My friend, Kim Arakawa, found a treasure from her family’s past, recipes handwritten in a ledger book.
The first entry, dated 1924, from Lillie, is a recipe for anise cookies and the ingredients are interesting, to say the least!
Anise Cookies
1 can Bear Brand molasses
1 pound warm lard
2 pounds sugar
3 eggs
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
Pinch salt
2 tablespoons baking soda dissolved in:
1/2 cup hot water
2 tablespoons ground cloves
10 cents worth anise oil to taste
Add flour until you can roll.
(There are no directions on rolling and baking the cookies. It is assumed you should know.)
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“Very Good” is noted on this recipe:
Biscuits
1 cup boiling water
1 cup scalded milk
4 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons lard
1 cake yeast mixed with 4 cups lukewarm water
Cool liquid before adding yeast.
Flour 6 to 8 cups. Make like bread.
Cake yeast was commonly used in the past. One packet, or 2 1/4 teaspoons, is equivalent to 2/3 ounce or 1/3 of a 2 ounce cake of yeast.
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Here is another “very good” recipe:
Chocolate Orange Crunchies
1 cup Spry
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
2/3 cup brown or white sugar
1 egg, unbeaten
2 cups sifted flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup nuts, chopped
1 ounce chocolate, cut in pieces add to dough, not melted
Blend Spry, salt, rind and orange rind. Add sugar gradually and cream well. Add egg, beat well, sift flour and soda. Add the creamed mixture and mix thoroughly, add nuts, chocolate and mix. Bake in moderate oven at 375 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.
Spry is a vegetable shortening made by Lever Bros. in 1936, and was in competition with Proctor and Gamble’s Crisco. Through aggressive marketing with Aunty Jenny saying “With Spry, we can afford to have cakes oftener!” they had, at one time, 75 percent of the vegetable shortening business.
However, in time, P&G’s Crisco became the only vegetable shortening, as Spry is manufactured by Ambrosia Oils Ltd. for Unilever Foods Ltd. of the United Kingdom and is available in countries such as Cyprus.
There is Spry oil in the U.K. with the slogan, “Spry Crisp &Dry.” Maybe that is what makes their fish and chips so crisp and dry.
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Hazel contributed a recipe for homemade catsup. Have a kettle of ripe tomatoes?
Catsup
1 big kettle tomatoes, cut up
Then cook good, strain good so you get all the pulp.
4 big onions, cut fine
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup vinegar
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon red pepper
Boil four hours in Nesco roaster.
Nesco has been the leader in roaster ovens since they invented the first one in 1934. These roaster ovens still are available today, as well as dehydrators and food savers.
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If you preferred to make chili sauce with the tomatoes, May gave this recipe:
Chili Sauce
25 red tomatoes
2 red peppers
3 green peppers
1 bunch celery
12 onions
2 cups sugar
1 pint vinegar
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon whole cloves
1 teaspoon whole cinnamon
1 teaspoon whole allspice
Peel and chop tomatoes and drain. Chop all vegetables. Tie spices in bag. Mix all together and boil for three hours.
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But if you have green tomatoes, Mary had a great recipe for green tomato relish, and it is marked “good” next to the recipe:
Green Tomato Relish
3 packs green tomatoes
1 dozen sweet red peppers
3 sharp peppers
1 small head of cabbage
12 onions
Put all through food chopper coarse and add 3 tablespoon table salt. Let stand overnight. In the morning, drain. Mix with the following ingredients and boil for 20 minutes:
5 cups sugar
3 cups vinegar
2 tablespoons mustard seed
1 teaspoon turmeric or to taste
Pour over drained vegetables. Seal hot.
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Homemade sauerkraut sounds very easy.
Take heads cabbage shredded fine. Pack in jars tight, add 1 teaspoon salt, put water in to fill jars, put spoon in to let air out, put rubber on seal air tight.
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Forget about instant pancake mix, here’s how they did it from scratch in the old days:
Egg Pancakes
Beat 6 eggs until foamy, add:
2 cups milk
2 cups sifted flour
Dash of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Beat until blended. Pour half a cup of batter on hot greased griddle.
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Dolores contributed this recipe for custard pie:
Custard Pie
One unbaked pie shell
Filling:
4 large eggs, beat lightly
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups milk, scalded
Beat all ingredients for 1 1/2 minutes. Pour into unbaked pie shell, sprinkle ground nutmeg on top. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes, then 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Email me at audreywilson 808@gmail.com if you have questions.
