LEROYPENNYSAVER&NEWS -NOVEMBER 15, 2015
byLynneBelluscio
This past weekend, I had an
opportunity to share some of
the research that I am doing on
the littlemanuscript recipe book
that was owned by Charlotte
LeRoy. The Genesee Country
VillagehostedaDomesticSkills
Symposium and I had anhour to
ramble on about the little book
and what I was learning about
CharlotteLeRoy.
WhenCharlotteLeRoyarrived
in town in1822 (or1823–we’re
not sure), she brought the recipe
bookwithher. It seems that after
shemoved toLeRoy, she added
some recipes from her friends
here. Mrs. Redfield, shared her
soft gingerbread recipe. The
mayor’s wife, Mrs. Lathrop
shared a loaf cake recipe and
cookie recipe with caraway
seeds. And there is a recipe for
Mrs. Wadsworth’s Lemon Li-
quor.Since theWadsworthswere
fromGeneseo, I am assuming it
came from a Mrs. Wadsworth
connected with either James or
WilliamWadsworth, so I looked
up the genealogy of the Wad-
sworth family.
Since William never married,
Mrs. Wadsworth mentioned in
Charlotte’s recipe book had to
be James’ wife, Naomi. Shewas
born inConnecticut in1777. She
married James Wadsworth in
1804andmoved toGeneseo. The
“Homestead” at the south end of
MainStreet inGeneseowasbuilt
about that time. Naomi had five
children and by the time young
Charlotte LeRoy met the Wad-
sworths,Naomiwas inher forties.
The LeRoys and the Wad-
sworths were probably on the
samesocioeconomic level. Both
menwere interested in develop-
ing the land, but theWadsworths
were looking for tenants for the
land. The LeRoy’s were selling
off the land. Jacob’s brother
bought land just north of the
Wadsworths,westof theGenesee
River, and enjoyed farming.
Charlotte LeRoy apparently
asked Naomi for her recipe for
LemonLiquor and it is carefully
written in the little recipe book.
Take therindsof18 fair lemons,
steep them in 1 gallon of good
brandy for three or four days –
then take out the rinds, put to
Mrs.Wadsworth’sLemonLiquor
the brandy 3 lbs. of Loaf
sugarandapint&ahalf
of newmilk, let it stand
two or three days more,
stirring it well once or
twiceeachday, thenfilter
it through paper.
Asubstitute forCitron:
When therindsare taken
out of the brandy put
them in a ?/? of loaf
sugar.
Pat Mead, a historic
cook at Genesee Coun-
try Museum, adapted a
variety of recipes for the
Domestic Skills sympo-
sium. She chose Char-
lotte LeRoy’s recipes
for Lemon Cheesecake
andJuliaLeRoy’smince-
meat recipe for tarts.
But she also tried Mrs.
Wadsworth’s recipe for
LemonLiquorandbefore
I left GCV on Saturday,
she gaveme a small bot-
tle. It is quite delicious.
Yesterday, I called the
“Homestead” inGeneseo
to see if theymight have
aportraitofNaomi.Will
Wadsworthanswered the
phone and I explained
why I was calling. He
said that theymighthave
a portrait of Naomi, but
they have so many portraits,
there’s no way of knowing for
surewhichonemight beNaomi.
We also talked a bit about his
sister, Naomi Wadsworth, who
wasoneof thepilotswhoflew the
Whiskey 7 World War II plane
across the Atlantic last year for
theanniversaryof theNormandy
invasion. As he explained, the
Wadsworth family has kept the
name “Naomi” in their family
lineage formanygenerations.So
someday soon, Iwill takea sam-
pleofMrs.Wadsworth’sLemon
Liquor down to theHomestead.
In themeantime, IcalledNewb
LeRoy, who is the great, great
grandson of Charlotte LeRoy,
andaskedhim to sendmeacopy
of the LeRoy family’s Chris-
tening Punch – which I think
might be more lethal than Mrs.
Wadsworth’sLemonLiquor.As
Newb said, they weren’t teeto-
talers. He said the handwritten
punch recipewas found in some
family papers and it has been
served several times at family
christenings,buthedoesn’tknow
much about it. From reading the
recipe, I think it is good that the
LeRoy family is large, because
it would take quite a crowd to
drink this much punch and still
rememberwhy theygot together.
The recipe:
1Pineapple cut in slices (soak
in the rum overnight)
3Oranges cut in slices
3Lemons cut in slices
1Pint lemon juice
1Pint orange juice
2#Cut sugar (1Quart
simple syrup)
1 qt. Champagne
1 bottleRum
1/4BottleBrandy
1/3Bottle Peach brandy
1/3BottleRedCuraçou
Large pieces of ice
Tonight, theBoard of Trustees
of the Historical Society met,
and at the beginning of the
meeting I shared a little ofMrs.
Wadsworth’s Lemon Liquor.
Themeetingwent verywell and
it was decided to make more
LemonLiquorandperhapsserve
it at the annual Dinner Auction.
I’m a little hesitant about the
Christening punch. It might be
better when people had to drive
a horse and carriage home.
