Food Preparation 1870-1930

On a 19th-century farm, the preparation of food was a constant, daily activity in part because of the lack of refrigeration in the warm months of the year. Regardless of the temperature, the woodstove would be in use year-round. A lucky farm family might have had a summer kitchen located away from the main part of the house. In winter, the cookstove served to warm the home, making the kitchen the location for much of the family's indoor activities. Food Preservation Technology was changing from simply salting, brining, pickling and drying, to include the new techniques of canning. In Sally Haner's 1862 diary, she says: Ma went and got Amanda to come and show her how to can cherries. We stoned them, then put them into the jars, then set it in hot water until the fruit begins to blubber up, and then take them out and seal them up with rosin and beeswax." Several other entries in her diaries make reference to the men hunting and bringing back wild game for the dinner table, things like duck, squirrel, and doves. Women picked wild berries and plums to supplement what was cultivated.

What families in Michigan ate was largely dependent upon the season. In the summer, fresh vegetables and fruits were abundant, but by the fall preserved foods appear on the dinner table instead. Of course, some fruits like apples and root vegetables could keep in cool storage all winter long. Perhaps surprisingly, though, exotic foods were available to early Michigan farm families, things like spices, tea and coffee, tropical fruits and nuts, even oysters were among the luxury foods often found in Kalamazoo.