I have always maintained that pies test my patience, and this year, just after the 1-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic, they definitely did. The crusts took 3 tries to get out of the oven in a usable state. I needed to call in my sous-chef (husband) multiple times because I wasn’t ready for some of the multi-tasking that needed to happen. And yet – it was a successful pie day. Here’s what we made:
A Recipe from preparing foods with Reynolds Wrap pure aluminum foil (195?)
Imagine a tuna-melt. Now imagine that the tuna salad part has a few more ingredients than it really should. Now imagine that instead of quickly grilling it up, you’ve got to put it on a bun, wrap it in tinfoil, and bake it for a half hour. Voila! The Tuna-Cheesette is born!
This has all of the trappings of a classic post-war recipe – canned ingredients, using a war material for something other than artillery, a vaguely brown and smushy end product that tastes great, but just will not photograph well, no matter how hard you try. It’s worth the effort, though watch the salt levels. Both the husband and the brother commented on how salty the end result was (though it heartily got the husband seal of approval).
Aside from that – enjoy! These are great make-ahead sandwiches, and I could even see them working really well for sticking on charcoal for a camping trip or barbeque.
I was so excited to get this booklet along with some of the Culinary Arts and Pillsbury booklets. It’s got great illustrations, and is so illustrative of that particular brand of re-marketing that was happening after the war. The advertising company that decided this booklet was a good idea took great pains to go through literally every use you can possibly imagine for aluminum foil.
Ingredients:
1/4 lb. processed American cheese, cubed
3 hard cooked egg yolks, chopped
1 7-ounce can tuna, flaked
2 T chopped green pepper
2 T minced onion
2 T chopped sweet pickle
1/2 cup salad dressing
2 T chopped stuffed olives
1/2 t salt
1/8 t pepper
6 hamburger or other thick buns
Directions:
Combine ingredients except buns, mixing lightly. Split buns, spread with softened butter or margarine and fill. Wrap buns in Reynolds Wrap. Place on shallow pan and bake in slow oven (325*F) 35 minutes, until filling is heated and cheese melts. Serve hot.
A Recipe from Pillsbury’s BEST 12th Grand National Bake-Off Cookbook (1961)
Okay, I know what you’re thinking – really, Andi? Another banana bread recipe? Hear me out though – this one is different.
I’ve written before about the wonder that surrounded the act of Hawaii finally becoming a US state. In 1961, fresh into statehood, the continental US was going crazy over everything “Hawaiian” flavored. I would say that this contestant benefited from that mania, but really this is just an excellent recipe.
The depth of flavor added by incorporating the almond, orange, and coconut to the banana bread is out of this world. It’s just enough flavor to let you know that this loaf is something different altogether. I may never make “normal” banana bread again.
For more recipes in the Pillsbury Challenge, click here!
As always with Pillsbury, there were so many great recipes in this book to choose from. This one incorporates the small black and white photos that you see on the page above near a bunch of the recipes. It’s a nice change up from the participant photos from years prior.
We’ve seen this pan before, so I’ll write a little bit about the company that made it – Anchor Hocking. Named after the Hocking River in Ohio and founded in 1905 as the Hocking Glass Company, Anchor Hocking is still a major producer of glassware today. The pan above is a Fire-King branded pan, produced exclusively by Anchor Hocking (much like the Corning Glass Company produces Pyrex).
Anchor Hocking is perhaps best known for its depression glass. Just before the depression as the Hocking Glass Company, they developed a machine that was able to press glass at a much higher rate than anything hand blown. When the stock market crashed, they further developed a mold that allowed them to press quickly and efficiently, selling the glasses for two for a nickel – a bargain!
For more information on Anchor Hocking, check out the museum, lovingly put together by another collector trying to preserve the history.
Ingredients:
2 cups sifted flour
1 t soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 unbeaten eggs
1 cup mashed very ripe bananas (2 medium)
1 T grated orange rind
1/4 cup milk
1 t vanilla
1/2 t almond extract
1 cup coconut
1/2 cup nuts, chopped
Directions:
Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Cream butter. Gradually add sugar, creaming well. Add eggs, bananas, and orange rind; blend thoroughly.
Combine milk, vanilla, and almond extract. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the milk mixture, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Blend thoroughly after each edition. (With electric mixer use a low speed.) Stir in coconut and nuts.
Turn into 9x5x3-inch pan, well greased on the bottom. Bake at 350* for 60-70 minutes. Cool thoroughly before slicing.
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A Recipe from 9th Grand National Cook Book (1958)
It’s been a long time since I’ve had a real Yorkshire pudding. When I saw this recipe for the first time, it didn’t actually occur to me that this would be the closest that I’d ever get to making one myself! The texture of the breading around the meatballs is like a British pudding – eggy, buttery, slightly salty. It’s absolutely delightful.
When I put it out on the table, my husband took a giant piece, grabbing 4 meatballs in one go – exactly like the picture above! Mr. Kellogg notes that his high school baseball teammates like to dig into this dish, and after seeing the excitement in my husband’s eyes when it landed on the table, I don’t doubt that they did!
One quick adaption here – we don’t eat ground beef in my house, so I substituted ground turkey. It worked really well, and I would imagine any ground meat would do fine. It was even noted at the table that some salmon or other fish based balls would also be delicious in the eggy pudding.
For more recipes in the Pillsbury Challenge, click here!
In 1958, the Bake-Off moves across the country from New York to Pennsylvania. If the photos in the book are any indication, it seems the participants had a wonderful time. Indeed, the publishers of this years book seemed to have too much fun to cram into one little volume. The front cover has the customary letter from Ann Pillsbury, and is surrounded by smaller photos of the event itself. With the 10th Anniversary to follow, they dedicate more space than usual (4 whole pages!) to the following year’s event. So exciting!
I just got this beautiful Butterfly Gold lasagna pan a few weeks ago (the day after I made lasagna, of course). It came from the little antiques store that I love in New Paltz, NY. I’d had my eye out for a pan like this one, and I was so excited to see it. While it’s a little shallow for casseroles (other than lasagna) in general, it’s perfect for dishes like the Yorkshire burger, and will be exactly right for bar cookies and the like.
The gravy dish was a birthday present from my husband. Spring Blossom is my favorite, and I honestly just love every excuse to bring it out of hiding.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1/4 cup chili sauce
1 package dry onion soup
2 T chopped parsley
1/4 t pepper
1/4 t poultry seasoning
5 egg
1 T water
1 1/2 cups sifted flour
1 1/2 t double-acting baking powder
1 t salt
1 1/2 cups milk
3 T melted butter
Beef Gravy:
1/4 cup Crisco or butter
3 T flour
1 T beef extract
2 1/2 cups milk
Directions:
Combine in a mixing bowl the ground beef, chili sauce, dry onion soup, parsley, pepper, and poultry seasoning. Blend 1 of the eggs and the water. Add to meat mixture; mix well. Form into 24 small meat balls. Place in well greased 12×8-inch baking dish.
Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat 4 eggs until foamy. Add milk and melted butter; mix well. Add dry ingredients all at once to egg mixture. Beat with rotary beater (or low speed on mixer) only until smooth and well blended.
Pour over meat balls.
Bake in moderate oven (350*F) 50-60 minutes until golden brown. Serve hot with Gravy.
Beef Gravy:
Melt butter or Crisco in saucepan. Blend in flour and beef extract. Add milk. Cook, stirring occasionally, until gravy is smooth and thickened.
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A Recipe from Cakes & Tortes (1957)
Yesterday was my little brother’s birthday, and I asked him what kind of cake he wanted. I passed him a few of my baking books and let him figure out which sounded the most interesting to give a test run. This was the cake that he picked out. He was excited about the dates, nuts, and cherries, and it was his birthday so I said “okay!” When all is said and done, I have to say that he definitely chose wisely!
All in all, this cake is wonderfully moist, yet crumbly, with just enough chocolate and spice to give it depth – a real winner! The method is a little bit more on the complicated side, but that’s to be expected with some of these Culinary Institute recipes. Note that it cooks low and slow. I actually needed to tack on another 15 minutes or so to the bake time before my tester came out clean from the center. But honestly, it was well worth the wait.
An additional note from my brother: “It goes really well with jam!”
This is another booklet from the Culinary Arts Institute, which I’ve said before and I’ll say again are lovely little books. As with most of the others, it’s arranged into sections, this time by type of cake – butter, chiffon, angel, etc. What I didn’t realize when I bought it is that it’s really a nice basic resource on the science of cakes and tortes. Not only does it come with the 193 recipes noted on the cover, but also pages and pages of tips and tricks on how to improve your cake baking. I almost missed acquiring it from a fellow cookbook enthusiast, but last minute she found another copy and it feels like it just came home.
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups sifted flour
2 t baking powder
1 t allspice
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t salt
1 1/2 cups (about 12 oz.) maraschino cherries
2 cups pecans, chopped
1 cup date pieces
2 oz. chocolate
3/4 cup butter or margarine (softened)
1/2 t vanilla extract
2 cups sugar
4 egg yolks, well beaten
1 cup unseasoned mashed potatoes
1/2 cup milk
4 egg whites
Directions:
Prepare a 13x9x2″ pan – Grease the bottom of the pan only; line with waxed paper cut to fit bottom; grease the waxed paper.
Soft together 2 cups of the flour, baking powder, allspice, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
Drain, slice and set aside on absorbent paper the maraschino cherries. A few pats with the paper will absorb excess moisture.
Coarsely chop pecans. Cut dates into small pieces. Put fruits and nuts into a large bowl with remaining 1/4 cup flour. Mix well and set aside. Grate chocolate and set aside.
Cream together butter/margarine and vanilla extract until softened. Add sugar gradually, creaming until fluffy after each addition. Add the egg yolks in thirds, beating thoroughly after each addition. Add the chocolate and mashed potatoes and beat until well blended.
Measure out the milk. Beating only until blended after each addition, alternately add dry ingredients in fourths, milk in thirds, to creamed mixture. Finally, beat only until smooth (do not overbeat). Pour batter over fruit nut mixture and mix thoroughly.
Beat egg whites until rounded peaks are formed. Spread beaten egg whites over batter and fold together. Turn batter into pan and spread evenly to edges.
Bake at 275*F 1 hr. 30 min., or until cake tests done with cake tester. Cool and remove from pan as directed for butter-type cakes.
A Recipe from Better Homes & Gardens Lunches and Brunches (1963)
If you’ve been reading my blog for any period of time, you probably know by now how much I love an overcomplicated but delicious breakfast / egg dish. Here’s another one to enjoy!
When I was looking at the recipe on paper, my first thought was that it sounded like a croque Madame – egg, ham, cheese, bread. Simple! But it’s clearly more complicated than that – and the flavor profile you get out of it is more complex as well. It tastes kind of like a quiche Lorraine or an egg hash when all is said and done. The texture is really lovely and surprising. It’s a very light, fluffy dish and everything just comes together when you dig in with a fork.
I used a rustic French sandwich bread for the toast, and a sharp cheddar cheese. This is a recipe that would also be really easy to substitute in other kinds of cheeses and meats with success. Just make sure that your meat can be broken up or speared easily as it gets buried in the ramekin. And of course, if you want a true Parisian taste to go on, go with the deviled ham and some good gruyere.
These little Better Homes & Gardens books are such great resources in a kitchen. In the case of this one, you simply pick the lunch or brunch that you’re planning for and there’s a menu ready to go! I’ll go into more details the next time I post on it. For right now, just to give you the flavor of the book, here’s some of the contents:
Ingredients:
4 rusks or slices dry toast
1 4.5 oz can deviled ham
3/4 cup shredded process cheese
6 egg whites
1/4 t cream of tartar
10 drops bottled hot pepper sauce
Dash salt
1 t prepared mustard
6 egg yolks
Directions:
Cut rusks or toast in rounds to fit in bottom of 4 ramekins or 6-oz custard cups. Butter each rusk; spread with 1 T deviled ham, place in ramekin and sprinkle with 1 T cheese.
Beat egg whites with cream of tartar, hot pepper sauce, and salt till soft peaks form. Place on top of cheese in each ramekin. Top with egg yolks (place 2 egg yolks in 2 of the ramekins). Dot layer with bits of deviled ham (about 1/2 T on each) and sprinkle with 1 T cheese. Top with egg-white mixture.
Repeat layers of ham, cheese, and egg white, building up a peak of egg white mixture. (See picture, above)
Bake in slow oven (325*F) about 30 minutes, or till golden and yolks are of desired doneness. Makes 4 servings.
A Recipe from 100 Prize Winning Recipes from Pillsbury’s 3rd Grand National (1952)
These little maple cookies are just the right amount of sweet! They’re fairly easy to make, but be aware that the dough gets a little on the dry side as you’re combining the dry ingredients and maple syrup to the creamed mix. A few extra drops of syrup evened out the texture in the end. The walnut on top is absolutely necessary to create just the right crunch. As a bonus, they plump up a little bit in the oven and the nutty flavor shines through.
For more recipes in the Pillsbury Challenge, click here!
After so much time away from the Challenge, it was fun to be able to pick it up again with Bake-Off 3 in 1952. I was instantly reminded of why I started baking from these booklets in the first place. The recipes are so delightful, and just simple delicious, from scratch baking. I’m not much of a baking snob, but there’s really a massive difference when the chemistry of scratch ingredients is right. Anyway – as always, the 1950’s Bake Off books are total winners. Grab it if you see it.
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups sifted flour
2 t double-acting baking powder
1/2 t soda
1/2 t salt
3/4 cup shortening
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 t maple flavoring
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
additional walnut halves
Directions:
Sift together flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. Cream shortening, and add gradually the brown sugar. Add the egg and maple flavoring; beat well. Add maple syrup alternately with dry ingredients to creamed mixture, blending well after each addition. Add walnuts.
Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets; top each with a walnut half. Bake in moderately hot oven (400*F) 8 to 10 minutes.
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A Recipe from VIP Cook Book Vol. II (1977)
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:
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.
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:
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.
A Recipe from Southern Living 1981 Annual Recipes (1981)
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.
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…
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!
A Recipe from The Wonderful World of Cheese (1979)
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.
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.
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.
Cooking Vintage 