Blast from the Past: Toffee Bars

Holidays with gram meant cookies - a decorative tin filled with an array of homemade cookies. My favorite was always the toffee bars. The recipe remained a secret until I got my first place.

When I moved into my first apartment, my grandparents gifted me a 9-Speed Osterizer Blender (Model 647-04, Made in the U.S.A.). Along with this blender, purchased January 27, 1971 (almost as old as me!) came a cookbook: Osterizer Blender Spin Cookery Cookbook. In that booklet, tucked between pages 28 and 29, was a note from my gram, revealing her secret toffee bar recipe.

Ingredients (makes about 36 bars)

• 2 cups Sifted Flour
• 1 Egg Yolk
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 cup Butter, room temperature
• 1 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bits
• 1 cup Pecans

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease a 9'x13" pan.
3. Sift flour into mixing bowl.
4. Put Egg Yolk, Vanilla, Butter, and Brown Sugar into OSTERIZER container, cover, and process at BLEND until smooth. Use a rubber spatula to aid in processing. Add to flour and mix well.
5. Spread in prepared pan and bake 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle chocolate bits over the top, return to the oven for a few seconds to melt chocolate.
6. When chocolate bits have melted, remove from oven and spread chocolate evenly over the cookies.
7. Put half the nuts into MINI-BLEND container and process 2 cycles at GRATE. Sprinkle over chocolate. Repeat with remaining nuts.
8. Cut into bars while warm. Cool in pan.

As soon as Passover is over, I'll whip up a batch of Eden-friendly (dairy and refined-sugar free) toffee bars for you. Oh, in case you're curious, I still have that Osterizer.

Let's Have a Drink

While it's tax day, it's also Friday. That means, it's time for the weekend! We've got lots going on, including a road trip to celebrate a friend's 30 birthday. 

Many of our friends have retro bars, whether an actual bar or a Trav-L bar matters not. We're pretty much guaranteed our parties will have yesteryear flair. To match the look, here are over a dozen drink recipes from the 1950s and 1960s, courtesy of the bar accessories I featured Tuesday. 

I'm thinking of trying a Side Car or a White Lady the next time I'm all dolled up. What's your poison?

Alexander

• 1/3 Dry Gin
• 1/3 Creme de Cacao
• 1/3 Sweet Cream
• Shake well with ice, strain, and serve.

Bacardi

• 1 Dash Grenadine
• 1/4 Lemon Juice
• 1/4 Gin
• 1/2 Bacardi Rum

Bronx - Version 1

• 1/3 Gin
• 1/3 Italian Vermouth
• 1/3 Orange Juice

Bronx - Version 2

• 1/2 Dry Gin
• 1/6 French Vermouth
• 1/6 Italian Vermouth
• 1/6 Orange Juice
• Shake with ice, strain, and serve.

Champagne Cocktail

• Ice cube soaked with Angostura bitters
• Squeeze two lemon peels
• Iced champagne

Clover Club

• 1/2 Gin
• 1/4 French Vermouth
• 3 Dashes of Grenadine
• 1/6 Lemon Juice
• 1 white of an Egg

Daiquri

• 1 1/2 jager Rum
• Juice of 1 Lime
• 1/2 teaspoon Powdered Sugar
• Shake well with ice, strain, and serve.

Dubonnet

• 1 Dry Gin
• 1 Dubonnet
• 1 Orange Juice
• Shake with cracked ice, strain, and serve.

Eye Opener

• Yolk of an Egg
• 1 teaspoon Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Anisette
• 1 part Rum
• Large Glass

Gin and It

• 1/3 Italian Vermouth
• 2/3 Dry Gin

Manhattan

• 2/3 Canadian Club Whisky
• 1/3 Italian Vermouth
• 1 Dash Angostura Bitters
• Stir with Cracked Ice, strain, and serve with a Cherry.

Old Fashioned - Version 1

• 1 teaspoon Sugar
• 4 Dashes Angostura Bitters
• Rye Whisky
• Ice & Fresh Water
• Serve with an orange slice and a cherry.

Old Fashioned - Version 2

• 1 jager Liquor
• 2-3 Dashes Angostura Bitters
• Sugar & a little soda
• Stir well, and serve with an orange slice and a cherry.

Dry Martini - Version 1

• 1/3 French Vermouth
• 2/3 Gordon Gin

Dry Martini - Version 2

• 2/3 Dry Gin
• 1/3 French Vermouth
• Dash Orange Bitters
• Stir with cracked ice; serve with olive.

Side Car

• 1/3 Lemon Juice
• 1/3 Cognac Brandy
• 1/3 Cointreau
• Shake well with ice, strain, and serve.

Tom Collins

• 1 Part Lemon Juice
• 2 teaspoons Sugar
• 1 Part Gin
• Fill with Soda and Ice

Tomato Cocktail

• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
• Tomato Juice

Whiskey Sour

• 2 oz Whiskey
• 1 teaspoon powdered sugar
• Juice 1/2 lemon and 1/2 lime, shake with cracked ice, strain, and serve.

White Lady

• 1/3 Lemon Juice
• 1/3 Cointreau
• 1/3 Gin

Blast from the Past: Heart-Shaped Biscuits

One of my favorite cookbooks recently has to be my Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book, First Edition, Fifth Printing c.1950. For February's Pantry Challenge I made two breakfast items from it - Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Glaze and these heart-shaped biscuits.

Ingredients (makes 20 biscuits)

• 2 cups sifted Flour
• 3 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 6 Tablespoons Crisco Butter Flavored Shortening
• 2/3 cup Unsweetened Soy Milk
• 1/3 cup Earth Balance, melted

Instructions

1. Position cooking rack in the center of your oven. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Sift Flour, Baking Powder, and Salt together.
3. With a pastry blender, cut the shortening into the flour mixture. 
4. Stir in almost all of the Soy Milk. If the dough does not seem pliable, abdd the rest. Use just enough to make a soft, puffy dough easy to roll out. Too much Soy Milk makes dough sticky, not enough makes biscuits dry.
5. Round up dough on lightly floured surface. Knead lightly.
6. Roll dough or pat out (with floured hand) 1/4" thick for thin, crusty biscuits or 1/2" thick for thick, soft biscuits.
7. Cut close together with a biscuit cutter or heart-shaped cookie cutter.
8. Fit leftover bits together - do not reknead - pat out, roll smooth, and cut.
9. Coat the bottom of a large cast iron skillet with roughy half of the melted Earth Balance.
10. Add the cut biscuits to the skillet with edges touching; this gives your biscuits soft sides. Brush the remaining melted Earth Balance across the tops of the biscuits.
11. Put skillet into preheated oven and bake at 450 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until tops are golden brown.

Blast from the Past: Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Glaze

Yesterday we brunched at Andy and Mella's. Continuing our Pantry Challenge, I whipped up Cinnamon Rolls from my Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book, First Edition, Fifth Printing c.1950 (adapted by substituting Earth Balance for butter and Maple Sugar for Brown Sugar).

The original recipe didn't include a glaze, but after cubes and I sampled one of the rolls, we both decided that something was missing.

Ingredients (20 - 1 3/4" biscuits)

• 2 cups sifted All Purpose Flour
• 3 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 6 Tablespoons Crisco
• 2/3 cup Soy Milk
• 2 Tablespoons Earth Balance, melted
• 1/4 cup Maple Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon

For glaze:

• 1/2 cup Earth Balance
• 1/4 cup Maple Sugar
• 2 Tablespoon Maple Syrup
• 1 Tablespoon Coconut Milk
• 2 teaspoons Corn Starch 

Instructions

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Combine Flour, Baking Powder, and Salt.
3. Cut in Crisco finely.
4. Stir in Soy Milk.
5. Round up on lightly floured board.
6. Knead lightly.
7. Roll dough 1/4" thick into 7"x16" rectangle.
   
   
   
   
8. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup Maple Sugar and 1 teaspoon Cinnamon.
9. Add 2 Tablespoons melted Earth Balance to Maple Sugar and Cinnamon mixture. Blend thoroughly.
10. Spread rolled dough with melted Earth Balance, Maple Sugar, and Cinnamon mixture.
11. Roll up tightly beginning at the wide side.
    
    
    
    
12. Cut into 1/2" slices, placing cut-side down on baking sheet.
13. Bake at 425 degrees about 15 minutes. When done cool for 5 minutes on wire rack.
14. For glaze, on medium low heat, melt Earth Balance. Add Maple Sugar and Coconut Milk. Dissolve Corn Starch in Maple Syrup and add. Stir constantly until mixture comes to a boil and thickens.
15. Stack rolls in a pie plate. Drizzle glaze over the top.

Retro Kitchen: Let's Organize Our Recipes

Inspiration for cooking can come from anywhere. The back of a can of diced tomatoes or black beans. In a newspaper. In a magazine. In a direct mailer. Or online.

The women in my family - gram, mom, and aunt - collect their recipes on 3x5.25 index cards and keep them neatly organized in metal recipe boxes. 

Images courtesy of The Aviary $11 and Plaid Pony Vintage, $12

I'm less organized than they are. I have clipped recipes from magazines and newspapers and filed them in envelopes or manila folders. I have more stuck haphazardly into the pages of an old photo album. (I did start out in with my recipes in a metal recipe box. I stashed it in a storage unit when I was in between apartment leases, and unfortunately when the storage unit was robbed I lost it.) Electronic recipes are scattered across various inboxes and more recently here on this blog.  

How do you organize your found (and created) recipes?

I'm fascinated by what people chose to clip as well as how they modified a recipe or who they cooked for. I love finding handwritten notes in cookbooks. 

Looking to start a collection of vintage recipes? Here are some options I found on Etsy. 

1. Carol Mai, $42; 2. Gryphon Vintage, $125; 3. Bunny Rabbit Vintage, $145 for complete recipe file: $45 for recipe box, $40 for Beef recipes, $30 for Chicken recipes, and $30 for Pork recipes; 4. Elsephanie, $5. 

1. Industrial Relic, $24; 2. Foresttina Vintage, $9 (I have a soft spot for this collection as it's the same metal recipe box I once had); 3. Lucy and Ellen, $34; 4. TKFindz, $12.99.

1. Disco Queen Highness, $13.95; 2. JulieAnnaNicole, $24; 3. Lady Libertine Vintage, $8.75; 4. Bunny Rabbit Vintage, $75; 5. Cookbook Addict, $45.

In case you're curious, here are my searches for vintage recipes: "handwritten recipes" "recipe box" "cooking clips" "recipe clipping book" "clipped recipes" "recipe binder." 

Retro Kitchen: A Dash of Color

Growing up my sister and I would watch reruns of 1950s sitcoms, specifically The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet (ran from 1952 to 1966), Father Knows Best (ran from 1954 to 1960), Leave it to Beaver (ran from 1957 to 1963), and The Donna Reed Show (ran from 1958 - 1966). While the shows were in black and white, my memories of the kitchens and the dresses are in color. 

Images courtesy of Sitcoms Online (left to right): Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, Father Knows Best, Father Knows Best

Images courtesy of Sitcoms Online (left to right): Leave it to Beaver; Leave it to Beaver; The Donna Reed Show

It might be that my mom's kitchen colors my memory. She had colored mixing bowls in bold colors. Blue. Green. So there's always been something just not quite right with my set of clear Pyrex mixing bowls. Don't get me wrong, they're functional. They just don't thrill me when I see them. They don't call for me. They don't beckon me to start measuring and mixing. (My brown stoneware bowl does but that's another story. That bowl signifies home cooked breakfasts in my grandparents' kitchen complete with the smells of maple syrup being heated and butter melting.)

Therefore, when I stumbled across this 2000 reproduction of a 1940s Jadeite Fire King pie pan, it was only natural that I'd start daydreaming of colorful mixing bowls.

Image courtesy of Fire King via Amazon

(I've actually had a couple of Fire King bowls in my Favorites on Etsy for a few months. I regularly search "fire king oven ware" "fireking oven ware" "fire king ovenware" "fire king jadeite" and "fireking jadeite." How perfect would it be to photograph Blast from the Past recipes with accessories from the 1950s?) The Jadeite is my favorite color. My favorite shape is the batter bowl - so practical!

The Finds: 5" Diameter Fire King Oven Ware Bowl from Oh So Downtown, $5 + $6 shipping, 1 1/2 Qt, 8" Diameter Anchor Hocking Fire King Mixing Bowl from Jen's Closet, $9.50 + $9.90 shipping; Set of Four Fire King Oven Ware Mixing Bowls, 6", 7", 8", and 9" Diameter, from Swan Vintage FInds, $125 + $16 shipping; Fire King Batter Bowl from j.i.design, $60 + $15 shipping.

What mixing bowls do you have in your kitchen? Color or clear?

Retro Kitchen: Stoneware Crocks

Our utensils cannot contain themselves any longer. We have tons of spatulas, spoons, skimmers, spatulas, tongs, and more. Because it's so convenient to have utensils out and accessible while cooking, we have them in an antique stoneware crock and IKEA stainless steel utensil holder. Post-registry shopping at Crate and Barrel, we now have more items that would benefit from being neatly organized: sushi mats and a baster. Our new skimmer displaced our potato masher so it's also in search of a new home.

It's obviously time for another container. But what type of container should we get? Stoneware or stainless steel? How do you store/organize your kitchen utensils?

Before we start searching, we need to set a couple of requirements. Our kitchen has wood cabinets stained a honey brown with black granite countertops and a mix of black and stainless appliances (photo of our kitchen). What we chose needs to be complementary with this color scheme. The only space on our counter where these utensils can live is next to our countertop oven (photo of how our countertop is currently organized). With the limited space, a metal container could potentially end up being hot to the touch. Of our current containers the crock won't fit, but the IKEA holder would fit perfectly. It's dimensions are 4 3/4" in diameter and 7 1/8" in height. Finally, I'd prefer to get something that's been gently used.

As I waited for the water for the coffee to boil (and the coffee to steep), I headed to Etsy. After three searches ("stoneware pot," "utensil jar," and "crock") and about 15 minutes, I had a few options that met our requirements. 

Where to Get the Look: 3" diameter, 4.5" tall crock from Vintage Junky Style, $8 + $6.10 shipping; 4 1/2" diameter, 5" tall crock from Bailiwick Vintage, $10 + $10.50 shipping; 4 1/4" diameter with 3 1/2" opening, 6 1/2" tall crock from Vintage Variables, $15 + $8.50 shipping; 4" diameter with 2 1/4" opening, 4 1/2" tall crock from Overlook, $8 + $8.50 shipping;  Just under 3 1/2" wide mouth, 4 1/2" tall jar from Humming Among Treasures, $6 + $6 shipping.

What would you chose? 

Blast from the Past: Cocoa & Cookies for Santa

Image courtesy of Flo's Full Wagon

Today's recipes come from Let's Cook It Right by Adelle Davis, c1947 (the most recent edition of Let's Cook It Right (Signet) was 1988). I decided to choose something for Santa-cocoa and cookies. Some of the ingredients are unusual.

Cocoa (p450)
Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp Sugar
• 2 Tbsp Cocoa
• 1/2 c Powdered Milk
• Pinch of Salt
• 4 c Milk
• 1 tsp Vanilla

Instructions

1. In a sauce pan, combine sugar, cocoa, powdered milk, and salt.
2. Add 1 cup milk and beat until smooth.
3. When smooth add remaining milk and stir well.
4. Cover and heat to simmering, or 185 degrees F; do not boil.
5. Remove from heat.
6. Add vanilla.
7. Serve immediately.

Drop Sugar Cookies (p538)
Ingredients

• 1/2 c Butter-flavored Crisco
• 3/4 c Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Tbsp Vanilla
• 3 Tbsp Evaporated or Fresh Milk
• 1 c Whole-wheat pastry flour, sifted
• 1/2 c Wheat germ
• 1/2 c Powdered milk
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 2 tsp double-acting baking powder

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Lightly brush baking sheet with oil and set aside.
3. Mix Crisco, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and milk.
4. Sift in remaining ingredients.
5. Stir only enough to mix.
6. Drop from teaspoon onto baking sheet.
7. Sprinkle lightly with sugar.
8. Bake in oven no longer than 8 minutes.

Retro Kitchen: Bright Fun Accents

On this the shortest day of the year I'm in need of some sunshine. Here are some fun retro pieces from the 1950s.

Lustro Ware Coffee, Sugar, and Tea Canisters, $28 for the set
Image courtesy of Moon over Marilyn

Sunshine yellow with an Art Deco font.
Lustro Ware Coffee, Sugar, and Tea Canisters, $25 for the set
Image courtesy of Vintage Junk in My Trunk

Such a fun font!
Lustro Ware Coffee, Flour, Sugar, and Tea Canisters, $37.50 for the set sans lids
Image courtesy of Crafty Sara

Image courtesy of Bargain Basement (ePier)

Retro Kitchen: Everything in its Place

Edgemere Diner, photographed by Bev Norton; shared in accordance with Creative Commons license.

This past Saturday we soft opened our pet project Blanchisserie Americain. When creating the logo, I drew inspiration from the 1950s. I wanted a font that was very simple yet conveyed classic elegance. The fonts used by GarnerWare and Lincoln BeautyWare with tight kerning captivated the most. 

GarnerWare Coffee, Flour, Sugar, and Tea Canisters
Image courtesy of Renee's Attic Collectibles

Lincoln BeautyWare Coffee, Flour, Sugar, and Tea Canisters, $29

Image courtesy of Wave Song

Coffee Canister, $10 

Image courtesy of MeeganL21

Lincoln Beautyware, $95 

Image courtesy of cammoo

I liked this font but felt the kerning wasn't tight enough.

Lincoln Beautyware Coffee and Tea Canisters, $20 

 4.5" in height by 5" wide and 6" deep

Image courtesy of rhan

Cake Carrier, $25 

 6" in height by 12" wide and 12" deep

Image courtesy of Vintage Me AZ

Lincoln BeautyWare Bread Box, $49.95 

Image courtesy of The Funny Bunny

I liked the treatment of the following labels, but the fonts seemed more casual. For a bakery:

Canette Masterware Coffee and Tea Canisters, $24 

Image courtesy of Compost This

For a sweet shoppe or creamery:

Lincoln BeautyWare Coffee, Flour, Sugar and Tea Canisters, $35 for set
 4.75" to 8.5" in height by 5" wide and 6" deep

 Image courtesy of So Fetch Vintage

Coffee, Flour, Sugar, and Tea Canisters, $28 

Image courtesy of French Press Vintage

Cookie Canister, $12.50 

Image courtesy of Lisa's Retro Style

For a coffee shop:

Coffee, Flour, and Tea Canisters, $38 

Image courtesy of Blue Bernice Vintage

Lincoln BeautyWare Cake Carrier, $21 

Image courtesy of Treasure Galaxy

Lincoln BeautyWare Coffee and Tea Canisters, $16.40 

Image courtesy of Claire's Faire

Lincoln BeautyWare Cake Carrier, $19 

Image courtesy of Blue Boy Vintage

And of course there were some fonts and treatments that screamed diner.

Masterware Coffee and Sugar Canisters, $24 

 4.5" to 8.75" in height by 5" wide and 6" deep

Image courtesy of Blue Bernice Vintage

Lincoln BeautyBox, $38 

Image courtesy of Found Things

And there were fonts that were a little too plain and didn't say anything at all.

Kromex Coffee, Sugar, and Tea Canisters, $26 

Image courtesy of Old Green Canoe

Coffee, Flour, Sugar, and Tea Canisters, $20

Image courtesy of Sir Edmond's Vintage

Retro Kitchen: Alphabet Soup

On the train ride in this morning I was trying to get inspired by type. Specifically type that conveyed elegance, refinement, and class. While casually scanning Etsy I noticed lots of sans serif fonts. 

$10 via Beppie Bags

As it was a cold morning, soup and chili captured and held my attention. (The perfect decor if we were opening a soup counter truck.)

Unlike the Lincoln BeautyWare or GarnerWare labeled canisters, the fonts on soup and chili bowls tended to be more casual and more frequently paired with muted earthen colors. 

Image courtesy of Rainy Penguin Vintage

If you're looking for vintage casual dining that reminds you of homecooked meals or are throwing a soup-themed potluck/cook off/shower, do a little digging on Etsy. Green mugs ranged in price from $7.25 via Honey Brown Vintage to $9 via Rainy Penguin Vintage to $14 via The Vintageholic Frog for one soup mug. Read descriptions carefully to see whether or not the bowls are still food safe.

Some vendors offered two or more mugs of the same color or different. 

Autumn Always offered green and orange soup mugs for $14.

Recycle Buy Vintage offered two tan mugs for $16.99.

Gallivanting Girls offered three tan soup mugs for $18.

Vintage Caravan offered two chili mugs for $14.

Type was also frequently paired or filled with clip art vegetables.

Image courtesy of Surrender Dorothy; $10.89 for two

Image courtesy of Jape; $10 

Again, prices vary. 

Image courtesy of L8R - G8R Vintage Finds

L8R - G8R Vintage Finds offers two mugs for $8. Lizardous offers the top and bottom mugs separately for $8 each. And Autumn Always offers a similar mug for $6.