a conversation at goodwill: Crisco recipes

Showing posts with label Crisco recipes. Show all posts

Monday, June 21, 2010

What to make for Dinner?

WHAT TO MAKE FOR DINNER?

I am faced with that question every day, no different from the housewife of the 40's, what do we prepare for our family to show them how much we love them? Well Fried Devilled Eggs and Upside Down Ham Loaf certainly comes to my mind.

I found this recipe in a 1945 cookbook published by Crisco. I paid $.25 for the cookbook which is the same price that it first sold for in 1945. As I was leafing through the recipes I came across this one. I love a good devilled egg, but fried? It sounded so sinful, that I had to try it. It is pretty darn tasty. Hard to describe, the texture, the taste, just plain yummy.

The Recipe:

We all know how to make a Devilled Egg. I usually mix a little Dijon Mustard, paprika, salt and pepper with the mayo. This recipe calls for vinegar and salad dressing with salt and pepper, enough to form a thick paste. You then put the mixture back into the egg half, leveling off the mixture for a flat surface. Next dip the egg into finely ground bread crumbs, then in beaten egg, and then back in the crumbs. Then fry. Of course the recipe calls for Crisco but I use oil. I love the suggestion "For an attractive luncheon plate serve with hot asparagus and fried tomato slices." As if the fried Devilled Eggs weren't enough.

Such a recipe needs to be served on the proper china. I have a fondness for cream, tan and aqua/turquoise dishes. The cup and saucer is one of my favorite pieces. There are some dishes that even for their age, you just keep finding them at every lawnsale or church sale. I will usually collect enough of the pattern to serve 12, and then sell the set, and start collecting all over again. But this one design that I simply call "Sputnik" has taken years to find the few pieces that I do own. It has no markings but I suspect because of the Atomic-theme design that it is from the 50's. The Pyrex casserole dish (Butterprint Amish) was from this weekend's lawnsales ($.25 cents) and the dish/planter is a Bauer piece from a lawnsale last summer, under $2.00.

Here is another cream/aqua piece that I have shown before, $1.99 Goodwill.

This next recipe is also from the Crisco cookbook, Upside Down Ham Loaf. I am not sure why it is named Loaf, it is cooked in a skillet on the stovetop. I haven't tried this particular recipe. Once again it is suggested to be served with Asparagus. Was Asparagus the "In" veggie of the 50's, because I know, that nothing says party like Asparagus.

Here is one complete place setting that I have managed to collect, cup and saucer, dinner plate, fruit bowl, and smaller plate. I have 7 dinner plates, 2 luncheon size plates and 3 fruit bowls, along with just the one cup and saucer. That has taken me 5 years to find. I have found some at lawnsales and the rest at Goodwill. It is interesting to note that the Goodwill pieces were not all at once, but rather here and there, mostly for $.99 cents. The cup and saucer were the most recent find at the new Goodwill store for a whopping $3.99. More than what I usually spend, but just had to have them. I It is the thrill of the hunt.

I always enjoy seeing notes written in the margins of a recipe. It usually means that the recipe was well received. For this Yellow Cake Crisco recipe, the penciled in notes indicate it is being more than doubled in size. 2 cups cake flour is being changed to 5 cups. Maybe for use as a Wedding Cake?