Rochelle's Vintage and Frugal Recipes

Frankfurter Friday, Chili-Frank Stew

2012-02-17T13:40:00.000-08:00

This recipe is from an old ladies magazine. It would be inexpensive and is mildly flavored. Kids would probably like it.

Chili-Frank Stew

3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 medium onion, chopped
1 pound package frankfurters, quartered lengthwise
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 (16 oz.) cans red kidney beans, undrained
1 (16 oz.) can tomatoes
1 (12 oz.) can whole kernel corn, drained

In a 5-quart Dutch oven over medium heat melt butter. Add onion and franks and cook until browned. Stir in the flour, chili powder and salt. Add the beans, tomatoes and corn. Cover; simmer 15 minutes. Makes six servings.

Sunny pineapple recipes

2012-02-16T14:12:00.000-08:00

It has been cold, gray and rainy here for the last few days. I was digging in a box of books and found my misplaced Dole pineapple book. It reminded me of several vacations in Hawaii. Even when it rains there is usually on the warm side and there always seems to be a beautiful rainbow afterword. Wish I could go back someday.
Anyway, here are some recipes from the booklet. It is a Favorite Brands book and they are usually good.

Aloha Joes
1 can (20 oz.) Dole pineapple tidbits
1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon chili powder
6 hamburger buns, split and toasted
Drain pineapple. In large skillet, brown meat. Add onion and garlic; cook until onion is soft. Drain and discard fat. Sprinkle meat mixture with salt and pepper. Stir in tomato sauce, Worcestershire and chili powder. Simmer uncovered, 15 minutes. Stir in pineapple. Remove from heat. Spoon onto buns.

Kamaaina Spareribs
4 pounds lean pork spareribs
Salt and pepper
1 can (20 oz.) Dole crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup catsup
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Have butcher cut across rib bones to make strips 1 1/2 inches wide. Preheat over to 350 degrees. Place ribs close together in single layer in baking pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake in preheated oven 1 hour. Uncover; pour off and discard drippings. In bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Spoon sauce over ribs. Grill over hot coals 15 minutes or bake, uncovered, 30 minutes longer or until ribs are tender and glazed. Makes 6 servings.

Pineapple Vegetarian Fried Rice

2012-02-08T14:05:00.000-08:00

My Dad was stationed in Thailand in the early 70's and my Mom learned to cook Thai food. She has several Thai cookbooks. This recipe is from Delightful Thai Cooking. Some people might think ketchup is not an authentic ingredient. I lived with them for six months while they were there and I can verify that the fried rice you would get at the little street restaurants always had ketchup, cucumbers, lime and cilantro. It should probably also have some fish sauce (Nam Pla), the non vegetarian fried rice recipes in the book included it. Of course then it wouldn't be totally vegetarian.

Pineapple Vegetarian Fried Rice

4 tablespoons oil
1 yellow onion finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup finely chopped carrots
1 cup finely chopped green beans
1 cup pineapple chunks
3 cups cooked rice
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 teaspoon salt
1 cucumber thinly sliced
4 tablespoons green onion, chopped
4 tablespoons fresh coriander leaves (cilantro)
In a wok, heat oil over medium heat and stir fry onion and garlic until golden brown. Add carrots and green beans and stir fry 2 minutes. Add pineapple, ketchup , rice and salt. Mix well and stir-fry 3 more minutes. Arrange sliced cucumbers around edge of serving platter. Pour the rice in the center. Garnish iwth green onion and coriander. Serves hot to 4 to 6.

Frankfurter Friday Wienie-Lottas

2012-02-03T12:49:00.000-08:00

It seems unjust to compare this recipe with true enchiladas but that is what the title is referring to. To me this recipe has a weird sort of appeal; they would be quick and inexpensive and kids would probably like them.

Wienie-Lottas
8 to 10 tortillas
2 (10 1/2 oz.) cans chili without beans
1 tablespoon instant minced onion
6 to 8 drops bottled hot pepper sauce
1 pound (8 to 10) frankfurters
1 8-oz. can tomato sauce
1/4 cup chopped canned green chili peppers
4 ounces sharp natural Cheddar cheese, shredded (1 cup)

Warm tortillas. Combine next three ingredients. Place a frank on each tortilla; top each with 2 tablespoons chili mixture (reserve remaining). Roll tortillas around franks. Arrange, seam side down, in 12x71/2x2-inch baking dish. Combine remaining chili mixture and tomato sauce; pour over tortillas. Sprinkle with chili peppers. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 3o minutes. Top with cheese and return to oven until cheese melts. Serves 4 or 5.

Source: Better Homes and Gardens Casserole Cook Book (1968).

Frankfurter Friday- Frankfurter Fritatta

2011-09-09T16:28:00.000-07:00

I would not generally associate James Beard with frankfurters. It turns out though that in his book How to Eat Better for Less Money he provides quite a few frankfurter recipes. This fritatta recipe seems like it would be tasty and a budget pleaser:

Frankfurter Fritatta

6 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion , chopped fine
4 to 5 frankfurters, cut in shreds
6 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
Melt the butter in a skillet and cook the onion and green pepper until the onions are just golden. Add the frankfurters and cook until delicately browned and cooked through- about 5 minutes. Pour over them the eggs mixed with the cheese, parsley and seasonings and cook until eggs are just set. Put under the broiler for 3 to 4 minutes to brown the top a little. Serve cut into wedges with potato salad or Cole Slaw. Serves 4.

A different salmon patty recipe

2011-09-07T17:27:00.000-07:00

I know there are zillions of recipes for salmon patties but this one caught my eye because of the use of croutons as the binding agent. There are so many flavors of croutons now that you could make a flavorful salmon patty. The recipe is from a Pillsbury booklet: Working People's Cookbook, 1978.

Salmon Patties

2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon instant minced onion
1 1/2 cups salad croutons, crushed
16-oz. can salmon, drained and flaked
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
In large bowl, beat eggs slightly. Stir in remaining ingredients except butter. Firmly shape into four 1/2-inch thick patties. In large skillet, melt butter. Saute patties over low heat until browned. Serve with creamed peas, or a mustard or dill sauce.

Pineapple Fingers

2011-08-06T00:36:00.000-07:00

I have quite a few community fundraiser books. I don't look at them too often because they all seem to feature similar common recipes. Today I pick up Cooking in Paradise a fundraiser for The First Evangelical Free Church Of Hawaii Women's Missionary Society from 1979. I have four or five books from Hawaii and they really don't feature recipes that we would think of having an Hawaiian touch. This book came closer than usual with this recipe for Pineapple Fingers:

Pineapple Fingers
Step 1
1 yellow cake mix
2 egg yolks,reserve whites
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons melted butter
Combine and press into greased 13 x 9 inch pan.

Step 2
Beat 2 egg whites until stiff

Step 3
Add 2/3 cup sugar to egg whites. Fold in 1/2 cup coconut, and small can crushed pineapple (drained).

Step 4
Spread over cake mixture and bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool before cutting.

Frankfurter Beef Loaf

2011-04-10T14:19:00.000-07:00

This recipe is a real oldie, from the 1935 booklet Our Favorite Meat Recipes. It was an National Live Stock And Meat Board publication. The appeal of the photos have not held up to time so I won't be posting them. Have you noticed that vintage meat dish photos are usually very nasty looking? Well on to the recipe:

Frankfurter Beef Loaf

2 pounds ground beef
4 medium-sized frankfurters
1 cup bread crumbs
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 small onion, grated
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 slices bacon
Combine ground beef and bread crumbs. Season with grated onion, chopped parsley and salt and pepper. Moisten with beaten egg and shape into a loaf, with the frankfurters, lengthwise in it. Put bacon strips over the top and bake in a 350 degree oven for one hour.

Franfurter Friday- Wieners "N Brown Rice

2010-07-30T12:49:00.000-07:00

This extremely easy recipe makes what would have been called a Far Eastern or Oriental dish in most retro cookbooks. It is from Pillsbury's Creative Cooking In Minutes copyright 1971.

Wieners 'N Brown Rice

"This flavorful and hearty dish would go well with a green vegetable and crisp salad."

1 package (7 oz.) beef flavored rice mix

12 oz. to 1 pound sliced wieners

1/2 cup (5 oz.) can drained sliced water chestnuts OR 1/2 cup sliced celery

2 tablespoons chopped green pepper

Soy Sauce

Prepare rice mix as directed on package. Cut wieners into 1/2-inch slices. Add wieners, water chestnuts and green pepper to prepared rice. Cover. Simmer over low heat about 10 minutes until heated through. Serve with soy sauce. 4 servings.

The Golden Door breakfast ideas

2010-07-16T00:04:00.000-07:00

My husband was going through some of his book boxes and I got in there too and pulled out some healthy cooking ones. I found the Golden Door Cookbook from 1982. Of course the Golden Door is the very famous health spa founded by Deborah Szekely in 1959. It is located in Escondido, Ca. not too far from my city,but I won't be visiting. The fee for a 3 day "Summer Interlude" is about $3600!
There is quite a bit of information on her philosophy of health as well as recipes by the Chef Michel Stroot. Ms. Szekely stated her belief that a hearty breakfast was not necessary and only about 100 calories were devoted to it at the spa. Here are some of the breakfast ideas:

Muesli

2/3 cup old fashioned rolled oats

6 sun-dried black Mission figs, chopped

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2/3 cup water

1/2 apple, medium size, with skin

1 banana, sliced

1 cup plain, low-fat yogurt

8 almonds or hazelnuts, freshly chopped

Combine oats, figs, and cinnamon,G cover with water and soak overnight. Before serving, grate apple and stir into oat mixture. Divide in 4 portions; trim each with banana slices. Top with 1/4 cup yogurt sprinkled with nuts. Other types of dry fruits, such as apricots, dates or prunes may be substituted for figs Serves 4 at 205 calories..

Papaya and Cottage Cheese

2 papaya, ripe

1 cup low-fat cottage cheese

4 teaspoons miller's bran unprocessed

4 teaspoons sunflower seeds, raw

garnish: strawberries and fresh mint sprigs

Halve papayas, scrape out seeds. Fill each half with 1/4 cup low-fat cottage cheese. Sprinkle top with bran and sunflower seeds. Garnish and serve. Serves 4 at 103 calories.

Bran Muffin Nut Muffins

3/4 cup miller's bran, unprocessed

1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour

1/4 cup sun-dried raisins or dates, chopped

1/4 cup walnuts or almonds, freshly chopped

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup honey or blackstrap molasses (or combination)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 tablespoon plain, low-fat yogurt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Blend dry ingredients in mixing bowl. Mix together remaining ingredients, and pour over dry mixture. Stir until just blended.
Spoon into muffin pans lined with muffin paper, about 1 heaping tablespoon per muffin. Bake 12-15 minutes. Makes 10 muffins at 110 calories.

Frankfurter Friday- Frankfurter Stuffed Green Peppers

2010-07-09T14:31:00.000-07:00

I have seen many stuffed pepper recipes but none of them have used franks in the stuffing. It does have the rice that is often used in stuffed peppers. Also a little cheese topping improves almost anything, so I would sprinkle more cheese on top.

Frankfurter-Stuffed Green Peppers

6 large green peppers
1 onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon instant minced garlic
1/4 cup butter or margarine
3/4 pounds frankfurters, diced
1/2 cup grated Cheddar cheese
2 cups cooked rice
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Salt to taste
1 cup tomato juice
Cut stem ends off peppers and carefully remove the seeds and pith. Parboil 5 minutes. Saute onion and garlic in butter until onion is soft. Add frankfurters and cook 5 minutes, stirring. Blend in next 5 ingredients. Stuff peppers and arrange in greased baking dish. Pour tomato juice around them. Bake in 350 degree oven 30 minutes, or until tender, basting occasionally. If peppers dry out, pour more tomato juice over. Makes 6 servings.

Recipe from: Woman's Day Collector's Cookbook

Fun Summer Foods!- Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

2010-07-01T23:40:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick and easy cookie recipe from Fun Summer Foods!- a Pillsbury grocery checkout booklet from 1988. My husband would like these, even though he is diabetic he still likes to eat a treat once and awhile.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

1 pkg. Pillsbury Plus Devil's Food Cake Mix

1 cup peanut butter

1/3 cup water

2 eggs

1 cup peanut butter chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease cookie sheets. In large bowl, combine cake mix, peanut butter, water and eggs. By hand, stir with spoon until dough is formed. Stir in peanut butter chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto prepared cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10 to 15 minutes or until set. Cool 1 minutes. Remove from cookie sheets, cool completely. 4 dozen cookies.

Jeweled Picnic Bars

2010-06-29T00:46:00.000-07:00

Let's go on a picnic! Louise from Months of Edible Celebrations is hosting a virtual picnic.

This is like the old kids game. Each person brings an item that starts with a letter of the alphabet and you are suppose to remember the items that come before. I never was very good at memory games :)

A is bringing Almond Joy Pie

B is bringing Baked Beans

C is bringing Chocolate Picnic Cake

D is bringing Dutch Funnel Cakes

E is bringing Easy Blender Chicken Pie

F is bringing Five Bean Salad

G is bringing Granola Bars

H is bringing Herb and Cheese Pasta Salad

I is bringing Incredibly Fruity Raspberry Cakes

J is bringing Jeweled Picnic Bars- that's me!

Jeweled Picnic Bars

4 eggs
3/4 pound light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
12 orange slice candies, cut in small pieces
Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 13x9-inch baking pan.
In a medium mixing bowl with electric beaters, lightly beat eggs.
Add brown sugar and vanilla. Beat on medium speed to combine.
In a separate bowl, combine four and salt. Add to sugar mixture. Beat until smooth.
By hand, stir in nuts and orange slices.
Spread batter in greased pan.
Bake at 325 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes until golden brown.
Remove pan to wire cooling rack. Cool completely.
Cut into 30 bar cookies.
Roll each cookie in powdered sugar to coat. Store covered in powdered sugar.

Chicken Bentonville from Chef Bubba

2010-05-21T13:14:00.000-07:00

Today's recipe is from Chef Bubba and friends, A Collection Of Recipes From Friends, Family and Sam's Associates (Sam's Clubs). I bought the book because there is a blurb on the cover saying "Includes Sam Walton's favorite recipes". It turns out there are only two recipes submitted by Helen Walton. Chef Bubba has a section of recipes called "Recipes Sam would have liked." Chef Bubba was recruited personally by Sam Walton to be the consulting chef for Sam's Club.
Here is his recipe for Chicken Bentonville. The city of Bentonville is of course the home office of Wal-Mart my beloved :) employer.

Chicken Bentonville
3 cups pineapple juice
1 cup Yoshida's Gourmet sauce
2 cups honey
2 tablespoons Tone's crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon Tone's lemon pepper
2 tablespoons Tone's dried parsley flakes
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
2 tablespoon crushed garlic
1/2 cup salad oil
1 teaspoon Crystal hot sauce

1 package Tyson boneless/skinless chicken breast, thawed and drained (by the amount of marinade this must mean a big bag of chicken)

Combine all ingredients except chicken in a plastic 5-quart bowl. Heat for 4 to 5 minutes in a microwave and mix thoroughly.

Serving Suggestions:

1. Marinate chicken for at least three hours, overnight is best. Grill and serve with saute of red and green peppers, onions and carrots.

2. Using the same marinade, prepare kabobs of chicken cubes, peppers and onions.

3. Cut chicken into 1 ounce cubes, marinate and broil for 4 to 6 minutes. Place in chafing dish with 2 cups marinade, slightly thickened with corn starch and chunks of pineapple to extend.

Frankfurter Friday- Hot Dog Creole

2010-05-14T13:03:00.000-07:00

Well here it is Friday again and I haven't posted during the week. I admit I am even getting a little sick of hot dog recipes. Next week I will really try to post something else during the week.
There really isn't anything creole about this recipe, but it is frugal. It also seems like kids would like it. It was in an old Lea & Perrins magazine advertisement.

"Creole" Franks
1 tablespoon oil
1 pound beef frankfurters, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
1 can (12 oz.) vacuum packed corn with red and green sweet peppers
1 tablespoon instant minced onion
2 teaspoons Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 teaspoon majoram leaves, crumbled
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 package (8 oz.) elbow macaroni
In a large skillet heat oil. Add frankfurters; cook, stirring frequently, until brown, about 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce, corn, onion, Worcestershire sauce, marjoram and salt. Bring to boiling point. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, cook macaroni as label directs; drain. Serve sauce over macaroni. Sprinkle with grated American cheese, if desired. Yield: 6 portions

Frankfurter Friday- Frankfurters in Crust

2010-05-07T13:45:00.000-07:00

This is yet another retro recipe card with wretched photography. I don't think any one would be serving the franks in crust with franks and potatoes. The menu suggestion on the back was Frankfurters in a Crust, Waldorf Salad, Creamed Spinach and Strawberry Sundaes. A photo of the bowl of salad or even the creamed spinach would have made a more appealing card. Not surprisingly, this recipe is from the Budget Dishes section.

Frankfurters in Crust

8-ounce package refrigerated quick crescent rolls
1/3 cup mustard-pickle relish
6 frankfurters
2 tablespoon evaporated milk
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Unroll crescent rolls to a rectangular shape, pressing seams together. Spread relish over pastry, leaving a 1-inch border all around. Place frankfurters in rows of three down center of pastry; bring sides of dough together over frankfurters and press to seal; press ends of dough to seal. Place seam side down, on an ungreased baking pan. Perforate top of crust with the tines of a fork; brush with evaporated milk; sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake 15 to 20 minutes -until golden brown. Slice crosswise to serve. Serves 3 to 4.
Recipe card: 1973 Curtin Publication, Inc.

Frankfurter Friday- Frankfurter Pilaf

2010-04-30T12:58:00.001-07:00

The recipe comes right out of my recipe card file. I noted on it that it was from Woman's Day Mag. 5/84. I have made this quite a few times and it is good, fast and frugal. I usually make it in a skillet instead of a saucepan. It is easier to saute the rice that way.

Frankfurter Pilaf

1/4 cup margarine
1 large onion, minced
1 cup uncooked rice
2-1/2 cups hot beef bouillon or broth
1/2 pound franks, sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
Melt margarine in large heavy saucepan. Add onion and saute until golden. Add rice and saute until translucent,. Add bouillon and franks and bring to boil. Cover and simmer over low heat 20 to 25 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Frankfurter Friday- Hot Dog Mash

2010-04-23T19:40:00.000-07:00

This would be a good recipe to try if you want potatoes with your franks but do not want to make scalloped potatoes. It is from Budget-Wise Dinners That Are Winners- Thrifty Main Dishes, 1979.

Hot Dog Mash

1/3 cup butter or margarine
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 pound frankfurters, cut into bite-size pieces
1-1/3 cup instant mashed potatoes
1/2 cup grated American cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Melt butter or margarine in medium skillet over medium heat; add onion, green pepper and garlic and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low and add frankfurters; cook, covered, for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, prepare instant mashed potatoes according to label directions to yield 4 servings; stir in 1/4 cup of the American cheese and 2 tablespoons of the Parmesan cheese.
Place frankfurter-onion mixture in lightly greased 1-1/2-quart casserole; cover with potato mixture. Sprinkle with remaining American and Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Cookbook Purusings- No Depression Cake

2010-04-18T01:11:00.001-07:00

No Depression Cake comes from the Chicken Soup for the Soul Cookbook. As you know this series is a compilation of uplifting stories with a theme. This one contains a recipe with each story. If you are like me and read cookbooks like novels this is a book for you. It is truly a combination of both.The No Depression cake is from a story by Dottie Walters. The gist of the story is when things are down instead of looking at what you don't have turn it around and look at what you do have and go on from there. The recipe is a genuine milkless, eggless, and butterless cake from the depression era. The author has this to say about it. "You can substitute other ingredients for any you don't have. The one thing this cake is full of, however is memories of cheerfully creating with what is at hand and on hand- and never giving up hope."

No Depression Cake

Makes 12 to 15 servings and lots of smiles!

1 cup white sugar
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 cups water
1 cup shortening
4 cups seedless raisins (if you have any)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cloves
2 teaspoons salt
4 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups chopped nuts (if you have any)
Powdered sugar, to decorate
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13x9-inch baking pan. In a large saucepan, combine sugars, water, shortening, raisins, spices and salt. Boil together 3 minutes; cool.
Sift together flour, baking powder and baking soda; add to saucepan, along with nuts. Mix well and pour into prepared pan. Bake for 45 minutes.
Remove from oven. Let cool for 10 minutes, then turn onto a cake plate. When thoroughly cool sprinkle with a little powdered sugar, or mix lemon juice and grated lemon rind into powdered sugar for frosting.

Frankfurter Friday- Taco Franks and Mac Bake

2010-04-16T13:47:00.000-07:00

I am moving my blog Hots Dogs, Wieners and Franks over to this one. It is just too confusing to have a bunch of separate blogs. Those recipes are vintage too, so they fit in here.
This is the intro I have on that blog: It seems like every cookbook or recipe booklet I pick up has a recipe featuring hot dogs, frankfurters, wieners or what ever you chose to call them. It could just be selective vision at work, I have frugal recipes on my mind lately.
This recipe is from Tried & True Money Saving Meals, 1981, from Creamettes and Borden. Creamettes brand is of course the makers of macaroni, spaghetti and egg noodles. This little booklet even features a section titled Elegant & Inexpensive. Sorry I have a hard time thinking of macaroni as elegant. The Taco Franks comes from the appropriately titled Money-Saving Main Dishes section.

Taco Franks And Mac Bake

1 (7-ounce) package or 2 cups uncooked Creamettes Elbow Macaroni, cooked as package directs and drained
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/4 cup margarine or butter
2 (10-3/4 ounce) cans condensed tomato soup
1 cup water
1 (1-1/4-ounce) package taco seasoning mix
1 pound frankfurters, cut into quarters
Buttered soft bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large skillet, cook onion and green pepper in margarine until tender. Stir in soup, water and taco seasoning.; blend until smooth. Bring mixture to a boil; simmer 10 minutes. In large bowl, combine cooked macaroni, tomato mixture and frankfurters, mix well. Turn into greased 2-quart baking dish, top with crumbs. Bake 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Makes 6 to 8 servings

Cookbook Purusings- Greek Mararoni Bake

2010-04-01T14:25:00.000-07:00

The Healthy Gourmet International Cookbook- Greek Mararoni Bake

I have been seeing tahini as an ingredient in a lot of recipes lately. Today I came across this recipe in The Healthy Gourmet International Cookbook by Barbara Bassett. This is an older healthy cookbook published in 1982 by Bestways Magazine. The recipe seems quite up to date, using ingredients even more commonly used today than in 1982.

Greek Macaroni Bake
"Easy and very tasty"

2 cups uncooked wholegrain macaroni

1 tablespoon tahini

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

8 oz. feta cheese

1. Cook the macaroni in boiling salted water until al dente. Drain. Rinse with cold water to cool. Toss with the remaining ingredients.
2. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Oil a baking dish.
3. Place macaroni mixture in baking dish. Bake 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Serves. 8.

A Bumper Crop of Sandwiches

2010-01-20T01:26:00.001-08:00

A Bumper Crop Of Sandwiches, is what this Kraft ad from 1974 promises. The scan did not turn out very well but in the original ad there are many different flavors of sliced sandwich cheese pictured. There are the standard American and Swiss along with Pimento slices, Cheez'N Bacon slices, Old English slices and Monterey, Brick, Onion-chive, Munster and Jalapeno pepper singles. Usually I only see American and Swiss slices in my grocery store nowadays, so I was surprised to see that they had made so many other flavors.
The recipes are for Ham Salad Boats, Ham Brunchwich, Italian Style Cheese Sandwich and Harvest Time Sandwich.
The Hams Salad Boat sound rather tasty:
Ham Salad Boats
2 cups finely chopped ham
1 cup cooked peas
1 tablespoon chopped onion
1 hard cooked egg, chopped
Miracle Whip Salad Dressing
6 French bread rolls
Kraft Monterey Jack Singles Process Cheese Food
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine ham, peas, onion, egg and enough salad dressing to moisten; mix lightly. Split roll in half lengthwise; scoop out center of both halves to form a shell. For each sandwich, fill shell with alternating amount of ham mixture and cheese food; cover with top half of roll. Place rolls on baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees, 15 minutes. 5 sandwiches.

Banana-Bran Muffins or Snack Cake

2009-10-31T01:26:00.000-07:00

I had some oat bran, whole wheat flour and bananas that I needed to use. So I looked in a notebook in which I keep lots of muffin and quick bread recipe clippings. I have had this recipe since 1987 so I guess it was time to use it. It is from Woman's Day 2/10/87. I made it as a snack cake in a 9x9 pan. It was very tasty.

Banana-Bran Muffins
1 large egg
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (3 large or 4 medium size)
1/2 cup raisins or chopped walnuts (I used raisins)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup oat bran or wheat bran
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 12 regular size or 10 if you want large muffins or line with baking cups. With a wooden spoon beat egg and sugar in a medium size bowl until smooth. Add bananas, raisins, oil and vanilla. Beat until blended then let stand 1 minute or so. Thoroughly mix flours, bran, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Add banana mixture and fold in with a spatula just until dry ingredients are moistened. Spoon into muffin cups and bake 20 to 25 minutes, until brown and springy to the touch. Turn out onto a rack to cool.

Broccoli Grape Salad with Chutney Dressing

2009-08-24T13:38:00.000-07:00

While perusing one of my many cookbooks I found a recipe that sounds like a very tasty variation of the broccoli, raisin and bacon salad that you see at buffets, potlucks etc. There are recipes for the basic salad all over the Internet. I did a search but didn't find another recipe like this one. It doesn't have any bacon like most broccoli salad recipes but you could easily add it if desired. The original recipe made a huge amount so I cut it in half.

Chutney Broccoli Grape Salad

1 head broccoli, cut into bite-size pieces ( florets and some stems)
3/4 pound seedless red grapes
1/4 of a red onion, chopped
1/2 cup lightly toasted slivered almonds
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 of a 9 oz. jar chutney
1 tablespoons curry powder
In a large mixing bowl, combine broccoli, grapes, onion and almonds.
In a small mixing bowl, combine mayonnaise, chutney and curry powder; mix well. Stir mayonnaise mixture into broccoli mixture; mix well. Refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve. Serve chilled.
From: Grilling- Food Writers' Favorites

Who knew?

2009-08-24T13:29:00.001-07:00

My husband gave me three or four cookbooks for Christmas that he got at thrift stores or library sales. I am embarrassed to say I hadn't looked at one of them until last week. It was an over-sized book titled Mirabelle. It was by some chef and about the Mirabelle restaurant in London. After looking at it I decided it wasn't the type of book I was interested in and told my husband he could sell it on eBay. Usually he would list a book like that for $5.95. For some reason I decided to do a search for it on a used and rare book site that searches over 80,000 sources. Lo and behold it was a valuable book that was being offered for around $100 dollars. I guess it must have been a very small printing run. To make a long story short he sold it on auction yesterday for $86.00!! Thank goodness I decided to check its value.

Chinese Roll-Ups from Women's Circle Home Cooking

2009-07-27T23:53:00.000-07:00

This recipe is from a Women's Circle Home Cooking book- Cooking With Style. These are the paperback books that you see quite often in thrift stores. They are compiled from reader submitted recipes in Home Cooking magazine. The water chestnuts seem to be the only thing remotely Asian, there isn't even any soy sauce. They might be tasty though.

Chinese Roll-Ups with Hot Mustard Sauce

1 pound ground beef
1 can water chestnuts, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped onion
1 package onion and mushroom soup mix
1 tablespoon beef bouillon
3 packages crescent rolls
1/4 cup prepared mustard
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/4 teaspoon hot sauce
2 teaspoons horseradish
Brown ground beef. Add next 5 ingredients. Simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Place 1 tablespoon meat mixture in center of each crescent triangle. Pull corners over meat mixture; pinch together to seal. Place on baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, or until browned. Combine remaining ingredients; mix well. Refrigerate until serving time. Serve hot mustard sauce over roll-ups while still warm. May be frozen for use later.

Soup Cookery- The Savory HEINZ Way

2009-07-15T00:33:00.000-07:00

I hope to get back to posting regularly soon. The last month has been a hard one for my family. My Mom fell a month ago and broke two ribs. Since then it has been really up and down for her. I lost count of how many times she had to go to the emergency room. For some reason she started having seizures. Hopefully they have now got them under control. She is in a care center now, and I really have no idea when or if she will get to come home. She was only home for one day in the last month. My baby granddaughter who we are very close to because we care for her while my daughter works had surgery to her skull. That was very nerve racking. She is doing well now, but wow she has two really long sets of sutures on the top of her head. Well enough of my families problems, I know everyone has some troubles.

I have seen quite a few Campbells Soup publications but not very many from Heinz. This little booklet is undated but looks like it is from the 60's. It has a lot of common cream soup casseroles and such. There are a few desserts, their variation for the tomato soup cake is titled- Coral Spice Cake. The recipe that caught my eye though is their corn bread:

Corn Bread
1 cup corn meal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoon salad oil
2 eggs, beaten
1 10 3/4 -ounce Heinz Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup, undiluted

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Sift together first 5 ingredients. Combine remaining ingredients, mix well. Add to dry ingredients mixing just long enough to moisten. Fill greased muffin tins 2/3 full or pour into greased 9"x 9"x 2" square pan. Bake at 425 for 25 minutes or until done. Makes 9 muffin or 9 servings.

My husband really likes Cream of Chicken soup and will actually heat it up and eat it as is. I think most people just use it for cooking. I am going to try this recipe as I think he will get a kick out of it.

Cookbook Perusing: Florida's Natural, Favorite Recipes From Our Groves

2009-06-27T00:16:00.000-07:00

Florida's Natural, Favorite Recipes From Our Groves (1998) is a hardcover collection of recipes from the co-op of growers who make Florida's Natural Juices. There are lots of large color photos of the prepared recipes, vintage black and whites of the citrus industry and photos of vintage citrus crate labels. There is short but interesting history of the Florida citrus industry and recollections by growers.
There are recipes from many recipe categories, appetizers to desserts.
This orange recipe sounds very easy and something a little different than the widely seen onion soup and cream soup recipes. It is an older recipe so it calls for whole cut up chicken. Now people would probably use breasts or thighs.

Poulet A L'Orange

2 broiler-fryer chickens, cut up

2 medium navel oranges, unpeeled and cut into thick slices

1 envelope onion soup mix

1-1/2 cups orange juice, home-squeezed style

Place chicken and orange slices in large roasting pan. Add onion soup mix. Pour orange juice over chicken and orange slices. Bake 1-1/2 hours in 400 degree oven until tender and glazed, basting and turning occasionally. Serve with pan juice. Serves 6.

I don't see many grapefruit recipes in cookbooks but this one has quite a few. A pie, cake, several main dishes and others.

Pork Chops With Grapefruit Glaze

6 pork chops

1 grapefruit, squeezed for juice

1/2 stick butter or margarine, melted

2 tablespoons honey

To prepare glaze, mix melted butter, juice from the grapefruit, and honey. Set aside. Cook chops on medium hot grill; 15 minutes before done brush with glaze. Turn chops and continue to brush with glaze until done.

Fresh-Cherry Tart

2009-06-12T20:30:00.001-07:00

I was looking through one of my old recipe clipping files today and found this Good Housekeeping Mag. recipe from 1979 that features fresh cherries. They are available around here for a reasonable price now. Usually when I buy them they all get eaten up as a snack before I can use them in a recipe.
The recipe was one of their 30 Minute features, but I think this recipe would take longer that that because you need to pit the cherries.

Fresh-Cherry Tart

2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/2 of 10-1/2-ounce bag miniature marshmallows (2 cups) or about 20 regular marshmallows
2-1/2 cups oven-toasted rice cereal
1 (3-1/2- to 3-3/4 ounce)package vanilla instant pudding and pie filling
1-1/4 cups milk
1 cup heavy or whipping cream
1 teaspoon almond extract
1-1/2 pounds sweet cherries

In 2-quart saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Add marshmallows; heat until marshmallows are melted, stirring frequently. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in cereal until well mixed. With buttered hand, pat mixture into greased 10-inch tart pan or 9-inch pie plate.
In large bowl with mixer at high speed, beat pudding mix and remaining ingredients except cherries 5 minutes or until stiff peaks form. Spoon mixture into cereal crust. Refrigerate.
With cherry pitter, remove pits from cherries or cut each cherry in half but not all the way through to remove pit. Gently press cherries into cream filling. Makes 8 servings.

Cookbook Perusing: Home Economics Fund Raising Books

2009-05-23T13:55:00.000-07:00

I have decided to incorporate one of my other recipes blogs into this one. It is more trouble than it is worth to post on a bunch of different blogs. So I will move the posts over here. Cookbook Perusing has random posts about some of the cookbooks in my huge collection. This was the first post from that blog:

Cookbook collectors usually have different categories of books that they like to specialize in. Some particularly like the organization or church books usually called community cookbooks. I used to collect those but gave most of them to my husband to sell. I still collect fund raising books put out by home economics teachers. I guess that is partially because I have a degree in home economics and in hindsight wish I had got a credential and been a teacher instead of getting into child development. Plus they always have recipes that the average person would actually make. Well anyway this recipe is from a particularly good Home Ec book The Nice & Easy Cookbook.

Beef and Broccoli Chowder- Martha Cox, Georgia

1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 package potatoes au gratin (the dry mix type)
2 medium carrot, chopped
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
6 cups water
1 10 oz. package frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
Brown ground beef with onion in skillet, stirring frequently; drain. Add potatoes, carrots seasonings and water. Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add broccoli. Cook, covered, for 10 minutes longer. 8 servings at 139 calories.

Appetizers- One elegant, one not so much

2009-05-12T23:43:00.000-07:00

Last week I learned from a post by Louise on Months of Edible Celebrations that May 8th was Military Spouse Appreciation Day. Today I was looking at a book I had pulled out of one of my boxes a few weeks ago and remembered the author was a military spouse. Food With A Flair Special Recipes for Special People by Doone Lewis is a collections of recipes that she gathered from many different Naval duty stations here in the US and overseas. The book was published in 1979. Doone must have had to host quite a lot of cocktail parties as there is a large section on appetizers and starters.
This recipe seems like it would make a fancy presentation. I remember my Mom had a copper chafing dish she would use for hot appetizers at her cocktail parties. My Dad was a career Naval officer so my parents did a lot of entertaining.

Saganaki-" Simple, attractive, and delicious"

1 pound raw shrimp, deveined (frozen are fine)
1 package frozen artichoke hearts
4 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 pound small whole mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, minced fine
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
Freshly ground pepper or Lawry's seasoned pepper
1/2 teaspoon oregano
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Blanch artichoke hearts in boiling salted water for 2 minutes and drain. Heat olive oil in a frying pan, add shrimp and mushrooms. Cook, stirring, until shrimp turns pink. Add artichoke hearts, garlic, salt, pepper and oregano. Heat thoroughly and sprinkle with lemon juice and parsley. Serve hot in a chafing dish or casserole on a burner, with toothpicks. Makes about three dozen appetizers.

This one isn't elegant but I know I would like it as I like all the ingredients. Yes, I am a cream of mushroom soup fan, I admit it. I am sure the amount of margarine could be cut way down or even eliminated.

Hot Clam Dip-" This different dip takes only a few minutes to whip up."

1/2 cup margarine, melted
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese
Dash of Tabasco sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup chopped clams, drained
1 can cream of mushroom soup

Put all ingredients into the melted margarine and heat slowly while stirring; do not boil. Serve hot with dip chips or crackers.

57 Prize-Winning Recipes From Heinz

2009-05-03T22:58:00.000-07:00

57 Prize-Winning Recipes From H. J. Co. was coincidentally published in 1957. The subtitle says $25,00 Cook With Ketchup Contest but nothing in the content mentions the contest. It has lots of those great mid-century illustrations. Such as this tomato man:

Some of the recipes such as the cover recipe for Country Captain sound fine. Some of the others including the eight dessert recipes are quite far out. This is what it says about the dessert recipes: "For truly distinctive desserts cook with Ketchup. Contrary to popular belief, the tomato is a fruit, not a vegetable. So why not use tomato ketchup in desserts?"
It is rhubarb season now in case anyone cares to try this recipe:

Major League Rhubarb
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups soft bread crumbs
3 cups unpeeled rhubarb in 1-inch pieces
1 medium banana
1 medium tart apple
1/2 cup Heinz Tomato Ketchup
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons butter
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine first 5 ingredients. Mix 2/3 of this mixture (1-1/2 cups) with rhubarb in greased 1-1/2 quart casserole. Peel and thinly slice banana and apple; place in casserole. Combine ketchup, lemon rind and juice; pour over fruit. Sprinkle with remaining bread crumb mixture. Dot with butter. Bake, covered, 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hours. Serve warm or cold. Garnish with whipped cream or cottage cheese. Makes 8 servings.
There is also a spice cake recipe that I imagine is quite similar to tomato soup cake recipes.

This is their recipe for Country Captain:
3 to 3-1/2 pound chicken, cut up
1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup shortening
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup chopped green peppers
1 clove garlic, minced
1-1/2 cups water
1 bottle (14 ounces) Heinz Tomato Ketchup
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground thyme
3 cups hot, cooked rice
1/3 cup dried currants
1/2 cup chopped toasted, blanched almonds
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Remove skin from chicken; coat with mixture of flour, salt and pepper. In Dutch oven or roaster, brown chicken in shortening. Remove from pan. Add onions, green peppers and garlic to same pan; saute until lightly browned. Add water, ketchup, curry powder and thyme; mix well. Add chicken, making sure each piece is well coated with sauce; cover. Bake, stirring occasionally, 1 hour or until chicken is very tender. Remove chicken to large platter; surround with rice. Add currants to sauce: pour over chicken. Sprinkle with almonds. Makes 6 servings.

I am glad I discovered this interesting booklet on my cookbook shelf. Who knows how long it had been there. I don't remember looking at it before.

A package in the mail

2009-04-28T23:57:00.001-07:00

I received a large exciting package yesterday. A fellow member of paperbackswap had picked up a huge lot of cook booklets through Freecycle and had offered them to someone in exchange for some credits. I took her up on it and was completely surprised by the number of booklets. I know there are at least one hundred.There were so many I couldn't get them all in the photo. Most of them are fairly new but there where two 1926 Crisco oil books and several from 1948. There were quite a few special Xmas issue magazines which I happen to collect. It is going to take me a long time to go through them, something I will really enjoy doing.
This recipe is from one of them, a 1968 Pillsbury publication- Pillsbury's Bake-Off Breads Cook Book.
Merry Mince Brown Bread
2 cups cornmeal
1-1/2 cups Pillsbury's Best All Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
1 cup prepared mincemeat
3/4 cup dark molasses
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients; mix well. Divide batter into 4 well-greased 20 oz. cans or well-greased 2-quart ring mold, filling 2/3 full. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 60 to 65 minutes until top springs back when touched lightly. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from cans. Cool completely.

I used to enjoy canned brown bread with a baked bean dinner. The last few years I have been unable to find it in any local grocery stores and have thought about making it. I also have a jar of mincemeat in the cupboard. Mincemeat is usually quite expensive so when I found a jar on deep markdown I bought it. I think this recipe will come quite close to the brown bread with raisins that I used to enjoy so I am going to definitely try it. I just need to get four cans of pineapple and use them up so I will have the cans to bake in. :)

Easter Leftovers? Wilted Spinach-Ham Toss

2009-04-14T15:52:00.000-07:00

Here is a recipe that uses two common Easter dinner leftovers, ham and hard cooked eggs. It is from a classic 1979 Better Homes and Gardens book, Pork, Sausage & Ham Cookbook.

Wilted Spinach-Ham Toss
1/2 pound fresh spinach
Whole black pepper
1 or 2 slices bacon
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups fully cooked ham cut into thin strips
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup sliced green onion
2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped

Wash spinach and pat dry on paper toweling. Tear spinach into bite-size pieces (total about 6 cups) and place in a mixing bowl. Grind a generous amount of pepper over the spinach. Set aside.
Cut uncooked bacon into small pieces. In large skillet cook bacon till crisp. Stir in vinegar, lemon juice, sugar, and salt. Gradually add ham, mushrooms, and green onion to the skillet mixture; stir constantly. Remove from heat; add spinach. Using two spoons or forks, toss the spinach mixture to coat evenly with ham mixture. Turn spinach mixture into serving dish. Sprinkle with chopped, hard-cooked eggs, serve immediately. Makes 4 servings.

A Delectable Comestible

2009-04-08T01:11:00.001-07:00

Today I scored several cookbooks from the free box outside the library. Delectable Comestibles by Ester Zane ended up in the box because all the comb binding had broken off. A sad end to a 1964 fundraising book. The interesting thing about it is that it was complied by one person and all the recipes are from her. It is fairly good sized too, 180 pages. Usually fundraising books are committee affairs. It was a fundraiser for the University Students' Cooperative Association of the University of California at Berkeley.
As soon as I saw this recipe in it I knew I had to post it!

Spinach A La Rochelle

2 packages (10-oz. each) frozen chopped spinach
4 tablespoons butter, margarine or bacon drippings
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
Milk or light cream or undiluted canned milk
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup grated onion
2 tablespoon cracker meal or flour
1 (10-oz.) can mushroom soup
2 hard-cooked eggs, sieved (optional)
Cook spinach in boiling salted water according to directions. Put a clove of garlic in the boiling water before adding the spinach. When spinach is done, remove the garlic and drain the spinach. Reserve the cooking liquid. In a large skillet or Dutch oven melt the butter, margarine or bacon drippings. Add the grated onion and cracker meal. Simmer a couple of minutes. Then add the well-drained spinach and can of undiluted cream of mushroom soup. Blend well and add one-quarter cup spinach liquid and enough light cream or undiluted canned milk to make spinach the consistency you like. It should be soft and creamy but not runny. Add seasonings and taste to see if it needs more salt. Serve topped with the sieved hard-cooked eggs. Enough for 6-8.

Pot Roast, Yum!

2009-03-26T10:19:00.000-07:00

I had a piece of bottom round roast that I had bought on markdown in the freezer and It was time to use it or lose it. I don't make a pot roast very often but when I do I just bake it with the vegetables and some broth and then make gravy out of the juice. Yesterday I decided to try a recipe that called for 1 cup of red wine and a can of diced tomatoes. It was so good. You could not tell that it had wine in it, the flavors just mingled so well. I was kind of afraid that the potatoes would turn purple from the wine but they didn't. You could probably cook it that way in a crock pot also. I don't have very good luck getting chunks of meat tender in a crock pot though so I just bake pot roasts or corn beef in the oven for about three hours. I would recommend trying the wine and tomatoes if you don't usually cook a pot roast that way. Pot roast is my husband's favorite so he was very happy with his dinner last night. I was at work so I had to wait until today to have it for lunch, yum.

Paella, Portuguese Style- McCall's Great American

2009-03-14T00:59:00.001-07:00

A reader contacted me to see if I had the Paella recipe from the McCall's Great American Recipe Card Collection. I found this one from the Saturday Night Parties section. It calls for 1/2 teaspoon saffron, so it definitely doesn't qualify as a frugal recipe! I clearly remember my Mom making Paella for a dinner party when I was about 10 years old. It was quite a production, taking what seemed like forever to finish.

Paella, Portuguese Style

2 (2-lb.) broiler-fryers, each cut in 8 pieces 1 lb Italian sausages, halved
1/2 cup olive or salad oil 2 medium-size fresh tomatoes
1 lb. lean pork, cut in 1-inch cubes peeled and chopped
2 cups chopped onion 1 bay leaf
2 cloves garlic, crushed 3 cans (103/4-oz. size) condensed
3/4 teaspoon pepper chicken broth
1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 1/2 lb. large shrimp, shelled
2 teaspoons salt and deveined
2 cups raw long-grain white rice 1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen peas,
1/2 teaspoon saffron thawed
1/2 jar (4-oz.) pimientos
2 lemons, each cut in 8 wedges

1. Wipe chicken with damp paper towels. In hot oil in large skillet, brown chicken, about 5 pieces at a time, until golden. Remove as it browns.
2. Add pork cubes to skillet; brown well on all sides. Remove.
3. To drippings in skillet, add onion, garlic, pepper, and oregano; saute, stirring 5 minutes, until onion, is golden. Add salt, rice, and saffron; cook, stirring- about 10 minutes.
4 Meanwhile, in another skillet, brown sausages, turning on all sides- about 10 minutes. Drain and discard fat. Place chicken, sausages, and pork in roasting pan. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
5. Add tomatoes, bay leaf, and chicken broth to rice mixture, and bring to boiling. Add shrimp; spoon evenly over chicken and sausage in pan. Bake, tightly covered with foil, 1 hour.
6. If mixture seems dry, add 1/2 cup water. Sprinkle peas over top, without stirring. Bake, covered, 20 minutes longer.
7. To serve; Turn Paella into heated, round serving platter or paella pan. Garnish with pimiento and lemon. Serves 10.

Top-Of-The-Stove-Casserole

2009-02-24T10:04:00.000-08:00

We have been trying to do some massive decluttering because it looks like we will be watching Emma when my daughter goes back to work. What a horrendous task. I can just kick myself for ever having bought so many books. It seems that we just have millions of them. Boxes and boxes everywhere. All types, cookbooks, fiction, science, self help you name it we have it. It hurts to have to donate things that you paid good money for. I am thinking about having a massive book sale and just selling hardcovers for 1.00 and paperbacks for 50 cents. My husbands eBay business just doesn't sell them fast enough.
Anyway when digging down to a box that hadn't been opened in a long time I found a Southern Living book: Quick & Easy Cookbook- Menus, Recipes & Tips. The book is from 1979 and while flipping through it I realized that it is a perfect example of how tastes have changed. Almost all the recipes would be considered grossly under seasoned by today's standards. When spices and seasonings where listed they only called for maybe 1/2 teaspoon. If made as listed I can imagine a huge outcry that everything was too bland. Here is an example:

Top-Of-The-Stove Casserole
1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1 (16 oz.) can tomatoes
1/2 cup uncooked regular rice
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar (? I don't know about this, to cut the acid of the tomatoes maybe)
1 (16 oz.) can green peas
Salt and pepper to taste
Brown meat and onion in a large skillet; drain. Add tomatoes, rice, water, and sugar. Cover and cook over low heat about 25 minutes or until rice is tender. Add peas and season. Heat slowly until hot. Yield 6 servings.

As unappealing as this sounds I am sure there are plenty of harried women who make a variation of this when they need a super quick dinner. However I am sure they add liberal amounts of Mexican or Italian seasonings to make it better suite today's palates. They probably top it with some shredded cheese too. It seems like every current casserole recipe I see calls for a cheese topping.

Applesauce Snack Cake TNT

2009-02-20T15:07:00.000-08:00

Well I got my computer back. But I am quite sad :( that all my favorites are gone and so is my blog reader. I don't know how I am going to find all the blogs I read again. It is going to take a long time. I had a huge list of bookmarked favorites too, last time something went wrong they were saved but no such luck this time. All my old e-mail is gone too and foolishly I had kept lots of old mail for references to passwords etc. I will have to change the way I use my computer. I was lucky though, my husband lost over 150 of his photos. Now if I can just get some more ink for my printer I will be back in business.
I seem to have leftover applesauce fairly often so I usually make muffins with it. The other day I had a larger amount so I decided to make a cake. The recipe I have made before only uses 1/2 cup so I found one that uses more. I adapted it a little and it turned out to be a very good snack cake. I have been enjoying a piece with my dinner at work each night.

Applesauce Cake
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 teaspoons spice, such as cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg etc. I use a can I have called cake spice that has all of these
1/4 cup oil
1-1/4 cups applesauce
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cups raisins ( I didn't use any)
Mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and spice. Add the wet ingredients and mix well. Pour into a greased and floured 9 inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees until pick comes out clean about 35 minutes.

Ginger Spice Coffee Cake

2009-02-12T14:00:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted for awhile as I was on vacation from work and then my computer got a virus. The whole thing just shut down and I couldn't to anything. Why people spend their time creating harmful computer virus' is something I just can't figure out. If they have the ability to do that why don't they just use their abilities in a positive way instead of causing others to have to pay to make things right.
My husband's computer also went down at the same time. I think it is his motherboard. Luckily I remembered that I still had my old computer tower from back in 11/07 when I got my new one. So we hooked it back up and are using that until we get the others fixed.
The other day I was looking at my original cookbook collection and I found a cookbook from 1949; The Economy Cook Book compiled by the staff of The Journal of Living. I have no idea what that was but they did produce a slim book with lots of frugal recipes. It has twelve recipes using organ meats but I don't think I'll post any of them. The idea of stuffing a heart to produce a frugal meal just doesn't appeal to me! This recipe is for a coffee cake that is very similar to gingerbread, it sounds much more tempting.

Ginger Spice Coffee Cake

2 cups enriched flour

1-1/2 teaspoons Ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup raisins

1 cup sour milk

1-3/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 cup molasses

4 tablespoons shortening (melted)

Sift flour, add spices and salt to flour in sifter and sift. Stir in raisins. Stir baking soda into sour milk and beat until well blended. Add molasses and beat thoroughly. Add liquid (milk-molasses mixture) to dry ingredients gradually, beating just until smooth and creamy. Stir in melted shortening. Grease baking pan (or 12 muffin tins) with melted fat. Pour mixture into greased shallow pan. Bake in 375 degree oven about 25 to 30 minutes for the cupcakes in small tins, or 30 to 40 minutes for the shallow cake. Serve hot or cold, plain or frosted as desired.

Taco Hero- an oldie from Kraft

2009-01-30T21:54:00.000-08:00

While digging around in my recipe clipping box I came across a TV Guide recipe insert from "The 38th Annual Golden Globe Awards" in 1981. Kraft used to put out these inserts fairly often and I have quite a few of them.
This Taco Hero is a variation of French bread pizza. It seems like it would be good to serve while watching a football game or to heat up after coming home from some event.
I have never been a fan of broiling uncooked meat on buns. I would just cook up the meat, seasoning and tomato paste and then spread it on the bread, add the cheese and heat.

Taco Hero

1 lb. ground beef

6-oz. can tomato paste

1-1/4-oz. pkg. taco seasoning mix

1 Vienna bread loaf, cut in half lengthwise

Kraft American Singles Pasteurized Process Cheese Food

Tomato slices

Thinly sliced onion rings

Combine meat, tomato paste and taco seasoning; mix until well blended
Spread half of meat mixture on each half of bread. Place on ungreased cookie sheet; bake at 450 degrees 20 minutes. Top with process cheese food and tomato slices. Continue baking until process cheese food melts. Garnish with onion rings. 8 servings.
Note: To make ahead, prepare as directed. Wrap tightly in aluminum foil; freeze. Bake at 450, 30 minutes.

Royal Desserts- Raspberry Argentine

2009-01-24T01:10:00.000-08:00

I know I have been a very bad blogger, abandoning my poor blog for so long. My daughter had a very difficult pregnancy and finally had her baby delivered three weeks early by c-section. The baby had a few problems to start with but is now doing fine. So I am planning to get back to posting regularly.
I was lucky to receive quite a few cookbooks and cooking pamphlets for Christmas. One of them is this 1932 Royal Gelatin Dessert booklet. The first page of it boldly tells us that gelatin can grow "shelf-stale". This is how they word it: "Do you know that fruit gelatin loses nearly 50% of its flavor when the package is a few weeks old? You can tell when you taste it... whether or not it's fresh. The customer could avoid old stale gelatin by buying Royal because "Now grocers get it twice a week in small quantities.. by the same nation-wide delivery service that speed Chase & Sandborn's Dated Coffee and Fleischmann's Fresh Yeast. I don't use that much gelatin so I know mine has set on my self for way longer than a few weeks and I haven't noticed it tasting stale. LOL.
I am always intrigued by recipes that have countries or regions of the world in the title.
This gelatin dish is titled Raspberry Argentine. I sure don't see any ingredient in it that makes me think of Argentina. I wonder where they thought up that title.

Raspberry Argentine

1 package Royal Gelatin Dessert (raspberry flavor)

1 cup boiling water

1 cup cold water

1/2 cup stewed prunes, cut in quarters

2 slices pineapple, cut in cubes

1/4 cup shredded, blanched almonds

Dissolve Royal Quick Setting Gelatin in boiling water, add cold water. Put half this mixture in a mound to half fill, chill until firm. Chill remaining gelatin and when it begins to thicken add fruit and almonds. Pour on top of firm gelatin in mould. Chill until firm. Serves 6.

Happy New Year

2009-01-02T02:50:00.001-08:00

Famous Cranberry Dishes, a charming booklet

2008-12-15T14:15:00.000-08:00

Recently I dug out a vintage cranberry promotion booklet that featured recipes from various inns across the country. It is old because this note is on the inside cover "Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice is available only in limited quantites. If you cannot find it in your city, prices and shipping charges will be sent on request."

There are pen and ink illustrations and descriptions of all the inns. They all seemed so lovely it would be interesting to google and see if they are still in business. But of course that would take up way too much time :)
This cake was served at The Farm Kitchen in Baraboo, Wisconsin. "At the entrance to Devil's Lake Park. Everything served here is made in the one-time farm kitchen. Home made soup, skillfully cooked fried spring chicken, fresh garden vegetables cooked to order. And, of course, famous desserts... like this superb Cranberry Spice Cake featuring Wisconsin-grown cranberries."

Cranberry Spice Cake

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1egg, beaten

1 cup raisins

1/2 cup nut meats

1-3/4 cups sifted all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoons cloves

1 cup Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce (Jellied or Whole)

Cranberry Cream Cheese Frosting

3 ounces package cream cheese

4 tablespoons Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce (Jellied or Whole)

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 pound confectioners' sugar

For cake: cream shortening and sugar, add egg. Stir in raisins and nuts. Combine dry ingredients and sift; add to first mixture. Stir in cranberry sauce. Bake at 350 degrees for about one hour in greased tube pan, or for 30 to 40 minutes in greased 8-inch layer cake pans. Ice with Cranberry Cream Cheese Frosting.
For frosting: soften cream cheese with cranberry sauce. Add salt. Gradually add sugar, beating until creamy.

Cranberry Muffins as served at White Turkey Inn Danbury, Connecticut. "Built in 1760. Once a stagecoach stop for a change of horses and a bracer. Now owned by Harry and Dorothy Davega who believe in the early ideals of America, its atmosphere, and cultured way of life. Here you will find the essence of Colonial living in the appointments, the service and the food"

1/4 cup shortening

1/4 cup sugar

2 eggs, well beaten

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

5 teaspoon baking powder (wow that seems like a lot)

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup milk

1 cup Ocean Spray Whole Cranberry sauce, drained

Cream together shortening and sugar. Stir in well beaten eggs. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together. Add sifted dry ingredients to shortening-sugar mixture alternately with milk. Blend thoroughly. Fill greased muffin tins 1/3 full making a hole in center of the patter. Put in one teaspoonful of cranberry, then fill tins until 2/3 full. Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes. Serve hot. Makes 12 muffins.

Happy Thanksgiving, Don't leave the turkey to inexperienced cooks!

2008-11-28T00:23:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. I was scheduled to work and after much hassle and back and forth discussion with management: "yes you can have it off, no you can't, everyone else in the depart. is off" etc. I decided I just wasn't going to work that day. Sorry to disappoint any shoppers but my parents are very old and this could very well be their last Thanksgiving.
Because of the possibility of me not being able to cook the dinner my Dad decided to buy and cook the turkey.
When I arrived at the house to work on the side dishes it should have dawned on me that I didn't smell any turkey cooking. After messing around for about an hour I heard my Dad telling my Mom he was going to put the turkey in. I thought he was talking about putting the convection probe in and that it had already been cooking. No! he was just putting it in the oven and said it would cook in one and a half hours at 325 degrees. It was an 18 lb. turkey! I was shocked to say the least but my daughter agreed with him and said they had checked and double checked and it would be done when it reached 180 degrees and that would only take one and a half hours.
Well they took it out at the prescribed time and I tried to convince them that it was not done even though it was nice and brown. The drumstick did not move easily when wiggled, the meat did not feel soft and done when pressed and the juices were very bloody when pierced in the joint. They insisted it would be done after it set for awhile and the recipe said it was normal for the juice to be pink.
Needless to say it was not done when my brother carved it and it had to be put back in a 425 degree oven and cooked for another 30 minutes. By that time the side dishes where getting cold and it was getting late. We had to eat the outer parts of the turkey that was done. What a hassle. My Dad belatedly determined he had put the prob in the drumstick instead of the inner thigh causing it to turn the oven off way to soon plus not even be in the turned on oven nearly long enough.
By next year I am sure this will just be a humorous memory but today it wasn't very funny.

Scan from: Good Food Magazine Nov. 1973

Nursery Rhyme Pumpkin Pie

2008-11-23T20:50:00.001-08:00

I found this ad for the famous Libbey's pumpkin pie in a 1979 Family Circle Christmas Helper special issue. It reminds me of the nursery rhyme Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater.

I tried several times but I just couldn't get a very good scan of it. The colors are really very rich and warm . The text at the top is "Remember the aroma, the melt-in-your- mouth taste of homemade pumpkin pie? Now's the perfect time of year to share that warm memory with your family. And here's the perfect recipe:"

At the bottom there is an offer for a free plastic stand cookbook holder. Only 50 cents postage and three Libby's, Pet or Pet-Ritz product labels.

This is the recipe in case someone doesn't have it. I am sure it has probably been posted several thousand times by other bloggers.

Preheat oven and cookie sheet to 375 degrees. Remove one Pet-Ritz Deep Dish pie crust shell from freezer. Meanwhile, mix filling ingredients in order given.

Two eggs, slightly beaten

One can (16 oz.) Libby's Solid Pack Pumpkin

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon.

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon cloves

One Tall can (13 fl. oz.) Pet Evaporated Milk

Recrimp edges of pie shell to stand 1/2" above the rim. Pout about half the filling into pie shell; place on preheated cookie sheet near center of oven. Pour remaining filling into pie shell.

Bake for 70 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Garnish with whipped cream and walnuts if desired.

I have made this recipe before and it does produce a very yummy pie. Now days I just buy a frozen pie or even a ready to serve one.

Apple Recipes from Tehachapi California

2008-11-08T02:49:00.000-08:00

This little self-published book from 1979 was well used as many pages are full of stains. I presume the recipes on those pages must have been good because it looks like more than one time use stains :).

There is some history of the area also. In 1876 a Bakersfield nursery man filled "some large orders of fruit trees to be planted in the valley." Large quantities of trees were shipped to Tehachapi from Fresno nurseries in 1890. In the 1920's all the region's fruit was shipped from the railroad depot to New York and other Eastern markets. By the 30's there was a large drop off in production but the industry was revitalized in the 50's.

The names and addresses of seven apples growers are given in the book and a number of them provided recipes for the book.

I have noticed a lot of no sugar added pies at grocery store recently. This is the book's Natural Apple Pie recipe:

Natural Apple Pie

1 pastry shell and top crust

5 cups raw apple slices

1 6-oz. can frozen apple juice concentrate (undiluted)

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon rum or rum or vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Dash nutmeg

2 tablespoon margarine

Mix cornstarch and some of the apple juice. Heat other juice in pan and add cornstarch mixture. Cook until thick. Pour over apples. Mix. Put apple mixture into unbaked crust (9"). Dot with butter or margarine and sprinkle on spices. Cover with top crust. Drizzle with honey, if desired. Bake at 400 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes.

This recipe is from one of the stained pages:

Autumn Apple Bread

1/4 cup shortening

2/3 cups sugar

2 eggs, well-beaten

2 cups sifted flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 cups grated raw apple

1 tablespoon grated lemon peel

1 cup walnuts, chopped

Cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs. Mix and sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add alternately with grated apple to egg mixture. Stir in lemon peel and nuts. Batter will be stiff. Fill pans about three-quarters full. Bake in greased and floured loaf pans, 8x5x2-inches, at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes. Do not slice until cold.

This recipe is for a rather different applesauce cake. I would make in in a bundt pan though.

Choco-Applesauce Cake

2-1/2 cups sifted flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

6 squares semi-sweet chocolate

1 cup canned chocolate syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup butter or margarine

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1-1/2 cups applesauce homemade or purchased

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Grease and flour a 10-inch angel food cake pan. Sift flour and baking soda together. Melt chocolate in small pan over low heat and stir in chocolate syrup, vanilla and almond extracts. Cool. Cream together butter or margarine and sugar in large bowl. Add eggs, one at a time. Add cooled chocolate mixture. Stir in flour, in quarters, and add applesauce alternately. Fold in walnuts and turn into pan and bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour 35 minutes (or until straw in center comes out clean). Cool in pan for 15 minutes, then turn out on wire rack to completely cool.

Today is Guy Fawkes Day

2008-11-05T14:27:00.000-08:00

Today my calendar notes it is Guy Fawkes Day. On this day in 1605 a traitor was discovered in the basement of Parliament with thirty six barrels of gunpowder. Just the other day I bought a used nursery rhyme book for my collection and flipping through it I noticed the gunpowder plot rhyme above.
Not many Americans may be familiar with Guy Fawkes Day, but you may have seen the movie V for Vendetta. The main character wears a Guy Fawkes mask and recites the rhyme, he also wanted to blow up Parliament. In Britain the day is remembered by bonfires and fireworks. There is lots of information about the day on the net. One of the sites featured recipes to serve today: Guy Fawkes Day recipes and information.
Some of the news sites said today would be rainy and windy over there but hopefully there were areas that could have outdoor celebrations. I also noticed some of the firework displays were on the weekend instead of today. Here is San Diego we frequently have the public holiday parades and celebrations on the nearest weekend. I guess that is a common practice nowadays. I recently found out that I will have to work on Thanksgiving, but I don't think my family would want to put off the celebration to the weekend. We are thinking of buying one of the pre-cooked dinners that are available now. But that is a subject for another post.

Freezer Recipe- Apple Cinnamon Crumb

2008-09-26T14:11:00.000-07:00

Somewhere I picked up an over 600 page book on preserving food. It is: Stocking Up How to Preserve the Foods You Grow Naturally by Carol Hupping Stoner, 1977. This book has info on just about everything- fruits, vegetables, dairy, meats and fish, nuts, seeds and grains.
This recipe reminds me of a dessert we use to have in the grade school lunch room. It was a layered cup of cooked apples and crumbs, but it was served at room temperature.

Apple Cinnamon Crumb

1 pound cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced

1 to 2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon honey

1/4 cup raisins (if desired)

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

1/4 cup whole-wheat bread crumbs (or wheat germ or bran)

3 tablespoons honey

Cook apples with water and 1 tablespoon honey until soft. Mash lightly. Add raisins.
Melt butter in a saucepan, and add cinnamon, chopped nuts and bread crumbs. Brown gently. Add 3 tablespoons honey.

Layer the crumbs and mashed apples in a foil pie plate, beginning and ending with the crumbs. Press down lightly. Cool quickly. Freeze. Wrap, label, seal, and date. Return to freezer.

When ready to serve: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove wrapping and bake for about 1 hour until crisp and golden brown. Serve hot with whipped cream, ice cream, or yogurt. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

National Butterscotch Pudding Day

2008-09-19T10:50:00.000-07:00

I don't know who thinks up the various food holidays but today is National Butterscotch Pudding Day. I don't think that many people make the cooked type pudding anymore or even the instant type. The ubiquitous ready to eat pudding cups seem to have taken over.

There are some make food from scratch only people out there though. This recipe would be for them:

Butterscotch Pudding

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon brown sugar, firmly packed

4 tablespoons cornstarch

1/8 teaspoon salt

2-3/4 cups milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

Mix sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a saucepan. Very gradually, stir in the milk until blended. Cook over very low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and comes to a boil. Continue stirring and let the pudding simmer rapidly for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Swirl in the butter until melted. Pour the pudding into 6 half-cup glasses and let cool slightly. To prevent a skin from forming cover each glass or the surface of the pudding itself with plastic wrap. Serve warm or chilled.

From More Make YOur Own Groceries by Daphne Metaxas Hartwig

Culinary Arts Institute and Ruth Berolzheimer

2008-09-17T20:36:00.002-07:00

I am sure a lot of you have quite a few Culinary Arts Institute booklets. I recently came across an interesting online article about it and in particular about Ruth Berolzheimer.
I have several hardback compilations of the booklets and an interesting binder type collection. There is a rod that goes down the middle of each booklet, then the whole unit fits in a hardback cover.
I also have the cookbook collection guide mentioned in the article. It has a lot of vintage cookbook photos. The problem is that it is not very well organized and it is hard to look up a particular cookbook. There are good sections on Betty Crocker and Pillsbury books.
This recipe is from an early edition of The Cookie Book. When I had my day care center we would occasionally make a simplified version by just putting a marshmallow and a dot of butter on top of the cracker then baking them.

Marguerites

1-3/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup water

2 egg whites, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup nuts, chopped

1 tablespoon butter

1/8 teaspoon salt

Soda crackers or other salty wafers

Boil the sugar and water to the soft ball stage (238 degrees), then pour over the beaten egg whites and beat until stiff. Add vanilla, nuts, salt and butter. Drop by spoonfuls on the crackers and bake in a moderate oven (350 degrees) until light brown.

Lots of pie

2008-09-04T14:13:00.000-07:00

The ad man that thought up this 60's ad really got a lot of bang for their clients budget. Ten recipe suggestions in one ad! The variety of colors really draws your eye to the ad too.

The ideas aren't very inspired but there sure are a lot of them. The fruit cocktail slice description is: "Put drained fruit cocktail in it, glaze with thickened syrup and it's Fruit Salad Pie." No thanks.

I didn't realize that ready made crumb pie crusts had been around for so long. The recipe I like to use with one is this:

Pina Colada Pie

2 containers (8 oz. each) pina colada yogurt

1 container (8 oz.) Cool Whip whipped topping, thawed

1 large can crushed pineapple, well drained

1 9-inch graham cracker crumb crust

Fold yogurt into whipped topping, blending well; fold in pineapple. Spoon into crust. Freeze until firm, 4 hours or overnight. Remove from freezer 30 minutes before serving and keep chilled in refrigerator.

Retro Chicken Contest Winner

2008-09-02T14:28:00.001-07:00

This retro ad is on the back of a 1976 Family Circle special issue- Best Ever Chicken Recipes. The contest they are referring to is the National Chicken Cooking Contest. This contest has been around in one form or another since 1949. Since 1971 it has been sponsored by the National Chicken Council. The 2009 contest will be held in San Antonio.

Chicken 'n Swiss Extraordinaire

3 whole broiler-fryer chicken breasts, halved, skinned and boned

1 teaspoon Accent flavor enhancer

1/2 cups flour

1/4 cup Mazola Corn Oil

6 thick slices French bread

6 slices Swiss cheese

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 pounds mushrooms, sliced

2/3 cup white wine

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Sprinkle chicken with flavor enhance. Roll in flour. Heat corn oil in fry pan. Add chicken and brown. Reduce heat; cover and cook 15 minutes or until fork can be easily inserted. Place bread slice topped with cheese on baking sheet. Heat in 200 degree oven while preparing mushrooms. Remove chicken from pan. Add butter and mushrooms to pan; cook about 3 minutes. Push mushrooms aside; add wine, salt and pepper. Return chicken to pan; simmer until sauce is slightly thickened. Place chicken piece on each bread slice; spoon mushrooms and sauce over chicken. Makes 6 servings

Murphyburgers- not a good idea

2008-09-01T13:58:00.000-07:00

My family had our Labor Day barbecue yesterday because I am working today. We had delicious steaks. Yum I am always ready for a good barbecue meal. But not all barbecues are created equal. On my vacation I found a 1955 barbecue magazine. It had this silly recipe in it. Murphyburgers: "Keep some canned corned beef hash on your emergency shelf and you can always serve unexpected guests. Just wrap man-sized slices of corned beef hash with bacon and cook them until crisp and brown . Better use a pan or griddle of some kind for Murphyburgers crumble too easily to put them right on grill. Serve them with barbecue sauce, chili sauce or tartar sauce. Tartar sauce! What were they thinking. The caption on the photo is: "Murphyburgers sizzling away-corn-on-the-cob almost done-plenty of cold Coke-that's what's good about summer time!" Sorry I think it would be a better idea to take unexpected guests out to eat.

Lovely Fruits, vintage Kraft ad

2008-08-19T20:14:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I see vintage ads that have very appealing illustrations. This one is from a 60's Family Circle Magazine. I love how the fruits are simply drawn but so very colorful. It is a great ad because it clearly shows just how many flavors of jellies and preserves they made. At the store most people probably didn't really look at all the flavors they just grabbed the one they usually bought. Of course it never hurts to offer a contest.

Gourmet Peanuts?

2008-08-03T02:25:00.000-07:00

If I was doing a word association with the word gourmet, peanuts would not be a word that would pop in my mind. The Oklahoma Peanut Commission seems to think they are though. They titled their booklet It's easy to be a Gourmet with Saucy Peanuts. This undated twenty nine page booklet has lots of recipes that cover all the usual courses; main dishes, soups, vegetables, salads, breads, cakes and desserts. Some of the recipes are quite odd. The typical, trying to use a food item where it really doesn't belong. How about peanut butter in meatloaf?

Meat Loaf Plus

2 pounds ground beef chuck

1/3 cup peanut butter

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 can (8-oz.) tomato sauce

Combine ingredients. Place in 9x5-inch greased loaf pan. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Serves 8

This one might be quite good:

Baked Peanut Butter chicken

1 broiler-fryer chicken, 2-1/2 to 3 lbs., cut up

1/4 cup flour

1 egg

1/3 cup peanut butter

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/3 cup milk

1/2 cup dry bread crumbs

1/4 cup peanut oil

Wash and dry chicken pieces. Dip in flour. Blend egg with peanut butter, salt and pepper. Gradually add milk, beating with fork to blend. Dip floured chicken in peanut butter mixture and then crumbs. Place on oiled baking pan. Drizzle remaining oil over chicken pieces. Bake in 375 degree oven 45 minutes or until tender. Serves 4.

This is a different version of a peanut cookie:

Lemon-Peanut Crispies

2/3 cup margarine of butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Grated lemon peel from 1 lemon

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cups finely chopped peanuts

Thoroughly cream margarine and sugar; add egg, lemon peel and lemon juice. Beat well. Sift together dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture. Mix well. Stir in peanuts. Shape in rolls 2-in. across. Chill thoroughly. Slice very thin. Bake on greased cookie sheet a 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Cool before removing from pan.

A Groovy Cookbook

2008-07-31T00:28:00.001-07:00

My daughter and her husband were in Lexington, Kentucky two weeks ago to attend the Breyer Horse Festival. While they were in town they stopped at a Goodwill store and picked up several cookbooks for me. One was a very colorfully illustrated General Foods Corp. book titled The Well Dressed Dessert, copyright 1969. The recipes are all rather mundane featuring Cool Whip, Jello, etc. It is the groovy illustrations that make it so fun. My scans really don't do justice to the colors. The little cupcake hippie cracks me up. Another interesting feature about the book is that it is double sided easel style. The recipes are so involved that you simply must have that book upright on the counter so you can follow all the detailed steps :). Just kidding of course. The recipe suggestion under the cupcake hippie is:

Kicky Kupkakes

"Hoist the party flag and show off your fine touch with custom-made cupcakes. Use your favorite mix baked in colorful foil baking cups."

Use 4 cups (or one 9-oz. container) of thawed Cool Whip. Thinly frost tops of 24 cupcakes with plain, flavored, or tinted whipped topping. Decorate a few cupcakes at a time, keeping remaining cupcakes chilled. Garnish with chocolate curls; grated chocolate; chopped nuts; whole, sliced , or slivered almonds; chopped candied fruit; or maraschino cherries.

Microwave Spinach Lasagna for National Lasagna Day

2008-07-29T14:26:00.000-07:00

According to various food calendars today is National Lasagna Day. Why they would give a traditional oven baked dish a day in the middle of the summer is beyond me. Who wants to turn on their oven for an hour or so at the end of July? Not me.
I happened to have a little boxed set of cookbooks setting by my computer and one of the books was Microwave Main Courses Quick & Easy. May be there is a lasagna in there, Yes! This book was published in 1987, that might be before no boil lasagna noodles were available. I would definitely use them for this dish.

Spinach Lasagna

"This cheese-rich version of lasagna is made with spinach filling and is a good choice when you need to plan and prepare ahead. It can go directly from the refrigerator to the microwave, completely assembled."

15-1/2 ounce jar meatless spaghetti sauce

1/3 cup water

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley

1/2 teaspoon salt

5 ounces uncooked lasagna noodles

1-1/2 cups ricotta cheese

10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed

2 cups grated mozzarella cheese

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Combine the spaghetti sauce with the water, oregano, basil, parsley and salt. Pour one third of the mixture into the bottom of an 8-inch square microwaveable dish. Lay half the lasagna noodles over the sauce. Spread 3/4 cup ricotta cheese, half the spinach and 1 cup mozzarella cheese over the noodles. Pour half the remaining sauce over the top. Layer the remaining lasagna, ricotta, spinach and mozzarella over the sauce, in that order. Pour the remaining sauce on the top and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese. Cover the dish with a double layer of transparent wrap. Chill for several hours or overnight. Microwave on Medium (50 percent) for 25 to 35 minutes or until the noodles are tender. Let the dish stand for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

The boxed set is titled No Nonsense Cookbook Trio and was available from Avon. It contains three slim volumes by Irena Chalmers, Microwave Main Courses Quick & Easy, Muffins & Quick Breads and Cookies For Holidays & Every Day.

Veggies recipes from Fresh-from-the Garden

2008-07-28T00:15:00.000-07:00

These attractive illustrations are from Miriam B Loo's Fresh-from-the-Garden Cookbook copyright 1980. She and her husband founded the Current Company. Years ago I would order from them occasionally and they use to have an outlet store around here. I hadn't seen or heard about them in a quite a few years so I googled them and was surprised to see that they are still in business. The book has eight pictures that are so lovely they could be framed and used to decorate a kitchen.
The cookbook features recipes for commonly grown garden fruits and vegetables.
I don't care for beets but this salad actually sounds pretty good.

Beet and Tuna Salad

1-1/2 pounds fresh beets, cooked and cubed

8 lettuce leaves

1 7-0z. can Albacore tuna, chilled and well-drained

3/4 cup chopped celery

3/4 cup real mayonnaise

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon dried dill weed

1 small clove garlic, minced

1/3 cup minced green onion

1/2 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper to taste

2 eggs, hard-cooked and chopped

Chill beets. Arrange lettuce leaves on 8 salad plate. Place beets, tuna, and celery in bowl; toss. Blend mayonnaise, lemon juice, dill weed, garlic, onion, salt and pepper until smooth. Blend dressing with beet mixture. Portion salad onto lettuce leaves. Top each serving with chopped egg.

There are six green bean recipes. Here are two of them

Green Bean-Walnut Toss

1 pound fresh green beans, cut in bite-size pieces, cooked

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

3 tablespoon fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried

3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

1/2 cup sliced green onion, including some greens tops

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Springs of fresh dill and parsley for garnish.

Drain cooked beans and cool in shallow dish. In blender or food processor, place remainder of ingredients. Blend until almost smooth, but still with some pieces of walnut and onion showing. Taste for additional seasoning. Pout over beans and chill for 2 hours or more. To serve, garnish with sprigs of fresh dill or parsley. Also good served on lettuce leaves with tomato wedges. carrot curls, and black olives. Serves 6

Herbed Green Beans

1 pound fresh green beans, cooked

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup minced onion

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup finely chopped celery

1/2 cup minced fresh parsley

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed

1/2 teaspoon dried basil, crushed

1/4 teaspoon salt.

Freshly ground pepper to taste

Drain cooked beans. Melt butter or margarine in saucepan; add onion, garlic and celery. Saute for 4 minutes. Add parsley, rosemary, basil, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer 5 minutes. Add beans and toss; cover and heat through. Toss again before serving. Serves 6 t0 8.

Formating Woes?

2008-07-20T17:21:00.000-07:00

Lately I just can't seem to get my posts of format correctly. I use double spacing and paragraph breaks and they just don't show up when posted. When I try to edit the post I insert the spacing and when I click post it still comes out the same. This doesn't happen everytime, that is what makes it weird. I know it is hard to read a recipe that is not double spaced and I find this very frustrating. I wonder if it Blogger or me.

Peach Plum Pie- Dairy Association Cookbook

2008-07-20T16:38:00.000-07:00

I received an award from Patty at http://atticfullofclutter.blogspot.com/. She blogs about all sorts of interesting things and always has loads of great photos so go visit her soon for a visual treat. I think I am suppose to pass this on but I am not too good at that sort of thing so if you have a retro blog consider yourself awarded :).

Because I have been coming across so many hot dog recipes I decided to start a new blog just for those recipes. It is http://hotdogsweinersandfranks.blogspot.com/. I cross posted some of the recipes here and will post new ones as I find them.

Today I came across another book I didn't realize I had; modern approach to everyday Cooking. It is an American Dairy Association book from 1966. It is a ring bound book and larger that the usual promotional books. In the back of the book there is a section titled Helpful Information on Dairy Food. Each description starts out like this: Ice Cream- what is it? Cottage Cheese- what is it etc. It seems to me that is rather unnecessary. You would have to lead an awfully sheltered life not to know what ice cream, milk and cottage cheese were. Maybe some people weren't familiar with yogurt in 1966 but the rest well...

Here is their Peach Plum Pie recipe, a good use for summer fruits.

Peach Plum Pie

1 baked pie shell, 9-inch

Filling:

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup regular all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups milk

2 egg yolks, beaten

2 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 drops yellow food coloring

Topping:

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon water

1 cup (4-6) diced red plums

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

2 fresh peaches, peeled and sliced

To prepare Filling: In a 1- 1/2-quart saucepan combine sugar, flour and salt. Gradually stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened. Cook 2 additional minutes. Blend a small amount of hot mixture into egg yolks; return all to pan. Cook 1 minute (Do not boil.) Stir in butter, vanilla and food coloring. Cool slightly. Pour into cooled pie shell. Chill. To prepare topping: In a small sauce pan combine sugar, water and plums. Cook until plums are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in lemon juice; sieve and cool to room temperature. Just before serving arrange sliced peaches on top of filling. Spoon on plum mixture.

Frankfurters in Crust

2008-07-18T02:25:00.001-07:00

This is yet another retro recipe card with wretched photography. I don't think any one would be serving the franks in crust with franks and potatoes. The menu suggestion on the back was Frankfurters in a Crust, Waldorf Salad, Creamed Spinach and Strawberry Sundaes. A photo of the bowl of salad or even the creamed spinach would have made a more appealing card. Not surprisingly, this recipe is from the Budget Dishes section.

Frankfurters in Crust

8-ounce package refrigerated quick crescent rolls

1/3 cup mustard-pickle relish

6 frankfurters

2 tablespoon evaporated milk

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Unroll crescent rolls to a rectangular shape, pressing seams together. Spread relish over pastry, leaving a 1-inch border all around. Place frankfurters in rows of three down center of pastry; bring sides of dough together over frankfurters and press to seal; press ends of dough to seal. Place seam side down, on an ungreased baking pan. Perforate top of crust with the tines of a fork; brush with evaporated milk; sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake 15 to 20 minutes -until golden brown. Slice crosswise to serve. Serves 3 to 4.

Recipe card: 1973 Curtin Publication, Inc.

Burger Layer "Cake"

2008-07-12T23:40:00.001-07:00

This "cake" really seems to be two big Salisbury type steaks sandwiched together, and little different way to use hamburger.

It is from a Jan. 1976 Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce newspaper ad. The text warns against accepting any imitation sauce. Good cooks "know imitations just can't stand up to its unique, original flavor."

Burger Layer "Cake"

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons catsup

3/4 cup dry bread crumbs

6 teaspoons Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce, divided

2 pounds ground lean beef

2 tablespoons oil

1-1/2 cups sliced onions

1 cup diced green pepper

1 can (4 oz.) sliced mushrooms, drained

1 tomato, diced

Combine first 3 ingredients, 1 1/2 teaspoon salt and 5 teaspoons Lea & Perrins. Add meat; mix lightly. Divide mixture in half. Shape each half into 8-inch circle. Place on lightly greased jelly-roll pan. Bake in preheated 450 degree oven 10 minutes. Heat oil in a skillet. Add onion, green pepper and mushrooms; saute 5 minutes. Add tomato, 1 teaspoon Lea & Perrins and 1/2 teaspoon salt; cook 2 minutes longer. Sandwich half of the vegetables between meat rounds. Top with remaining vegetables. Serve in wedges. Serves 6.

A Cookbook I Don't Have- Creole Style Green Beans

2008-07-09T17:33:00.000-07:00

While going through my box of old clipping I came across this ad. It was on the back of a page of recipes. It is a large ad from the old style ladies magazines. I thought gee I don't have that one. A little further down the box I found a Good Food Magazine from 10/1973. Flipping through it I found the ad below:

Another ad for the same cookbook. I have never seen this book. I have a small hardback Del Monte tomato product book and a Del Monte canned fruit and vegetable booklet but alas not this ring bound book. I will have to keep and eye out for it. Here is the recipe from the second ad:

Creole Style Green Beans

"A tangy tomato sauce and bacon- and green beans go Creole. This dish teams well with pan fried chicken or fish steaks."

6 slices bacon, diced

3/4 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

2 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/8 teaspoon dry mustard

1 can (16-oz.) Del Monte Peeled Tomatoes

1 can (16-oz.) Del Monte Blue Lake Cut Green Beans, drained

Cook bacon until crisp; remove from skillet. Add onion and green pepper to 3 tablespoons bacon drippings; cook until tender. Blend in flour, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, and mustard. Add tomatoes. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. Add beans, Heat. Top with bacon. 6 to 8 servings.

Taco Franks And Mac Bake from Creamettes

2008-07-03T00:37:00.000-07:00

It seems like every cookbook or recipe booklet I pick up has a recipe featuring hot dogs, frankfurters, wieners or what ever you chose to call them. It could just be selective vision at work, I have frugal recipes on my mind lately.
This recipe is from Tried & True Money Saving Meals, 1981, from Creamettes and Borden. Creamettes brand is of course the makers of macaroni, spaghetti and egg noodles. This little booklet even features a section titled Elegant & Inexpensive. Sorry I have a hard time thinking of macaroni as elegant. The Taco Franks comes from the appropriately titled Money-Saving Main Dishes section.

Taco Franks And Mac Bake

1 (7-ounce) package or 2 cups uncooked Creamettes Elbow Macaroni, cooked as package directs and drained

3/4 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

1/4 cup margarine or butter

2 (10-3/4 ounce) cans condensed tomato soup

1 cup water

1 (1-1/4-ounce) package taco seasoning mix

1 pound frankfurters, cut into quarters

Buttered soft bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large skillet, cook onion and green pepper in margarine until tender. Stir in soup, water and taco seasoning.; blend until smooth. Bring mixture to a boil; simmer 10 minutes. In large bowl, combine cooked macaroni, tomato mixture and frankfurters, mix well. Turn into greased 2-quart baking dish, top with crumbs. Bake 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Makes 6 to 8 servings

Outdoor Eating: Wine 'N' Honey Ribs

2008-06-28T22:13:00.000-07:00

For many years beginning in 1957 Woman's Day Magazine had a little monthly recipe insert titled The Collector's Cook Book. Each month was devoted to a different food item, method of cooking etc. They often had whimsical illustrations. The edges were perforated for easy removal and had hole punch markings.

Several times these were compiled and released as cookbooks. I have a paperback edition and a deluxe ring binder, slip case version from 1970.

I've saved a large number of the magazine editions. This one is from July 1972. The topic was outdoor eating and contains this different take on barbecued ribs:

Wine 'N' Honey Ribs

1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce

1/2 cup red wine

1/4 cup honey

1/2 cup red-wine vinegar

1 teaspoon onion salt

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

4 pounds beef short ribs

Combine all ingredients, except ribs, and mix well. Lay ribs in shallow glass dish and pour sauce over top. Refrigerate overnight. Remove from refrigerator and cook on grill, brushing frequently with sauce. 1-1/2 to 2 hours, or until very tender. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Garden Vegeables and Patty Medley

2008-06-25T14:29:00.000-07:00

This is a frugal recipe that is good for the summer because it is cooked on the top of the stove and uses some of the veggies you might have growing in the garden.

Garden Vegetables and Patty Medley

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound lean ground beef, formed into 4 patties

1 clove garlic, minced

1 medium-size zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced

1 large green bell pepper, chopped

1 medium-size onion, chopped

6 or 7 fresh mushrooms, sliced

1/2 teaspoon whole marjoram

1/2 teaspoon dill weed

1/4 teaspoon celery seed

3 medium-size tomatoes, chopped

salt

pepper

3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon oil and add patties. Brown well on both sides before turning heat to medium to cook almost to desired doneness. Remove patties set aside and keep warm. Heat remaining oil in skillet and add garlic, zucchini, green pepper, onion and mushrooms. Sprinkle with marjoram, dill weed and celery seed: saute for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste; continue to saute for 3 minutes, or until vegetables are tender crisp. Place meat patties on top of vegetables, cover and continue to cook for about 1 minutes or until meat is heated through. Remove patties to serving platter sprinkle with 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese. Top with vegetables and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Makes 4 servings.

From Ground Beef Favorites by Babara Swift Brauer, 1981 Owlswood Publications

National Peaches and Cream Day- Peach Bombe

2008-06-23T00:45:00.000-07:00

Today is National Peaches and Cream day according to some online food calendars. This frozen dessert is much facier than plain old peaches and cream. The recipe is written in the old style and is a little hard to follow.
The recipe comes from an interesting cookbook: Good Housekeeping Everyday Cook Book. It is a 2002 reprint of the original 1903 cookbook. Its' unusual feature is its size: 9-1/2 by 4-1/4 inches.

Peach Bombe

Scald one pint of cream and one and one-half cups of granulated sugar till the mixture looks blue and thin. Take from the fire and add one pint of uncooked cream. When cool add the juice from a pint can of white or pink peaches, one teaspoon of vanilla and one half teaspoon of peach extract; freeze. When nearly frozen add the peach pulp, mix in thoroughly and pack till you are ready to mold it.
Any simple form will do for this, a melon mold is very good. Have it as cold as possible and line it with the ice cream, leaving a cavity in the middle.
Fill this with a vanilla mousse, made of one pint of cream whipped very stiff, a few drops of vanilla and the same of orange extract. Put on the cover, bury in ice and salt and leave to ripen for three hours. If you find the outside is not deep enough in color, a suspicion of the damask-rose color paste will improve it.

Frankfurters & Corn Casserole

2008-06-15T01:18:00.001-07:00

This is a frugal recipe from a 1973 recipe card. Today in my neighborhood gas was $4.51 for regular so it is definitely time to dig out some really frugal meal ideas.
If you like corn pudding I bet this would be quite good.

Frankfurters & Corn Casserole

1/4 cup finely chopped onions

3 tablespoon butter or margarine

3 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

1-1/2 cups milk

2 cups canned whole kernel corn, drained

3 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup fine dry bread crumbs

1 tablespoon melted butter or margarine

1 pound frankfurters, scored

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook onions in butter until transparent; stir in flour. Add salt and pepper. Over low heat, gradually stir in milk; cook until sauce is thick and smooth stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add corn. Fold in beaten eggs. Pour into 1-1/2-quart buttered casserole. Mix melted butter and bread crumbs; sprinkle on top. Bake 30 minutes; place frankfurters on top of casserole and bake 15 minutes longer. Serves 6
Suggested Menu on card: Frankfurter Corn Casserole, Pepper Slaw, Peach Melba

I have been AWOL

2008-06-11T22:32:00.000-07:00

I haven't been posting much or commenting on others blogs because my son-in-law has been very ill. He had intestinal surgery last week but came home from the hospital today. They don't know exactly what the problem is and are awaiting test results. The surgeon was an older man and told my daughter after the operation- "I have never seen anything like it in 30 years, but I don't think it is cancer". That is certainly not the type of thing you are hoping to hear.

My daughter is also expecting after several years of physically and emotionally draining infertility treatment. Her husband was in the hospital when she had her first prenatal appointment so he obviously couldn't go with her which was very upsetting to both of them. I went with her though and everything looks good. Hopefully the lab report will be good for my son-in-law and everything can get back to normal. I sure hope so.

Soda Pop Frozen Passion

2008-06-02T18:19:00.000-07:00

I have saved this ad since 1972. I think the ice cream or sherbet or whatever it is is so pretty. It is very easy to make also. I have made regular vanilla ice cream with sweetened condensed milk and it is very good. So I think this might be good. You could sure make a lot of different flavors. Orange soda would probably have a creamscicle taste. Yum. The recipe is listed as World's Simplest Recipe but else where in the ad they refer to it as Frozen Passion.

World's Simplest Recipe

Pour 2 cans of Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk and two 28 oz. bottles (or four 12 oz.

cans) of soda pop into freezer drum of an electric ice cream maker and follow instructions.

Makes two quarts of Frozen Passion in minutes. For small families, cut the recipe in half.

Pie Plate Salad

2008-06-02T11:57:00.000-07:00

This is another ad from the 1952 Better Living. I am sure it is not a tasty as yesterdays cake. This is a recipe for a 50's favorite, the gelatin salad. "Enjoy this new, different salad, made like a pie in your regular pie pan!. So quick and easy! Veg-All Mixed Vegetables- seven delicious salad vegetables all ready to use- bring you a nutritional combination that's vitamin and mineral-rich, perfect for salads." I don't know how they can call just putting some canned veggies in lemon gelatin a salad- no seasonings or added ingredients. Gee how creative.

1. Dissolve one package lemon gelatin in 1 cup hot water. Stir until thoroughly dissolved. Add 1/2 cup cold water.
2. Add 1 can drained Veg-All. Rinse 8-inch pie pan with cold water. Pour in mixture. Chill until firm.
3. Unmold on flat plate. Garnish with tartar sauce or salad dressing, pimiento lettuce. Serve in pie cuts.

I can not imagine anything as unappealing to me as canned mixed vegetable in lemon jello. This is in part because of my own traumatic 50's canned mixed vegetable experience. I can remember very clearly the night my Mom opened a can of mixed vegetables to serve for dinner and there right on top of the veggies was a very well canned fly! I would not touch canned mixed vegetables from that day on.

Colorvision Cake

2008-06-01T00:43:00.000-07:00

This ad from the Feb. 1952 issue of Better Living promotes the idea of flavoring and coloring your cake with fruit flavored gelatin, "Your cake will have a wonderful, tempting fruit flavor."

When this ad came out there were only three flavors of Betty Crocker Cake Mixes. The colorvision cake called for the Party Cake mix that made a yellow cake. To make it you added three tablespoons of your favorite fruit flavored gelatin as you started to mix the cake.

To make the Icing : Mix, in top of double boiler all the remaining fruit gelatin in package, 1/4 cup egg whites, 1 cup sugar,1/8 tsp. cream of tartar, 1/4 cup water. Place over boiling water and beat with electric mixer on high speed, or rotary beater, until icing holds stiff peaks. remove from over boiling water and beat about 1 min. longer.

I don't recall seeing this idea in later Betty Crocker booklets so I wonder if it really turned out very well. It seems like it would work. Remember the gelatin poke cakes? You don't hear about them much any more either. Maybe this idea just came and went.

Frozen Ambrosia- Joys of Jello

2008-05-31T14:36:00.000-07:00

I am thinking of giving myself a retro challenge of making a gelatin recipe once a week. There are so many weird and wonderful gelatin recipes out there is would be fun to give some of them a try. This one from Joys of Jello sounds quite good.

I have several copies of Joys of Jello but I like this one as the former owner made a lot of notes in it and wrote a list of the recipes she liked in the back of the book. I always find it interesting to read any notes people have written in their old cookbooks. Occasionally someone will even cross out a recipe and write no good over it. For some reason that always gives me a laugh.

Frozen Ambrosia

"A wonderful substitute for ice cream or sherbet that's just as refreshing"

1 package (3 oz.) Jello-O Orange gelatin

1/4 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons sugar

1 cup boiling water

2 oranges, peeled and sectioned

1 cup whipped cream or prepared Dream Whip Whipped Topping

1-1/2 cups (about) Baker's Angel Flake Coconut

1 teaspoon grated orange rind

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

Dissolve Jello-o Gelatin, salt and sugar in boiling water. Drain orange sections, measuring juice and adding cold water to make 1 cup. Add to gelatin. Chill until very thick. Fold in whipped cream, coconut, orange sections, orange rind and mayonnaise. Pour into freezer tray or shallow pan. Freeze until firm. Makes about 4 cups or 6 to 8 servings.

Today is National Devil's Food Cake Day

2008-05-19T10:25:00.000-07:00

Yes Devil's Food Cake has its' own day and I have a tried and true recipe. As you can see from the scan this recipe is old. It came from my Moms Mixmaster instruction booklet in the late 40's or very early 50's. She has made it countless times and I have made it a lot also. We always make it with the coffee. It is so good with a thick fudge frosting.

Black Devil's Food Cake

1-1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon soda

1/4 teaspoon double-acting or 1/2 teaspoon fast-acting baking powder

1/2 cup cocoa

1 cup hot water or hot coffee

1/2 cups shortening

1-1/4 cup sugar

2 eggs, unbeaten

1 teaspoon vanilla.

Put into large bowl of Mixmaster the shortening, sugar eggs and vanilla. Sift together the flour, salt, soda and baking powder. Mix together cocoa and hot water or coffee.

Beat together the shortening, sugar, eggs and salt for 2 minutes at no. 8 speed scraping bowl while beating. Turn to no.1 speed. Add cocoa mixture alternately with sifted flour mixture. Scrape bowl while beating. Beat only enough to blend well- about 3 minutes. Pour batter into greased and floured 8-inch layer cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes.

A confession

2008-05-19T02:19:00.000-07:00

I must admit that I am computer retarded. I check out other peoples food blogs and they are so nice looking with all sorts of things on the side bar. Photos, awards, favorites, links etc, etc. I have been blogging for over a year and all my sites are just as bare bones as you can get. Witness my homemade banner that doesn't fit the space correctly. Half the time I can't even post links that work. Occasionally someone has tagged me or given me an award and I can't even seem to respond properly. I actually paid for a web site and domain and it is just sitting there forlornly because I can't figure out how to customize it and post on it correctly.

If I knew what I was doing I would cleverly write "Blog" over the word health in the scan. Alas I haven't a clue how to do that. So please bear with me as I stumble along.

A Vintage Dinner

2008-05-17T23:52:00.000-07:00

Tonight I cooked dinner using all vintage kitchen items. My stove is from 1957, it was originally my Grandmothers and she gave it to me 31 years ago and I have used it every since. The cast iron skillet belonged to my other Grandmother, it is from the 50's. I use it all the time. It never sticks and I don't have to worry about fumes from non-stick pans harming my pet birds. My silver-plate was a wedding present to my parents in 1948. They gave it to me several years ago.

My "new" vintage item is the Guardian Service saucepan. It is pre-WWII because it has a metal lid. I was very excited to find it at The Salvation Army a few weeks ago. I also got the Guardian Service chicken fryer. Both pieces were only $4.50 each. Guardian Service is very collectible. It was sold at home parties as one of the first waterless cooking sets. It was quite expensive for it's time. The quality is so good that a lot of collectors still use their pieces. I intend to use mine. I never have had luck frying chicken but maybe my "new" pan will help.

The green beans in my "new" pan were grown by my husband, he also parboiled and frozen them. They are so good, I wish he would grow some this year. A few weeks ago we went to The Carlsbad Flower Fields to see the flowers they were beautiful. We stopped at a European Market-Deli nearby and bought the yummy smoked pork chops I cooked tonight. They were much larger than the puny ones in the local grocery stores.

I will be posting photos of more of my vintage items in the future.

"New Style" Pancakes

2008-05-16T10:39:00.000-07:00

The publicity department for Aunt Jemima was really working overtime to come up with the idea of equating "a new style show" and evening-wear with pancakes.

Their new idea was "pancakes in modern dress". All that means is they are suggesting that you make the pancake batter in a shaker. You could get the "plastic self-measuring special Aunt Jemima Shaker" for only 25 cents and a box top.

One of their ideas did sound good- Orange juice pancakes. "Now you can drink your orange juice and have it too- in delicate orange-flavored Aunt Jemima Buttermilk Pancakes." All you do is add 2 tablespoons undiluted frozen orange juice concentrate to the basic batter made with 1 cup of mix. They suggest servings them with butter and cinnamon sugar or syrup.

Pizza. I don't know about this idea. I think I have my doubts as to how this would turn out. "A tender, crisp crust is a must for good pizza. It's a snap with Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix." Just put 1-1/2 cups mix in bowl; stir in 1/4 cup melted or liquid shortening with fork. Add 2/3 cup milk, mixing lightly. Form a 12-inch circle on a greased cookie sheet. Bake in 450 degree oven 10 minutes. Filling: Pan-fry 1 lb. pork sausage meat; drain. In some of the dripping brown 3/4 c. chopped onion till transparent. Add 1 can tomato sauce, 1 can tomato paste, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. pepper, 1/4 tsp. oregano and the sausage. Cover and simmer 20 min. Pour over fresh crust; top with 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese. Return to oven till cheese melts. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese. Makes 6 servings.

I think I will stick with just plain pancakes and maple syrup.

Appetizing Sandwiches- vintage phamplets

2008-05-12T00:22:00.000-07:00

I recently bought a lot of twenty three 50's food pamphlets on eBay. As soon as I saw the photos I knew I didn't have any of them which is unusual. Most of the time I already have quite a few of the booklets in any given lot.. When I received the order I was pleased that they were all in mint condition. They all seem to be from different public service type publication companies. Some are from Tested Recipe Institute, Inc., Good Reading Rack Service, Inc., A Help-Your-Self Booklet from Employee Relation, Inc. and Stevens Publications

Most of them have the cutest vintage illustrations. This little sandwich one features recipes from Best Foods. It is the only booklet that uses brand names. It was not published by Best Foods however, it is one of the Help-Your-Self Booklets.

Here are some of the tea time sandwich ideas:
Apple Caramel Spread: Cream 1/4 cup margarine and 1/4 cup brown sugar. Add 1/4 cup grated apple, 2 tablespoons shredded coconut, and 1 teaspoon ginger. Spread on 8 slices of brown bread.

Chicken Almond Fingers: Combine 1 cup finely diced chicken, 2 tablespoons slivered almonds and 1/4 cup Real Mayonnaise. Spread on white bread. Cut into fingers. Garnish with tinted cream cheese.

Mushroom Mounds: Mince 1/4 lb. fresh mushrooms and saute slowly in 1/4 cup margarine. Season with a drop or two of onion juice and salt. Spread rounds of whole wheat bread generously with Real Mayonnaise. Spread half with sauteed mushrooms, close.

Ham Cornucopias: Blend 1 cup ground ham, 1 tablespoon chopped parsley and 2 tablespoons margarine. Spread on white bread and roll diagonally into cornucopias. Garnish with parsley.

These two "lunch box luggers" are way to vintage for today's tastes.

Tongue and Pickle Sandwich: Cream 1/4 cup margarine and 1 tablespoon mustard with horseradish (I guess this was a combo mustard). Spread on white bread. Lay slices of tongue on bread. Sprinkle with chopped pickles. Top with second bread slice to make 3 to 4 sandwiches.

Chopped Egg and Sardine: To 3 chopped hard-cooked eggs, add 1/4 teaspoon salt, dash of pepper, 1/8 teaspoon dry mustard and 3 tablespoon sandwich spread. Spread on whole wheat bread, Mash 1 (3-1/4 oz.) can sardines; mix with 1/4 teaspoon minced onion and 1 tablespoon sandwich spread. Spread on whole wheat bread. Combine slices. Yields: 3 to 4 sandwiches.

These are two of the snack ideas:

Cream Cheese and Pickles: To 1 (3 oz.) package cream cheese, add 2 tablespoons Real Mayonnaise. Blend. Add 3 tablespoons finely chopped pickles. Spread on rye or whole wheat slices.

Peanut Butter Giants: Toast one side of bread slices. Spread untoasted side with Real Mayonnaise, then peanut butter. Top with slice of American cheese, then tomato slice. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Broil until cheese is melted. Serve open.

For Those on a Budget- Mock Steak

2008-05-06T18:48:00.000-07:00

Here is a retro idea for those of us who can no longer afford a steak dinner. Just fake it with hamburger! This idea cracks me up. I am sure anyone who actually tried it didn't have it come out looking anything like the one in the ad. I bet it would fall apart when you tried to turn it to broil the other side. Basically it just sounds like a glorified broiled meatloaf.

Mock Steak (serves 8)

Mix 2 lbs. ground round, 1/2 lb. lean pork, 1 env. dry onion soup mix, 2 Tbs. Lea & Perrins, 2 cups stuffing mix, 1 -1/2 cups tomato juice. Form into steak shape 1 inch thick. Wrap 2 strips thick bacon at outer edge to resemble fat. During broiling brush with mixture of 1/2 cup melted butter, 2 Tbs. Lea & Perrins, 3 Tbs. catsup. Broil 10 minutes each side. Use carrot strip to make bone.
From a 1968 Family Circle

Igloo Meat Loaf

2008-05-04T22:03:00.000-07:00

In the Jan. 1967 Family Circle I found a five page spread by the American Dairy Association - Kid-Pleasin' Meals start with the basic 4 food groups. Most of the ideas were ordinary but the Igloo Meat Loaf really stands out. The suggested menu was Igloo Meal Loaf, Green Bean and Mushroom Casserole, Gelatin Salad, Sour Cream Dressing, Rolls, Butter, Cinnamon Apple Crisp ,Vanilla Ice Cream and Milk

Igloo Meat Loaf

Meat Loaf:
2 pounds ground beef
1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs
6 tablespoons instant minced onion
2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1-1/3 cups evaporated milk
Potato Frosting:
1-1/2 cups water
2/3 cups evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
1 envelope (3-1/2 oz.) instant mashed potatoes
Cheddar cheese slices
To prepare Meat Loaf: In a bowl lightly mix ground beef, crumbs, onion, salt, pepper and evaporated milk just until blended. Pack firmly into a 1-1/2-quart bowl; turn out of bowl onto a shallow baking pan. Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes. To prepare Potato Frosting: In a 1 -1/2-quart saucepan combine water, evaporated milk, salt and butter; bring just to boiling. Remove from heat; with whip or fork stir in potatoes; whip briskly. Frost loaf with potato mixture. Bake an additional 15 minutes. Place Cheddar cheese slices on top of Igloo; return to oven just until cheese starts to melt. Serves 6 to 8

Frankfurter Spectacular

2008-05-04T01:46:00.001-07:00

Frankfurter Spectacular
Originally uploaded by Vermont Ferret

I belong to the Flickr group vintage recipe cards. I just saw this one tonight and I am so envious. I would love to have this little beauty of a card in my collection. I don't think I have any Weight Watchers cards. Didn't someone publish a snarky book about the Weight Watcher cards? Click on the photo to get the recipe if for some unknown reason you would like to try making this.

Three Random Things about me

2008-05-04T00:12:00.000-07:00

I just see I got tagged by Retro-Food (thanks) to tell three random things about myself. I am link challenged so I hope the link works. I guess that is my first random thing. #2 I graduated from high school in Japan. It was a military dependents school, my Dad was in the navy. I have a lot of great memories from living there. #3 I am very short- five foot even.
I think most of the blogs I read have been tagged in some way recently. If there is someone who hasn't been, please consider yourself tagged.

Deviled Rock Lobster Tails- A true Big Promotion Meal

2008-05-01T15:05:00.000-07:00

This is another of my odd recipe cards. It is copyright 1972, I wonder what the price of lobster tails was back then. I thinks this recipe would cost a small fortune now days- I just did a quick web check and you can get six 5-6 oz. lobster tails FedEx overnight for only $129. Now this does sound like a Big Promotion meal unlike the pork and bean recipe I posted the other day. It does sound good thought. I bet you could make it with the surimi lobster sticks and bake it in shallow ramekins. The card suggests serving it with parsley buttered potatoes, green bean salad and apple cobbler.

Deviled Rock Lobster Tails
6 (5 oz.) Rock lobster tails
1-1/2 cups soft bread crumbs
1 cup milk (or half and half)
1 egg, well beaten
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
dash cayenne
Tabasco, few drops
1/2 cup coarse soda cracker crumbs
1/4 cup melted butter
Drop lobster tails into boiling salted water (1 tsp. salt per quart of water). When water reboils, cook lobster tails for 2 min. Drain immediately and drench with cold water. Cut away underside membrane, remove meat and reserve shells. Dice lobster meat and mix with bread crumbs, milk, egg, dry mustard, salt ,cayenne and Tabasco. Spoon mixture into reserved shells. Place filled shells in a shallow baking pan. Mix cracker crumbs and butter, sprinkle over top of filled shell. Bake in a moderate oven 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until crumbs are richly browned. Makes 6 servings.

Strawberry Mousse- Retro Betty Crocker

2008-05-01T15:00:00.000-07:00

Today being the last day of the month we visited several thrift stores. My husband gets his retirement check on the last day of the month and usually runs a lot of errands for things he needs and I usually go along to see that his spending doesn't get out of control :). He has a thing about buying books to put in his eBay store and then just leaving them sitting and never getting around to posting them.
Today we did find several interesting books. One was a copy of Betty Crocker's New Picture Cook Book (1961). I was actually the one that spotted this book and wanted it for myself. When I got home I looked it up on eBay and was surprised to see it sells for an average of around $30. I only paid $1 and had a 20% off coupon.
The book is known for its' whimsical pen and ink illustrations. They have such a nice vintage appeal. Here is the retro recipe for Frozen Strawberry Mousse, definitely before the cool whip era.

Strawberry or Raspberry Mousse

1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
1 tablespoon liquid (fruit juice or water)
1 cup mashed strawberries or raspberries
2 cups whipping cream
1/2 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Soften gelatin in liquid. Dissolve over hot water, Stir into fruit. Combine cream, confectioners' sugar and salt in chilled bowl. Whip until stiff. Fold into fruit mixture. Turn into refrigerator tray; freeze 3 to 4 hours, or until firm. 6 servings

A Recession Diet?

2008-04-28T10:13:00.000-07:00

I was just reading an interesting article on New York Times on-line, the Recession Diet (link in blog title is working). It is about what people are doing to save money. They mention Save-A-Lot supermarkets which is where I shop. I did my shopping there yesterday and believe me the prices are going up. I commented about it to the cashier and she agreed that the increases were getting bad. My niece recently was promoted to assistant manager at Starbucks and her store has seen a slow down. At work (Wal-Mart) they have started cutting back every ones hours. From 40 hours to 35 and sometimes even less. They want cashiers to work only four hours shifts. This is leading to very long lines and disgruntled customers. I guess they figure there is no cheaper place to shop so they will just keep coming back anyway.

In keeping with this frugal attitude I found this ad from Van Camp's Pork and Beans (1974). This ad cracks me up because they are promoting pork and beans as an ingredient for a celebration meal. They have Hole-in-one Peppers, Good Report Card Cantonese, Baseball Muffins and Big Promotion beans. The only one that makes sense is New Car Casserole. After buying a new car you just might need to resort to a few bean meals.

The Big Promotion Beans is the silliest. Heaven help the day when we need to celebrate a promotion with this concoction.

Big Promotion Beans

In saucepan mix 31 0z. Van Camp's pork and beans, 33 0z. Stokley's Finest fruit cocktail (well drained), 1/4 cup Stokley's Finest catsup, 1/4 cup chopped green pepper, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon. Simmer on grill until warm. Serves 6 to 8.

Yes, there is almost equal proportion of beans to fruit cocktail, and with sweet spices. Yuk.

Chicken With Pineapple

2008-04-25T13:51:00.000-07:00

This recipe is from another one of my odd recipe cards. It is labeled Marjon Promotions Inc. 1972. I only have three or four of them and haven't a clue what series they are from. This series had a suggested menu and a timed preparation schedule. The menu suggested was Chicken with Pineapple, Lettuce Wedges with dressing (way retro), Relish Tray, Hot Rolls and Marble pound cake It is a little different from the usual chicken and pineapple recipes as it is not a sweet and sour type dish.

Chicken With Pineapple

4 lbs chicken parts
1/2 cup flour
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
12 teaspoon pepper
1 14-1/2 oz. can sliced pineapple
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoon oil
1 large onion, sliced in rings
1 10-oz. package frozen peas
chicken bouillon
salt and pepper
Cut chicken into serving pieces and coat with a mixture of flour, salt and pepper. Drain pineapple slices, reserving juice. Heat butter in a heavy skillet and brown pineapple lightly on both sides. Remove from skillet. Add oil and cook onion rings until golden . Remove onion, then brown chicken in the same fat. Place chicken and onion in a casserole dish. Measure pineapple juice and add enough chicken bouillon to make 2 cups, pour over chicken, season with salt and pepper and bake for about 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven. 20 minutes before serving add defrosted peas and pineapple slice. Makes 4-5 servings. May be made ahead and reheated.

What Mrs Dewey did with the New Jell-O!

2008-04-20T00:34:00.000-07:00

What Mrs Dewey did with the New Jell-O is a little booklet from 1933. What Mrs Dewey did is told in in story form on the first three pages. She and her daughter Nancy are very excited that the strawberry jello in the new box is much prettier that the old jello and tastes more like fresh strawberries.

This is what she did with asparagus. I love asparagus but I sure wouldn't want it in Jello! If you look closely at the photo you can see the she went to the trouble of placing asparagus tips in the grooves of the mold. Maybe the eye ball effect was made with an especially large end of an asparagus spear.This is her recipe:

Fresh Asparagus Salad

1 package Lemon Jell-O
1 cup warm water
3/4 cup asparagus stock or water
3 tablespoon vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups asparagus, cooked and sliced
1 pimiento, chopped
Dissolve Jell-O in warm water. Add asparagus stock, vinegar, and salt. Chill When slightly thickened, fold in asparagus and pimiento. Turn into individual molds. Chill until firm. Unmold on crisp lettuce. Garnish with mayonnaise. Sprinkle with paprika. Serves 8.

This recipe might actually be very refreshing on a hot day.

Grapefruit and Grape Salad or Dessert

1 package Orange Jell-O
1 cup warm water
1 cup grapefruit juice and water
1 grapefruit, sections free from membrane, diced and drained
1 cup white grapes, halved and seeded
Dissolve Jell-O in warm water. Add grapefruit juice and water. Chill When slightly thickened, fold in grapefruit and graped. Turn into ring mold. Chill until firm. Unmold on crisp watercress and garnish with mayonnaise, or serve plain as dessert. Center may be filled with additional fruit, if desired. Serves 6.

Recipe cards make cooking Pepper Steak fun

2008-04-10T10:23:00.000-07:00

I love how happy this woman looks. All because she can make dinner easy and enjoyable with her new recipe card set. Well I have quite a few recipe card sets and I really don't find making dinner enjoyable. Looking at my recipes yes, but actually cooking no. This ad was for an International recipe card club and I don't have any from this series.

This recipe is from a series called My Great Recipes. I have just a few of the cards. An interesting thing about this card is that it has directions to modify the recipe to serve 2 or 8.

Pepper Steak

1 lb. beef chuck or round, fat trimmed

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 clove garlic

1-1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger or 1/2 teaspoon ground

1/4 cup salad oil

1cup green onion, thinly sliced

1 cup read or green peppers cut into 1-inch squares

2 stalks celery, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 cup water

2 tomatoes, cut into wedges

With a very sharp knife cut beef across grain into thin strips, 1/8-inch thick. Combine soy sauce, garlic, ginger. Add beef. Toss and set aside while preparing vegetables

Heat oil in large frying pan or wok. Add beef and toss over high heat until browned. Taste meat. It it is not tender, cover and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes over low heat. Turn heat up and add vegetables. Toss until vegetables are tender crisp, about 10 minutes. Mix cornstarch with water. Add to pan; stir and cook until thickened. Add tomatoes and heat through. Serves 4.

Retro "Butterfly Gelatin Salad

2008-04-06T18:26:00.000-07:00

This is a retro gelatin salad that is a little more appealing than some- no meat products involved. It is from a Best Foods Mayonnaise ad in the August 1965 issue of Family Circle Magazine. The copy says "Believe it or not, just an ordinary layer cake pan is all it takes to make this interesting salad shape." I have seen butterfly cut-up cakes made this way but never a salad.

"Butterfly" Gelatin Salad

2 cups boiling water

2 (3 ounce) packages lime gelatin

1 cup cold water

1 tablespoon vinegar

1/2 teaspoon salt

Dash pepper

3/4 cup Best Foods Real Mayonnaise

1/2 cup each shredded carrot, finely chopped radish, celery, and green pepper

2 tablespoons finely chopped onion

Pour boiling water over gelatin; stir until completely dissolved. Add cold water, vinegar, salt and pepper. Pour 1 cup of the mixture into 9-inch layer cake pan. Set aside. Add Real Mayonnaise to remaining gelatin; blend with rotary beater. Pour into freezer tray. Chill in freezer until firm at edge, still soft in center, 30 minutes. Meanwhile, chill clear gelatin 10 minutes or until thickened. Turn mayonnaise mixture into bowl; whip with rotary beater until fluffy. Fold in vegetables. Spoon on top of clear gelatin. Place in refrigerator until set, 1 hour; Unmold onto moist cookie sheet. Cut in half. Using wide spatulas, lift to large plate; place rounded edges to center to form butterfly. Garnish as desired. 8 servings.

Great Book Finds- Hearty Muffins

2008-03-30T02:07:00.000-07:00

Despite telling myself I was not going to buy anymore cookbooks, I couldn't avoid the opportunity to visit my local hospital thrift store. After all the real destination was the computer store across the street, what could be the harm of just popping in to see what they had. Well what they had was a book sale- all paperbacks 50 cents. There went my resolve down the drain.

I got five booklets in the little paperback Good Housekeeping series from the 50's. One of them is the Ten P.M. Cook Book made infamous by James Lileks. Other finds were Martha Logan's Meat Cook Book, 1954 edition and The Home Book of Italian Cooking, 1964 this was originally published as Mama Mia Italian Cookbook in 1957. These two books are little paperback book sized books. I have mentioned before that I am partial to this type of book and always buy them when I find them. They seem to harder and harder to find. Last but not least I found another edition to my collection of Nitty Gritty books, Sunday Breakfast a cookbook For Men, 1971. This book has some really wild illustrations, very colorful and abstract.

Here is a rather odd recipe from it, a variation of the sweet "surprise" muffin:

Hearty Muffins

"Try these with scrambled eggs for a really great breakfast. The corned beef and cheese in the muffins are filling filling."
2 cups biscuit mix
2 tablespoon sugar
1 egg
2/3 cups milk
1 small can corned beef spread (4 oz. size)
1 teaspoon horseradish
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Blend the horseradish and corned beef spread. Beat the egg well, then add the remaining ingredients. Place a heaping tablespoon of batter in the bottom of each greased muffin tin, then a teaspoon of corned beef mixture. Top with another tablespoon of batter. Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Eggs and Herbs- The Book of Herb Cookery

2008-03-20T09:56:00.000-07:00

The first day of spring is a suitable day for some egg recipes. These all use herbs and are from The Book Of Herb Cookery by Irene Botsford Hoffman. This is a 1954 revised edition of the 1940 copyright.

Stuffed Eggs

6 hard-boiled eggs

Tarragon mayonnaise

1/2 teaspoon mustard

1 teaspoon minced chives

1 tablespoon minced tarragon

Salt

Pepper

Shredded cabbage

Cut the eggs in half lenghtwise, take out yolks, mash with a little mayonnaise, mustard, salt, pepper, chives and tarragon.Fill the egg halves with this mixture and serve on a flat dish with shredded cabbage which has been thoroughly mixed with tarragon mayonnaise thinned with cream. Pour a little of the mayonnaise over each stuffed egg and garnish with sprigs of fresh tarragon.

Egg Timbales

6 eggs

1 1/2 cups thin cream

A little pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon onion juice

1 tablespoon each, of finely minced chives, parsley, or chervil and thyme or summer savory

Beat the eggs well with the salt and pepper; add onion juice, cream and the herbs. Pour into buttered timbale molds or cups, place in a pan of hot water and bake in moderate oven until firm. Turn out on hot platter and pour the following sauce over them.

Tomato Cream Sauce

1 cup white sauce:

2 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

pepper

2 cups canned tomatoes

1 onion, minced

3 sprigs basil

Herb bouquet (celery tops, bay leaf, sprig thyme)

Pinch soda

Cook the tomatoes, onion and herbs together for 5 minutes; rub through a strainer, add soda, and combine with the white sauce.

Eggs "In-A-Huddle"

1 zucchini squash

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon minced chives

1 teaspoon minced parsley

1 tablespoon minced marjoram

6 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Paprika

6 tablespoon milk

Pimentos

Cut the zucchini into thin slices crosswise. The rind may be left on or else lightly scraped. Melt the butter in the frying pan, add the zucchini and herbs. Saute 8 minutes or until tender but do not burn. Beat the eggs very light, add salt, pepper and milk. Beat 2 minutes more. Pour this over the zucchini and draw the mixture from the outside toward the center of the frying pan until the eggs are set. If too moist, they may cook a few seconds longer. Sprinkle with paprika and garnish with a little cup-up pimento if liked, or the pimento may be added to the eggs and all cooked together.

Orange Chiffon Cake- Betty Crocker Chiffon Cake recipes and secrets

2008-03-19T22:21:00.000-07:00

Today I was going through some booklets in my original collection and I came across this vintage Betty Crocker booklet from 1948. Betty is looking quite severe on the cover, not even a smile. The title is Betty Crocker Chiffon Cake recipes and secrets. The small words at the top are: First Sensational Collection. On the back cover there are quotes exclaiming the wonders of chiffon cakes. "McCall's Magazine- It's the fastest to make, one of the biggest and certainly one of the best tasting cakes ever tested in McCall's kitchens!" I have only made a chiffon cake once, a long time ago but I remember it took quite awhile to make. The booklet describes a chiffon cake as "combining the lightness of angel food with the richness of butter cake." There are quite a few recipes; plain, orange, cherry, marble, cocoa, chocolate chip, butterscotch, bit o'walnut, maple pecan and spice cakes. An interesting feature is that each recipe is given in two proportions one for a large cake serving 16 to 20 and the other for a small cake serving 8 to 10.
Here is the recipe for a large orange chiffon cake:

Orange Chiffon
2 1/4 cups sifted Softsilk Cake Flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
MEASURE and SIFT together above ingredients in mixing bowl. Make a well and add in order:
1/2 cup cooking (salad) oil
5 unbeaten egg yolks (medium size)
3/4 cup cold water
grated rind of 2 oranges (about 3 tablespoons)
Beat with spoon until smooth.
Measure into large mixing bowl:
1 cup egg whites (7 or 8)
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
WHIP until whites form very stiff peaks. They should be much stiffer than for angel food or meringue. DO NOT UNDERBEAT.
POUR egg yolk mixture gradually over whipped egg whites-gently folding with rubber scraper just until blended. DO NOT STIR! POUR into ungreased pan immediately. BAKE in 10-inch tube, 4-inch deep at 325 degrees 55 minutes then 350 10 to 15 minutes. or 9x13x2-in. oblong 350- 45 to 50 minutes. or until top springs back when lightly touched. Immediately turn pan upside down, placing tube part over neck of funnel or bottle, or resting edges of square, oblong, or loaf pans on 2 other pans. Let hang, free of table, until cold. Loosen from sides and tube with spatula. Turn over and hit edge sharply on table to loosen.

Fluffy Orange Icing
Ideal for your orange Chiffon... Cream one and one half 3 0z. pkg. cream cheese until light and fluffy. Gradually add 2 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar. Beat well. Stir in grated rind of 2 oranges...1 1/2 tbsp. If too thick to spread, add a few drops of orange juice.

This booklet certainly went all out with the italics and capital letters!

Manny's Lamb Stew- Peg Bracken

2008-03-17T01:04:00.000-07:00

This is recipe I have actually made. Not recently as I don't eat lamb anymore, but I have made it and remember that it was very good. It is a Peg Bracken recipe and was in two of her books. I really enjoy her sense of humor. She passed away last year at 89. I have almost all her books and have made quite a few of the recipes. They are written in a conversational form so I have reformatted it to make it easier to follow.

Manny's Lamb Stew

2 1/2 pounds lean stewing lamb, shoulder is good- cut in edible-size pieces. Have the butcher bone it for you and ask him please to trim off the fat.
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon marjoram
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoon lemon juice
4 carrots, scraped and cut in chunks
4 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 (1 pound ) can small white onions, drained and rinsed
Brown the lamb in the oil, using a heavy skillet with a lid. Remove lamb and pour out most of oil, leaving enough to saute the onions and garlic, do that. Then return the lamb to the pan and add the broth, flour, and seasonings. Simmer covered for 5 minutes. Add the carrots, potatoes and small onions. Simmer it all, covered, for 25 minutes. May be made ahead and reheated just before serving. May easily be doubled. Serve with green salad and rolls.

Vintage Salad Dressings?

2008-03-13T09:58:00.000-07:00

Somewhere along the line I got a little pamphlet Vintage Salad Dressings From Regina Wine Vinegar. I don't know what makes them vintage as most of the them seem like standards to me: Vinaigrette, French,Thousand Island, Blue cheese etc. Maybe it is considered a vintage idea that someone would make salad dressing instead of buying it :). I do think there has been a resurgence of interest in making your own because it is much cheaper and of course you can avoid preservatives. Here are several of the more unusual recipes in the pamphlet:

Red Devil Dressing

3/4 cup salad oil

1/4 cup Regina Wine Vinegar

1/4 cup each Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard and drained horseradish

1 teaspoon each paprika and hot pepper sauce

Freshly ground pepper

Combine all ingredients. Chill several hours or overnight. Serve on greens of your choice. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

Ginger Tahitienne Dressing

2/3 cup salad oil

1/2 cup Regina Wine Vinegar

1 can (8 oz.) crushed pineapple, well drained

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon each ground ginger and whole sesame seeds

1/2 teaspoon salt

In blender, combine all ingredients. Blend until smooth. Chill several hours or overnight. Serve on greens or fruit of your choice. Makes about 2 cups.

Cucumber Dressing

3/4 cup salad oil

1/4 cup Regina Wine Vinegar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 cup peeled, diced cucumber

Pinch sugar

In blender, combine all ingredients. Blend until smooth. Chill several hours or overnight. Serve on greens of your choice. Makes about 1 3/4 cups.

Turkey-Stuffed Mushrooms- Recipe Card

2008-03-12T18:03:00.000-07:00

This recipe is a recipe card from an unknown series. It has 1973 Curtin Publications, Inc., New York on the bottom. The category on the card is Weight Control. Anyone have an idea what set it is from? I am sure a lot of of people would make snarky comments about the photo but I think they might actually taste good. They could of course be spiced up to appeal to today's more adventurous taste buds.

Turkey-Stuffed Mushrooms

15 large mushrooms
1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 carrot, shredded
2 tablespoons dried minced onions
1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon celery salt
2 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon catsup
1 tablespoon steak sauce
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Gently wash and dry mushrooms. Reserve caps; remove stems and finely chop. Combine ground turkey, mushroom stems, parsley, carrot, onions, salt, pepper and celery salt. Place a mound of mixture on each mushroom cap. Arrange in a lightly-greased baking dish. Pour chicken broth in pan. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until done. Blend catsup and steak sauce and brush tops of turkey mixture 5 minutes before completion of cooking. Serves 5, 165 calories per serving.

Spinach-Cheese Strata

2008-03-06T09:13:00.000-08:00

My husband was digging in some cookbook boxes in the garage and brought in a few more booklets for me. One of them is New Birds Eye Super Suppers from 1980. This is a good example of recipes that are not very useful because the products they feature are no longer being produced. Quite a few of the recipes call for 10 oz. packages of vegetables that came in Chinese, Japanese, Bavarian, Hawaiian and Italian styles. They included a sauce, so unless you want to try and come up with the seasonings/sauce yourself the recipe is a no go. There were other recipes that used the different types of vegetable mixes that are still available so they are still useful.

This recipe calls for creamed spinach. I think that is still around. It sound like a good meatless dish. The suggested go- withs are broiled tomatoes and Angel food cake.

Spinach-Cheese Strata

1 package (9 oz.) Birds Eye creamed spinach

1 cup (4 oz.) shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup (8 oz.) cottage cheese

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1 egg, slightly beaten

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

2 teaspoons chopped chives

24 round buttery crackers

Prepare spinach as directed on package. Set aside 1/4 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Combine remaining cheeses, egg, salt, pepper and chives. Stir in spinach. Line bottom of 1-quart casserole with 8 crackers. Spread about one-half of the cheese mixture over crackers. Repeat layers, top with remaining crackers and sprinkle with reserved cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Makes 3 servings.

Duck Cut-Up Cake

2008-03-03T09:18:00.000-08:00

Have your ever made a cut-up cake? The idea has been around for a long time. Coconut companies have put out quite a few booklets promoting the idea.

You make a cake in a rectangle or round pan or sometimes both, then you cut it up and reassemble it to form a cute cake. Now that there are so many specialty shaped pans available I don't know if many people do this anymore. At Easter we always made a simple bunny cake for the kids at my day care center.

This cute duck cake is from a 1959 booklet Baker's Coconut Animal Cut-up Cakes.

Quack-Quack the Duck

Quack Quack the duck waddles down the street

With coconut feathers and yellow feet.

Her voice may not be very sweet,

But boy! will she be good to eat!

1. Bake a 9-inch round cake layer. Cool. Cut from center to one edge. Measure 41/2 inches both ways from this point. Cut through points and center on curve.

2. This makes two sections divide one in half for head and wing. Cut a one-inch strip from curved side of remaining section for neck. Divide rest in half for feet.

3. Place pieces as shown. Spread on a fluffy white frosting. Drift on Baker's Angel Flake Coconut for feathers. Tint coconut yellow for feet and bill. Use gumdrops for eye and bill, shoestring licorice for wing.

Banana Upside Down Cake- Bananas...how to serve them

2008-03-01T14:33:00.000-08:00

These recipes are from a vintage 1942 banana promotional booklet; Banana... how to serve them. It has the cutest illustration of bananas as characters doing all sorts of activities. In the small scan one is lounging under a coconut tree, about to be hit with a falling coconut. Each recipe also has menu suggestions.

Banana Upside Down Cake

1 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
4 tablespoons softened shortening
1 egg, well beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 firm bananas- use all-yellow bananas
Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add shortening. Mix together egg, milk and vanilla. Add to flour mixture, stirring until all flour is dampened. Beat vigorously 1 minute. Melt butter in pan (8x8x2-inches). Add brown sugar and stir until melted and syrup formed. Peel and slice banana's and arrange in syrup. Pour batter over bananas. Bake in a moderate oven 350 degrees about 50 minutes, or until cake is done. Loosen cake from sides of pan with knife or spatula. Turn out onto serving plate.

The other recipe under the cake one is for Banana Coconut Rolls.

Banana Coconut Rolls

6 firm bananas (use all-yellow bananas)
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup shredded coconut
Peel bananas and brush thoroughly with butter, then with lemon juice. Place into well-buttered baking pan. Cut bananas in half, crosswise, and sprinkle with coconut. Bake in a moderate oven 375 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, or until bananas are tender and coconut browned. Serve hot with hot Orange Sauce, Pineapple Sauce or Lemon Hard Sauce if desired. Six servings.

Foreign names, no foreign ingredients

2008-02-28T09:29:00.000-08:00

I just came across a poor little cookbook that has seen it's better days. The cover is missing and some remaining pages are torn out from the staples etc. It is a ground beef recipe book and must have been from the 60's because it has some recipes from famous people, one is from Mrs John Connally wife of Governor of Texas. The rest of the recipes have been contributed by woman who are listed as "Mrs some man". I don't remember when that went out, but good riddance to that form of written etiquette.

Anyway while looking at it I was struck by the number of recipes with foreign names but no foreign ingredients. Here is an example:

Cuban Chili Con Carne

2 pounds ground beef

2 tablespoons fat

2 large onions, chopped

1 stalk peppers, chopped

2 green peppers, chopped

2 No. 2 cans tomatoes

2 No. 2 cans red kidney beans

1 clove garlic

Chili powder to taste

Salt and pepper to taste

Brown meat in hot fat. Add onions, celery and green peppers. Add tomatoes, beans and garlic, and seasonings. Simmer to a thick soup.

Basically that is how I make chili and I know it has nothing to do with Cuba. Here is another example:

Arabian Stew

Oil

5 medium potatoes, sliced

1 cup rice

1 medium onion, sliced

4 stalks celery, diced

1/4 teaspoon salt

Pepper to taste

1 pound hamburger

1 can tomato soup

1/2 soup can water

Place a small amount of oil in casserole. Add potatoes, rice, onion, celery, salt and pepper. Place meat on top of mixture. Add soup and water. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 250 and bake for 30 minutes longer.

I sincerely doubt they are using much canned tomato soup in Arabia.