Cheese Straws

My wonderful sister got me this cookbook for Christmas to add to my collection!

Home Helps was edited by Mrs. Sarah Tyson Rorer and was published in 1898 making it the oldest book I have. It is one of the many books printed to promote vegetable shortening, Cottolene in this case, as a healthier alternative to lard. It is full of recipes (of course), household hints, and interesting sayings and quotes about women at the top of each page. For example: "All that a woman has to do in this world, is contained within the duties of a daughter, a sister, a wife, and a mother." -Steele
Delightfully old fashioned! I am so glad the world has moved on!

 Most of the recipes I try are not this old. Old recipes tend to leave out such information as oven temperature and baking time. I need a little more info than "mix and bake until done." But I had to try something from this book! Cheese straws seem easy enough.

The quote from the top of the page: "There is nothing on Earth to be compared with a virtuous and lovely woman." -Arabian

I had to guess at the amount of cayenne. 'The point of a very small penknife blade" is not very exact! I also realized after taking the picture that I picked up chili powder instead of cayenne. I fixed it later. I didn't have Parmesan so that is a wonderful bit of extra sharp cheddar instead.

I don't have much counter space so there was no way I as putting this directly on my counter. Besides, it looks really pretty in my vintage glass bowl!

 Just throwing everything in together!

I had to dump it out onto my pie mat to knead it better but it was way too dry. So I had to add almost double the amount of cream.

 Finally it became something I could work with.

 It was still too crumbly to roll out so I ended up just making little logs. Worked great!

After 20 minutes in an oven at 350: Ta Da! It said they had to be served with celery. Don't know why.

This was a simple and easy recipe to make however it had an odd flavor. (I think it was the large amount of nutmeg.) They were not disgusting but not something I want to snack on all night either. I put a warning sign on them when I gave them out for people to test. I was pleasantly surprised on how simple they were to make! I may have to try another one...

My Rating: It was a nice step into really old recipes but I will not be making again.

Friends & Family Rating: "Interesting taste. I actually like it." "Not bad but not delicious either."