CHEESE AND SALAMI SALAD

This is one of my old recipe cards.

Click on recipe to enlarge.

SOUTHERN FRIED SQUIRREL

This recipe is from Nancy Rooks who was the cook for Elvis Presley. This is one of the recipes she said she made for the Presley family.

1 1/2 lbs squirrel meat
1 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp parsley flakes
1 tsp seasoned salt
1 cup flour
1 1/2 cups cooking oil

Boil squirrel until tender; remove from water; pat dry. Season and coat with flour. Place into hot oil and cook until brown. If desired, make brown gravy.

Note: My grandfather loved fried squirrel. I don't think my grandmother used the parsley flakes and she used regular salt unstead of seasoned salt but otherwise she cooked it much the same.

Note: File Photo

BUTTERSCOTCH CRUNCH PUDDING

2 cups cold milk
1 pkg (4-serving size) butterscotch instant pudding mix
1/3 cup crushed peanut brittle

Combine milk and pudding mix in a medium bowl; beat until well blended, about 2 to 3 minutes with lowest speed of electric mixer or 5 minutes with whisk by hand.

Fold the peanut brittle into the pudding mix and chill until soft-set.

Garnish each serving with a dollop of whipped cream and sprinkle with additional crushed peanut brittle, if desired.

This recipe is from my 1979 Easy Homemade Desserts with JELL-O Pudding cookbooklet.

TOMATO ASPIC

I have never made tomato aspic but someone gave me this old recipe to share here. It sounds good and I may have to try it. Of course, being diabetic now, I would have to use sugar-free jello but that is not a problem.

1 can (18-oz) tomato juice
1 pkg (3-oz) lemon jello
2 tsp vinegar

Bring juice to a boil. Stir in jello until dissolved. Stir in vinegar. Pour into a mold or into the tomato juice can. Chill until firm. Unmold. Serve sliced from relish tray.

Serves 4.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH DINNER ROLLS

This is a recipe I got many years ago from Country Woman magazine.

2 tbsp + 1 tsp active dry yeast
3/4 tsp + 1 cup granulated sugar, divided
1/2 cup warm water (110-115 degrees)
2 cups warm milk (110-115 degrees)
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups mashed cooked butternut squash
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup toasted wheat germ
10-11 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Additional butter for brushing baked rolls

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast and the 3/4 teaspoon of sugar in the warm water; let stand 5 minutes. Add the milk, butter, squash, remaining 1 cup of sugar, and salt; mix until smooth. Add the wheat germ and 4 cups of the flour, beat until smooth. Stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 to 8 minutes.

Place dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk (takes about 1 hour). Punch dough down and divide into thirds. Divide each portion into 20 pieces and shape into balls.

Place balls onto greased baking sheets and let rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

Bake rolls at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and brush with butter. Cool on wire racks.

Yield: 5 dozen rolls.

Note: I recently ran across the following review of these rolls at tasteofhome.com:

"These wholesome rolls are a pleasant addition to any entree. I get so many requests for them at holiday time. I make about 100 dozen in December. Retired from the restaurant business, I have 16 grandchildren."

CREAMY FRIED CONFETTI CORN

This is probably not a vintage recipe but it is one I have had for several years.

8 bacon slices, chopped 

4 cups fresh sweet corn kernels (about 8 ears) 

1 medium-size white onion, chopped 

1/3 cup chopped red bell pepper 

1/3 cup chopped green bell pepper 

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, cubed 

1/2 cup half-and-half 

1 teaspoon sugar 

1 teaspoon salt 

1 teaspoon pepper

Cook chopped bacon in a large skillet until crisp; remove bacon, and drain on paper towels, reserving 2 tablespoons drippings in skillet. Set bacon aside.

Sauté corn, onion, and bell peppers in hot drippings in skillet over medium-high heat 6 minutes or until tender. Add cream cheese and half-and-half, stirring until cream cheese melts. Stir in sugar, salt, and pepper. Top with bacon.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FALL PIE POLL RESULTS

Our Fall pie poll just ended and here are the results:

1. Pumpkin came in #1 with 42%.
2. Pecan came in #2 with 23%. 
3. Apple came in #3 with 21%.
4. Other  came in #4 with 7%.

Thanks to all who participated.

Pumpkin Pie #1 Fall Pie

TOLL HOUSE COOKIES

Did you know the original chocolate chip cookies were called Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookies? Legend says that around 80 years ago this cookie was born at the Toll House Inn in Whitman, MA. Ruth Wakefield, the inn's proprietress and head chef, had run out of chocolate for her chocolate cookie recipe. She experimented by adding a chopped Nestle's chopped up semisweet chocolate bar to her sugar cookie recipe, or so the legend goes. She had hoped the chocolate would melt and thus she would have chocolate cookies. The chocolate didn't melt and so was born what we now know as Chocolate Chip Cookies.

George Boucher, a chef at the Toll House Inn, told a different story. He said that the vibrations of a mixer stirring up a batch of the sugar cookie dough caused a Nestle's chocolate bar to fall into the mixer where it broke into pieces. He claimed Ruth Wakefield wanted to throw the dough out but he baked the cookies. So there is version #2! Who really cares as long as we ended up with delicious chocolate chip cookies?

By 1939 the recipe had been printed in various New England newspapers. Ruth Wakefield eventually sold the recipe to Nestle in exchange for a lifetime supply of chocolate. After experimenting with scoring chocolate to be broken up, Nestle eventually came up with chocolate morsels, our current chocolate chips.

Here is the supposed original recipe:

SWISS STEAK

This is from a Better Homes and Gardens 70 years of favorite recipes booklet.

Combine the flour, salt, and pepper. With the notched side of a meat pallet, ound flour mixture into the meat.

In a large skillet brown meat on both sides in hot oil. Drain off fat. Add undrained tomatoes, onion, celery, carrot, and thyme. Bring to a boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 1 1/4 hours or until meat is tender. Skim off fat. Serve with rice or noodles. Makes 4 servings.

PUMPKIN PECAN PIE

3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups pumpkin
3/4 cup dark corn syrup
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chopped pecans

Beat the eggs until frothy. Stir in pumpkin, syrup, sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Pour into pastry shell. Sprinkle with the pecans. Bake at 350 degrees 50 to 60 minutes.

CRANBERRY CHESS PIE

This is not a vintage recipe, as far as I know. I have only had it a few years but Chess Pie is an old-time favorite. This is a recipe I picked up in Ft Worth, Texas.

6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, separated
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
1 very lightly baked 9-inch pie shell
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, some chopped in half

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the egg yolks and mix to combine.

Add the flour, lemon juice, nutmeg and salt and mix to combine.

While the mixer is running, slowly add the buttermilk.

Whip the egg whites until soft peaks form and gently fold into the buttermilk mixture, only until combined. Pour into the pie shell.

Gently drop cranberries on the top, evenly covering the top of the pie.

Bake at 350 degrees 45 to 50 minutes until pie is lightly browned.

Cool before cutting. Serve at room temperature.

OLD FASHION LEMON PIE

1 baked pie crust-not too brown
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups cold water
3 egg yolks, beaten slightly (save whites to make a meringue)
grated peel of 1 lemon
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon butter

In a medium size heavy saucepan combine sugar and cornstarch. Gradually stir in the cold water until smooth. (I like to use with a whisk.) Stir in the egg yolks and stirring constantly bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in lemon peel, lemon juice and butter. Spoon hot filling into the crust. Spread your favorite recipe of meringue over the top being sure to seal to the edges. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until the meringue is golden brown.

RAISED DOUGHNUTS

This is another recipe from my Marshall Township PTA cookbook. I do not recognize the name. Do any of my fellow Hilltoppers out there know who this is?

Click on the picture to enlarge for easier reading.

LEMON-PARM WAFERS

This recipe was a favorite of the late Mary Engelbreit.

Having a party? Here is a wafer dough you can make several hours ahead and then bake at the last minute.

1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 1/2 tbsp ice-cold water
1 tsp fresh lemon juice

In a medium bowl, whisk together the cheese, flour, lemon zest, coriander, and pepper. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the water and lemon juice over the mixture and toss lightly with a fork just until the dough comes together.

On a lightly floured board or other work surface, knead the dough several times; transfer to a shee of waxed paper. Shape dough into a square-sided loaf about 11 x 1 1/2-inch size. Wrap in the waxed paper and chill for at least 1 hour until firm.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut dough into 1/4-inch slices and place 1-inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes until a deep golden color around the edges. Transfer to wire racks.

Best served warm.

DEEP-DISH CHICKEN POT PIE

3 cups cubed fully cooked chicken
2 medium carrots, sliced
1 medium russet potato, cut into small cubes
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
6 tbsp butter
1/3 cup unsifted all-purpose flour
6 chicken-flavored bouillon cubes
1/4 tsp pepper
4 cups milk
2 1/4 cups Bisquick baking mix (or similar brand)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter and stir in the flour, bouillon and pepper. Cook over medium heat while gradually stirring in the milk; cook, stirring until thickened.  Add everything else except Bisquick. Pour mixture into a baking dish.

Prepare Bisquick  according to the package directions for rolled biscuits. Roll dough out to cover the top of the baking dish leaving some extra and cut slits near the center for air to escape. Place dough over dish and turn edge under, seal and flute.

Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes or until golden brown.

Any leftovers should be refrigerated.

CORNFLAKES MACAROONS

This recipe was written on the other side of the Fudge Nougats. I don't ever remember mom making these but perhaps she did after I moved away. Since it is obviously written hurriedly and with abbreviations I am guessing she wrote it down while listening to the radio program 'The Backyard Fence'.

Click on picture to enlarge if necessary.

FUDGE NOUGATS

I love it when I come across one of my the recipes my mom hand wrote. It is always pleasant to see her handwriting again.

 Click on the pictures to enlarge recipe for easier reading.

BLACK-EYED PEA CAKES

Not totally a vintage recipe but an old one I wanted to keep so I am posting it here.

For Black-Eyed Pea Cakes:

• 2  15.8 oz. cans of black-eyed peas; drained
• 1 slice of bacon; fried and crumbled
• 4-8 tablespoons olive oil; divided
• ½ cup onion; chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic; minced
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro leaves
• ½ teaspoon dried basil leaves
• ½ teaspoon cayenne
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 egg
• ⅓ cup half and half
• 2 cups panko or fresh bread crumbs

For comeback sauce:

• ½ cup mayonnaise
• ⅛ cup salad oil (I used walnut oil)
• black pepper
• celery salt
• hot sauce
• ketchup
• mustard
• paprika
• Worcestershire sauce

INSTRUCTIONS

For Black-Eyed Pea Cakes:

1. Begin by warming the black-eyed peas, while you prep the other ingredients.
2. Sauté the onion and garlic together in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil until softened.
3. Add half of the black-eyed peas (about 1½ cups), bacon, onion, garlic, cilantro, basil, cumin, cayenne, salt to a food processor and pulse a few times until blended. Not too much. It doesn’t need to be totally smooth.
4. Transfer mixture to a bowl and stir in the remaining black-eyed peas and heavy cream.
5. Chill the mixture until cool – about an hour or so.
6. After the mixture has cooled, gently form the cakes and set aside.
7. Prepare 3 separate bowls for battering. Flour goes in the first one. Then beat an egg and the half and half together in the second one. And the bread crumbs go in the third one.
8. Batter the cakes by coating first with flour, then the egg mixture and finish with the bread crumbs. Set aside after coated.
9. Have a plate or cooling rack lined with paper towels ready for cakes when cooked.
10. Prepare the skillet by heating 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat.
11. Fry cakes in small batches, cooking approximately 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown. Be sure to watch the oil for overheating, and, if needed, add additional oil or start with new oil if it gets too dark.
12. Remove cakes, let cool on paper towel lined plate.
13. Serve with comeback sauce (basics for recipe below).
14. Comeback Sauce Recipe?(Other than the mayonnaise and the oil, we didn’t measure any of the ingredients, so combine to your taste preference.)

For comeback sauce:

1. Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate until served.
2. 
   

SANTA FE CURED PORK LOIN

Another of the old yellowed recipe clippings. Personally, I don't have the patience but perhaps some of you do. I don't believe my mother ever had the patience either!

Click on the picture to enlarge for easier reading.

ORANGE OATMEAL MUFFINS

This is another of the old recipe clippings from my late mothers' recipe box.

Click on recipe to enlarge.

HAMBURGER SOUP

A friend shared this soup recipe with me today. It may not be a vintage recipe but it reminds me of the soups my mom made when I was a child over sixty years ago.

2 lbs ground beef
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon basil
1/8 teaspoon seasoning salt
1 (2 ounce) package onion soup mix (for 3 or 4 servings)
6 cups boiling water
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
4 carrots, cut up
1/2 cup corn
1 cup celery, sliced
1 cup elbow macaroni
Directions:
1 In a large saucepan, brown meat, drain excess fat.
2 Add salt, pepper, oregano, basil, seasoned salt, and onion soup mix.
3 Stir in boiling water and tomato sauce.
4 Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes.
5 Meanwhile, prepare celery and carrots; Then add to simmering mixture with corn and continue to cook for 30 minutes.
6 Add macaroni and simmer for 30 minutes longer, adding more water if necessary and stirring occasionally.
7 To freeze: place soup in a rigid container and freeze. To reheat: remove from freezer and thaw. Place soup in saucepan and heat, stirring, until hot.

DOUGHNUTS

This is another doughnut recipe from my 1955 Marshall Township PTA cookbook.

Click on recipe to enlarge.

CRISP PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

This is another of the yellowed old recipe clippings from my late mothers' recipe collection. Collecting recipes was a passion of hers as it is mine. She died in 2003 and I am still going through her recipes.

Click on recipe to enlarge.

STRAWBERRY CHANTILLY MOLD

Do you remember when every special occasion called for a molded salad? I always liked them and I still do. Here is a tasty one that isn't exactly vintage but reminds of some my aunts made in my 'vintage days'!

Click on recipe to enlarge.

PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICH COOKIES

This is another of the old recipe clippings from my late mother's shoebox recipe collection.

Click on recipe to enlarge.

GOOD EATS CHICKEN FRIED STEAK AND CREAM GRAVY

This recipe is not vintage but Chicken Fried Steak is vintage in Texas. This recipe is from a restaurant we used to have in Grapevine several years ago. At one point in time they gave out these free cards with their signature chicken fried steak recipe, cream gravy, seasoned flour mix, and batter mix on it. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

YEAST DOUGHNUTS

This is another recipe from my 1955 Marshall Township PTA cookbook.

Click on picture to enlarge.