It didn’t.

Around 6:00, the dough had finally risen.

Punched down and shaped before resting for 15 minutes.

Dough cut into four . . . → Read More: Let Us Make Bread Together (On Our Knees) Part 2]]>

When we left my bread making adventure the other day, we wondered whether the bread would continue to rise enough for us to have it with dinner that night.

It didn’t.

Around 6:00, the dough had finally risen.

Punched down and shaped before resting for 15 minutes.

Dough cut into four loaves.

I tucked them all into their respective loaf pans and covered them with their plastic wrap blankets. The Mister said it looked like a nursery. We waited. And we waited. Finally around 11:00 they had doubled in size. I forgot to take a photo before putting them in the refrigerator. I was tired and wasn't going to stay up to bake bread. I'm not THAT dedicated!

The poor guys didn't like being in the fridge. They got all shrivelly. I took them out to bring them back to room temperature. In theory, it should just take a couple of hours for it to come to room temperature and the yeast be all happy and gassy again. So, I took them out at 7:30 in the morning and it took until almost 5:00 for them to get back to baking condition. *sheesh!* Good thing I wasn't in a hurry or anything!

Still not as high as I would have liked but they were going in! The one on the right was our little runt loaf. He was The Mister's favorite.

Forty-five minutes later, not perfect looking but everyone was happy and the house smelled fabulous!

Dumped out of their pans.

Cooling their heels.

It was worth the wait. The time in the refrigerator acted as a yeast retarder so that would have more time to do something or another with the net result of a tangier flavor. Perfect!

Dear Friends,

The other day I was in the mood for some muffins.  But I didn’t want cup-cakey kind of muffins.  I wanted something with substance.  What was a modern retro woman to do?  Why, bake them herself, of course!  Between The Mister’s schedule and mine, I hadn’t been grocery shopping for a couple . . . → Read More: Retro Recipe: Bran Muffins (They’re Not Just For Old Folks)]]>

Dear Friends,

The other day I was in the mood for some muffins.  But I didn’t want cup-cakey kind of muffins.  I wanted something with substance.  What was a modern retro woman to do?  Why, bake them herself, of course!  Between The Mister’s schedule and mine, I hadn’t been grocery shopping for a couple of weeks (thank goodness for a well-stocked freezer and pantry!) and so I had to look for a recipe where I had all of the ingredients (and wasn’t going into the cookbooklet).  And the winner was bran muffins!

Bran muffins?  Aren’t those for old people?  Well, truthfully, from what I see, a lot of young people could probably benefit from eating them, too.  But seriously, I made these with bacon fat instead of shortening and loved them…it was like guilt free bacon flavoring.  Just be aware that the muffins are crumblier when using bacon fat than shortening because of the lower melting point.  If you don’t like crumbly muffins, stick with the shortening.

Bran Muffins (Adapted from Ladies’ Home Journal Cookbook, 1960)

Soak the bran in milk in a mixing bowl for 5 minutes. This step is very important!

In another bowl, mix the molasses and shortening until smooth.

Add the egg. Mix well but don't beat the mixture.

Add the mollases, shortening, and egg mixture to the soaked bran. (Yes, I know the photo doesn't look very appetizing but not all steps in cooking are gorgeous)

In another bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, and salt together. Add all at once to the liquid mixture.

Stir just enough to blend the ingredients. It's okay if the mixture isn't smooth.

Line a muffin tin with baking cups. Spray lightly with cooking spray. Fill each cup approximately 2/3 full. You will get 10-12 muffins. Bake at 400ºF. for about 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Have you ever baked with bacon fat or lard?

I love pumpkin pie.   Well, homemade pumpkin pie.  I usually end up disliking the pumpkin pies that I order at a restaurant.  And the frozen pies?  *phhht* Why bother?

My Honey loves pecan pie.  He tells me not to bake any pecan pies for him because it . . . → Read More: Pumpkin Pecan Pie]]>

Pumpkin Pecan Pie by Mrs. Myron Leitz

I love pumpkin pie.   Well, homemade pumpkin pie.  I usually end up disliking the pumpkin pies that I order at a restaurant.  And the frozen pies?  *phhht* Why bother?

My Honey loves pecan pie.  He tells me not to bake any pecan pies for him because it would be too tempting.  But, whenever we are out and he spies a pecan pie in the pie safe, I know he’s going to order a slice.

Leave it to one of my grandmother’s cousins and The Box to come up with a variation of our two favorite pies: A Pumpkin Pecan Pie.

I must confess that this didn’t have as much pumpkin flavoring as I would have liked but My Honey really liked it and it will probably join the dessert rotation.

Watch your baking time.  Mine burnt a little but I don’t know if it was the recipe or that I was having trouble with my oven again (my landlord thought the having to have the regulator repaired, yet again, was too annoying and a new range arrived on Monday).

Pumpkin Pecan Pie by Mrs. Myron Leitz, Topeka

Combine the first 7 ingredients, pour into unbaked pastry shell.  Top with pecans.  Bake at 350* F. about 40 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

My childhood was littered with Chocolate Mayonnaise Cakes – the . . . → Read More: Chocolate Mayo Cake]]>

After our friend Deborah Laux had mentioned that she was the keeper of a family recipe for Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake, I begged her to send it to me so that I could share it with the Modern Retro Woman community.  In her email she writes,

My childhood was littered with Chocolate Mayonnaise Cakes – the only cake our family made. It’s simple and quick to make. And, it’s mouth-wateringly moist.

You may notice the recipe does not call for oil or eggs. Mayonnaise is made of oil and eggs blended together. [You thought it was weird, yes?] And, whether you are a Miracle Whip family or a Best Foods family, this cake will work for you. The moistness in this cake has to do with the emulsification of the oil and eggs. If someone knows the science behind it, let me know.

My mom always made the frosting with coffee. You can look up how to make frosting with powdered sugar. Just use brewed coffee as the liquid. Coffee cuts the sweetness and it goes great with chocolate. We ate it as kids so you know it doesn’t really taste like coffee.

Bake in a regular rectangular cake pan. We always frosted it right in the pan because it never lated long enough to bother with the fancy stuff.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake (Courtesy of Deborah Laux)

Naturally, I had to try this out myself so that I could gush about how good it tasted.  My only dilemma was that I didn’t have any powdered sugar in the pantry for making a frosting.  Thank goodness for the Internet!  I did a search for sugarless frosting and found a depression or sugar rationing era at Food Down Under.

My only admonition about this cake is to make sure you are using real mayonnaise or Miracle Whip for best results.  The low fat or “other fats” mayonnaise may not give you the results you want.

As Deborah said in her email….Enjoy!

(PS: I apologize for the photos–my digital camera has all but died and I was trying to eke out just a few more shots.  My sister has loaned me her camera until I can get a new one)

The other day, I mentioned that I was able to get several pounds of peaches for only $1 from Tenerelli Orchards because they were Grade B and C quality (watch yesterday’s film for an explanation of food grades).  After cutting out the bruises, I still was able to have some peaches left . . . → Read More: Fun with Peaches: Vintage Peach Pie Recipe]]>

From This...

The other day, I mentioned that I was able to get several pounds of peaches for only $1 from Tenerelli Orchards because they were Grade B and C quality (watch yesterday’s film for an explanation of food grades).  After cutting out the bruises, I still was able to have some peaches left over after making the pie.

After looking through five or six of my vintage cookbooks, I decided on a relatively safe pie recipe from my World War II era Betty Crocker cookbook.  It uses the same “Key Recipe” as the strawberry pie that I made last week.  Most of the other recipes required almond extract that I didn’t seem to have (even though I thought I did).

When you use fresh peaches, the pie just melts in your mouth.  In fact, my husband liked it so much that he took a slice of it to work with him to subtly show it off.  He said that one of the other guys spotted it from clear across the shop and my husband could tell that the fellow was a little envious.

One thing I did differently when making the pastry was to refrigerate it before rolling it out.  This extra step made it much easier to handle and I recommend doing it.

Fresh Peach Pie (for 9″ pie):

To This…

7/8 cups of sugar

4 Tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

4 cups sliced fresh peaches

1. Peel and slice peaches.  Remove pit (making sure you’ve removed all the pit bits).

2. Mix sugar, flour, and cinnamon together.

3. Gently mix peaches and sugar mixture together.

4.  Pour into a pastry lined pie pan.

5. Dot with 1 1/3 tbsp. butter.

6. Cover with top crust.  Cut slits into crust if you haven’t done so already.

7. Bake until crust is nicely browned and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust for 35 to 45 minutes in a hot oven (450* F).

I was able to buy a couple pounds of peach “seconds” at the farmers’ market the other day for dirt cheap.  I simply told the farmer that I wanted peaches for a pie and that I didn’t care what they looked like.  If . . . → Read More: Interesting Contrast: B H & Gardens Peach Pie]]>

Golden Peach Pie (Better Homes & Gardens "Pies and Cakes" 1966)

I was able to buy a couple pounds of peach “seconds” at the farmers’ market the other day for dirt cheap.  I simply told the farmer that I wanted peaches for a pie and that I didn’t care what they looked like.  If you are going to cut or mash up your fruit or vegetable, I encourage you to ask for “seconds.”  Seconds are the produce that may be bruised in one spot or very ripe or may not be as pretty looking as the rest of the fruit.  They are still as nutritious and an easy way to get a lot of produce inexpensively.

Today I was looking through the cookbooks to find a basic peach pie recipe.  I had the general idea: place peach slices in 9″ pastry-lined pan.  But I wasn’t sure of the quantity needed and how much sugar to use.  I came upon an interesting contrast between my 1941 Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook and my 1966 Better Homes and Gardens Pies and Cakes cookbook.  See if you can spot the difference!

1941 Ingredient List:

2 cups sliced fresh peaches

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 cup sugar

3 Tablespoons cornstarch

2 teaspoons butter

Dash of salt

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 9-inch pastry shell

1966 Ingredient List (pie pictured above):

2 1-pound cans sliced peaches

1/2 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon nutmet

Dash salt

2 Tablespoons butter or margerine

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel

1/8 teaspoon almond extract

Pastry for 9-inch lattice-top pie

All of the peach pie recipes in the 1966 cookbook list canned peaches instead of fresh peaches in their ingredient list.  Other fruit pie recipes follow the same pattern.  Within a time-frame of 25 years, Better Homes and Gardens went from using fresh fruit fillings in their recipes to using store-bought canned fillings. Mrs. Smith introduced her frozen pies in 1950. I suppose by 1966, people used to eating frozen pies would not know how a fresh peach pie was supposed to taste so BH & G could get away with using premade pie fillings in their recipes.

As for me, I can always tell when a canned fruit filling has been used.  It always leaves behind some weird coating on the roof of my mouth.  How about you?  Can you tell the difference?

The farmers’ market that I go to is overflowing with strawberries right now.  I was quite surprised because they are usually in season in the late spring in my neck of the woods.  By July, we have triple-digit temps and strawberries can’t handle the heat.

One . . . → Read More: Fun with Strawberries: Vintage Pie Recipe]]>

Strawberry Pie from Betty Crocker WWII Era Cookbook

The farmers’ market that I go to is overflowing with strawberries right now.  I was quite surprised because they are usually in season in the late spring in my neck of the woods.  By July, we have triple-digit temps and strawberries can’t handle the heat.

One of the Fourth of July BBQ guests brought a delicious cherry pie with her and that got me thinking about old fashioned fruit and berry pies.  I decided I wanted to make a strawberry pie and found one in my WWII-era Betty Crocker cookbook before heading off to the market.  When I bought the tray with 3 pints of berries in it, the farmer added another pint to the bag, no charge.  What was I going to do with all of those extra strawberries??

Let me just say that fresh strawberries are soooooooo much tastier than supermarket and frozen strawberries.  They are naturally sweet and just melt in your mouth.  I think if people ate real food instead of supermarket food, we wouldn’t have an obesity problem from adding high-fructose-corn-syrup and sugar to everything.

I’m learning how to make pie pastry instead of relying on the Pillsbury roll-out pie crust.  If you aren’t ready to try making the pastry, I think the roll-out crust is much better than the frozen crusts in an aluminum tin.  To me, the frozen crusts always seem to have a metallic taste to them.  I tried the Betty Crocker recipe from my vintage cookbook with great success.  Click here for an updated version of the tried and true recipe. Using lard, butter, or shortening does change the flavor of the pastry.  It is getting harder for me to find lard but I really do like the flavor of pie crusts made with lard.  As with anything, just be careful to not overdo it.  Lard isn’t exactly heart healthy but I think it is okay to use in moderation.  The Betty Crocker recipe uses shortening.  Crisco has reformulated their shortening to 0 grams of trans fat per serving, so I buy it.  It is a little more expensive than the store brand but it does ease my conscious a little bit to use it.  For the following recipe, you need a two crust pie.

Fresh Strawberry Pie (9″ Pie)

Preheat oven: 450*F.

1 cup  sugar

5 tbs. flour

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1. Wash strawberries, drain well.

2. Pick them over–remove over-ripe and bruised berries

3.  Remove stems and hulls.  Large strawberries should be halved.

4. Mix sugar, flour, and cinnamon together.

6.  Pour into a pastry lined pie pan.

7. Dot with 1 1/3 tbsp. butter.

8. Cover with top crust.  Cut slits into crust if you haven’t done so already.

9. Bake until crust is nicely browned and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust for 35 to 45 minutes in a hot oven (450* F).