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.