Improvise

Betty Crocker's Good and Easy Cookbook, 1954 Simon and Schuster.

Wheelbarrow Grill

Home-made Portable Grill
Materials needed:
metal wheelbarrow
wire mesh for fire basket and grill
wire for hooks

Fire Tips
Coals without flame are needed for even heat. Use plenty of fuel for a thick bed of coals

Keep sauce warm or hot for basting meat, fish or chicken.

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Cooking Something Up

Should have a new post soon - please check back.

An Excuse to be Crabby

A Picture Treasury of Good Cooking by Demetria Taylor and Lillian Ziegfeld, Tested recipe Institute Inc., 1953.

Deviled Crabmeat

2 61/2 oz. cans or crabmeat drained and boned (or 2 cups fresh).
1 small onion
5 tbsps butter
2 tbsps flour
1 tsp dry mustard
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 sprigs parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 egg, beaten
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 dry bread crumbs

Flake crabmeat; set aside. Cook onion in 3 tbsps butter until tender but not brown. Remove from heat; stir in flour and mustard until well blended. Add milk; stir until smooth. Return to heat; cook, stirring constantly until thick. Add salt, pepper, parsley, and nutmeg. Stir a little of the sauce into the egg; add egg mixture to remaining sauce. Stir constantly until boiling starts. Remove from heat before sauce boils; stir in cheese and crabmeat. Turn into individual ramekins or shells.
Melt remaining 2 tbsps butter. Stir in the dry bread crumbs. Sprinkle over crabmeat. Bake in a hot oven 400 degrees, about 10 minutes or until brown.

I love those crab bowls. This cookbook as the best dishware - more to come.

On vacation, will post when I return, bon appetit!

Appiteasers

The General Foods Kitchens Cookbook, 1959, Random House

The Party of the Year

Cold Beverage or Punch
Glazed Pate
Shrimp Bowl
Potato and Corn Chips with Confetti Dip
Cheese mayonnaise Puffs
Vichyssoise

Confetti Snack Dip
1 package onion soup mix
1 pint sour cream
1/4 cup finely chopped pared cucumber
1/4 cup finely chopped green pepper
1/4 cup finely diced pimento
Combine all ingredients. Chill at least an hour to blend flavors. Serve as a dip with assorted crackers or other snacks. Makes 2 1/4 cups.

Ok, I am exceedingly familiar with this dip. Do not use the whole package of soup mix - way to salty. use more sour cream and leave all the rest of the other stuff out. Use Ruffles to dip - enjoy!

Cheese Mayonnaise Puffs
(For Roberto)
1 egg white
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup greated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp onion salt
1 tsp dry mustard
1 box melba rounds
Beat egg white until stiff. Fold in the next four ingredients. Spoon onto Melba rounds. Place under broiler until puffy and golden brown. Serve immediately. Makes 20 small rounds.

I'd use wheat thins and fresh grated parm plus dijon mustard.

One more thing: Vichyssoise? Well this is considered a prelude to a large meal.

A Hearty Lunch for Dad

General Foods Kitchens Cookbook, 1959, Random House.

Saturday Lunchtime

Hot Vegtable Soup
French-Toasted Ham Sandwich
Warm Baked Apple with Raisin Stuffing
Coffee
Milk

Make up 6 ham and cheese sandwiches and set aside.

3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
butter or margarine

Mix eggs, milk, sugar, and salt ina pie pan. Dip each sandwich into egg mixture, being sure to coat each side completely. Saute sandwiches slowly in butter in hot skillet on both sides until filling is throughly heated and sandwiches are golden brown. Serve with cranberry sauce or pickled watermelon.

When we were kids we had a frying pan almost exactly like this and I think we cooked 50% of our meals in it - including chili! My parents had received one with a glass top when they got married that lasted a long time. An avocado green one replaced that and then a golden rod one - with nonstick, that was not so great. The first one was the best one.

The shopping list:
4 pork chops
3 jell-o
1 large rice
spinach
onions
1 sanka

Fruity Jello

A Picture Treasury of Good Cooking by Demetria Taylor and Lillian Ziegfeld, Tested recipe Institute Inc., 1953.

Jello Mold with Fruit

When we were kids my Grandmother always made us a Fruity Jello for the holidays. It was always a tri-level mold and never the same flavors twice.

A Light Supper

A Picture Treasury of Good Cooking by Demetria Taylor and Lillian Ziegfeld, Tested recipe Institute Inc., 1953.

Salmon Salad Bowl

1 can salmon
watercress or salad greens
1 large sweet onion
2 tomatoes in wedges
1/2 cucumber sliced
2 carrots - curled
1 green pepper
1 cup cooked or can peas (don't use canned - too salty, frozen would work - m)
1 cup blue cheese dressing

A note: they did not mention hard-boiled egg slices but it looks like that is what the salmon is sitting on top of and they would be a good addition - m

arrange ingredients in bowl add dressing after serving.

Carrot Curls: Scrape carrots and cut in paper-thin strips, length-wise, with a vegetable scraper or sharp paring knife. Roll into curls; fasten with wooden picks. Crisp in ice water. Remove wooden picks before serving.



I am loving these fish salt and pepper shakers.

A Gem of a Cake

The General Foods Kitchens Cookbook, 1959 Random House.

Crown Jewel Cake

8 packages raspberry-flavored gelatin
6 quarts (24 cups) hot water
8 packages cherry-flavored gelatin
1 1/2 cups butter or margarine, softened
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 cups graham cracker crumbs
6 cups pinapple juice
6 packages strawberry-flavored gelatin
2 quarts whipping cream

The day before serving: Dissolve the raspberry geatin in 3 quarts (12 cups) of the hot water. Pour into shallow pans to a depth of about 1/2 inch. Then dissolve cherry-flavored gelatin in remaining 3 quarts (12 cups) hot water and pour into shallow pans. Chill until firm.

The next day, or when to use, cut into 1/2 inch cubes, using knife dipped in hot water.

Combine butter, 3/4 cup of the sugar, and the graham cracker crumbs and mix well. Press onto bottoms of six 9-inch spring-form pans, or four 13x9x2 inch pans. Chill overnight.

At least six hours before serving: Heat pineapple juice to boiling. Dissolve 3 packages of the strawberry gelatin together in 3 cups of the hot juice. Add 3/4 cup sugar and stir until dissolved. In seperate bowl, dissolve remaining gelatin in remaining 3/4 cup sugar. Cool both mixtures until slightly thickened.

Whip cream, 1 quart at a time, until cream mounds and holds its shape. Fold 1 bowl of the slightly thickened gelatin into each batch of whipped cream. Fold half the raspberry cubes and half the cherry cubes into each batch of cream mixture. Spoon over crumbs in pans. Chill until firm - at least 4 hours. Remove sides of the spring-form pans and slice cake to serve; or if molded in 13x9x2 inch pans, cut in squares. Serves 100. Note: Ladyfinger halves may be used to line pans instead of the graham crackern mixture. Takes 12 packages of ladyfingers to line pans.