Genevieve's Recipe Box: Thanksgiving Edition

Since it's time for another Thanksgiving dinner, it seemed like a good time to rifle through my grandma Genevieve's recipe box for vintage and heirloom recipes for the upcoming holiday. If you haven't finalized your menu yet and are looking for something new-but-old to try, here you go!

Rich Brown Giblet Gravy 

(Note: my dad still loves the turkey neck and giblets, because my grandma cooked them up so well.)

1 quart water
Turkey neck and giblets
1/2 cup flour
1 cup cold water
2 teaspoons salt
Turkey fat
2 teaspoons Kitchen Bouquet

Bring quart of water to boil. Add turkey neck and giblets, cook until tender. Drain off broth, measure and if necessary add additional water to make three cups total. Mince and add neck meat and giblets. In a separate bowl, blend thoroughly 1/2 cup flour, 1 cup cold water and 2 tsps. salt. Add to broth gradually, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil and cook for two minutes. Drain fat from roasting pan, measure and return 1/2 cup fat to the pan. Add thickened giblet sauce, stirring vigorously until thoroughly blended. Stir in two tsps. Kitchen Bouquet. Heat until thoroughly hot. Yields about one quart.

Broccoli Casserole

2 pkgs. frozen, chopped broccoli, cooked and drained
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 eggs
4 oz. sharp cheddar, grated
3/4 cup Hellman's Mayonnaise
1 med. onion, chopped
1/2 cup Ritz Crackers

Mix all ingredients except crumbs, pour into square, well-buttered baking dish. Sprinkle crumbs on top. Dot with butter. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Wild and Long Grain Rice Dressing for Duck or Cornish Hens

2 pkgs. rice (Will fill 3 cornish hens and make large casserole, or 1 pkg make small casserole) Use only 1/2 of herbs in one pkg.
bouillon cubes
onion
celery
1/2 pound ground beef (optional)
1 can mushroom pieces

Cook rice as on pkg, but add beef bouillon cubes. Brown onion and celery, cut up. Add about 1/2 pound of ground beef (optional). Add 1 can mushroom pieces. Add this to rice.

Note from Gen: I put giblets on top of rice casserole and cover it with foil until about done.


Whatever you end up doing for the holiday, I hope you have a great meal and great company! Happy Thanksgiving!

Recipes: Labor Day picnic suggestions

Getting ready for a Labor Day picnic this weekend? How about a few vintage recipes from my grandma Genevieve's recipe box to bring to a potluck?

Sauerkraut Salad

1 quart sauerkraut
2 cups celery cut fine
1 green pepper
1 large onion
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 cup salad oil

Mix all ingredients and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Corinne's Carrot Casserole

1 1/2 pkg. carrots
2 small onions
2/3 cup Saltine cracker crumbs
For topping:
2 tsp. brown sugar
chopped pecans
little grated or powdered cheese

Cook carrots with about 2 T chopped onions. (Editor's note: I don't know what this means. Any ideas?) Then mash (or put through blender and then cook with a little water -- easier for large amount.) Mix with cracker crumbs. Put topping on and bake in casserole or flat 9x9-inch pan. Cut like brownies to serve.

Cocktail Meatballs

1lb. ground beef
1 lb. ground pork
handful of Italian bread crumbs
parsley (optional)
Spices: Accent*, powdered onion, oregano, thyme, bay leaf and salt
Egg.

For small electric casserole:
4 lbs. ground beef
1/2 lb. pork
2 eggs
Put in plenty of oregano

[Editor's note: There are no instructions listed, just ingredients. I assume you mix everything together in a bowl, roll out 1-inch meatballs and bake? Anyone have suggestions?]

*Accent is a spice that combined MSG and hydrolized vegetable protein. Probably best to leave it out if you're taking this dish to a potluck, as many people are allergic/sensitive to MSG.

Genevieve's Bon-bon Cookies

If you're looking for a last-minute cookie recipe to take to a holiday party, why not try my grandma Genevieve's bon-bon cookies? (Which are really sugar cookies with powdered or colored sugar.) Merry Christmas, everyone!

Genevieve's Bon-bon Cookies

1 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
1/3 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup sifted corn starch
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour

Mix butter and vanilla or almond extract. Mix powdered sugar and cornstarch, add to butter mixture. Add flour. Chill several hours. Roll the dough in balls and bake at 350F about 10 mins. While warm, roll in powdered sugar (or roll in colored sugar prior to baking.)

Recipes: Old-fashioned Dumplings

I really believe that no one does Christmas better than Germans. Their neat, picturesque villages are the perfect Christmas villages, and Germans in Rhineland were the first ones to cut down evergreens and bring them in the house to decorate. Not to mention, all of their delicious, rich foods -- mulled wine, wursts, strudels, schnitzels... But something about winter and Christmas always makes me crave dumplings in particular. So, from Genevieve's recipe box, here are:

 

Dumplings (Old-Fashioned Solid Kind)

1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
little sugar

Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Mix all ingredients. Put in chicken or beef broth. Cook covered, about 12 minutes.


*This recipe is a little scant on the instructions, so if anyone has suggestions/clarifications, please leave them in the comments!

Recipes: Fruitcake, Larkin 1870

Although they've been out of fashion for years, fruitcakes were once considered a sinful treat, especially for those who lived in climates where fruit was hard to come by in the winter. During the reign of Queen Victoria, they were de rigeur in the finest drawing rooms at teatime, and the tradition extended to America as well. In Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory" (one of my favorite of his short stories), he recounts with sweet childhood innocence the tradition of making fruitcakes with his simpatico great aunt and how they saved up their pennies all year to be able to buy the precious ingredients that would go into the fruitcake.

Here then is a recipe for fruitcake from Genevieve's recipe box, attributed to "Larkin, 1870."

Fruitcake, Larkin 1870

2 1/2 C. apple sauce
4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 C. butter
4 C. flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 lb. mixed fruit
1/4 lb. candied cherries
1 lb. raisins
1 C. nuts
1 lb. dates, cut up
1/2 lb. dried apricots
1 small package of figs
Candied pineapple

Heat apple sauce and then add baking soda, sugar and shortening. Then add flour, salt and spices.

Put fruit in large pan and add 1 C. of flour; mix well. Add to cake mixture a little at a time; mix well. Fill greased, lined pans 1/2 full of mixture and decorate tops with nuts, cherries and candied pineapple. Bake at 300F about 1-1/2 hours or until done.

And while we're on the subject of fruitcake, it just isn't Christmas until I've heard this song:

Lily Haxworth Wallace's Gingerbread Waffles with Marshmallow Sauce

Genevieve's recipe box is a beautiful mess - full of handwritten notes, recipes clipped from the back of boxes and newspaper clippings she thought looked interesting. The following recipe was taken from one of those newspaper clippings, which went into great detail on how to "break in your new waffle iron."

Gingerbread Waffles with Marshmallow Sauce

by Lily Haxworth Wallace, Homemaking Editor

1/2 cup shortening
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup molasses
2/3 cup sour milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups flour
1 scant teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
Whipped cream

Cream shortening and sugar, add the beaten eggs, molasses and milk, then the dry ingredients sifted together twice. Beat just until smooth and bake as directed*, putting the waffles together with whipped cream at moment of serving. These waffles are particularly good served with a marshmallow sauce made by boiling together one cup sugar and one-third cup water to the thread stage (230 degrees F), pouring this sirup over twenty marshmallows which have been melted in the upper part of a double boiler with three tablespoons light cream, and flavoring with vanilla, orange, or any preferred extract, using one teaspoon to the above quantities. Serves four.

*By the directions of your specific waffle iron, I assume.

Wilma's Apple Crisp

For our final vintage Thanksgiving recipe this year, how about making Wilma's Apple Crisp? (As usual, I have no idea who Wilma is, but this recipe is neatly typed and organized, which leads me to believe that Wilma was probably a very fastidious person.)

Wilma's Apple Crisp

Sift together:
3/4C. sugar
1/3C. flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

Add:
1 egg beaten
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix well.

Add:
1-1/2 cups pared and diced apples
1/2C. nuts

Bake in a 9" pie pan at 350F for 30 minutes.

String Bean Casserole

Another vintage recipe, this time for the ever popular String Bean Casserole. As usual, this recipe follows the haphazard layout of most of the recipes in this box, as if Genevieve was just taking loose notes and didn't really require anything to be written down. The idea seems to be to layer butter and garlic, then beans, then mushrooms, then cream sauce (including melted cheese), then bread crumbs and bake it all, but that's just a guess on my part.

 

String Bean Casserole

1 can cut string beans
Cream Sauce (see below)
1/4lb. American cheese
1 can mushroom pieces

Drain beans. Pour above over butter, garlic. Crumbs on top. Bake at 300F for 30-60 minutes.

Cream sauce:

Butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk

Cut cheese up and stir until melted.

If doubled, 3 cups of milk is plenty

Pauline Johnejack's Dressing for Fowl

In honor of Thanksgiving, how about a vintage dressing recipe from my grandma Genevieve's recipe box? This one is attributed to someone named Pauline Johnejack.

Pauline Johnejack's Dressing for Fowl

1 1/2 boxes of Kellogg's Croettes Cubes* (for a 12-lb turkey and casserole)

Brown an onion (diced? -ed.)  + chopped celery in butter or margarine. Brown about 1lb. of ground beef. Add a can of mushroom pieces. Add [Croutettes] cubes prepared according to directions on box. Use bouillon cubes in moisture.

Geneveive has a note here that reads, "I bake 12lb. turkey at 325F for about 7 hours."

For small casserole:

Kellog's Croettes, 3/4 box.
Brown small amount of onion + celery + 1/4lb. of ground beef.
Add 4oz. can of mushroom pieces.
Add cubes as direction on box, use bouillon cubes in hot water and use juice from mushrooms.

*It appears that what Genevieve referred to as "Kellogg's Croettes" were actually Kellogg's Croutettes, and it was a box bread stuffing that was discontinued in 2010. (There is still a loyal fan base out there that would love to see Kellogg's bring them back, however. They even have a "Bring back Kellogg's herbed croutons/stuffing mix" Facebook page.) There's a video here where a woman named Jane attempts to recreate Kellogg's Croutettes stuffing, so if you're feeling particularly adventurous, give it a try. Otherwise, I assume any other box stuffing can be substituted.

Recipes: Potato-chip cookies

There's no attribution on this recipe card, but whoever invented these sounds like a genius to me.

Potato-chip cookies

Cream together 1 cup butter and 1/2 c. sugar till fluffy. Add one egg yolk. Cream again. Add 1 1/2 c. flour, 3/4 c. crushed potato chips and 1/2 c. of nuts. Drop from teaspoon, bake 12-15 minutes.

Potato-chip cookies, fondue'd

 UPDATE: I finally made these, and it turns out that they taste a lot like Scandinavian butter cookies, just a little potato chip-ier. A word to the wise: bake them in an oven that is no more than 350F; they burn easily. Not being a a fan of nuts, I omitted them and increased the potato chips to 1 c. (I also might recommend reducing the flour slightly) When they had cooled, I dipped each cookie in fondue chocolate to finish them off. They'd be good for a Christmas cookie sampler!

Recipes: Edna's Chocolate Cookies Icebox Cake

Another recipe of Edna's (I believe.) She seems to have been a big fan of icebox tortes. They were probably appealing in that they were fairly simple to make and could be prepared a day ahead, leaving more time on the day of a party or event to make all of the other complicated, labor-intensive recipes that dominated in the days before "modern conveniences."

Chocolate Cookie Icebox Cake

36 oblong chocolate cookies*
4 eggs
1 c. sugar
1 package of whipped cream
1 pkg. Knox gelatin

Dissolve gelatin in 1/3c. cold water for 10 mins. Add 1/3c. hot water. Beat eggs until light, add sugar and beat, then whipped cream and cool gelatin. Arrange layer of cookies in pan - spread with mixture, then another layer of cookies and mixture, finishing with cookies. Serve with whipped cream. Serves 12 people.

*Not quite sure what "chocolate oblong cookies" refer to. Possibly those inexpensive chocolate sandwich cookies that come prepackaged at the grocery store?

Recipes: Edna's Orange Cake

Another one of Edna's cake recipes. This one is complicated, but I bet it's gorgeous when it's finished. (Very Pantone Color of the Year, I imagine.)

Edna's Orange Cake

8 eggs separated
1 1/3c. sugar
1 c. + 2tbsps. cake flour
1 tsp. cream tartar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4c. orange juice
grated rind orange

Beat whites with salt until foamy, add cream of tartar and beat until stiff. Fold in 1/2 of sugar and beat some more. Beat yolks until stiff - add juice and rind of orange and remaining sugar. Sift flour 3 times, fold into batter. Bake in slow oven for one hour in ungreased, large angel food tin.

Orange Cake Filling

3/4 c. sugar
3 tbsp. flour
1 egg
1 orange

Mix sugar and flour - add beaten egg, juice of one orange and grated rind. Cook in double boiler until thick. Cool, then add 3/4 cup whipped cream. Cut cake in three layers - put together with filling and spread on top.

*Here's a note at the bottom of the recipe: "We served this at a supper we served the W.R.C. (Woman Relief Co-op) and just baked a plain sponge cake in a flat pan - then cut a nice sized piece and served this orange filling on top. Just used 1/2c. of whipped cream instead of 3/4c. It went over big and wasn't very expensive."

Recipes: Marion Huml's Stroganoff

Once again, I have no idea who Marion Huml is, but she sounds German, so I assume she knew her Stroganoff. As always, if anyone is bold enough to make these recipes, please take pictures and send them to me!

Marion Huml's Stroganoff

3 lbs. round steak (cut up into small pieces)
2 garlic buds
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. Accent
2 sm cream cheese
2 cans of mushrooms
6 oz. sherry

Brown meat in butter. Add garlic, salt, and sherry. Cover with water and cook until tender. Soften cheese with some juice from the meat. Stir until smooth and add this to the meat. Add mushrooms, drained. Thicken as much as needed.

Note: I'm not sure what "Accent" is or what "small" cream cheese equates to these days. Anyone with information on this, please comment!

Update: A brilliant and vigilant reader who follows us on  Twitter tracked down the spice known as Accent. To quote her, "It seems to be a cross between salt and MSG. Yum."

Update #2: A chef friend has this to add about Accent: "Accent is just MSG. You don't actually need it though, or if you're one of those crazy food people like me, you can substitute umami paste. It does the same thing, without the headaches." 

Recipes: Mother's Cinnamon Rolls

Speaking of recipes, here's another one from Genevieve's recipe box. It's in her handwriting, so in this case, I assume "Mother" refers to her mother, Ora.

Mother's Cinnamon Rolls

1 1/2 cups milk (scalded)

When cool, dissolve 1 comp. yeast cake* in luke warm milk. Add 1/3 c. sugar , 1 1/4 teas. salt, 1/2 c. shortening, 2 eggs. About 4 cups flour. Make soft dough. Let double bulk. Knead down. Raise again. Make into rolls.

Roll out dough 1/2 in. thick. Spread with melted butter, sugar and cinnamon  roll up and cut off in rolls. Raise until light. Bake.

*Yeast cakes are fresh active yeast, sold in tiny cakes in the refrigerated section of many grocery stores. Fresh yeast is highly perishable and should be treated as such. Alternatively, the experts at food.com inform me that you can substitute one package of dry active yeast for one yeast cake, but then you wouldn't exactly be making Ora's cinnamon rolls, would you?

Recipes: Evelyn Hammersley's Ice Box Rolls

(Part of what I'd like to do with this blog is post recipes verbatim from my grandmother Geneveive's treasured recipe box. However, Genevieve's recipe box is a little intimidating and I wasn't sure where to start. So I just reached in and grabbed one at random. I have no idea who Evelyn Hammersley is, but based on the use of the word "icebox," I'm guessing this recipe dates from the Depression or earlier.)

Evelyn Hammersley's Ice Box* Rolls

Makes about 4 dozen, party size

2 cups boiling water
2 heaping tablespoons lard
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 cup sugar

Pour boiling water over all ingredients and dissolve. Let cool until lukewarm. moisten two cake pans with 1/4 cup lukewarm water. Add 1 teaspoon sugar. Add 2 eggs beaten. Add all ingredients to the first mixture. Add 4 cups of sifted flour. Beat hard. Then add 3 cups more sifted flour. Put in icebox overnight. Make into rolls as desired and let raise 4 hours before baking.

For caramel pecan rolls: Take from icebox and roll out on well-floured board in a large strip about 3/4-inch thick. Spread with melted butter. Sprinkle with 3 tablespoons sugar and 1 tablespoon cinnamon mixed together. Roll up; slice into rolls about 1-inch thick. Line baking tins or muffin tins with melted butter, brown sugar and pecans and raisins. Place rolls in tins flat-side down, let raise four hours before baking.

* From the late 19^th century well through the 1930s, almost every home contained a piece of furniture called an “icebox” – the precursor to our modern-day refrigerator. Iceboxes featured a compartment at the top where a block of ice would sit, and the convection from the cool air would keep anything in the cupboard underneath cool and fresh. To keep these iceboxes stocked with ice, a whole industry developed – ice harvesting, or ice-cutting, in which blocks of ice were cut from frozen lakes, streams and marshes in the dead of winter and stored for use year-round. Ironically, some of the best taverns in Chicago used ice cubes in their drinks that were harvested from the crystal clear waters of nearby Geneva Lake.