. prepared mustard 1 tsp. salt 4 drops bottle hot pepper sauce Cook bacon until almost crisp; drain. Combine bacon and beans; add tomato sauce, onion, catsup, brown sugar, mustard, salt and pepper sauce. Bake uncovered in 2-quart casserole in slow (300-degree) oven three to five hours. All that's needed now is a name for the cookbook. Suggestions are welcome. Watson's e-mail address is [email protected] Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA