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