Tag: Celebrity Cookbook

Strawberry Cake

Strawberry Cake

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:

  1. 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
  2. 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.

Avocado Crabmeat Salad

Avocado Crabmeat Salad

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.