Posted on 02/26/2015 2:58:16 PM PST by Jamestown1630
This week's thread is about Cooking With Kids.
When I was in elementary school in the early 1960s, every year the school would hold a book fair; students could look at new books and pick some out to buy.
One year I bought 'Betty Crocker's Cookbook for Boys and Girls', originally published in the late 1950s. I loved looking at this book, and learned a lot using the recipes.
For a children's book, it's a surprisingly comprehensive guide to basic cooking, with a lot of interesting presentation ideas, and even some decorative crafts. AND it includes campfire cooking!
I wanted to post a recipe from it that has become a staple for us; and it struck me to try and find the book on Amazon, even though I was sure it was OOP.
I was surprised to find that there is a 'facsimile' edition available:
http://www.amazon.com/Crockers-Facsimile-Edition-Crocker-Cooking/dp/0764526340
Some of the reviews indicated that it is somewhat edited, and not entirely like the original. BUT: one of the respondents subversively indicated that the original is available on archive.org! I was thrilled to find it - scanned complete with cooking splatters - and to look at the wonderful retro drawings again:
https://ia600506.us.archive.org/12/items/bettycrockerscoo00croc/bettycrockerscoo00croc.pdf
I hope that some of you will remember it, and enjoy looking at it again.
A recipe that I have used from this book countless times over decades, is adapted from the recipe for Spanish Rice (page 151 in the original):
Spanish Rice
Prepare One Cup of Raw White Rice (to make 3 cups cooked)
Heat Oven to 400 degrees
Fry 6 slices bacon until crisp; drain and crumble
Pour bacon grease from pan, leaving about 2 T
Add 1/2 C. minced onion and ½ C. diced green pepper (I usually use 3/4 C. of each).
Cook until onion is yellow
Add in fry pan:
the 3 C. Cooked Rice
2 C. diced, canned tomatoes (one regular can)
1-1/2 tsps. Salt
and the crumbled bacon.
Turn all into greased baking dish. Sprinkle top with grated Cheddar Cheese (as much as you like :-)
Bake 25-30 minutes, or until cheese melts and begins to brown.
Wait, you said peanut butter fudge. No, there isn’t one with peanut butter in the book, only the plain one I posted.
From p. 50
Sugar Cookies
Heat oven to 400.
Blend together - 1/2 C shortening, 1/2 t salt, 1 t grated lemon rind, 1 C sugar
Beat in - 1 egg unbeaten and 2 T milk
Stir in - 2 C sifted Gold Medal Flour, 1 t baking powder and 1/2 t soda
Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls on lightly greased baking sheet.
Grease bottom of a glass.
Dip glass in sugar and flatten each cooky (yes, cooky).
Sprinkle cookies with nutmeg. Bake 8-10 minutes, until light golden.
Cool on a rack.
Makes about 3 dozen cookies.
When your gdaughter is older, get her Cookwise by Shirley Corriher. She’s the food chemist on Alton Brown’s show. It’s more technical than a recipe book so wait until she’s at least 10. It explains the how and why you’d use baking powder over baking soda or why you want certain protein percents in flour or whether to use butter rather than shortening for soft or crunchy cookies. Grab a $2 used on now off amazon. Can’t beat the price. I wanted to get each of our 4H members one back when it first came out but couldn’t afford the new price.
Hmm….I could have sworn I used that book for peanut butter fudge. It was one of my favorites to make. Very easy.
I remember that sugar cookie recipe! Another one I often made.
LOL! I had to read that one to my husband :-)
-JT
How far ahead can you make homemade ice cream? How long does it keep in the deep freeze?
-JT
The funny thing is, the first time I made those cookies all we had was self-rising flour. So, I omitted the leavening agents, but included the salt.
I think the extra saltiness was the thing that made the cookies great ;-)
-JT
It goes fast around here, even with swallowing problems. ;)
/johnny
I like that website.
-JT
You had a great upbringing.
I think I never got suckered into feminism, because I never experienced any kind of frustration of interests or goals, due to my gender - nobody suggested limitations, just because I was born female.
(I do remember that the time came when they put a shirt on me, and I was no longer allowed to run around outside just in shorts, like my brother did in summer; and that kind of stung, because I was too young to understand it. But, hey.....:-)
-JT
I have to post an addendum to this week’s thread, because I discovered something.
Husband and I were watching Youtube today, and we discovered the Crazy Russian Hacker:
https://www.youtube.com/user/CrazyRussianHacker
He had an idea about chopping onions: chew gum while you chop, and your eyes won’t water.
A few days ago, I chopped an onion and my eyes really stung and watered; and I remembered that when I saw his video.
It works! Tonight when I chopped an onion, I chewed a piece of gum. I could feel the inside of my nose and mouth burning slightly, but my eyes didn’t burn or tear.
How the heck does this work? I wish I’d discovered it years ago.
(He also has a ‘how to peel an egg’ video, which I haven’t tried yet...)
-JT
The tears are one drawback....the smell that lingers on one’s hands is twice AS BAD. The oder would awake me in the middle of the night smelling worse than a skunk. No matter what, it could not be eliminated with anything but time. However, found a remedy for that at last. After handling onions-— soap up the hands grab the stainless steel faucet with both hands....sliding them up/down for about 2-3 minutes. Ok...no gutter comments, please. It does work and the odor is no longer any problem. Will try the gum for the tears, tho that is not much of a problem. Some things one can life with.
I don’t really know. We never had any left. LOL
Yeah; I guess my question was along the lines of, ‘What does one do with leftover wine?’
Anyhow, I’m going to buy the Cuisinart, and I’ll do some practice and let everybody know.
Best,
JT
Your post reminds me of two things:
The first time I made a reduction sauce of balsamic vinegar/butter, for a steak: it was WONDERFUL! But all night long, and into the next day, the smell of the vinegar was in my hair, in the house, everywhere.
And the first time I chopped jalapenos (gloveless) I didn’t realize how hot they were. The burning under my fingernails lasted for 24 hours! There was no way to wash it out.
The chewing gum was a revelation for me, though; occasionally, an onion is mild and doesn’t set me off; but usually I’ll cry a river.
The only thing I can think is that when you are chewing gum, your mouth is open and active; perhaps the fumes are absorbed more by the mouth than the nose, which is closer to eyes. Or, are the fumes absorbed by the gum?
Anyhow, it worked for me :-)
-JT
What a weekend! The weather here felt as though we were in upstate NY. Snow, ice, freezing temps. Schools closed, traffic stopped. ISP-not providing. Monday doesn’t seem half bad. We became hibernating bears. Weather such as this makes me long for my GM biscuits and gravy. She’d make biscuits every morning and as a child, we were given special biscuits and gravy. Of course, gravy then was what we call cream gravy or home style gravy. Just recently found on some blog that they, too, loved biscuits and gravy. The only difference- they were REALLY special as they were eating biscuits and CHOCOLATE gravy. Never having heard of chocolate gravy, made note and placed in the to-try file. Just cream gravy with cocoa powder added along with a sweetener. One day when feeling really decadent.....
Odor tips ...just in case. Dog meets skunk. Bathe dog with tomato juice. When this occurred, it was tried. Passing grade was given. Though it is a messy proposition (large dog), much better than the skunk-smell of a close & loving friend/dog. Even at the risk of forgoing that bloody Mary. They are worth every drop.
Question? Do any here remember their elders speak of scraping the egg shells? On yet another blog, somewhere, it was read that they remember talk of taking a spoon to scrape the egg white off the egg shell so as not to lose any. Never heard that before. How much would cling to the shell in a lifetime of broken eggs? And leading to another question.....what do you do with your egg shells? Coffee, fertilizer, compost, mosaic art, elec. garbage disposal, or just toss?
This brings to mind the rubber bands saved, folded scraps of tin foil/aluminum foil - habits of some elders learned during the Depression. Any others known out there? There might be a time in the future when the ideas once forgotten should again be learned. Share, please? TIA
Thanks....
I downloaded from your post.
Just sent it to the kids.
https://ia600506.us.archive.org/12/items/bettycrockerscoo00croc/bettycrockerscoo00croc.pdf
I have the cookbook that I took to college. It still has my favorite recipes. I especially like the peanut butter cookie recipe .... with my comment “This one damnit!”
Earlier, spoke of sharing the list of recipe sites. After numerous misadventures, will offer the site if there are any interested parties. Please be kind—there were a good many challenges in organizing and keeping this info. Do hope this will be of help.
http://mylibrary.yuku.com/topic/7/FOOD-SITES
Believe it or not, it’s possible to cook french fries on the stovetop with almost no splattering. The key is to use low heat for a longer time:
http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/19/an-easy-way-to-make-french-fries/?_r=0
I’ve tried it and it works. You have to be patient but the fries are indistinguishable from regular fries.
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