Strawberry Cake

February 7, 2021 by Andi Cohen-Rabiner ♥ 5 Comments

A Recipe from VIP Cook Book Vol. II (1977)

About the Recipe

When I opened this book to find a recipe, I did it with one goal in mind – Find the recipe from Rosalynn Carter! I had two thoughts when this was the one that I found:

Well, it’s almost Valentine’s Day, so I guess it’s the perfect time of year for what’s sure to be a very pink cake
Oh wow is that a lot of processed, pre-packaged sugar!

The good news is, that the result is magnificent. I’m sure the former First Lady wowed her parlor guests with this festive cake, chock full of nuts and personality.

I used fresh strawberries (had to get a little freshness in there somewhere), which worked marvelously, and I think gave the cake a little bit more of a pop. As much as it feels like you want to cut the sugar down in this dish, don’t cut it from the fresh strawberries! Sugar draws the juices out of the berries and stimulates the natural pectin that holds the cake together.

About the Book

As fundraising cookbooks go, this one must be one of the cooler ones. It came again from the big box from my cousins, and I was so excited to see it. The book itself is a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. The recipes come from all of the muckety-mucks in Washington and Virginia, from the media to the Senators’ wives to Mrs. Jimmy Carter! I’ll definitely dive into this one again, so for this first post I’ll leave you with some photos of the book as a teaser:

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

1 pkg. yellow or white cake mix
3 oz. pkg. strawberry gelatin
3/4 c. cooking oil
1 c. chopped nuts
4 eggs
2 T flour
10 oz. pkg. frozen strawberries, or 1 pt. fresh strawberries with 1/2 c. sugar

Directions:

Mix all ingredients and beat well; pour into a greased angel food cake pan and bake.

Serve plain or with whipped cream.

Sweet-and-Sour Pork

February 6, 2021 by Andi Cohen-Rabiner ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

A Recipe from Southern Living 1981 Annual Recipes (1981)

About the Recipe

I love Chinese food. My husband also loves Chinese food. Over the years we’ve both made our own copycat recipes for various things – stir fry, fried rice, egg drop soup. Absolutely nothing that we tried before tasted like it does fresh out of the cardboard box. Until now.

I’ll admit from the get-go that this is a little bit more tricky than the usual recipes that I highlight, but it’s well worth the effort. It tastes just like fresh from the hole-in-the-wall sweet and sour pork. Yum!

This is definitely a recipe that you can play with a little bit. I used red and yellow peppers, because that’s what I had in the house. I also added some mushrooms and onions to give us a little bit more from a nutrients perspective. Other great veggie additions would include snow peas, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, carrots, the list goes on! I plan on trying it again cutting down the sugar and using pineapple and pineapple juice. We even discussed using some mango when it comes in season again.

About the Book

Usually I put the breaks on when I see a book from the 1980’s. The ’80’s were a strange time in culinary history – lots of low-sugar / low-fat / low-taste things going on. But this one looked interesting, and it came from my cousin so I thought I’d give it at least one try.

The book is divided into months with appropriate recipes in each month. Obviously I decided to do one of the February recipes, and I have to say that it tasted even better as the Nor’easter whipped snow around our house. We also get some Mardi Gras / New Orleans inspired dishes (okra and “French Quarter” green beans), though I’m positive that my NOLA friends would giggle at the ingredients. And of course, plenty of chocolate desserts for Valentine’s Day.

I think I’ll pull this out again come March…

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

2 T peanut oil
1 1/4 lbs boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 2 1/2 cups)
1 t garlic salt
1/8 t pepper
1 3/4 cups water
2 medium-size green peppers, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup raisins
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup vinegar
2 T cornstarch
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 cups hot cooked rice

Directions:

Pour oil around top of preheated wok, coating sides; allow to heat at medium high for 2 minutes. Add pork, and stir-fry about 5-6 minutes. Add garlic salt, pepper, and water. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer about 25 minutes or until pork is very tender.

Add green pepper; cook, uncovered about 4 minutes. Stir in raisins, sugar, and vinegar. Dissolve cornstarch in soy sauce, and add to pork mixture. Cook stirring constantly, until thickened and bubbly. Serve over hot cooked rice.

Note: I used yellow and red peppers, and added onions and mushrooms. There’s plenty of sauce, so feel free to load this up with veggies!

Zucchini Lasagna

January 31, 2021 by Andi Cohen-Rabiner ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

A Recipe from The Wonderful World of Cheese (1979)

About the Recipe

With so many cheesy, delicious recipes to choose from out of this book, my husband opted for the lasagna. This is a super simple lasagna recipe, if you’re looking to break the ice and try one for the very first time. The sausage provides a punch of flavor, and the zucchini is timed just right so that it’s slightly crunch, adding great texture to the dish.

The recipe itself kind of tricks you into making a meat sauce – brown the meat and onions, add the tomatoes / sauce and spices, simmer for a bit to let everything blend together. Rather than using their quick sauce, I used this Basic Red Sauce from the New York Times cookbook that’s become a staple in our home. You could absolutely feel free to use your favorite jarred sauce as well for a nice short-cut.

About the Book

This is everything I love about advertising booklets from the 1970’s: Swirly, ridiculous fonts. Weird suggestions on what to do with the product in question. Colored photographs that are supposed to look appetizing, but somehow… miss the mark. It’s a total winner!

This booklet was produced by the American Dairy Association. It eschews the value of a good cheese, and gives a thorough list of the 200 different variations available in the United States in 1979. It’s a total treasure, and came again from the giant box from my cousins. Only fitting, since Becky and I have been munching on cheese together since the beginning of time.

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

1 lb. mild Italian sausage, casing removed
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1/4 t salt
1/4 t oregano
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 T flour
8 lasagna noodles, cooked and drained
4 cups zucchini slices, cut 1/4″ thick
12 oz. sliced Mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Brown sausage with onion; drain. Stir in tomato sauce, water and seasonings. Simmer, uncovered, 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Preheat oven to 375*F. Combine Parmesan cheese and flour. Layer half of the lasagna noodles on bottom of buttered 13×9-inch baking dish. Top with half the zucchini, half the Parmesan mixture, half the meat sauce and half the Mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers of noodles zucchini, Parmesan mixture and meat sauce. Bake 20-25 minutes or until zucchini is tender. Add remaining cheese; return to oven until cheese begins to melt. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

NOTE: Option to use your favorite jarred sauce or make your own with this Basic Red Sauce from the New York Times instead of using ingredients 2-6 above.

Fish Soufflé

January 23, 2021 by Andi Cohen-Rabiner ♥ 2 Comments

A Recipe from Westinghouse automatic Electric Range Book (195?)

About the Recipe

I’m so excited for this post – we have a guest chef in the house! My husband, Michael picked out this recipe to spear head for our supper this week… and promptly started to freak out. The word “soufflé” while exciting at first, started to pop images of beautifully risen desserts falling into miserable sunken heaps after coming out of the oven, and he just didn’t want to let me down. Thankfully, we’re a great team and he perservered:

He’s just the cutest, and I’m so lucky to have a partner who supports my hobbies and cooking the way he does.

At any rate – back to the recipe – we used canned salmon for our fish flakes, although any good flaked fish would do in this case. The recipe is a touch salty, but other than that the flavor is fantastic. And, as with most things, much easier to execute than we expected.

About the Book

Westinghouse started publishing spiral bound booklets to promote the use of their new electric ranges in the 1940’s. I believe my copy is from the 1950’s, and it’s super well loved. The cover is falling apart. There are notes and pieces of paper shoved between the pages. Per the note at the top of the Index – “Favorite dishes are checked.”

This came from the giant box from my cousins, and I know it’s going to be one that gets good use in my kitchen in the future.

About the Glassware

The dish is a Friendship casserole that we picked up at our little flea market in High Falls, NY. My mother-in-law spotted it when she was visiting (pre-pandemic) and bought it for me. It was only fitting that this one take center stage when Michael picked the dish. It’s one of my favorites!

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

2 T butter
2 T flour
1/4 t pepper
1 t salt
1 T minced parsley
1 1/2 cups milk
1 large can fish flakes
1 t grated onion
3 eggs, separated

Directions:

Make a white sauce of the fat, flour, pepper, and salt. Add to this the onions, parsley, and fish flakes, the latter picked apart with a fork. Beat egg yolks until light, then add to this mixture. Fold in stiffly-beaten egg whites. Pile in buttered casserole.

Temperature: 350*-375*F; baking time 45-60 minutes

Old Fashioned Cake

January 17, 2021 by Andi Cohen-Rabiner ♥ 2 Comments

A Recipe from Kamp Kookery (198?)

About the Recipe

I’m always hesitant when it comes to cooking recipes from the ’80s. It was not a great time in culinary history – low-fat, low-cal, low-sugar, no sugar – the list goes on. The good news is, this recipe is none of these things. I can imagine that this cake recipe was first made in grandma’s kitchen in the 50’s/60’s when all things “Hawaiian” (aka banana and pineapple) were very in fashion, and nothing was low-fat.

This is a total winner of a recipe. It’s delightfully crunchy on the outside, with a moist, fluffy inside. The pineapple melts away and just leaves its sweetness behind to linger with the banana. All told, this tastes like an especially rich banana bread. It’s perfect for luncheons and dinner parties to go with a cup of decaf.

About the Book

Unfortunately, there’s not a ton to be found about this community cookbook, but here’s what I know: It was published sometime in the ’80s by the Ginter Park (Virginia) Junior Women’s League to benefit Camp Easter Seal – East. The camp was in the process of being built at the time and was set up to be available to all mentally and physically handicapped children and adults in the state of Virginia. It still is in existence today, and if you’d like to find out more check out the website here.

One more note on this one – there are nearly 400 pages of recipes in this book, and the Junior Women’s League had to turn people away! All that said to mean – these are truly the best of the best that this community had to offer. That’s the crux of why I love community cookbooks to begin with, and I’m so glad to find that this one doesn’t disappoint.

About the Glassware

What better use for the Federal Glass Atomic Flower snack plates, than a little bit of after dinner cake? It’s truly what these ’50’s era plates were designed for, and I swear it makes little snacks taste just a little bit better. Sadly, they’re without a teacup companion for the time being, but they serve as the perfect tiny platter all the same.

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

3 c flour
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. salt
1/2 c. nuts (optional)
1 t. soda
2 c. sugar
1 can (8 oz.) crushed pineapple (don’t drain)
1 1/2 c cooking oil
1 1/2 t. vanilla
3 eggs
2 c. diced bananas

Directions:

Oven temp 350*F. Grease an 8 or 8″ tube pan; set aside, sift together dry ingredients. Add undrained pineapple, cooking oil, vanilla, eggs and bananas to dry mixture, mixing until blended. Do not beat. Bake for 1 hr. 20 min. Cake will crack slightly on top. Cool in pan on rack.

Apple Cinnamon Waffles

January 16, 2021 by Andi Cohen-Rabiner ♥ 1 Comment

A Recipe from WAFFLES how to make ’em and take ’em (1938)

About the Recipe

Waffles are a special treat in my house. In a year, we’re lucky if we do waffles once. With this recipe – that might change.

As recipes go, this one is a little bit more complicated than perhaps we’re used to for breakfast. That said, it’s definitely worth the work. The end result is a light, fluffy, slightly sweet waffle. It has a great rise to it and was full of lovely air bubbles throughout.

Take the note about it taking a little bit longer to cook. The apples add moisture, which means that you’ll see a ton of steam coming from your iron (don’t be nervous when you see it) but it also means that it takes a bit longer to cook. But trust me on this – it’s worth the wait.

About the Book

This is another treasure from the giant box from my cousins. Produced in 1938 by the Manning-Bowman Company (a purveyor of fine waffle irons), this book has 24 waffle recipes, and a dozen or so games that you can play with friends. This is clearly marketed toward more wealthy members of society, as the average waffle iron advertised is $9 – $160 in 2020! I guess if it’s 1938 and you’ve got money, there’s not much more to do than eat waffles and play games!

Rather than go farther this time around, I’m going to let this book speak for itself…

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1 t sugar
2 t baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup milk
2 cups diced apple
4 T melted shortening

Directions:

Mix and sift the dry ingredients. Beat yolks of eggs until light and add milk. Combine the mixtures, beating until smooth, and add the finely diced apple. Add shortening and then fold in whites of eggs which have been beaten until stiff. Serve with butter and brown sugar.

Note: It is necessary to bake these waffles a little longer than other waffles.

Avocado Crabmeat Salad

January 14, 2021January 14, 2021 by Andi Cohen-Rabiner ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

A Recipe from Ida Bailey Allen’s Time-Saving Cook Book (1940)

About the Recipe

I love a recipe that looks super fancy but was a snap to put together – and thankfully this is one! Full disclosure, I’ve never made proper Russian dressing before. My only exposure to Russian dressing was some mystery, chunky dressing that smelled a little funny and made squishy noises coming out of a bottle… so not great. This Russian dressing is divine. Not only is it perfect for mixing with any kind of flaked fish for a quick salad, but it jazzes up any salad that you’d like to put it on. Definitely a winner!

About the Book

For those not familiar (I wasn’t), Ida Bailey Allen is an “author, lecturer, broadcaster, and one of America’s leading authorities on foods and cookery.” She was a food editor at Good Housekeeping magazine, and instituted the standard tested recipe in 1916 – thank you, Mrs. Allen!

There are so many things to love about this book, but I’ll undoubtedly cook from it again so I’ll try to focus on just one thing this time around. Mrs. Allen starts the book with The Time Saving Kitchen – tips and tricks on how to set up your kitchen for efficiency! Here are some of my favorite gems from this section:

Don’t crowd your kitchen; make it modern, cheerful, gay
Have some asbestos mats – saves dishwashing time.
A good puree sieve is essential.
Stop being a Table Hopper!
Accurate measuring utensils are more essential than a new parlor suite. Yet they cost only about half a dollar!

This book is just so delightful in so many ways. I can’t wait to cook from it again!

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

2 medium-sized avocados
1 cup chilled flaked crabmeat
Russian Dressing (see below)
Lettuce

Russian Dressing:
1 cup mayonnaise
3 T chili sauce
1 T minced green pepper
1 T minced pimiento
1/2 t paprika
Few drops onion juice
1 chopped hard cooked egg
2 shredded sardines or anchovies (optional)

Directions:

All the ingredients should be very cold. Mix the crabmeat with the Russian Dressing. Cut the avocados in halves lengthwise, peel, and remove the seeds. Fill the centers with the crabmeat mixture and arrange for service on the lettuce.

Russian Dressing:
Combine the ingredients and use in preparing a salad bowl containing lettuce and fish, or lettuce, tongue, and chicken; or serve on hears of lettuce, romaine, or French endive.

Herb Sour Cream Bread

January 10, 2021 by Andi Cohen-Rabiner ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

A Recipe from Fleischmann’s Bake-it-easy Yeast Book (1972)

About the Recipe

I love a good no-knead bread! The flavor on this bread is so delightful. It’s slightly sweet and there are just enough herbs to give it a little kick. I used fresh marjoram and thyme and dried oregano.

Full disclosure – I forgot the margarine. I put the dough in the oven for the first rise and saw it sitting on my countertop. But I baked it anyway, and it’s just as yummy. What that means though from a chemistry perspective is that it’s a little dense and a little chewy, and definitely not as crumbly as you’d want a bread to be. But the flavor is there and the flavor is great!

The recipe itself was so easy and fairly fast for a yeast bread. I can definitely see this going into rotation in my kitchen. I’m definitely going to make it again to go with a nice chowder or some chili this winter as a bread bowl. YUM!

About the Book

This is the second time I’ve baked from this delightful booklet that came from the Bonnie Slotnick grab bag, and she was so on point sending this my way. It has all of my favorite things – advertising, photographs, tried and true recipes designed to get you buying more! Whoever who put it together really took some time and put some love into the full color photos. They almost seam to echo the yeast packets, just inviting you to come try them out.

About the Glassware

This lovely little Spring Blossom one-quarter came from my mom. She gifted me the set of three casserole dishes when I went for a visit a few years ago. I saw them poking out of the back of the cabinet and just fell in love. I can remember sitting down for dinner growing up, and the smallest of these had green beans and almonds heated in the microwave just to make sure we had something green with our meal. I think of my mom every time I use them.

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup warm water (105*F – 115*F)
2 packages Fleischmann’s Active Dry Yeast
1 cup warm dairy sour cream
6 T softened margarine
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 t salt
1/2 t marjoram leaves
1/2 t oregano leaves
1/2 t thyme leaves
2 eggs (at room temperature)
3 3/4 – 4 3/4 cups unsifted flour

Directions:

Measure warm water into large warm bowl. Sprinkle in Fleischmann’s Yeast; stir until dissolved.

Add sour cream, margarine, sugar, salt, marjoram, oregano, thyme, and eggs. Beat in 3 cups flour until well blended, about 1 minute. Stir in enough additional flour to make a soft dough. Cover; let rise in warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk, about 50 minutes.

Stir down. Turn into 2 greased 1-quart casseroles. Cover; let rise in warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk, about 50 minutes. Bake at 375*F about 35 minutes, or until done. Remove from casseroles and cool on wire racks.

Pork Chop and Potato Hot Pot

January 9, 2021 by Andi Cohen-Rabiner ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

A Recipe from Elephant Stew (1980)

About the Recipe

Oh my, where to start with this one… Usually when there’s a marked down corner in a cookbook it means one of two things:

I have tried a recipe on this page and it is very good. I need to save this page for later.
I have not tried this recipe yet, but it seems like something I want to make.

I don’t know which one this was, but whew boy! This recipe needs some help. It’s a good method of cooking pork chops, but it’s super super super bland. A few recommended swaps from me:

Marinate the pork chops ahead of browning them. Your favorite barbecue sauce would work well, or even just a good pork rub with some olive oil.
Season the potatoes and onions. You don’t need much, some salt and pepper will do.
Ditch the canned soup for some sliced sharp cheddar cheese. If you’re attached to the creamy, processed feel that the soup brings, go for some American cheese slices or Velveeta.

About the Book

Usually when a recipe is such an uninspired dud as this one is, I ditch the book. It goes on my shelf or I give it to a friend who may get better use. But this book is just too adorable to give up on. My version is published in 1980, but I believe there are other years available. It’s a fundraiser book (which does mean that there are bound to be a few winners in here) for the Association for the Study of Childhood Cancer, and many of the recipes come from the Junior Women’s Club of Virginia.

The book is filled with illustrations from children and cute little tips at the bottom of the recipe pages. Check out the hot dog tip above to get a feel for those little gems. I’ll post some more when I cook out of this again. In the meantime, enjoy a few more pages from this delightful book.

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

4 pork chops
1t. salt
1/8 t. pepper
1 med. onion, sliced
4 med. potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 can condensed cheddar cheese soup, undiluted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*. Trim extra fat from chops. Sprinkle chops with salt and pepper and brown well on both sides; drain on paper towels. Place chops in shallow 2-qt. casserole. Arrange onion and potato slices on top. Spoon soup over all. Bake, covered, for 1 hour or until meat and potato are tender. Serves 4.

Stewed Chicken and Drop Dumplings

December 29, 2020 by Andi Cohen-Rabiner ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

A Recipe from 250 Ways to Prepare Poultry and Game Birds (1940)

About the Recipe

This recipe is super basic. Neither Becky nor I had ever had chicken and dumplings, so this was a little bit of a crap shoot, and we weren’t totally sure what we were aiming for, aside from this black and white photo.

You can see from our photo, we did take just a little bit of liberty to add some carrot into the mix for the broth. Next time I give this a go, I would put a lot more love into the broth – some more root vegetables, throw in some dill, other herbs, some garlic – there’s a lot of room to grow from this recipe. The good news is, it’s really easy and so perfect to just throw on the stove and go on a busy workday. Definitely a winner as a basic recipe.

For more recipes from my Weekend at Becky’s click here!

About the book

This was another book from the big box from Becky and her mom. It’s a Culinary Arts Institute book, which means it’s going to be good. I have a few booklets like this one at home, and I’m really excited to add it to the collection. In addition to having some great recipes, it’s also a primer on how to cut / debone / split / truss / roast EVERYTHING that’s a bird and that you can eat. If you’re a fan of eating birds, this is a great book to have on your shelf.

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

1 stewing chicken
1 small onion
Salt
Pepper
1 cup sifted flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
Sprig parsley, minced
1/2 c milk

Directions:

Clean chicken and cut into serving portions; place in kettle and partly cover with water. Add onion, salt and pepper and cook until tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Mix flour, baking powder, salt, minced parsley, and milk to a thick batter and drop from spoon into boiling chicken broth, cover tightly and cook for 20 minutes without raising lid. Place chicken on platter and surround with dumplings.