The Most Beautiful Oven I've Ever Seen!

A toy which transformed Christmas gifting for girls forever! A way to bake their very own cakes without the danger of getting burned! 

(Wait. I managed to burn myself. And my survey of one other person proves that this is a statistically significant occurrence.) 

With Easy-Bake's advent, training for being the perfect little wife could start earlier than ever before.

Enjoy these pictures of Easy-Bake ads from the past. Then rush out and buy your little trainee one. 

Chocolate Nut Drops? You Decide.

This recipe is undoubtedly tasty. How can you go wrong with chocolate, walnuts, and icing?

But I have to admit, in a week in which my naughty puppy unscrewed the lid of a 1/2 full jar of dry roasted peanuts and consumed them, the picture brought to mind something else:

Go reindeer!

Sack Posset Pie

Calling all egg nog lovers!

(You can tell this is a recipe from the fifties; just look at the candied fruit!)

 

I'm not a big fan of cooking with egg nog. I like to drink it, in moderation of course; even without rum, it is rich stuff. I once used it for french toast because there was till some in the house after the Yule Tide went back out. It worked, though the result tasted strongly, and not surprisingly, like chewy egg nog.

(Speaking of which, the egg nog purchased in cartons from the grocery store lasts a disturbingly long time. Not sure what they put in there to inhibit bacterial and fungal growth, but it works.)

As I typed the title of this post, I wondered: are there other kinds of nog? In case questions like this trouble you too, here's what I discovered: nog can be a strong ale brewed in Norfolk, England, a psychedelic novel, and a Firengi character from Star Trek.

The food timeline says that the term "egg nog" wasn't used until the 1700s, but that the stuff itself was around well before hand. The term for it back in the 1600s was "Egg Caudle" or "Sack Posset", which I think explains the name change.

Here's a 1685 version you may not have tried:

Egg Caudle

Boil ale or beer, scum it, and put to it two or three blades of large mace, some sliced manchet and sugar; then dissolve four or five yolks of eggs with some sack, claret or white-wine, and put into the rest with a little grated nutmeg; fire to a warm and serve it.

Don't forget to scum it. That really is the most important step.

You can sip it while watching this:

Happy nogging!

Who Knew He was a Pole Dancer?

I found this while researching the history of green bean casserole. My BFF DiDi used to have nightmares about this fella, but this takes it to a whole new level.

I don't even know what to say. Village people meets Chippendales meets Captain Kirk's Green Lady?

Sorry DiDi. I just had to.

Poll Feature is Now Working!

Eureka! I figured out what was wrong with the polling feature that I added a few weeks ago! The new one works. Give it a try!

Rejoice! Saltine Toffee Crispy Bits

I got this recipe from a church lady years back, and made it with my kids in the early 2000's to give as Christmas gifts. It is easy, and absolutely delicious.

Saltine Toffee Crispy Bits

1 1/2 sleeves of saltine crackers
1 cup butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts 

Cover a rimmed cookie sheet with foil and spray with nonstick spray. Arrange the crackers to completely cover the cookie sheet. Melt butter and sugar in a saucepan until foamy (about 3 minutes). Pour the syrup over the crackers and spread with a spatula to coat. Bake in 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. Do not overcook! Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top. Return to oven for another few minutes to soften the chips, then spread to cover the entire top. While chocolate is still soft, sprinkle nuts over top and press in lightly. Let cool and refrigerate until hardened.

Admittedly, I am afraid of boiling sugar, I but pushed through it, and it was worth the confrontation. Several steps are not suited for little kidlets, but they can certainly help with measuring, arranging the saltines, and breaking up the candy when it's done.

Variations of this recipe substitute pecans or almonds for the walnuts, or use varying amounts of chocolate, toffee bits, etc. My advice: try this version once and you'll be addicted, then move on to variants.

I couldn't find an old-timey version of the recipe, but I did find some groovy saltine ads for you.

Happy candy making!

Jack Frost Frozen Squeeze Cheese

I found a recipe called Frozen Nippy Cheese on another blog. It was just a typed recipe, and so I hunted down something similar in this 1929 cookbooklet:

Check out the introduction:

I'm puzzled about why these recipes were developed for apartment dwellers. There must have been a socioeconomic trend to justify creating something this targeted, but I'm not sure what it was. I'd love to research it, but I've already jumped down too many Kraft cheese rabbit holes because of this recipe, and it's time to call it quits for the day.

Here's the recipe. 

The original version I found was called "Frozen Nippy Cheese" which is what drew my attention. The idea of freezing cheese spread seemed odd, but apparently the idea stuck around for a while. Here's a version which appeared in the June 28, 1940 issue of the Toledo Blade:

(In case you are wondering, bar le duc jelly turns out to be a highfalutin currant jelly named for a town in France. It is a luxury item served with things like foie gras, or in this case, adulterated processed cheese spread. )

My first question was "What is nippy cheese, and where do I get some?"

One web forum discussion said that nippy cheese was a Kraft product that came in a tube, and perhaps later in a jar. And so off I went on a quest to find an image to share.

All I came up with was this one:

It's not from Kraft. But I like it. The dog and the fox and the hunter, all hanging out together around a box of good old Nippy Cheese, forks held high.

What I did find were some amazing old Kraft cheese food ads. Take a look.

First off, cheese in a can (but not the spray kind). 

Finally a more sanitary cheese! (To serve hard, chill before opening.)

Then we have this little gem, from 1932.

During this hectic season, who doesn't need a few quick cheese tricks up their sleeve?

Here are two color ads from the 1930s:

Let's all cheer along with them! I'm joining in for the neat transparent wrapper!

The Saturday Evening Post proclaims that it's more than delicious. And who can disagree when tempted by green olive topped macaroni and cheese timbales?:

While we are talking about cheesy mounds of goodness, here's an example from the 1940s:

Velveeta is born! Viva la Velveeta!

Sometime soon Kraft branched out into all sorts of varieties:

(Sadly, I still don't see "Nippy" in the lineup. But Smo-kay is okay.)

Next come Swankyswigs!

Ladies choice includes Limburger, and my personal favorite, TEEZ.

Of course Kraft also cranked out other products:

Why oh why can we no longer find dehydrated American cheese on our grocer's shelves? No Nippy, no powdered American...

Unless of course you open a box of Kraft Dinner:

Apparently people just snapped jars off the shelves and ignored the cheese-muffled sound of shattering glass:

This guy probably also brought lots of sliced cheese for Dagwoodesque sandwiches like this one:

You can buy cheaper slices. But none that go better with hard boiled eggs and raw green peppers.

Kids love it too:

Especially when paired with olive-pimento loaf. My kids just couldn't get enough of that stuff. Make your favorite child a spicy cheese sammy with red onion. The kids in the cafetorium will line up to trade their Ho Hos for one of those babies.

Any way you slice it, Kraft does cheese, and they do it right.

But I can't find Nippy anywhere.

Sigh...

Luckily for you, they do still make cheese in jars. If you want to try Frozen Nippy Cheese, just grab one of those and let me know how it turns out.

While You are Waiting: Whiz Burgers!

I'm working on a fantabulous holiday appetizer post for you, and in the process, came across the following that I just had to get out pronto:

I'll be back with more Kraft fun shortly!

Rich Guy Plum Pudding

Look, it's a one pudding open sleigh!

This morning's offering comes from Favorite Old Recipes. The book was produced by speculator rich boy Joseph Leiter, and subtitled "Being a Comprehensive and Diverse Collection of Favorite Recipes Diligently Gathered from Many Sources".

Publication of the title was such big news that the Milwaukee sentinel from April 15, 1928 offered an article on the subject:

The article states:

"Time and expense do not enter into the mind when giving directions for the proper way of preparing a dish. Ingredients are marshaled from every country and every season, and liberal use is made of wines and brandies. But the wealthy author, who maintains a famous wine cellar, explains that in place of the rare vintages called for in the recipes, the non-alcoholic wines and cordials sold at the grocery stores may be sued with satisfactory results.

Mr. Leiter is the son of the late Levi Z. Leiter, early partner of Marshall Field, the Chicago merchant prince, who left an estate of $30,000,000, of which Joseph is trustee. One of his sisters married Marquis Curzon, formerly Viceroy of India, and another is the Countess of Suffolk."

Here's a better picture of old Joe:

Only 1,000 copies of the book were printed, and I'm a lucky girl to get one!

You'll be seeing more of this title in days to come. Today you get a look at the second of two plum pudding recipes Mr. Leiter cooked on his yacht or one of several homes around the country. You can tell it is an oldie by the way the ingredients are handled: small glasses of this, "some milk", etc.

Now run off to the store to get some beef marrow, and cook like a tycoon!

Plum Pudding--No. 2

Have two pounds of beef marrow or suet, chop it well and put it into a large pot; seed a pound and a half of package raisins, wash and clean half a pound of Corinthian raisins, and mix these raisins with the suet; add to this three pounds of bread crumbs, a good glass of Malaga wine, two small glasses of Cognac brandy, the rind of half a lemon, chopped fine, a handful of preserved lemon cut in pieces, a good handful of flour, some salt and eight whole eggs; moisten the lot with some milk; mix it with the hands, so that it will be thoroughly mixed; form a liquid paste. Tie this mixture in a sack and put this sack into a pot of previously boiling water. Let it cook six or seven hours, making sure that the sack is always covered with water and that the water is boiling. While it is cooking, make the following sauce:

Put a quarter of a pound of butter into a casserole, a pinch of flour, a pinch of lemon rind, and candied lemon chopped fine, a pinch of salt and a spoonful of sugar; moisten the lot with some Malaga wine, let cook as you would any ordinary sauce. At time of serving strain your plum pudding for a few minutes, take it from the sack, set on a plate and glaze it with this sauce. Serve.

Sugar Plums Oh Sugar Plums, What Pray Tell Art Thou?

The first recipe in this month's holiday extravaganza led me on a quest.

Not being much of a candy maker (I'm afraid of boiling sugar), I can't quite tell what the texture of the candies is like, but their snowy whiteness makes a great backdrop for the neon-colored candied fruit of the era.

We always had little plastic tubs of the stuff in my childhood kitchen. I never liked it, but it was a holiday staple, as you will see from recipes to come throughout the month.

I imagine this candy to be very sweet, slightly chewy, and studded with the weirdly textured candied fruit flavors of the past. But they aren't what I ever imagined sugar plums to be.

And so I set out to find out what a sugar plum is. Turns out this is not a straight forward question.

Here are a few examples of the most common version found on the interwebs today:

Sugar Plums avec Saveur

Sugar Plums from Nourished Kitchen

Sugar Plums from Alton Brown

In contrast, Epicurious says that they are candied or dried fruits surrounded by fondant.

Other sources say they are a comfit; a confectionary item usually small in size which is arduously coated in multiple layers of sugar:

The Christmas Food Timeline

A Boke of Gode Cookery

So I'm still confused.

Perhaps I should ask the Patron Fairy for answers:

Look! She's wearing candied cherries! Surely she will know.

I'm off to Google her contact info...

Happy December!

Christmas makes you feel emotional

it may bring parties or thoughts devotional

whatever happens or what may be

here is what Christmas time means to me...

(Or rather, to Cookbook Love)

That's right! The month of December will be devoted to Christmas recipes. I'll be on the hunt for vintage Hanukkah recipes as well, and will post interesting examples of anything I find after the 20th.

(I wonder if Spry ever had Aunt Jenny make latkes?)

Only one way to find out! Stick around for ideas about how to jingle bell rock your holiday kitchen, old school style.

The Devil Made Them Heat It

Taste of Home magazine's email newsletter today listed a recipe that I thought sounded a little disgusting: Mulled Dr. Pepper.

I'm not sure I understand the recipe (particularly adding more sugar, and heating for 2 hours in a slow cooker), but that's not the point.

The point is to wonder why someone would want hot soda? The bubbles would surely be killed in the making, and you would be left with nothing to cut the syrupy sweetness. All the carbonated joy would be removed.

Upon Googling I discovered that Dr. Pepper is really the only soda that people seem to want to heat. The other big names in soft drinks leave well enough alone. (Mostly.)

But not Dr. Pepper.

Some might think it could be a plot of...

But clearly the company itself started the craze....

and continued it throughout the years.

Ok we get it. It's devilishly different. But I'm not convinced it's hot in a good way.

Let me know if you've tried it and think otherwise.