Making Do

     During the Alaskan gold rush life wasn't exactly a bowl of cherries.  Stampeders learned to be resourceful with their limited supplies and scarce natural resources.  One of the most popular winter pies in Fairbanks was mock cherry, made by combining imported raisins from the larder with locally picked lowbush cranberries stored in barrels.

     Cranberries' natural waxy coating helped them keep well.  They became the prime ingredient in Sadie Bodwell's recipe that she penned in the back of her Mrs. Lincoln's Boston Cookbook (1891).  If you'd like to attempt it, here it is:

Sadie's Mock Cherry Pie

1 cup cranberries cut with scissors

1 cup seeded raisins

1 cup sugar

1 cup hot water

     Cook until the fruit is soft.  Add a pinch of salt.  Use a rolled cracker instead of flour (to thicken), if preferred.  Add a teaspoonful of vanilla before putting into the pie crust.  Bake just long enough to bake the crust.