HOMEMADE CINNAMON ROLLS

4 to 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 

1 packet active dry yeast 

1 cup milk 

1/3 cup sugar 

1/3 cup butter 

1 tsp salt 

2 large eggs 

In a large mixer bowl combine 2 cups of the flour with the yeast. Heat the milk, sugar, butter, and salt just until warm - 115 to 120 degrees, stirring constantly. Add to the flour mixture. Add eggs. Beat at lowest speed of mixer for about 30 seconds. Beat at high speed for 3 minutes. Stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can mix in with a spoon. On a floured surface, knead in enough flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic. (About 6 to 8 minutes time) Shape dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl. Turn once to coat the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk (about 1 hour). Punch down the dough, divide in half, cover and let rest 10 minutes.

Filling: 3 tbsp butter 

1/2 cup sugar 

2 tsp ground cinnamon 

3/4 cup raisins 

Roll 1 one of the dough balls into a 12 x 8-inch rectangle. Melt butter and spread half over the dough. Combine the sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle half over the dough. Sprinkle half the raisins over the cinnamon sugar mixture. Roll up from a long side. Seal well and cut into 12 even slices. Place the slices on a greased 9-inch round cake pan. Repeat the process with the remaining dough and filling. Cover pans and let rise until almost double (about 30 minutes). Bake rolls in a 375-degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool slightly, remove from pans and drizzle with the icing. 

Icing: 1 cup sifted powdered sugar 1/4 tsp vanilla 

milk 

Combine the powdered sugar, vanilla, and enough milk to make icing the consistency for drizzle.

file photo for reference

OYSTER STEW

This is a repeat of a very popular post in 2011.

1/4 cup butter

1 pint fresh oysters
2 cups milk
1/2 cup light cream
1 tsp salt
dash of freshly ground black pepper

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the oysters including the liquor and cook while stirring over low heat just until edges start to boil.

In another saucepan, heat the milk and cream. Stir in the salt, pepper, and oysters.

Yield: 4 cups

file photo

BREAKFAST BUFFET BRUNCH

1930s OLD-TIME CHOCOLATE FUDGE

In the days before the creamy marshmallow creme fudge, cooks made delicious creamy fudge by beating and beating it to a creamy confection. Many of us still prefer our homemade fudge that way. If you are one of the die-hard old fashion fudge persons, give this recipe from the 1930s a try!

2 cups sugar
3/4 cup milk
2-oz unsweetened chocolate, cut-up
1 tsp light-colored corn syrup
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, optional
Walnut or pecan halves, optional

Line a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan with foil, extending the foil over the end of the pan. Butter the foil and set aside.

Butter the side of a heavy 2-quart saucepan and combine the sugar, milk, chocolate, and corn syrup in the pan. Cook while stirring over medium-high heat until the mixture boils. Clip a candy thermometer over the side of the pan. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to boil at a moderate, steady rate, stirring frequently, until the candy thermometer reaches 234 degrees or the soft ball stage.

Remove the saucepan from the heat. Add the butter and vanilla but do not stir. Cool, without stirring, until temperature lowers to 110 degrees. This will take almost an hour.

Take the thermometer out of the candy. Using a wooden spoon, beat the candy vigorously until the fudge just begins to thicken. Add the chopped nuts, if using. Continue beating for about another 10 minutes until the fudge becomes very thick and just starts to lose it's glossy look.

Immediately spread the fudge in the prepared loaf pan. Score the candy into 32 small pieces while the candy is still warm.

When the fudge is firm, use the foil ends to lift the candy from the pan. Cut into the squares. If desired, garnish each piece with a nut half. Store in a tightly covered container.

Yield: Approximately 1 1/4 lbs.

file photo

CHERRY-KING MUFFINS

I have had this recipe since the early 1960s.

  

1963 YEAST COUPON

An 8-cent coupon today wouldn't be worth much.  But in 1963, this was quite a savings.  Don't know why my late mother never used the coupon.  This coupon was good during my Junior year of high school!

Old Coupon

 

BANG'S SWEET PICKLE RELISH

This is another old recipe for making your own pickle relish. Homemade pickles and relishes are oh-so-good! 

1 gallon ground-up unpeeled cucumbers 

8 onions, ground 

1/2 cup pickling salt 

4 cups vinegar 

1 cup water 

5 cup sugar 

1/2 tsp turmeric 

2 tbsp celery seed 

1 tbsp mustard seed 

 2 red bell peppers, ground 

 2 green bell peppers, ground 

 Mix cucumbers, onions, and salt. Allow to set for a couple of hours; drain and rinse with cold water, drain again. Put mixture into a large stockpot and add the vinegar, water, sugar, spices, and bell peppers. Allow the mixture to come to a boil but do not actually boil. Put into clean hot canning jars and seal with hot lids. Be sure lids seal. When sealed, you will hear the lids pop and the centers will slightly indent. This may take a few minutes. Any jars that do not seal should be refrigerated.

file photo for reference. not this exact recipe

 

SEVEN LAYER CASSEROLE

This is another old recipe from one of the now defunct craft/recipe magazines my mother received in the mail when I was a child. I can still remember how anxiously she awaited the little magazine each month and how she and my grandmother would go over the crocheting patterns inside. Then the recipes came after checking out those patterns. I never mastered crocheting, but I sure did master a love for the wonderful dishes she made from the recipes!

1 cup rice, uncooked
1 cup corn, whole kernel
2 small cans tomato sauce
3/4 cup water (or liquid from the canned corn)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper*
1 lb ground beef
salt and pepper to your liking
4 strips bacon

Place the rice then the corn in layers in a greased 2-quart casserole dish. Pour one can of the tomato sauce over the corn with 1/2 cup of the water. Layer the onion then the green pepper, uncooked beef and seasonings. Add the second can of tomato sauce with the remaining 1/4 cup of water. Cut the bacon strips in half and lay over the top. Cover the casserole dish and place in the oven. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Uncover and bake 30 minutes more.
*This is a bell pepper. 

file photo of Workbasket Magazines

Vinegar Cake

MY FAVORITE CHILDHOOD DIVINITY

This recipe is from the 1930s and was a favorite of my childhood.

2 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup clear corn syrup
1/2 cup water
2 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla
1 or 2 drops food coloring, optional
whole pecans for garnish

In a heavy 2-quart saucepan combine the sugar, corn syrup, and water. Cook, stirring, over a medium-high heat until the mixture boils. Reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking, without stirring, until a candy thermometer registers 260 degrees or reaches the hard-ball stage. This will take about 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove the saucepan from heat and remove the thermometer.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer on medium speed until the whites are stiff (peaks stand tall when beaters are removed). Gradually pour the hot syrup mixture in a thin stream over the egg whites, beating on high speed for about 3 minutes scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Add the vanilla and food coloring, if using. Continue to beat at high speed just until the candy starts to lose its glossy look (about 5 to 6 minutes). When beaters are lifted, mixture should fall in a ribbon that mounds on itself.

Place a drop of the candy onto a waxed paper surface; if it stays mounded, it has been beaten enough. If not, beat for another minute and try again. If the candy is too stiff to spoon out, add hot water a drop or two at a time until the candy is softer. Quickly drop by spoonfuls onto the waxed paper surface and place a pecan half atop each piece. Press down lightly to adhere to the candy.

Store in a tightly covered container.

Yield: approximately 40 pieces