Milk Treats for Children from 1948

The Home Comfort Cook Book from 1948 has some neat ideas and recipes for children. I'd thought I'd share some of those today. We had 12 inches of snow between yesterday and last night and the plows still haven't cleared the roads. We were very fortunate to not have lost our power like many people in our county did, so I'm not complaining. The kids however were bored, and my suggestions to read, play games, or clean their rooms were not appreciated. My ten year old decided to cut pictures of animals out of magazines to make "posters" for her dolls. This occupied her for a few hours, which helped our day a lot.

Maybe I should have made them one of these treats. I tend to always have cocoa, molasses, bananas and of course, milk, on hand. The recipes use an egg beater, but you could also use a blender or mixer instead. If you are worried about the fat, you can use skim or 2% milk.

"Milk shakes and egg nogs are more exciting (and filling) than plain milk--fine to serve for refreshments , or to dress up a simple family lunch or supper. They are also interesting to children who have "notions" about milk. They are useful in providing extra nourishment for underweight children and adults. "

Cocoa Milk Shake

First the cocoa syrup must be made.

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup cocoa

1/4 cup cold water

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Place the sugar and cocoa in a saucepan. Stir in the water slowly. Place the pan over low heat. While stirring constantly, let the mixture come to a boil, and boil 2 minutes. Cool it. Add the vanilla and stir to blend well. Pour the syrup into a clean jar, seal it tightly and keep it in the refrigerator or other cold place.

To make a milkshake, you use for each glass:

2 tbsp. cocoa syrup

1 cup chilled milk

Beat the mixture well with an egg beater.

Molasses Milk Shake

1 glass milk

1 tbsp. molasses

Place the molasses in a glass or bowl; gradually add the milk, which may be hot or cold. Stir or beat to blend well. Makes 1 serving.

Banana Milk Shake ( 6 servings )

4 fully ripe bananas

1 quart chilled milk

few grains salt

2 tbsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. vanilla

Peel the bananas, slice them into a large bowl. Beat them with an egg beater until they are smooth and creamy. Add slowly the milk, sugar and vanilla. Beat until well blended. Serve in tall glasses.

On OFL I have an easy, inexpensive craft activity for kids that works great on rainy or snowy days when they can't go outside: http://oldfashionedliving.com/riceart.html

Time Flying & Caramel Goodness

Time has certainly flown by since January for me. I find it hard to believe it's February 16th already. Valentine's Day was interesting at our house, with two teens, both having girlfriends this year. There were plans made, plans changed, and more plans made, but in the end everyone had fun. There was homemade pizza involved, as well as candy and brownies. This Friday, February 18th is also an example of time flying. My husband and I will be married 22 years on Friday. We didn't meet until we were heading towards 30 years old, and I've found I appreciate my marriage so much more since I had to go through several frogs to get to my prince:) It really was worth the wait, especially since we get to celebrate with our three kids who are already 17, 16 and 10.

Now that the mushiness is out of the way I thought I'd share some caramel recipes I found, to make up for not posting any Valentine's Day goodness last week. These are from a booklet I had from the 1950's.

Caramel Popcorn Crunch

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. Craft Caramels (28)

2 tbsp. hot water

2 quarts popped popcorn, salted

Place the caramels and water in the top of a double boiler. heat, stirring frequently until the caramels are melted and the sauce is smooth. Pour over the popcorn in a large bowl and toss to coat all of the kernels. Coat your hands with cold water and spread on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Let it stand until the surface is dry. Break apart to serve.

Caramel Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 pound/28 caramels

1/2 cup hot water or milk

Place the caramels and water or milk in top of a double boiler. Heat, stirring frequently until all is melted and smooth. Makes 1 cup sauce.

The recipes below use the sauce. You can now buy premade caramel sauce, but it's always good to know how to make it from the caramels, and buy which ever is on sale or cheaper.

Caramel Parkay Frosting

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Parkay Margarine

4 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

1 cup coated Kraft Caramel Sauce

Cream the margarine. Add the sugar alternately with the caramel sauce, blending until the frosting is smooth and creamy.

Caramel Breakfast Cake

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. sugar

3 tbsp. chopped pecans

20 buttermilk biscuits (2 or 3 tubes)

3/4 cup caramel sauce

1/2 cup margarine or butter, melted

Sprinkle the sugar over the bottom of a well-greased 9 inch round cake pan. Cover with the nuts, then pour on the caramel sauce. Separate the biscuits and dip each in the melted margarine or butter. Place 15 biscuits, overlapping, around the outer edge of the pan. Use the remaining 5 biscuits to make an inner circle of overlapping biscuits. Bake in hot oven, 400 degrees, for 20 minutes.

~Brenda

Old Fashioned Loaf Cakes from 1968

I was looking through my recipes for more breakfast breads, and found a cookbook from 1968 simply called Cake Cookbook. It has a section on Loaf Cakes, which are basically sweet quick breads or pound cake type recipes. I thought I would share a few that I plan on trying. But first I wanted to share my lemon bread recipe because some of you asked for it. It's not from scratch; but instead uses a cake mix. What I do is wait until cake mixes are on sale for a dollar, and stock up. I never pay more than $1.00 each, to keep the expense down.

Lemon Bread

Ingredients:
1 box lemon cake mix, any brand
1 small box instant lemon pudding
1 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs

Beat together all the ingredients in a large bowl on slow to start, then on medium speed for 2-3 minutes. Pour into 2 regular size bread pans that have been sprayed with pan spray, or you can coat in a very light coating of margarine or butter. Bake for 50 minutes in a 350 degree F. oven. Cool before slicing.

Buttermilk Loaf Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

1/2 pound butter or margarine

6 eggs, separated

3/4 cup buttermilk

3 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. soda

4 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. vanilla

Cream sugar and butter; add egg yolks, 1 at a time. Add buttermilk; add flour, salt, soda and baking powder. Add vanilla and beaten eggs whites; pour into loaf pan. Bake at 325 degrees F. for 1 hour or until it tests done with a toothpick. Cool on a rack.

Blackberry Jam Cake

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 cups sifted flour

1 tsp. allspice

1 tsp. ground cloves

1 tsp. cinnamon

3 eggs

1/2 cup sour cream

2 cup blackberry jam

Cream butter. Add sugar and eggs; beat well. Combine flour and spices. Alternate with the sour cream to mix into wet ingredients. Add jam last. Pour into loaf pan that has been sprayed or greased. Bake in a 350 degree F. oven for 40 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Sunny Citrus Cake

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter or margarine

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. grated orange rind

1 tsp. vanilla

3 eggs

1 cup orange marmalade

3 cups sifted flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 cup buttermilk

Cream butter, sugar, orange rind and vanilla together until fluffy; add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in marmalade. Sift flour, soda and salt together; add to first mixture alternating with buttermilk. Turn batter into greased and lined 9 inch tube pan (or Bundt or 9 inch loaf pan) Bake at 350 degree for 1 hour. Cool ten minutes.

Chocolate Marble Cake

Ingredients:

2/3 cup butter or margarine

2 cups sugar

4 eggs, well beaten

3 cups flour

4 tsp. baking powder

1 cup milk

1 square chocolate, melted

1 tsp. vanilla

Cream butter and sugar together. Add well-beaten eggs; mix well. Sift flour and baking powder; add alternately with the milk to mixture. Put 1/3 of batter into a bowl and add melted chocolate. To the white batter; add vanilla. Drop the white batter, then the chocolate by spoonfuls into a well greased tube, Bundt pan or a 9 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees F. Cool for an hour.

We also have a great article with recipes for crazy

cakes like the Tomato Soup Cake:

http://oldfashionedliving.com/crazycakes.html

~Brenda

More Economy Recipes from 1938

Back in November I had shared a few recipes from the 1938 Watkins Cook Book. I thought I'd share a few more today from the Economy section of the book. This was a few years after The Depression but before World War II, to give you an idea of the time period. People were still being very careful with their money, and I would imagine many were still recovering.

Beef and Bean Stew

Ingredients:

1 cup red kidney beans or lima beans

1 cup canned tomatoes

1 pound round steak on boneless chuck stewing meat

1 finely cut onion

Pepper

Celery Salt

Onion powder

1 ounce salt pork

Wash beans, soak overnight. Cook the pork until the fat is fried out, then remove. Cut the steak into small pieces, brown well in the pork fat. Add the beans, tomatoes and seasoning. Place in a buttered casserole, cover, cook slowly 3 hours.

My Notes: I would use a little seasoned salt instead of the celery salt and onion powder, or a seasoned pepper. If you don't want to buy salt pork, you can use bacon. If you do, I'd chop it and keep it in the beans instead of discarding like the salt pork. I also like to brown my onion in the fat after or before the meat, then add them to the pot.

You can make this in the crock pot easily. Do the same thing but put it on high for 5 or more hours and that should do it.

Potato Dumplings

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds potatoes

4 eggs, well beaten

1 scant tbsp. salt

2 tbsp. butter, melted

2 tbsp. dry bread crumbs

1/2 cup flour (more if needed)

2 quarts boiling water

1/4 cup minced parsley

Pare and boil the potatoes and put through a ricer. Stir in the beaten eggs, salt and butter. Add bread crumbs, flour. Blend and form into good sized balls. Roll in flour and toss into salted, boiling water. Cover and boil 12 minutes. Serve around meat platter and sprinkle with minced parsley.

Boiled Ham with Vegetables

Shank end of ham

4-5 small potatoes

1 head cabbage, cut into 4 pieces

3 turnips

3-4 whole carrots, sliced

salt

pepper

celery seed or salt

Place the ham in cold water to start, simmer 1 hour, add seasoning. Add the turnips, cook 15 minutes; add potatoes, cabbage, carrots and cook 30 minutes.

My Notes: I personally would use a leftover ham with the bone-in. I do this when I cook a bone-in ham for Sunday dinner. We eat the one meal, and there is still a lot of ham on the bone. I put it in the crock pot with the vegetables, cover with water, and cook it all day on high. 4-5 hours on high will work too. I serve it in bowls with a little bit of the vegetables with some of the ham in each serving.

Mexican Luncheon Dish

Ingredients:

1 pound lean lamb or other meat

2 tbsp. fat

2 onions

3/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups canned tomatoes

3/4 tsp. chili powder

pepper

hot cooked rice

Brown the meat in hot fat/oil with the onions that have been chopped. Add the tomatoes, seasoning, a little water, and cover. Cook slowly until the meat is tender. Serve with the hot rice.

My notes: I haven't made this but my first thought is to replace part of the tomatoes with salsa. I think it would be good with cubed steak or ground chuck too.

Swiss Steak

Ingredients:

2 inch thick round steak

2 tbsp. bacon fat

2 medium onions, sliced thinly

4 medium carrots diced

1 can tomato soup

3 or 4 potatoes

salt

pepper

Season the steak with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with flour and pound into the steaks. Sear the meat in hot fat, place in roaster, pour over the can of soup and simmer for one hour. Cover the meat with the vegetables. Cover. Cook another hour. Remove the meat and vegetables to a platter. Add a little flour to make a gravy with juices. Serve with gravy.

My Notes: I think I would make this in a large skillet with a lid, rather than a roaster. I also would saute the onions in the skillet with the meat before adding the soup.

Rice is a great pantry staple; we have tips and recipes on OFL:

http://oldfashionedliving.com/rice.html

Old Fashioned Cooking Tips

I've been baking a lot lately, partly to save money, and partly for the joy of it. Last week I made two types of cookies, brownies and lemon bread. Winter is such a good time to try new bread and cookie recipes. Later in the week I'll share a few I've tried.

Today I have cooking tips from the Home Comfort Cook Book, published in 1948. Can we ever really have too may kitchen or cooking tips?

To keep a bowl steady when mixing, place it on a wet, folded cloth.

If the top of a cake is sprinkled with flour as soon as it is taken from the oven, icing will spread more easily and not be so likely to run off.

To cut boiled eggs more easily, dip the knife in water beforehand.

Dip fish into scalding water for a minute to scale more easily.

A teaspoon of vinegar added to the water in which white fish is boiled improves flavor and makes flesh firmer.

Juices of spiced and pickled fruits are good for basting meats, especially ham or tongue.

Save liquids from pickles to use for pickled beets, slaw or for moistening meat or fish sandwich fillings.

Use damp scissors to cut marshmallows, dates and figs easily.

To bake potatoes faster, quickly boil in water 10 minutes first, then put in a hot oven.

For crisp, edible skins, scrub well, dry and rub with bacon fat before putting in oven.

To make rice white and fluffy, add 1 tsp. lemon juice or vinegar to each quart of water while cooking.

To prevent brown sugar from hardening place it in tightly closed container. If already hard, soften it by placing in a slow oven . Or place in closed fruit jar with slice of soft bread.

Mary Emma gives us tips for keeping our own cooking journal:

http://oldfashionedliving.com/kitchen46.html

~Brenda

Equivalents For Older Recipes & More

I decided today to share some equivalents from my 1950 edition of the Culinary Arts Institute of Encyclopedic Cookbook. These are some I picked that not only are useful in general cooking, but will help if you enjoy making recipes from older cookbooks and need to know what to use in place of an ingredient.

EASY SUBSTITUTES

When the recipe calls for---

1 cup sweet milk in a batter, you can use 1/2 cup evaporated milk and 1/2 cup water.

OR 1 cup skim milk and 2 tbsp. fat (oil, butter etc.)

When you need--

1 ounce chocolate you can use 4 tbsp. cocoa and 1/2 tbsp. butter or margarine.

When a recipe calls for 1 cup granulated sugar--

Use 1 cup brown sugar, packed

OR 3/4 cup honey, but reduce the liquid slightly

2 cups corn syrup, reducing liquid

1 1/2 cups maple syrup, reducing liquid

STANDARD CAN SIZES

8 ounces (may be listed as oz, or Z) = 1 cup

Picnic No. 1= 1 1/4 cups

12 ounce=1 2/3 cups

No. 300=1 3/4 cups

No. 1 tall=2 cups

No. 2=2 1/2 cups

No. 2 1/2=3 1/2 cups

No. 3=4 cups

No. 3 squat=2 3/4 cups

No. 5=7 1/3 cups

No. 10=13 cups

No. 1 square= 1 pound

No. 2 1/2 square=31 ounces

MISC. SUBSTITUTES

1 bouillon cube = 1 tsp. extract

1 tbsp. cornstarch=2/3 tbsp. arrowroot

OR 1 3/4 tbsp. wheat or rice flour

1 tbsp. fresh grated horseradish= 2 tbsp. bottled

1 1/2 tbsp. quick cooking tapioca=1/4 cup pearl tapioca soaked at least one hour

ON OFL: The biscuits didn't turn out. What went wrong?

http://oldfashionedliving.com/biscuit.html

Home Comfort Soups from 1948

Winter came down to our home one night quietly pirouetting in on silvery-toed slippers of snow,and we, we were children once again. ~Bill Morgan, Jr.

We just finished dinner, BBQ chicken and potato wedges, and I was thinking about soups again. I know, I'm a little odd, but winter makes me crave soups and chowders. I just found my copy of the Home Comfort Cook Book from 1948. It was published for Home Comfort Ranges and was originally "One dollar post paid". Don't we wish cookbooks cost that now:) This time period is great for finding recipes that use thrifty ingredients. I thought I'd share a few of the recipes.

Cream of Corn Soup

2 cups boiling water

2 cups canned cream style corn

1/2 cup chopped celery and leaves

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1 tbsp. chopped onions

2 cups milk

2 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. flour

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. paprika

Add water to corn. Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes with celery, parsley and onion. Melt butter, add flour and when well blended add milk slowly. Strain corn mixture and add to white sauce. Season, heat to boiling point and serve with sprinkling of additional parley on top of each soup plate. Makes about 4 1/2 cups.

Chicken Bisque

2 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. flour

3 cups chicken stock

1 cup top milk *see note

1 cup cooked ground chicken

salt and paprika

Melt butter, blend in flour, add chicken stock gradually, then top milk and ground chicken. Season to taste. Heat well and serve-luscious preceding a salad main course at luncheon topped with whipped cream, sprinkled with paprika. Makes about 5 cups.

Note: Top milk is the milk that was "topped" from whole milk that still had the cream in it. You can use half and half or cream instead.

Onion Soup

1 1/2 cups thinly sliced onions

3/4 cup water

4 tbsp. butter

1 tbsp. flour

6 cups stock (beef, chicken, vegetable)

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

salt

pepper

toast

grated cheese

Brown onions in butter. Stir in flour, stock and Worcestershire sauce. Simmer covered for one hour. Season with salt and pepper. Place in oven proof dishes. Cover top with toast sprinkled with cheese. Put in hot oven until cheese is melted. Serve at once. Makes 6 cups.

Notes: Toast can be Italian or French bread that's been sliced and lightly toasted. Sprinkle with Parmesan, Swiss or other cheese and heat under broiler.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

1/2 pound mushrooms

2 cups stock or water

1 small stalk celery, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

1/2 onion, chopped

2 sprigs parsley

2 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. flour

2 cups cream

1 1/4 tsp. salt

Wash mushrooms, trim stems and cover with stock. Add celery, parsley, peeled carrots and onion. Simmer for 20 minutes. Drain vegetables, reserving stock and put through at food chopper (blender or food processor). Melt butter, add flour, and blend well. Add mushroom stock slowly and hot cream. Add the vegetables, season and serve. Makes 4 1/2 cups.

Check out this article from Mary Emma on winter chowders:

http://oldfashionedliving.com/chowders.html

~Brenda