Famous Cranberry Dishes, a charming booklet

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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