GoofingOff Sewing's Mid Week Rummage: Devil's Food Cake

During a recent thrifting expedition, I ventured out of the sewing pattern section into the books. I can get lost in old books. I love books, especially old ones. I love the look and feel of them. Well, I had the good fortune to find a copy of Baker’s Famous Chocolate Recipes. “What makes this special?” one might ask. This copy is from 1936 and in very good condition. The cover graphics remain sharp and the pages are not brittle. While there is light yellowing throughout the book it is in incredibly good condition.

What does chocolate cake have to do with sewing? Coffee and cake to keep you going…and chocolate is a necessary part of life.

Post by Eileen of GoofingOff Sewing.

Lost in Old Recipes

I think, no I know, I was born in another era, 1930’s or 40’s. I love that era, probably because of all the old movies I watched with my mom. It doesn’t take much to set me off dreaming I was there, anywhere, back then.

 

The Rumford Complete Cook Book just sold, you know the 1932 edition that was in my MissEileen vintage shop, so I started looking through it one last time before I wrapped it. The cookbook recipes are fun but more interesting are the recipes and notes added by the first owner of the book. Inside the book are newspaper recipes carefully clipped then glued to the “notes” pages of the book. The recipes are mostly for baking but there are a few for pickles and salads. One recipe, Peanut Butter Cookies, is pretty much the same now as then but there are others that have disappeared over time. Here’s a few to try. Put some old swing music on the radio (or your pod) and imagine you have a date at the movies tonight….to see that movie everyone’s talking about, “It Happened One Night” with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert.

 

Gum Drop Fruit Cake

2 cups shortening (butter preferred)

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

4 eggs, beaten

2 cups unsweetened applesauce

2 teaspoons soda

4 cups flour

1 cup dates

1 cup Brazil nuts

1 cup small mixed gumdrops

1 cup seeded raisins

3 teaspoons each cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice

Cream shortening and sugar, add eggs and applesauce in which flour has been dissolved. Then add flour, measured after sifting, and mix well. Add raisins, which have been floured with chopped nuts, dates—cut in long pieces- gumdrops and spices, and mix well. Bake in a loaf pan from 45 to 60 minutes in a moderate oven (350 degrees).

Never-Fail Caramel Icing

2 cups brown sugar

6 tablespoons sweet or sour cream or condensed milk

2 tablespoons butter

2 teaspoons vanilla

Mix well. Put over very slow fire and bring to a boil. Take off after one minute and beat until cool.

I wasn’t able to date most of the news clippings but Honey Drop Cookies, is from 1932. Check out the nutrition information. Love it.

Snow Salad

2 cups chopped cabbage

1 cup green grapes, seeded and halved

1 cup shredded cocoanut

1/2 cup blanched and chopped almonds

1-3 cup mayonnaise dressing (this might not be enough mayo. I copied the recipe exact. Add more if it is too dry)

2 tablespoons heavy cream

Combine all ingredients and serve on lettuce leaves. Top with additional mayonnaise.

Honey Drop Cookies

Shortening, ½ cup Eggs 2

Sugar, 1 cup Flour, 1 ½ cups

Honey, 2 tablespoons Baking powder, 2 teaspoons

Salt, ¼ teaspoon Vanilla, ½ teaspoon

Makes about 100 cookies

Blend together butter or other shortening, sugar, honey and salt. Stir in eggs one at a time. Sift flour with baking powder and add this. Add vanilla. Drop ½ teaspoon batter for each cookie on a greased baking sheet, far enough apart as they spread. A half walnut or pecan could be placed on each cookie if desired. Bake in a hot oven for about 8 minutes. Be careful not to burn.

Diet note:

Recipe furnishes protein, starch, sugar, and a little fat. Lime and iron present but the vitamins have been damaged by the action of the baking powder. Can be given to children over 10. Can be eaten by normal adults of average or under weight.

Hope you enjoyed this little trip into the 1930’s.

Post by Miss Eileen aka GoofingOff

MissEileen vintage
Goofingoff Etsy Judaic fabrics, sewing patterns
GoofingOff Artfire Sewing patterns, plus size patterns
Metal Woods N Water unusual stuff and metal work

Kitchen Ideas from A Cook's Delight Vintage Cook Book

A Cook's Delight
Future Homemakers of America
Newberry High School

While yard saling I found this awesome cookbook called "A Cook's Delight" from the Future Homemakers of America, Newberry High School, Newberry Florida from 1961. The book has some wonderful old recipes in there but I found these Kitchen Ideas I had to share.

"If a cracked dish is boiled for 45 minutes in sweet milk, the crack will be so welded together that it will hardly be visible, and will be so strong it will stand the same usage as before.

Put a layer of marshmallows in the bottom of a pumpkin pie, then add the filling. You will have a nice topping as the mashmallow will come to the top.

Dip your bananas in lemon juice right after they are peeled. They will not turn dark and the faint flavor of lemon really adds quite a bit. The same may be done with apples.

A leaf of lettuce dropped into the pot absorbs the grease from the top of the soup. Remove the lettuce and throw it away as soon as it has served its purpose.

To prevent splashing when frying meat, sprinkle a little salt into the pan before putting the fat in.

If the juice from your apple pie runs over in the oven, shake some salt on it, which causes the juice to burn to a crisp so it can be removed.

Add a little vinegar to the water when an egg cracks during boiling. It will help seal the egg.

Small amounts of leftover corn may be added to pancake batter for variety.

Use a strawberry huller to peel potatoes which have been boiled in their 'jackets.'

To make bread crumbs, use fine cutter of the food grinder and tie a large paper bag over the spout to prevent flying crumbs."

I can remember my grandmother adding salt to the pan before frying but didn't know what for.  I have to try the pumpkin pie and the lettuce ideas. As for a strawberry huller.....I don't even know what one looks like, much less use one!

Strawberry Meringue Tarts, Sunbeam Mixmasters, and "New" Patterns

Wow, what a hit! Everyone liked the tarts. I probably should have made a prettier presentation but oh, well. No leftovers (always a good thing when the eats are at work).
Looking through the notebook I found  some more cool old recipes to use. There’s a Sunbeam Mixmaster booklet from 1950 with ideas to “Make the most out of your Mixmaster.”

How to Get the Most Out of Your Sunbeam Mixmaster
The booklet has pictures of Sunbeam accessories and attachment available for the mixer back then. I knew about the meat grinder but I didn’t know there was a butter churn attachment. Awesome!

Sunbeam Mixmaster Attachments, 1950
There are yummy-sounding recipes for Old-Fashioned Apple Spice Cake (good for Rosh Hashanah), Prune Spice Cake (I guess for those special times), Gold Sunbeam Cake, and Prune Whip (what’s with the prunes?). I don’t know about the Prune Whip (I am not full of sh*t) but I might try the applesauce cake.
In the meantime, here are some cool vintage sewing patterns about to go to the GoofingOff Etsy Store.

Simplicity 5473 from 1971. Includes placemats and napkins I love the strawberry placemat on the bottom and the flower one at the top. Too cute! Just right for summer!

Mail Order Pattern, M322, Bert Geiger designer in size 18. Printed by Reader Mail. Size 18 fits 40” bust, 31” waist, and 42” hip. This pattern is uncut. It is so cool!
Well, that’s all for now. The patterns will be posted in the GoofingOff.Etsy store tomorrow. I’ll be baking that cake, too. No, not the prune whip!
Post by Eileen Patterson, GoofingOff.etsy.com and GoofingOff.Artfire.com