Home cooking, even for the well-to-do, required a great deal of patience and practice in the so-called good old days. Most meals in the mid-1800s were made on a wood or coal-fired cook stove when everyday things like baking powder and ground coffee were still a luxury.

Cathy Messmer of Historic New England had the perfect backdrop for her Wednesday morning, Aug. 29 lecture, the restored 19^th century kitchen at Castle Tucker on Lee Street, Wiscasset.

Messmer’s 90-minute lecture included a tour of the historic mansion. It focused on how Mollie Tucker, the wife of Captain Richard Tucker Jr., prepared the meals for her husband and children.

Capt. Tucker purchased the mansion overlooking Bradbury Cove in 1858. It was built by Judge Silas Lee in 1807. Messmer said Richard and Mollie renovated and redecorated the mansion to their own tastes.

Messmer’s discussion focused on a dinner the Tuckers hosted on April 3, 1860 for the men who made up the Wiscasset Fire Society. Details of the dinner menu appear in a letter Mollie wrote to her sister Jeannie: "We had a grand supper for the gentlemen the other night. A splendid turkey, ham, tongue. Hot biscuits for which I am famous ... Splendid coffee and tea, all sorts of cake, jelly, pickles, etc.,” she wrote of the occasion.

Cold beef tongue, explained Messmer, was standard New England fare of the 19^th century. It was served alone, or made into sandwiches, eaten cold, cooked, smoked or pickled. Beef tongue wasn’t the only kind eaten; lamb and veal tongue were served as well.

Mollie’s kitchen features the original 1905 Empire Crawford cast iron cook stove, a 19^th century sink and basin, work table (they didn’t have counters), period spice containers, coffee grinder, mortar and pestle, vintage utensils and some of the Tucker family's original recipes.

Messmer said coffee was more popular than tea. People in the mid-1800s bought green coffee beans that they then slowly roasted. When the roasting was finished, the coffee was ground and ready to brew.

“In the 1860s, women often used egg whites or soda to get their cakes to rise ­–­ baking powder was something still pretty new to them,” she said.

Another new invention was the hand-cranked mixer or “egg beater.” Mollie had quite an assortment of them that are now on display in the pantry.

Relying on a wood stove to cook meals was never easy and more of a chore during steamy summer days. At 10:30, the morning of Messmer’s lecture, the very modern digital thermometer over the kitchen sink registered 81 degrees!

How did women beat the heat? They did their baking at night when it was cooler, or simply served cold meals.

Castle Tucker is open Wednesday through Sunday until Oct. 15, with regular guided tours on the half hour from 11 a.m. to 4 pm.