Date Bars

 

Looking at the ingredients to this recipe got me to wondering if lard is still available. It is, and a simple Google search will tell you where to buy it, if you are so inclined. While doing a little research about lard I found out it is making a bit of a resurgence among foodies, because of the unique properties it can bring to baking and cooking and, according to Wikipedia, “despite its reputation, lard has less saturated fat, more unsaturated fat, and less cholesterol than an equal amount of butter by weight. Unlike many margarines and vegetable shortenings, unhydrogenated lard contains no trans fat.”

As for this recipe, I am not a fan of dates, but I suppose you could substitute any number of other fruits. But then, of course, they would no longer be Date Bars.

Oatmeal Cookies

 

The addition to this cookie of brown sugar, molasses, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and raisins makes for a delicious sounding cookie. I have always been partial to oatmeal cookies anyway, so to me this recipe has everything going for it.

Ice Box Cookies

 

As I’ve said before I am including everything in the old recipe box, and this unfinished recipe is next in line. At first I thought it was the start of a typed card for a previous recipe for Ice Box Cookies, but the ingredients are not the same. Maybe a delivery by the Ice Man interrupted the typing.

Peanut Butter Quickies

 

The peanut butter and raisin combination sounds good, but by adding a whole can of condensed milk and no flour I can’t imagine this turning out to be anything other than peanut butter milk. What are your thoughts? 

Chocolate Cookies

 

That is a creative way to spell “Chocolate.” The recipe sounds pretty good, but I think the addition of some raisins or nuts might make it a little better. Several of the recipes so far have called for baking in a “slow oven,” while this is the first calling for a quick one.

Fruit Cookies

 

This recipe card is so battered and stained you can hardly read it. Must have been a favorite! Below is my transcription.

Louise Holt Fruit Cookie (very good)

1 ½ cups sugar

1 cup shortening

3 well beaten eggs

2 tbsp molasses (or white okay)

Mix well (cream)

Add

1 cup of dates

1 cup raw apples

1 ½ cups nut meats

1 ½ tsp vanilla

(1 tsp soda dissolved in 3 tbsp hot water)

2 tsp grated lemon peel or orange peel

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp cloves

½ tsp salt

3 ½ cups flour

Bake in 350 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes

Cookies

 

These three cookie recipes were all together in the box so I decided they would count as one post. The top recipe is the only one with baking instructions, but it has no mention of flour. The other differences are the inclusion or not of cocoa, cereal, vanilla, baking powder, soda, salt, milk, lard and nuts. Even though they are all titled the same each recipe will give you a different tasting cookie.

Oh, and I bet you would be safe baking all of them at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

Velvet Banana Bread

 

The only product specific ingredient on this recipe is the U & I Sugar, so my guess is this was clipped off the side of a bag of that particular sweetener, probably in the 1970’s.

The bread recipe sounds pretty good, especially the addition of walnuts.

Graham Bread

 

Graham Bread was invented by Sylvester Graham, who also invented Graham Crackers. Graham flour is unbleached whole wheat flour. I did not know any of this and had to look it up, as I had never heard of Graham Bread, which today we call Wheat Bread.

The recipe is kind of scattered and incomplete, with no baking instructions, and even calls for the addition of white flour. For a complete Graham Bread recipe try this one.

Applesauce Cake

 

My wife and I have been cooking down several bushels of apples this week into canned applesauce and, eventually, some apple butter too. Even though we have been making bread with applesauce for years this recipe could not be timelier.

The most recent mention of Cloverbloom Butter I could find was from the 1950’s.

Cornbread

 

When I came across the first cornbread recipe I had no reason to suspect there would be anymore, let alone all of these. These three were fortunately together so I decided to include them all in one post rather than three separate posts. They are mostly the same recipe, with the only differences being measurements and whether to use shortening, butter or sour cream. I would eat and enjoy any of them, but that sour cream version sounds intriguing.   

Frosting

 

Our next recipe looks like it was jotted down on a used envelope flap. With just three ingredients this is about as simple as homemade frosting can get, and a great way to reuse an envelope.

Coffee Bread

 

I remember coffee breads as being sweet and usually gooey or sticky but this one is kind of a Plain Jane basic bread. I suppose you could add nuts, bananas or a sticky glaze to liven it up. Or all three!