Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while will know that I love the “Little House on the Prairie” books.
I re-read them every year and my favorite one is “The Long Winter“. I save that one for a really really cold day in winter, which in Georgia isn’t until about January or February. In that book there’s a part where Laura helps Pa with the hot tiring job of haying and at lunch time…
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“Ma had sent them ginger water. She had sweetened the cool well water with sugar, flavored it with vinegar, and put in plenty of ginger to warm their stomachs so they could drink til they were not thirsty. Ginger water would not make them sick, as plain cold water would when they were so hot“
I always wondered what that tasted like. I thought flavoring something with vinegar was odd. But in doing some re-search, I found that it was quite common for ordinary folk back then to use vinegar as lemons and oranges were not available to them. So the only way they could get that tart tangy taste was to use vinegar.
I was so excited when I found the recipe for making Laura’s drink in “Making It – Radical Home Ec for a Post Consumer World” by Kelly Coyne & Erik Knutzen. The drink is called Switchel or Haymaker’s Punch and it was the drink of choice for hot tired workers. A sort of pre-cursor to the sports drinks of today like Gatorade.
There are quite a few recipes out there for this drink but they are basically all the same. The recipe I used is from the book and it’s quite delicious!
Haymaker’s Punch
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar (mine is from the health food store raw with the “mother” in it but I’m sure any kind will be fine
- 1 cup of honey (or molasses or the sweetener of your choice – even white or brown sugar)
- 1 ounce of grated or sliced ginger, or 1 tsp of ground ginger
In a sauce pan heat the vinegar, honey & ginger (except if using powederd ginger). Simmer for a few minutes and then remove from heat and let it sit for 15 min or so to let the flavors meld together
Strain the ginger or add your powdered ginger. I made mine the day before I was going to use it because supposedly the flavors mellow the longer you let it sit.
To serve – add all the vinegar, honey & ginger mixture to about 1 quart of cold water and stir. I added a bit more water since I thought the taste was too strong, so taste before serving and make your adjustments. I added some sliced lemons.
It’s surprisingly delicious and refreshing, is an economical drink as it’s made with ingredients most people have on hand, and you know what’s in it versus buying a drink at the store.
I hope you try it!
Yummmm… sounds delicious and easy:) AND it makes a pretty drink! Thanks for sharing the recipe! Have a blessed evening! HUGS!
Your post makes me want to try it. I remember the passage. I love rereading Farmer Boy.
Hmmm, well, vinegar and honey are both supposed to have health benefits, I might try a mini batch. Kind of sounds like sweet & sour sauce:>)
LOL, well it does have the ginger. It’s actually very tasty. I was surprised! Yes,apple cider vinegar is supposed to be a good for detoxing the blood and digestion.
Well, I had to pull out my handy dandy “Little House Cookbook” by Barbara M. Walker (when you homeschool 4 girls you end up with these kinds of reference books) and look it up — it has a recipe, along with the passage you quoted. It says New Englanders called the drink “switchel”, and that although folks living near a port city might have fresh ginger root, settlers in the interior wold have used dried and ground ginger root. The book’s recipe is 1/2 to 3/4 cup packed brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of ground ginger, 1/2 cup of cider vinegar (gives a recipe for making homemade cider vinegar from apple cores and peels) — dissolve all this together by stirring or shaking in a jug, then add a quart of cold water, mix and serve. So, pretty much the same as your recipe except for the heating. I ought to try it to see if it will help kick this respiratory/sinus infection I’ve been wrestling with for the past week or two!
I remember reading that in Little House too. Do you also remember them taking an eggnog type of drink to the field? This doesn’t sound like something I’d want to drink, but I’d sure try it out. Is it a little like ginger ale?
Jody
My husband thought at first it was ginger ale so it looks like it. It does taste like it because it has ginger but the vinegar gives it a zing. It’s not fizzy but I guess if you have a soda stream or something else that fizzes up drinks it would be very close to ginger ale.
Wow! I think I will try it! My children would love to drink something that came from one of Laura’s books!
It’s all good for you too!
Deanna
I don’t recall ever hearing of Haymaker’s Punch before, but this sounds like a drink I’d love to try. I love the Little House books too. When we were visiting relatives back in Missouri (my mom grew up there) I remember my cousin telling us all of the spots the wild ginger grew and thinking “Wow, I’d never know how to find that.” I’m sure “Ma” did though 🙂
Blessings,
Marcia
That sounds lovely. I have recently gotten into Apple Cider Vinegar and its uses. A great one for sore throats is to put in a mug of boiling water one teaspoon of each:
– Apple Cider Vinegar
– Freshly squeezed lemon
– Honey
We actually like the tea so much we have been drinking it even without the sore throat 🙂
Thanks, I’ll give this a try. My husband absolutely loves the Haymaker’s Punch!
Well, how interesting that drink sounds! When I added a featured blog today, I thought of you, as it’s about sustainability. Did you get those polka dotted glasses at Target? I have red ones from a while back with red dots.
Brenda
Yes, I got them at Target about a year ago I think.
I loved the Little House books and remembered that line after reading it in your post. Haymaker’s Punch sounds like a delicious combination.
I love those books too – but don’t remember that drink. How fun that you found a recipe for it. You always go the extra yard.
Leann
Sounds perfect for those hot days in the garden! Thanks, Manuela!!!
Wow, how interesting! And it does look like a very refreshing drink! Thanks for the get well wishes, Manuela! Hope you have a great weekend!
I use an almost identical recipe from my Plymouth Plantation cookbook called Switzel. We love it, and a little known property of it is that it’s great to cure a sore throat or cold symptoms.
BTW, The Long Winter is my favorite book besides the Bible. Really, it is!
I was just talking to a woman who had her dr. tell her to try putting apple cider vinegar in her water three or four times per day to alleviate the symptoms of a bad knee. She tried it and not only does her knee feel better but lots of other things feel better as well.
Often when it is really hot I will stick a piece of fresh ginger in my water. I could not remember the recipe for the haymakers punch. Now I will be trying this very soon.
Vinegar has many uses! Good to know about the knee thing, I have a bad left knee – I’ll see if it helps!
I too, LOVE The Long Winter, and read it during the winter. A wonderful survival story every child should read, IMHO.
I used to be a Civil War reenactor, and we made an 1860’s version of this, called “Switchel”. It basically functioned as Gatorade does now–it replaces your electrolytes in hot weather. We drank it at events to keep from getting sick from the heat–and administered it (or lemonade) to someone who went down from the heat (which almost always happened!). It’s very refreshing on a hot day. As I’m a diabetic, I just drink about 2 TBL of cider vinegar in water (no sugar/honey) when I’m feeling ill or over-heated–it has the same effect, but tastes rather nasty.
I love your blog, BTW! Thank you for blogging!
This is very refeshing drink on a hot day. A few fresh berries, added is yummy xoox Clarice
I also know this as switchel. I’ve been told you could drink as much as you wanted of this without getting sick, but if you drank as much water as you wanted it would make you ill. Not at all sure if this is true.
Thanks for sharing! I have that book also thanks to them:) I will have to try this……