Students prepare foods, including hardtack, that were among the staples of a Civil War soldier's diet.
Objectives
Students follow recipes to create foods that were common foods of the Civil War era.
Keywords
Civil War, food, recipe
Materials Needed
flour, water, salt, rolling pin, knife, fork, baking sheet (for the hardtack recipe); other materials as needed
Lesson Plan
One of the staples of a Civil War soldier's diet was hardtack, a hard biscuit- or cracker-like bread. Students follow
simple recipes to make hardtack and other foods that were common during Civil War times.
The recipe for hardtack is as follows:
Mix together 2 cups of flour, ¾ cup of water, and six pinches of salt.
Flatten dough to a uniform thickness of about ½ inch.
Cut the dough into 3- or 4-inch squares.
Poke four rows of four holes (16 holes in all) in each dough square.
Bake on a baking sheet for 30 minutes at 400 degrees F.
Turn dough over and bake for another 30 minutes.
Turn off the oven, but leave hardtack in the oven until it cools.
Enjoy!
For additional Civil War recipes, see the following Web sites:
Civil
War Recipes