Food and Recipes while under Coronavirus quarantine #6

[whiterhino]

This kind of gravy just sparked a memory from my childhood! It sounds just like what we’d call simply “white sauce” but I have since learned a fancier name is bechamel. The only time my mom would make it was after Easter, to use up the hard-boiled Easter eggs. She’d make the white sauce and put in slices of the hard-boiled eggs. Then, we’d eat it on toasted bread. She called it Eggs a la Goldenrod which is what the Betty Crocker cookbook called it. I loved it as a child!

Eggs à la Goldenrod

A versatile recipe from Betty Crocker’s 1956 Picture Cook Book, this pretty gold and white dish is perfect for brunch and a delicious way to make use of leftover hard-boiled eggs.

www.bettycrocker.com

I have that super old school Betty Crocker cookbook!! Gonna have to dig it up and find that recipe, I'm on a hard boiled egg kick lately.

 

[IceIce9]

Ah yes, my mother did the same. She fried chicken in lard back in the day and it was delicious. I can almost taste it!

My mom used Wesson Oil. In fact, I remember her using Wesson Oil for everything she fried.

One of my first cookbooks was a Wesson Oil cookbook that came free with a large bottle of Wesson Oil. I was probably around age 12 and I eagerly read every cookbook that came into our house cover to cover.

One recipe I remember from the Wesson Oil cookbook was for a layer cake. Instead of a cup of lard or butter, this recipe called for one cup of Wesson Oil. The paragraph above the recipe mentioned how much easier Wesson Oil was to measure than lard because it didn't stick to the measuring cup like lard.

Also I remember that Wesson oil made a flakey pie crust.

 

[IceIce9]

I have that super old school Betty Crocker cookbook!! Gonna have to dig it up and find that recipe, I'm on a hard boiled egg kick lately.

I love old cookbooks. Most of my first cookbooks were free ones that I either collected labels and mailed in to get, or cookbooks that were wrapped in plastic and attached to grocery products, like the Wesson Oil cookbook. As a teenager I collected every free cookbook I could find.

 

[whiterhino]

I love old cookbooks. Most of my first cookbooks were free ones that I either collected labels and mailed in to get, or cookbooks that were wrapped in plastic and attached to grocery products, like the Wesson Oil cookbook. As a teenager I collected every free cookbook I could find.

It's this one (had no idea the price!! I paid $10): https://www.amazon.ca/Crockers-Pict...hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584482469571360&psc=1

 

[IceIce9]

It's this one (had no idea the price!! I paid $10): https://www.amazon.ca/Crockers-Pict...hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584482469571360&psc=1

One of my favorite cookbooks I got as a teenager was a Borden cottage cheese cookbook. There were several simple recipes that I made regularly as a teenager.

I entered one of the recipes, Deep Dish Cottage Pizza, in a cooking competition. I was a finalist and got to participate in a bake-off.

The cookbook got lost during a move but I was able to find another copy on eBay several years ago.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

I love old cookbooks. Most of my first cookbooks were free ones that I either collected labels and mailed in to get, or cookbooks that were wrapped in plastic and attached to grocery products, like the Wesson Oil cookbook. As a teenager I collected every free cookbook I could find.

Randall Beans cookbooks were available for free if you wrote to the company and requested them. Looks like the various bean cookbooks can be downloaded now. Lots of good recipes, and we have always loved Randall Great Northern Beans.

Randall Beans Cookbook Collection

randallbeans.com

 

[fridaybaker]

Regarding Whiterhino’s question about eating cuisines from other cultures at home, for a specific swath of time in the U.S., I think the following was fairly typical across the country. (I’m talking about from the 60’s through, say, the early 80’s. I know, it’s a long time ago, but the food culture has evolved so much over the years.)

I did have a mother who loved to cook and read about food, and talk about it, and try new things, so we often had things like curries and jambalaya added to the very “American” traditional fare such as meatloaf, spaghetti and meatballs, liver and onions, etc. However, I think that experience, for that time, wasn’t typical. For most families, what I saw was this: In addition to the “American” foods, what was typically layered onto it wasn’t a bunch of cosmopolitan dishes, but dishes from wherever their families originated. So, my friend who had a father whose family hailed from Cornwall routinely had pasties. Someone else I know whose family was from Croatia added a lot of sarma, povetica, turnip kraut and recipes like that onto the American diet, Etc. From my experience, that was very typical and, obviously very regional.

 

[fridaybaker]

Ah yes, my mother did the same. She fried chicken in lard back in the day and it was delicious. I can almost taste it!

Lard’s the best! It’s actually very healthy. I almost always use it for pie crust these days. My SIL introduced me to the hot water lard pie crust recipe, which I’ve found during my recent pasty research, was what was always used for the pasties miners took down into the bowels of Cornwall. It creates a more, I guess one could say, “sturdy” crust, perfect for filling a pie that you can take places and eat with the hands.

I’ve frequently used it for regular pie, and it always gets compliments.

Go lard!!!

 

[iamshadow21]

Lard’s the best! It’s actually very healthy. I almost always use it for pie crust these days. My SIL introduced me to the hot water lard pie crust recipe, which I’ve found during my recent pasty research, was what was always used for the pasties miners took down into the bowels of Cornwall. It creates a more, I guess one could say, “sturdy” crust, perfect for filling a pie that you can take places and eat with the hands.

I’ve frequently used it for regular pie, and it always gets compliments.

Go lard!!!

Used a lot for pork pies in England. You see a lot of hot water crust on the Great British Bake Off. It has the benefit of you don't need to keep ice bathing your hands if you have warm hands like mine to work it. Regular pastry, it's all about keeping that butter cold, cold cold. Hot water crust is much more forgiving.

 

[fridaybaker]

Thanks, Iamshadow. Regarding using lard in nonsavoury pies, I do know that it’s best to use “leaf lard”, which is the fat around the kidneys. It’s less “porky” tasting.

I’ve actually purchased that type of fat from someone who raises heritage pigs and free-ranges them, sans hormones, antibiotics, etc., and rendered it down into lard. It made lovely pie crusts!

 

[anneg]

Lard’s the best! It’s actually very healthy. I almost always use it for pie crust these days. My SIL introduced me to the hot water lard pie crust recipe, which I’ve found during my recent pasty research, was what was always used for the pasties miners took down into the bowels of Cornwall. It creates a more, I guess one could say, “sturdy” crust, perfect for filling a pie that you can take places and eat with the hands.

I’ve frequently used it for regular pie, and it always gets compliments.

Go lard!!!

My mother used lard for pie crust too. Later on she switched to Crisco vegetable shortening, and even later to vegetable oil. My father loved her pies but said the ones with lard were the best!

 

[IceIce9]

I have that super old school Betty Crocker cookbook!! Gonna have to dig it up and find that recipe, I'm on a hard boiled egg kick lately.

We’ve been on a pickled eggs kick. I’ve been using my mom’s recipe, made a big batch and shared with friends. Most of my friends had never had pickled beets and eggs before and they were surprised how easy they are to make.

We always have plenty of eggs because one of our friends has chickens, and she shares eggs with all of us.

I’ve always said if I have eggs I can make a meal.

 

[slowpoke]

I love old cookbooks. Most of my first cookbooks were free ones that I either collected labels and mailed in to get, or cookbooks that were wrapped in plastic and attached to grocery products, like the Wesson Oil cookbook. As a teenager I collected every free cookbook I could find.

Me too!

I found this site, that has digital copies of vintage cookbooks. Fun to look at.

Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free & Borrowable Books, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine

archive.org

I love perusing the shelves of used bookstores to see if there are any old cookbooks that catch my eye. I can’t recall what bookstore it was, but it was one associated with a college on the east coast (I think) and I found a very, very old little hardbound book: Our Own Cook Book by The Woman’s City Club of Kansas City, Missouri. It was in bad shape, missing its spine—but it looked so vintage, and had newspaper clippings glued in and handwritten notations throughout that it was just calling to me to take it home.

I think it must be from the 1920s, as one of the newspaper clippings has a date of 1926 on it!

It’s just fun and interesting to look through it for a look into a different time in history.

 

[slowpoke]

One of my favorite cookbooks I got as a teenager was a Borden cottage cheese cookbook. There were several simple recipes that I made regularly as a teenager.

I entered one of the recipes, Deep Dish Cottage Pizza, in a cooking competition. I was a finalist and got to participate in a bake-off.

The cookbook got lost during a move but I was able to find another copy on eBay several years ago.

Ooh ooh, care to share the recipe?

 

[iamshadow21]

Me too!

I found this site, that has digital copies of vintage cookbooks. Fun to look at.

Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free & Borrowable Books, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine

archive.org

I love perusing the shelves of used bookstores to see if there are any old cookbooks that catch my eye. I can’t recall what bookstore it was, but it was one associated with a college on the east coast (I think) and I found a very, very old little hardbound book: Our Own Cook Book by The Woman’s City Club of Kansas City, Missouri. It was in bad shape, missing its spine—but it looked so vintage, and had newspaper clippings glued in and handwritten notations throughout that it was just calling to me to take it home.

I think it must be from the 1920s, as one of the newspaper clippings has a date of 1926 on it!

It’s just fun and interesting to look through it for a look into a different time in history.

Love old cookbooks, though most of mine are seventies, with the exception of my late grandmother's one, which tells you in detail how to do things like choose (bright eyes, soft non tattered ears and claws) and skin your hare, etc.

 

[IceIce9]

Ooh ooh, care to share the recipe?

This is the recipe. I always changed the pizza toppings depending on what I had on hand. We like diced red bell peppers, olives, sliced mushrooms, and diced onions on our pizza.

 

[slowpoke]

This is the recipe. I always changed the pizza toppings depending on what I had on hand. We like diced red bell peppers, olives, sliced mushrooms, and diced onions on our pizza.

Thank you, @IceIce9 ! Sounds yummy.
We use cottage cheese in place of ricotta for lasagne, so I think I can imagine it.

I love it when people share recipes that are special to them, so again, thank you. Years ago, I was dumbfounded when a sister-in-law refused to share a salsa recipe with us. We thought she was kidding, but she was serious. What made it doubly vexing was that she was always asking me for my recipes, to which I always gladly complied. Humph.

 

[IceIce9]

Thank you, @IceIce9 ! Sounds yummy.
We use cottage cheese in place of ricotta for lasagne, so I think I can imagine it.

I love it when people share recipes that are special to them, so again, thank you. Years ago, I was dumbfounded when a sister-in-law refused to share a salsa recipe with us. We thought she was kidding, but she was serious. What made it doubly vexing was that she was always asking me for my recipes, to which I always gladly complied. Humph.

I’ve had a few people refuse to share recipes over the years. I never understood it. I’m always happy to share my recipes. I think it is a compliment when someone likes a dish you made snd asks for the recipe.

 

[killarney rose]

I’ve had a few people refuse to share recipes over the years. I never understood it. I’m always happy to share my recipes. I think it is a compliment when someone likes a dish you made snd asks for the recipe.

I feel the same.

 

[neesaki]

My mother used lard for pie crust too. Later on she switched to Crisco vegetable shortening, and even later to vegetable oil. My father loved her pies but said the ones with lard were the best!

Same here on pie crusts. My mother always used Crisco for making cookies too.
I still have my old Crisco cookbook from the early 70’s, along with two shelves of old cookbooks I’ve collected over the last several decades. Mostly from estate sales and such, it was such fun, like going on a treasure hunt.
I think the oldest cookbook I have is one I got from my grandmother, called The Service Cookbook by Miss Ida Bailey, published for F.W. Woolworth Co. , in 1935. I noticed the pie crust recipe in that book calls for shortening. I wonder if lard was in short supply during the war.
It’s fascinating to read the recipes in that old book.
Growing up, we rarely had real butter in the house…. too expensive? Which was fine with me as I didn’t eat it anyway, lol. There was always a can of bacon grease by the cooktop for frying eggs, steak, etc.
I have read that Lard is one of the healthiest fats for baking, and though I no longer make my own pie crusts, I do always try to buy the premade frozen ones made with lard.