Round-Up Barbecue

 It's been a while. No excuses. 

I found this little gem at a book garage sale a while back. The lady was cleaning out her collection and she had some really neat books. I looked at but left a few really cool vintage ones until I realized that when she said she was cleaning out her collection she meant it and I went back to get them. I can't pass up a book deal! So I came home with a couple of great cookbooks including this on by Minute Rice.

So let's explore the Exciting World of Rice Dishes! There are some basic casserole dishes, several American-ized dishes (typical of the 1950's), and a few desserts but what really caught my eye as something new and interesting was the Round-Up Barbecue!

I didn't have Tabasco so we went with Siracha. I hate mustard but I'll give it a chance in this dish. Dylan was less than thrilled with the ingredients. Oh well. It has hotdogs!

Made myself a little foil bowl. And then it is time to layer. I had to move everything to a larger bowl once I started layering.

Oh Boy! Doesn't that look appealing...I am starting to wonder if I'm going to have to order pizza tonight.

We don't have a grill at the moment but I have an oven. It's not exactly the same but between the oven and the broiler I think I can make this work.

Well, it cooked! Still kinda scary but doesn't smell bad. Which is also scary...

There is no way this is suppose to be for 4 people! It makes 2 portions, barely. Or just 1 if you are hungry.

Well, it definitely was something different. My oven method needed work as the rice ended up still being a bit crunchy and it took almost twice as long to cook. I think it actually would have worked well on a campfire. And it tasted like something that should be cooked while camping. It was not bad. It was not great. I would only make it again if I went camping (but I have no intention of ever going camping). It needed more cheese and better quality hot dogs. Don't buy cheap hot dogs! Kids would probably enjoy it more.

My Rating: Fun to try but not something to make again. Probably.

Dylan's Rating: Not bad. Not as scary or gross as it looked.

Fruit Jewels

Well, it's been a while. I have no excuse but that just how life is. This is actually a recipe I made a while ago but am just now putting here. 

I found a great stash of old cooking pamphlets from a used bookstore this fall. This great margarine pamphlet was one of them. I love it! I don't know the year but maybe 1950's. Maybe

So many delicious sounding recipes but let's go for something a little different: Fruit Jewels!

I actually had to but a lot more for this recipe than usual. I don't normally keep maraschino cherries, dates, or even margarine on hand. Chopping the cherries was fun. I'm lazy so I just stuck them in a bowl and used my kitchen scissors to cut them up. The dates were already precut because I hate cutting dates! they are so sticky!

There doesn't seem like there is enough dough for all the mix-ins...

Easy recipe to follow. Just mix. I like that. Sometimes it's great to just have a simple recipe. I love how bright the cherries are!

These turned out so cute! More texture than the recipe picture but I think they look even better.

I was a little nervous because I am not usually a fan or maraschino cherries but these were tasty. They stayed nice and moist. No crispiness here. They had a light, not too sweet flavor and, even though the recipe says it makes 2.5 dozen. I don't think I got even 2 dozen from it. I'm not upset about that. I probably made them a little larger than they were supposed to be but I think they were the perfect size for me. And made the perfect amount. Because these were so moist they tended to stick together after a day or so and so they had to be eaten quickly.

My Rating: Delicious! Definitely something a little different to make again.

English Tea Cakes

I have been really into simple baking lately. Nothing fancy or overly complicated. Just nice, easy cookies. I need to take on something more unique but maybe later. I loved the introduction to this recipe and had to make it, English Tea Cakes from the 1951 edition of The Cookie Jar. Tea cakes are similar to cookies, right?

The only thing I was missing was the currants. I had raisins and golden raisins but no currants. The British school teacher calls for currants and so I must get them!

I got a box of Zante currants, which are basically really small raisins. They are kinda cute!

Creaming butter and sugar! I tried for an artsy shot. 

Time to add the currants! These are fun. I am going to have to find more recipes with them. It does seem like a lot of currants...

Believe it or not, I actually read all through the instructions it just never clicked that this was more of a bar recipe instead of a cookie recipe. The recipe did not give dimensions for the pan except 'shallow.' Okay...I just grabbed my largest cookie sheet. I hoped it will fill out the pan in the oven, like a cake.

Hmm... It did not fill out the pan. Damn. It kind of looks like an uneven sheet cake. Oh well.

Time to cut them into little squares. I used a pastry cutter instead of a knife and it worked so much better! I was actually able to cut in straight lines. Wow!

Look at these delicious cuties! The currants all fell to the bottom of the tea cakes but next time I'll just have to cover them in flour first.

I just happened to decide to bake on a beautifully bright day. Sunshine and light tea cakes!

These are moist yet light delicious snacks! The thinner parts of the pan turned out much crisper than the thicker center but all parts were edible and tasty. Next time I would either bake it in a smaller pan or spread it out more evenly. I loved the little Zante currants! It felt like you got more currant flavor through out the cakes. These kept very well in a sealed container on the counter.

My Rating: Keeper! Easy and just different enough.

Dylan's Rating: Yum! I like the thinner ones better.

Friend Rating: "I did my best to make them last all week- last one this morning- They were GREAT!"

Quick Apple Streusel Coffee Cake

 I am kind of embarrassed by how long it took me to post this. I made this ... a while ago. It may have sat in my photos for a month. Maybe. Definitely.

A couple of months ago Dylan and I had bought some apple cinnamon flavored almonds. They were not good but I didn't want to just toss them out so the recipe search began. I added them to some muffins. Not too bad but I wanted to try something from scratch. I had apples that needed to be used and I love a good coffee cake. The quick apple streusel coffee cake from The Modern Family Cook Book, 1953 edition, by Meta Given fit the bill! And I love a good streusel topping!!

No special ingredients needed. I ended up using the apples I had on hand, 1 gala and 1 granny smith. 

Everything looks nice an normal. I decided to chop the fairly large. I wanted to make sure I could taste the apple and not just a hint of it.

Getting everything all mixed together. Melted shortening is gross looking. Just sayin.

Trying to work quickly before my apples start to brown...

All ready for the topping! I am always amazed how beautifully streusel topping comes together. It never looks like it is going to work and then you get a crisp, sweet topping. Wow!

I chopped up the apple cinnamon almonds and sprinkled over half of the coffee cake. Just in case it tasted like crap I would still have half a cake to enjoy. 

So, I totally forgot to take a picture of the baked goodies. I was a little busy. Probably. :) My kitchen smelled like autumn! Apples! Cinnamon! Cake!

This turned out to be a delicious and moist cake. Easy to make and easy to eat! The streusel topping added a nice sweet crunch to the top and even the side with the yucky almonds tasted great. The sugar coating from the almonds probably mixed with the streusel topping while it baked and lost a lot of the candy taste. The almonds added a nice extra flavor. I miss the swirl of cinnamon inside the cake but loved the chunks of apple. Also I thought that it made the perfect amount. Enough for dessert and breakfast the next day and a bit of sharing (if you want) but we didn't end up eating for a week straight. 

My Rating: Easy and tasty. Definitely a keeper!

Dylan's Rating: Great! Could use more cinnamon.

Salted Peanut Cookies

A couple of months ago one of my aunts contacted me and asked if I wanted two old cookbooks. Of course I wanted them! One is a typed community cookbook and the other is a green spiral notebook filled with handwritten recipes and clipped recipes from newspapers. My dad actually recognized the book from sitting on the shelf of his mother's old house. It is worn and a little water damaged but filled with interesting recipes. The handwritten ones are harder to read and follow the old recipe style: list of ingredients followed by 'mix and bake until done.' I'm not quite ready to tackle one of those! Instead I found a newspaper clipping of a cookie recipe from Ruttger's Lodge. Since I am dating a peanut addict, I thought I'd give it a chance.

Still not certain on the original date but I'm guessing it was started in the 1930's or 1940's and then continues through at least the 1970's.

A hand written cookbook and I decide to go with the printed recipe. But it is suppose to be 'good enough for Paul Bunyan.' 😀

Only had to get the cornflakes! (Now what do I do with a bock of cornflakes?) The most difficult part was hiding the peanuts from Dylan.

Ohhh...butter and sugar...yum!

Dump it all in and mix!

It's a very thick dough. I'm not certain the point of the cornflakes. I kinda feel like they are going to get either crushed or mushy in the baking.

Drop cookies are the best. Not just because they are the easiest.

These cookies spread! I'm glad I left plenty of room because they are large and thin. And they smell soo soo soo good!

These look so good! And smell heavenly!! You can actually see the cornflakes in the cookies. I'm surprised.

These were amazing cookies! Super easy to put together and bake and they tasted wonderful! It made a fairly large batch so you can share them (unless your boyfriend eats them all). I managed to get a couple out to friends before Dylan stole the bag. I might try chopping up the peanuts next time. Maybe. I enjoyed the large chunks of peanut. To my surprise you could actually taste the cornflakes and they added a great flavor and crunch to the cookies.

My Rating: Keeper!

Dylan's Rating: These are my new favorite!!

Banana Bread

 Okay I am tired of bananas. Tired of looking for new recipes and tired of baking with them. Luckily, (I think) when we lost power due to the storm we lost my entire shelf of frozen bananas. I am annoyed but not upset. I was planning to make a bunch of banana muffins and freeze them. Darn. Oh well! Right before the storm, I made this banana bread recipe from the 1963 edition of Charleston Receipts but as giant muffins. Because muffins are great but giant muffins are better! 

Super easy looking, nothing unusual or special. No judgement so far. It could still be amazing...

Hmmm....Everything is so white...

Just getting everything prepped. Eggs beaten and bananas mashed!

Just creaming shortening and trying to get artsy. I think it's a cool pic. What do you think?

Everything is all ready to mix together. I debated on pulling out the standing mixer but it was not necessary. I love my mixer but sometimes it is too heavy to deal with.

This recipe made the perfect amount for 6 large muffins. Just for fun I added a light dusting of raw sugar on half the muffins. I am hoping for a lovely layer of crunch on them!

These baked up beautifully! So...I have no idea which ones had the sugar on top. It looks like the sugar just sank in. Interesting.

Isn't this a great looking muffin?!

This was an easy recipe with pretty common ingredients. They baked up very nicely, are moist, and have a good flavor. But, as I suspected, nothing special or unique. Dylan did not share my opinion. If you are looking for a tasty and simple recipe than this one is perfect however I would probably add nuts or cinnamon next time. Or more sugar on top. 

My Rating: Good but not great

Dylan's Rating: Delicious! They are a little dry but overall they are great.