I know you want some Retro Halloween ideas and I am afraid I haven’t got a one unless bobbing for apples is your style. Or apple cider. I do like a good apple cider…especially warmed and spiced and mulled.

However, here is a cool retro halloween party kit that you could order for next year. But Miss Mary…is a treasure trove of great victorian and gothic Halloween party ideas. Visit now. I am plotting fortune telling with coffee grounds at this very minute

No need to serve coffee for the adults and milk for the children when you make this delicious treat for a meal. Reminds me of the prune milkshake but then again…I do remember some pineapple buttermilk ice cream I liked once upon a time.

Pineapple Buttermilk

Fruit Buttermilk

3 cups thick buttermilk
1½ cups canned fruit juice or juice from canned fruit
3 tablespoons sugar, or to taste
Combine all ingredients and stir until sugar dissolves. Serve well chilled. Will not curdle on standing. 5 servings.
Red cherry, apricot, pineapple, peach, and grape juice all combine well with buttermilk; or mixed juices may be used. The Modern Family Cookbook

Much better tasting than those frozen potatoes O’Brien and better than the ones you get served at restaurants. Try making them! We would use a bit more salt in this house, but I live with salt freaks…and pimentos tend to actually come in jars and be found near the olives in most grocery stores.

Potatoes O’Brien

5 medium baking potatoes, 2 lbs.
1 tablespoon butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 canned pimiento, chopped
½ teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste
1 teaspoon chopped parsley

Wash and pare potatoes thinly and cut into ¾-inch dice. Fry in deep fat heated to 360° F. until golden brown; drain. Melt butter in a skillet and sauté the onion until soft and yellow. Add potatoes and pimiento and toss about until well mixed and until hot through. Add seasonings, turn into a hot serving dish and sprinkle with chopped parsley. 5 servings.

If preferred, the potatoes may be sliced and pan-fried rather than fried in deep fat, adding the onion and pimiento the last few minutes of cooking. The Modern Family Cookbook

Before there was bubble tea…tapioca was relegated to puddings and desserts and the occassional main dish. Here is a vintage tapioca recipe that isn’t your grandmothers weird (or yummy) tapioca pudding. Pretty as a picture…cherry!

Cherry Tapioca

No. 303 can sour red cherries, water pack
½  cup water
3 tablespoons quick tapioca
Dash salt
⅔ cup sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Few drops red coloring, opt.

Drain juice from cherries into saucepan. Add water, tapioca, salt and sugar. Place over moderate heat, cook and stir until mixture boils vigorously. Remove from heat, stir in lemon juice, coloring and cherries. Stir occasionally while cooling. Mixture thickens as it cools. Serve chilled. 4 servings.

Note: If sweetened cherries are used in recipe above, only ½  cup sugar will be required. Cooked fresh cherries may also be used. The Modern Family Cookbook

I am not a lamb fan, but it is back again…

Lamb Shoulder Chops with Dressing

5 lamb shoulder chops
2 tablespoons bacon fat
3 cups coarse stale bread crumbs
½ cup cold water
1 medium onion, grated
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
½  to 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
½ teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
5 slices bacon, half cooked

Brown chops in bacon fat. Meanwhile, soak crumbs in the water until they take it all up; squeeze out the excess. Sprinkle onion, parsley and seasonings over crumbs, add beaten egg and mix lightly but enough to blend well. Put dressing in a buttered baking dish; cover with the browned chops. Cover dish and bake in a moderate oven (350° F.) about 1 hour. Remove cover, place a slice of bacon on each chop and bake 15 minutes longer to crisp bacon. 5 servings. The Modern Family Cookbook

This white layer cake and icing make for nice cupcakes if you want a white cupcake. (and sometimes children do get the urge for such strange things and of course, adults eat cupcakes these days too.)

White Layer Cake

2¼ cup cake flour
2¼ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup shortening
1⅓ cups sugar
¼ teaspoon lemon extract
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup egg whites
1 cup milk

Sift flour, measure and resift 3 times with baking powder and salt. Cream shortening until soft and smooth, then add 1 cup of the sugar and blend thoroughly. Add flavorings. Add half the egg whites, unbeaten, and beat vigorously until mixture is light and fluffy. Add flour mixture and milk alternately in 3 or 4 portions, beginning and ending with flour and beating well after each addition. Beat remaining egg whites until stiff, then gradually beat in remaining sugar and fold lightly but thoroughly into the batter. Turn into two 9-inch layer cake pans lined with waxed paper in the bottom and buttered on the sides. Bake in a moderate oven (350° F.) 28-30 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly pressed with finger tips. Cool in pans on cake racks 5 minutes, then turn out on racks to cool right side up. Spread any desired frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake. To make individual cup cakes, fill buttered muffin pans ½  full of batter, or place paper cups in muffin pan and fill ½ full. Bake at same temperature as layers, but about 5 minutes less. 8 to 10 servings.

Thin Butter Icing

2 tablespoons soft butter
1 cup sifted XXXX sugar, packed
1½ tablespoons milk
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon white corn syrup

Cream butter until smooth, then add sugar and milk alternately, a little at a time, stirring until smooth after each addition. Stir in vanilla and syrup. When smooth, pour over the cake and let stand until icing forms a glazy crust on top before cutting. Enough for one 8-inch layer. The Modern Family Cookbook

Another vegetable you don’t see much of outside of soup. Anyone ever had parsnips as a side dish kind of vegetable?

Buttered Parsnips

Choose firm parsnips, allowing one good-sized parsnip per serving. Scrub and scrape to remove any blemishes or discolorations. Split lengthwise in halves. Add boiling water to cover, and 1 teaspoon salt for each quart of water. Heat to boiling, cover pan, then reduce heat and boil gently until the parsnips are tender, from 20 to 30 minutes, depending on tenderness and size. Drain thoroughly. Then pour melted butter over them and cook in the butter until browned on all sides, watching carefully and turning frequently. Parsnips scorch easily because of their high sugar content. Serve hot. The Modern Family Cookbook

I. Love. Butterscotch. Never thought of it on bananas but since I saw it on the menu…I have been thinking quite a bit about how good that will be!

Butterscotch Sauce

1½ cups brown sugar, packed
⅔ cup white corn syrup
⅓ cup water
¼ cup butter
⅔ cup evaporated milk
½  teaspoon vanilla
½  cup chopped nuts, if desired

Put sugar, corn syrup, water and butter into a saucepan and boil to the soft ball stage (236° F.). Cool, then beat in the evaporated milk, a little salt and vanilla. Stir in nuts and serve on ice cream, bananas, or any desired pudding. Makes about 2 cups. The Modern Family Cookbook

This homey retro veggie makes a nice change of pace from frozen broccoli or veggie mixes.

Escalloped Tomatoes

No. 2 can tomatoes or 4 large fresh
2 cups soft bread crumbs, toasted
1 medium onion, chopped
¾ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons butter

Combine tomatoes with the toasted bread crumbs and stir in onion, salt and sugar. Turn into buttered casserole. Bake in a moderate oven (375° F.) from 15 to 20 minutes or until hot through. 5 servings. The Modern Family Cookbook

I know this recipe was not the highlight for most of you for the September Menus, but it really doesn’t sound dreadful, ok, except for the pig hock part.

Braised Pig Hocks

2½ lbs. fresh pig hocks
2 teaspoons salt
Hot water

Wipe meat with a damp cloth, place in a 3-qt saucepan, sprinkle with salt and barely cover with hot water. Cover and heat until liquid boils, then reduce heat and sinner 2 to 3 hours or until meat is tender enough to slip off the bones. 5 servings.

Variation: One quart sauerkraut may be added the last half hour of cooking. The Modern Family Cookbook