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Saturday, February 24, 2018

Pink Lady

Time for a cocktail! Browsing through my 2 cocktail books I found the same cocktail done 2 different ways. I had to try and compare both! Let's go try the Pink Lady.

The recipe from The Savoy only has 3 ingredients. I'm a little concerned about the egg whites...
Stouffer's had a couple of more ingredients but still had that egg white.
They look exactly the same. So Pink!!
Savoy's:
Stouffer's:
Wow! These were 2 very different drinks! The Savoy's was terrible. Awful awful stuff! After one horrible sip I moved over to the Stouffer's which turned out great. I loved the fruit punch flavor! So I thought I would give the Savoy another chance but nope. Still bad.

My Rating: Stick with the Stouffer's

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Jubilee Jumbles

I am not the only one fascinated by old recipes. Gold Medal Flour published this cooking pamphlet in 1955 in honor of their 75th anniversary. It claims that it is 'A treasury of favorite recipes modernized by Betty Crocker'  and it is filled with recipes, advertisements, and random facts from 1880 to 1955.
 My poor copy is starting to fall apart. With so many recipes to choose from I decided to star with the first one, Jubilee Jumbles!
It is a basic cookie recipe which states you can add walnuts, shredded coconut, dates, raisins, or chocolate chips. Naturally, I chose chocolate chips. I am excited about the burnt butter glaze!
Simple ingredients. Yum...chocolate chips...
They looked yummy even before baking. I may or may not have snacked on a few chips. (I love parchment paper!)
Adding the burnt butter glaze made it just perfect.
The recipe went together very easily. It is a simple one. It tasted good but pretty basic and nothing special. My friends went nuts over them. I think we must have different was of rating food or they were just very excited at the thought of free cookies. I am interested trying the recipe with other ingredients or even a mixture of them. The glaze was delicious!

My Rating: Good but plain

Friends and Family Rating: "Delicious!"

Saturday, February 17, 2018

Fudge Bars

I used to actively avoid recipes from advertisements and company promotions and then I tried a few. They were great! I felt like an idiot. Now it's fun to watch people's faces when I tell them that the delicious chicken wings they are munching on came from a paper towel advertisement.
This fun booklet was put out by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture in 1964.
 I really wanted to do something chocolatey today.

Simple ingredients! Lots o' nuts!

It looks sooooo good especially with the icing!
Always, Always! ALWAYS! Read the recipe and ingredients carefully. While making the icing I realized that I did not use the correct amount of chocolate in the bars. I only used half of what I was suppose to. But it still turned out great.

It is best to wait until the icing sets before cutting unless you can't. Despite my mistake, these turned out very good! They don't stay together very well but they are good enough that no one minds eating the crumbs.

My Rating: Keeper!

Friends and Family Rating: "Yum! Not overly sweet. I like that."


Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Daffodil Cake

Cook books from the 1950's take their job very seriously. Cooking is not just for fun. It is the job of the 1950's housewife to provide the best meals for her family. This 1953 cook book has a Meal Planner's Creed that ends with: "My family's health, security, and pleasure depend on my skill in planning meals; therefore - I will treat my job with the respect that is due it." It is quite a difference from modern cook books.

The weather has been warm lately so I chose an appropriateyly spring sounding recipe, Daffodil Cake!
Lots and lots of eggs...and a touch of orange.
So many eggs whites. I'm glad I have my standing mixer! But I was so focused on the darn egg whites that I forgot to take pictures. The orange-flavored half of the mix was not very orange-y.
I followed the instructions but I may have slightly overcooked the cake. The recipe did not call for any kind of icing but I added powdered sugar for looks.
The swirl was very subtle but pretty!
This is a very dense cake. The texture was a mix between angel food cake and pound cake. I had to use a serrated knife to cut it and a fork was basically useless. It was spoungey. Just use your hands.
There is not a lot of flavor to this thing. There is so little orange that you can barely tell it's there. It needed something more so I browsed the web and found a simple orange sauce. Yum! Much better!
This cake too more effort than it was worth. I am holding on to the orange sauce recipe but I probably will not make the cake again. It might be good for a trifle but not on it's own. As I said, it could be becasue I over cooked it but I will not be trying to make it again anytime soon.

My Rating: Lots of effort with little results

Friends and Family Rating: "Heavy" "It's okay. Love the sauce."



Saturday, February 10, 2018

Corn Flake Kisses

I love cookies, a lot. They are the perfect size to enjoy and still not completely kill your diet. This great 1963 pamphlet was put out by the Wisconsin Power and Light Company. It was compiled by their home economics division and has little notes beside each recipe.
Corn Flake Kisses are "---pleasant?" We shall see.
Everyone was buying corn flakes this week because I could only find the largest box in the store. I will be eating corn flakes, with bananas, for breakfast for the next 2 weeks.
Easy peasy meringue cookies. They never look like they are actually going to bake into a cookie.
Little white clouds!
Baked up nice and easy. Crunchy and sweet.

I love meringue cookies! They are light and crunchy with enough sweetness to satisfy your sweet tooth with out having to add an extra mile to your run. These were fantastic! I did not want to share. I will gladly make these again but maybe add mini-chocolate chips or mini-M and M's.

My Rating: Pleasant!

Friends and Family Rating: "Great!" "Needs a little chocolate but love the crunch."

Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Alexander's Sister Cocktail

The temperature jumps this winter are starting to annoy me. I was hunting for another hot drink recipe when I came across this gem in the Savoy Cocktail Book. "Ladies are advised to avoid.."? Challenge accepted!
I am quite fond of gin drinks and I like mint...I was nervous about cream with alcohol.

It is as bright and minty as it looks! I think it would be fantastic for a holiday party or with a super chocolatey cake. Now I have to figure out what to do with a whole bottle of creme de menthe.

My Rating: Intense but good

I am ready for summer!

Saturday, February 3, 2018

Deep Dish Plum Pie

Today I thought I'd try something more modern. A pie from Better Cooking and Baking published just yesterday in 1960 by the Robertshaw-Fulton company maker of the Flame Master oven controls.
This recipe caught my eye since it called for a casserole dish and not a pie pan.
 It isn't the season for fresh plums but I was able to find them canned.
Canned plums are not very appetizing looking. I tried different filters to try to make them look better and this was the best...
The crust was very thick but came together very nicely. I used raw sugar on the crust for a little more crunch.

The crust was more cake-like than a traditional pie crust and the filling was just plums and juice. It started to fall apart as soon as I cut it. It is very tasty! A dollop of whipped cream or scoop of ice cream would have been quite nice. The filling definitely needs a thickener.

My Rating: Keeper with a few adjustments

Friend and Family Rating: "Plum-tastic!" "The spice was a nice change. Not too sweet."