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but it always seemed to me that it only took my Mom about 10 minutes to whip out about 500 pieces of the most delicious Divinity candy in the world... I can still see her fingers 'flippin' those white wads onto the waxed paper...huh...what...waxed paper???? lolol...now there's a memory...
Have a good weekend...
Koale
I started reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder books aloud to our kids when they were 4 and 6, and my spouse kept claiming he needed to "cut their toenails" - a task that mysteriously needed to be done every night, and somehow lasted exactly as long as the chapter did. No comment...
But I couldn't complain about the outcome of that not-very-subtle subterfuge. Spouse recreated "Indian (though the books used a different term) Bread" (rye and corn) and Fried Apples-n-Onions (from Farmer Boy), and our own young'uns developed quite a liking for both. Haven't thought of either one in decades, and I'm not sure we even still have the recipes, but it was a fun way to help our kids connect with their heritage.
Some years back, the company where I was working held an annual book and gift sale as a form of fundraiser, and I bought Spouse four slim volumes of historic recipes as a Christmas gift. They were "Old-Time Farmhouse Cooking," "Mama's in the Kitchen - Weird & Wonderful Home Cooking 1900 to 1950," "Secrets of the Great Old-Timey Cooks" and "The Lost Art of Pie-Making," and he just had a wonderful time with them.
Green Corn Puffs, Ethel's Tomato Cookies (truly!), "Hooverized" Canned Raspberry Cake, Blackbird Pie, Butterscotch Icebox Cookies, Lumpy Soup - the names alone generate all sorts of images. One book includes the 1939 version of Tollhouse Cookies (no chocolate chips back then, you had to cut two 7-oz chocolate bars into pieces the size of a pea), and a frightening array of strange sandwiches: ground cold boiled beef tongue sandwiches, pimento butter sandwiches, raw carrot sandwiches - those cooks in the 1940s and 1950s were brave souls.
For the Jell-O lover, there is the ever-popular Cabbage-Grapefruit salad made with lime Jell-O, or of course those of German heritage could enjoy Sauerkraut Jell-O. And mothers in 1947 who couldn't get their kids to eat their veggies could always fall back on watercress sherbet, spinach ice cream and carrot ice cream. My spouse remembers his mother making an appalling dish of scrambled eggs and brains... he survived the experience, but I think sometimes it left him with permanent emotional scars.
I love divinity and love the description of your mother's candy production. A few years ago a friend and I were talking about our mothers' and grandmothers' candy making skills.These ladies literally whipped it out! No candy thermometer, etc.
My mother and grandmother were both excellent candy makers. As much as I love food and love to cook this area is not my forte! I really like the old candies but have very mixed results. We'll blame that on "atmospheric conditions". This is what my mother would say on the rare occasion that a food product didn't turn out like she wanted.
I also have fond memories of my first grade teacher making divinity for us at Christmas. She was the kindest, sweetest teacher and made it for the students every year.
@ Antiquesmountainapache - thanks for your interest. I also love old recipes and many times I adapt them to new styles to cut the fat content. I will get out these cookbooks and choose a few more recipes to post. For now, here are a few I have at hand from my grandma's most used book because I use these recipes all the time except for the baking powder one:
Baking Powder Hint
If you need to you can use baking powder in place of baking soda but you CANNOT use baking soda in place of baking powder in a recipe.
Recipe for Baking Powder - do not store on the shelf - use immediately
1 teaspoon of baking powder = 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda + 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar + 1/4 teaspoon corn starch
PEANUT BUTTER FUDGE
2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup of evaporated milk
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
Put sugar and milk in a heavy pan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil 2 1/2 minutes and stir the entire time. Remove from heat and add the peanut butter and vanilla. Stir briefly just until mixed. Add nuts and stir briefly and pour into a butterered 8 x 8 inch pan. Cool before cutting.
(Note from rural - It's easy to make and has no butter. This is a really tasty fudge and I make this all the time, but I found that it was even a bit better when I added about 1 heaping tablespoon of marshmallow creme when I added the peanut butter. Grandma's note said it came from the evaporated milk can in 1930's.)
FRENCH COOKIES
2 cups brown sugar (white sugar will do)
1 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon baking soda (put in boiling water)
3 cups flour
2 eggs
1 cup oleo - note this is the old time name for margarine
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup of raisins (boil raisins and drain to use the boiling water listed above)
1/2 cup chopped nuts
Boil raisins to plump them and then use the remaining liquid for the boiling water. Cream sugar and oleo. Add baking soda to 1 cup boiling water but don't add to the sugar yet. Add baking powder and cinnamon to the flour and then add the flour mixture to the creamed sugar. Mix well. After mixing add the boiling water with the baking soda to the mixture. Add plumped raisins and nuts and mix. Pour into greased and floured jelly roll pan. Bake 350 and test after 10 minutes as this gets done fast (usually in about 12 to 14 minutes). Make a thin glaze from powdered sugar and water and pour over hot cake. (Note from rural - I was raised on these cookies and make them all the time)
OATMEAL CAKE
1 1/4 cup boiling water
1 stick butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/3 cup flour
1 cup quick oats
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
Stir bloiling water over oats and butter and stir until butter is melted. Let stand 20 minutes. Add the white and brown sugar, eggs, flour, soda and cinnamon. Stir by hand. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 METAL pan. Bake for about 35 minutes.
FROSTING FOR OATMEAL CAKE
6 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1 cup coconut
1/4 cup milk
Bring to a boil and spread on hot cake. Broil the iced cake for about 3 to 5 minutes until slightly browned.
(Note from rural - another recipe which has been in the family for years. My kids always beg me to make this for family dinners. Note use metal pan due to the broiling - do not use a glass pan or it could break under the broiler)
I have many others. I will post some really old recipes the next time. It might take me a day or so to dig them out of the cabinet. Like spiced cow tongue, hominy muffins, desperation cream pie, doily syrup, penuche candy, vinegar pie, and many more.
The Peanut butter fudge, french cookies and oatmeal cake are TRIED AND TRUE recipes, many times over.
My local paper recently ran a reader's request for something called Kool Aid cookies which was apparently popular as a way to conserve sugar during rationing. I checked my books but couldn't find it...thankfully.
Someone sent me a messsage saying they would like to read the 1943 Joy of Cooking I mentioned by left no name. They are also still available on line.
My Grandma came here from Poland, alone, when she was 14 as her family wanted at least one farm person to survive the revolution. They didn't know about cholesterol then so she put bacon grease in just about everything. She would make a stew of saurkraut, onions, tomatoes, garllic, bacon, chopped porkchops and anything else she had on hand. It was the best and when I need to "talk" to her, I make a pot also but not so much with the meat. Sloppy good over mashed potatoes with onions and a wedge of lettuce on the side. The grease Grandma didn't use for cooking was used to make homemade soap, which I still have as a treasure stored in the garage. Her soap was okay for washing dishes but not on your face!
Don't laugh about the wax paper in my kitchen. Wrap your hard cheese in it and see how much longer it will last. We buy the big hunk from Costco so we found it really does work and we save a few dollars.
but it always seemed to me that it only took my Mom about 10 minutes to whip out about 500 pieces of the most delicious Divinity candy in the world... I can still see her fingers 'flippin' those white wads onto the waxed paper...huh...what...waxed paper???? lolol...now there's a memory...
Have a good weekend...
Koale
OHHHHHHH!!!! I love Divinity! And the waxed paper and those white clouds - I thought it was magic!
Wow, I have not thought of a mincemeat pie in years. My mom never made one, but a great aunt did at Christmas. The aroma was heavenly, they smelled so good. However, as a child I just didn't care for what I felt was a strong clove flavor. I bet I would like it now. I don't remember a vinegar pie. I do remember a tad of vinegar or apple cider vinegar in a pie, but I think it was a chess pie. When I was in high school, mom's chess pies evolved into lemon chess pies (yum). I remember buttermilk pies, molasses pies, potato pies (sweet & regular), butterscotch pies, a lot of pies. Thanks for the memories OP.
I remember when stores regularly carried butterscotch pudding and butterscotch syrup; they were popular. I figured they were no longer made but checked amazon. Here are just a few.
Sara Lee mince pies were available until five or six years ago. Now no one without gray hair has ever heard of one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sgoldie
This has nothing to do with food, but I was reading a rather well worn diary I have written by a young relative some time in the early 1800's which referred to things costing her a certain amount of "pence". I found that quite surprising.
Although the US mint was in operation at this time their coins were very scarce. There were many foreign coins in circulation so people learned different systems. These coins were all legal tender.
Last edited by Happy in Wyoming; 08-18-2012 at 02:09 PM..
Reason: Add
Rural Chick: those recipes sound absolutely yummy! Probably the first one I will try will be the peanut butter fudge. I have never met a cookie that I don't like and right off hand I don't think I've ever seen a recipe for oatmeal cake. Thanks again so much and I can't wait to see more in the future.
Heidi 60, it was probably me who wanted to see the 1943 Joy of Cooking. Thanks! (I haven't been on the forums for a few years and sometimes to leave my name. The posting, etc. is coming back to me!). By the way, I love waxed paper. I always put it over my deviled eggs first if I am taking them somewhere -- it doesn't stick. I also use it in the microwave.
Happy in Wyoming -- love butterscotch pudding. Thanks -- this is what I love about these forums. They "jog" the brain and make me remember things I haven't fixed in a while.
doesn't every body still use waxed paper? I certainly , not often but when I bake. I also call it tin foil which my husband who is 72 thinks is funny. You just get used to using terms you heard growing up.
When I was a new bride 36 years ago, I asked my mother for her old cook books and any she might have had from my grandmothers. Her response"Lord when the war was over I threw all those old things out. Who wants to be reminded of all that rationing?"
She also threw out pieced quilt tops my grandmother made from feed sack fabric cause it reminded her of poor times. I almost lost it when I realized the treasures she was so happy to discard. Those feed sack fabrics are reproduced now but they cost a fortune.
1 oz. Butterscotch Schnapps
1 oz. Baileys Irish Cream
Pour schnapps into glass, then slowly pour Bailey's Irish Cream against side of glass, then slam it down
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