I don’t know too many people who don’t like pineapple upside down cake.  The thick, caramel syrup combined with juicy pineapple and paired with tender sponge cake is nearly irresistible.

So, last night, when trying to come up with a quick dessert to round out a spicy Thai meal Upside Down Cake was pretty much a no-brainer.  Which is good because my life has been hectic and chaotic lately.  And that, my friends, doesn’t begin to explain it. Read more

When I read the challenge for this months Your Mother Should Know by Steph from Dispensing Happiness I knew that it was going to be more of a challenge for me than for most people. The challenge was to make something from the year before your mother was born…and my mom was born in 1918! SO….. Read more

I love finding old cookbooks at thrift shops. The one pictured is the Rumford Complete Cookbook from 1943. Cost was, as I recall, one dollar but the value is priceless. I love paging through and reading the recipe notes penciled in so carefully by someone long ago. Read more

When I was growing up we did not have President’s Day.  We had two separate holidays, one for Lincoln and one for Washington, usually giving us two four day school weeks in the middle of February.  You ate cherry pie on Washington’s Birthday, and a rolled chocolate cake made to look like a log on Lincoln’s Birthday.  Life was good.

I love the vintage cookbooks.  This recipe is from Better Homes & Gardens 1959 Holiday Cookbook, which is to my left,  falling apart, even as we speak.  The pictures in it are fantastic.   Not because the food looks so mouthwateringly good, but just because it looks…uh…very…1950s.

This is what it says: We can thank George Washington and his hatchet for the  custom of serving delicious cherry treats in February.

Top on the list is Red Cherry Pie (*as opposed to blue cherry pie? Who wrote this stuff?) Peek -a-boo crust shows off bright red filling: flavor’s a perfect blend of tart and sweet.

And then there is the picture of the table setting.  Seriously,  a fake cherry topiary? Would you put that on your table?   I would use those plated, however.  I have a cake plate from that company in a similar design and I love it. Read more

While I was checking through old recipes yesterday I found this and it sounded so absolutely awesome that I am posting it.  I think I am going to add some pecans to it, though.

Cherry Refrigerator Roll Cookies Read more

A reader, Donna, asked if anyone had the recipe for chocolate cookies from the 1950s 4-H cookbook. It called for cocoa. This is the only one I was able to come up with that might be it. Does anyone else have anything ? If you do, either email me or leave it in the comments…

Going through three generations of recipes, these were the closest I could get. There was a 4-H on the card..and it looked old.

Vintage 4-H Chocolate Cookies

Mix these exactly like written

1/4 c shortening
1 c brown sugar
1 1/2 c flour
1/2 c light cream
1/4 c shortening
1 egg
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3 tbs. cocoa

Drop by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees .

But, even better, while i was checking out my old recipes for that I found an awesome vintage recipe for refrigerator cookies. DO you remember the rolls of cookie dough that you make ahead and stick int he fridge to slice and bake? Well check back tomorrow for the recipe!

I love it when you all send me your family recipes. Just send them, with a picture if you have it and I will do my best to get them online.

Can you ever have too many recipes for whoopie pies? I don’t think so.

Gloria has sent her mother’s  whoopie pie recipe. She says:

I’m wondering how old this recipe is if it uses a microwave! lol

I grew up in Maine and got this recipe for Woopie Pies from my mother. Don’t know where she got it. But it’s old!

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Since we live in a 1910 house, once in awhile I treat myself to something that was made in 1910. I have collected a series of magazines, Ladies World, all published in 1910. I put them out according to the month or holiday,and so this month is the Christmas Issue. Now, people lived very differently in 1910 but it was such a fascinating time period to me…The foods and the recipes, the way they were written and presented all intrigue me. Following is an excerpt from an article called Sweets for the Christmas Table .

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First of all, I know calas are not baked. They are fried. However not enough of you have tasted traditional New Orleans Rice Calas because if you had they would be plastered all over blogs everywhere, and they are not. I do try to concentrate on baked things mostly but sometimes we all need to widen our horizons. The texture of these fritters as you bite into them is heavenly, a quick intense burst of flavor and then the calas just melt away like cotton candy. It is amazing.

After I dropped Marc off at work this morning (sorry, babe, I didn’t have time to make them before), and picked up oil for my van I started thinking about some left over brown basmati rice I had in the fridge. And the thought of how to use that, coupled with trying to get the right oil made me think of these. I know, it’s a scary journey into the workings of my mind.

Calas are vintage New Orleans street food. The creole street vendors used to walk through the streets shouting “Calas, bels calas tout chauds!”( which is creole french, so if you are Canadian or French it probably looks a little weird.) Loosely translated it means, “Calas, beautiful Calas very hot!”. The maids of the wealthy people then used to step out the kitchen doors and buy them to put on the table for breakfast.

Sadly, this creole treat seems to be disappearing in the hustle and bustle of the modern world. I hope you will try it and imagine yourself in New Orleans at the turn of the century. Or, just eat it and think about how you are SO glad I posted this recipe. Either one will work.

I like brown basmati rice in this because the rice has a slight pecan flavor that just adds to the complexity of the flavors for me. If you like citrus grate a little citrus peel in the batter. Traditionally they were served rolled in powdered sugar but I like table sugar on them. Try it both ways and see what you like best.

Creole Calas

2 cups cooked, cold rice

3 eggs beaten

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 c sugar

pinch of salt

1/3 c of flour ( you want to use just enough to get a good batter, not too much or the calas will be heavy. This takes a little practice. )

3 tsp baking powder

sugar or confectioners sugar for rolling and sprinkling.

Heat the deep fryer to 360F.

Combine the rice, eggs, vanilla, and nutmeg and mix well. Stir in dry ingredients. Drop by (measuring) tablespoonful into the preheated oil. Turn them as they become golden on the bottom…don’t let them brown too much.

When they are golden on both sides remove from the fryer and allow to drain over the hot oil a few minutes. Dump basket on paper grocery bags (the BEST for absorbing oil) and wait for the oil to reheat. Make a new batch, and continue until the batter is gone. Roll in preferred sugar coating.

Calas need to be eaten immediately and don’t store well. It is hard to say how many it makes. It varies.

When we first moved to a suburb outside of Doylestown, Pa. in 1964 there were few houses in the brand new development called Palomino Farms. I was four years old and the precocious only child in the neighborhood. As such, I felt it was my duty to entertain the adults around me with my presence on a regular basis so I took to knocking on the neighbor’s door and announcing that I had come for a little visit.

Her one child was well into his teens at the time and she was delighted to usher me in to her spotless, streamlined 1960’s kitchen and sit me down at the Formica and chrome table while she bustled about making a snack for us to share as we chatted. Often it was a peach crumble cake and tea with lots of milk, or maybe I should say, warm. sweetened milk with a tablespoon or two of Rose Tea in it! This cake has especially happy memories for me and I hope that you will use it to create wonderful memories at your house. It is delicious warm as is, or with ice cream, whipped cream, OR as it used to be served to me- with heavy cream ( unwhipped) lightly sweetened and sprinkled with freshly grated nutmeg. You can use canned peaches in this but the peach crumble cake from my childhood was made with the peaches that were so ripe they dripped down your chin when you bit into them..Is your mouth watering yet?

Peach Crumble Cake

Topping

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 tsp cloves

Cake

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon double-acting baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp almond

3 large peaches (about 1 1/4 pounds), sliced thin

Make the topping: combine the flour, the brown sugar, the butter, and the cinnamon and rub between fingers until the topping is combined well and crumbly.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. and butter and flour a layer cake pan ( 8″ square or round). In a bowl with an electric mixer cream together the butter and the granulated sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy, add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, add the flavorings. Sift in the flour, the baking powder, and the salt. Beat the batter until it is just combined and spread it evenly in the pan. Arrange the peach slices in slightly overlapping rows over the batter, sprinkle the topping over them, and bake the cake in the middle of the oven for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean. Serve the cake warm or at room temperature.