Nice, simple, refreshing, a nice, nice salad. Truly a favorite!

1 large cucumber
Crisp lettuce
¼ cup sliced green onions
â…“ cup French Dressing

Wash, pare and slice cucumber. Trim onions, wash and slice crosswise, then add to cucumbers and toss. Serve in lettuce cups. 5 servings.
If preferred, cucumber slices may be marinated in vinegar diluted with water, drained, then combined with onion and served with mayonnaise or Russian Dressing, instead of French Dressing. The Modern Family Cookbook

I love ginger cookies, especially homemade ones. You can jazz these up a bit with some Ginger chips. (Ok, so I would eat the ginger chips while making these but if you have self-control…really yummy) Any molasses will do in my opinion, though I have to admit a fondness for retro molasses favorite Brer Rabbit Blackstrap Molasses.

In case you are unfamiliar with refrigerator cookies…these are the vintage precursors to today’s ready to bake cookies…except SO MUCH BETTER. No weird chemical taste, nice ingredients and well, delicious.

4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon soda
2½ teaspoons ginger
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup shortening (part butter)
1 cup sugar
½ cup sorghum molasses
2 egg, unbeaten

Sift flour, measure and resift 3 times with soda, ginger and salt. Cream shortening, blend in sugar, add sorghum and eggs, and beat vigorously until smooth and fluffy. Then add flour mixture and stir until thoroughly combined. Pack into a refrigerator freezing tray lined with waxed paper and chill until very firm; or shape in roll and wrap before chilling. Do not freeze. When ready to bake, slice â…›-inch thick, place on buttered cookie sheet, and bake in a moderate oven. (400° F.) for 10 minutes, or until nicely browned. The dough may be kept in the refrigerator for several days, if well wrapped and sliced and baked as cookies are needed. Makes about 6½ dozen cookies. The Modern Family Cookbook

Not much to say about carrot soup. Its good for you! Antioxidants and helps you see better at night, right? Use skim evaporated milk for even more healthy goodness. This is quick and easy+ good for those of us who need our veggies well cooked.

Use pre-cut baby carrots or sliced carrots if you want to skip the scraping/slicing. Of course a blender or food processor will stand in well for your ricer in this. Add a bit of pepper and/or ginger to perk it up.

Cream of Carrot Soup

1 bunch carrots
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon chopped onion
¼ cup flour
1â…” cups evaporated milk
1 teaspoon salt

Scrape carrots, slice and cook in 2½ cups boiling water until perfectly tender; drain, saving water. There should be about 2¼ cups, if less, add fresh water. Put carrots through a ricer or food mill. There should be 1¼ cups riced carrots. Melt butter, add onion and cook until soft. Blend in flour, then add evaporated milk and water from carrot; stir over direct heat until mixture boils and thickens. Now stir in riced carrots and salt and reheat. Serve piping hot with crisp crackers or croutons. 5 servings. The Modern Family Cookbook

Good luck making this one in March if you don’t have mincemeat on hand. You might have some leftover from the holidays so go poke around your cupboard. I do not! And, our supermarket doesn’t either. Hmph. Of course, you might go really retro and have some from putting it up yourself.
3 cups milk
3 eggs, beaten slightly
¼ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons prepared mincemeat

Scald milk and stir slowly into eggs. Stir in remaining ingredients and pour into greased custard cups. Set cups in pan of hot water and bake in a moderately slow oven. (325° F.) about 30 minutes or until custard tests done. 5 servings. The Modern Family Cookbook

There are some Eggs Benedict lovers in our house and an Eggs Benedict hater in our house. Then we have the Eggs Benedict, hold the eggs, lover in our house. In any case, it is popular for the most part and makes for a nice brunch. Though, I do have to say, AVOID Eggs Benedict in any sort of buffet brunch situation. BLECK! Meta uses ham slices, and while I have been known to do this as well when there is leftover ham, Canadian Bacon really is the meat of choice for eggs Benedict. Wonder if this is why she calls them Eggs Benedictine?

As for the Hollandaise Sauce…yes, you can buy a mix. But, it is like white sauce and gravy, you really should take the time to learn how to make a good Hollandaise. Not quite as versatile…but still…a woman (or man) who can whip up a Hollandaise Sauce that doesn’t fall apart and tastes good…can do anything in life.

Eggs Benedictine

6 ham slices, cut thin
Butter or bacon fat
3 large English Muffins
6 eggs, poached
â…” cup Hollandaise Sauce

Pan-broil ham in fat until edges are curly. Split muffins in halves and toast. Place hot ham slices on hot toasted muffins, then put hot poached eggs on the ham and pour Hollandaise Sauce over all. Serve hot. 6 servings.

Hollandaise Sauce

¼ cup butter
¼ cup cream (sweet or sour)
2 egg yolks, beaten
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Salt to taste
Dash cayenne

Melt butter in top of double boiler; add cream and beaten egg yolks, stirring well. Add lemon juice and salt, and cook over boiling water, stirring constantly, until thick. Remove from heat and beat until light. Stir in cayenne if desired. Makes â…” cup.

Mock Hollandaise Sauce

3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon salt
â…” cup milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 egg yolks, beaten

Melt butter in saucepan, blend in flour and salt, then stir in milk; cook with constant stirring over direct heat until sauce boils and thickens. Remove from heat, add lemon juice and stir into beaten egg yolks. Place over boiling water and cook with constant stirring for 2 minutes or until sauce is somooth and thick. Serve with cooked vegetables such as asparagus, broccoli, green beans or green onions which have been thoroughly drained. About 1 cup.

The Modern Family Cookbook

This next recipe comes from 500 Snacks. (1950, Culinary Arts Institute). It is perfect for any sort of morning party (our department for instance sometimes has a breakfast pot-luck) I think the one hour marinating is a bit excessive,  ok a lot excessive. I just dip them for a minute or two if using lemon juice. If using another juice, you can go with the hour. Pecans work nicely with this, but peanuts or cashews also add a familiar touch.

2 large bananas
1 cup lemon juice
3 ounces cream cheese
â…“ cup chopped nut meats

Peel bananas and cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces. Marinate in lemon juice for 1 hour. Drain, cover with cream cheese and roll in nut meats. Makes 8 hors d’oeuvres. (ok so that is what they said, I always end up with more. Bananas have grown bigger since 1950)

–Use pineapple, grapefruit or orange juice for the marinade.

Some of you believe in that whole fiber is good thing. Ok, we all do. Whole grains get better all the time and you may just find you like them. This is a quick easy way to add a little whole grain to your diet. If you want, you can brush the tops with butter and throw some wheat germ on top for some extra goodness. Best served with honey butter.

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
â…“ cup butter or shortening
¾ cup  milk

Combine the dry ingredients and mix well. Cut in the shortening and add liquid to make a soft dough. Place the dough on a lighlty floured board, and pat out or roll until  3/4 inch thick. Cut into biscuits. Bake at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes.

This is another recipe that will take well to whatever meat you have on hand. It calls for lamb but if you have leftover roast beef or pork, it will work equally as well. It is a little bland, so try using seasoned tomatoes if you have them on hand. On the other hand, nothing wrong with a simple little  retro use of leftovers in a casserole.

Lamb (or Beef or Pork) Scallop

2½ to 3 cups diced leftover lamb
1 tablespoon fat
1¼ teaspoons salt
No. 2 can tomatoes
1 cup fine dry bread crumbs
2 tablespoons butter

Brown meat in a skillet in the 1 tablespoon fat. Add salt. Arrange layers of browned meat, tomates and breadcrumbs in a casserole, topping with crumbs. Dot all over with butter and bake in a moderate oven (350° F.) ½ hour or until thoroughly heated through. 5 servings. The Modern Family Cookbook

Now, I don’t make this with veal but do use boneless chicken breasts or thighs. Quick and easy too. You can substitute yogurt for the sour cream with fine results. I chop the garlic rather than slice. (ok, so I buy pre-chopped garlic). If you start with partially frozen meat, the dicing is a cinch. As always, skip the meat wiping. Then think about your audience, will you say it is a retro recipe…or a new Indian favorite?

Veal (or Chicken) Paprika

1½ lbs. boneless veal
1 clove garlic, sliced
¼ cup butter or margarine
¼ cup water
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon paprika
Salt to suit taste

Wipe veal with a damp cloth and cut in 1-inch dice. Sauté veal and garlic in butter until brown. Add water, cover tightly and simmer gently until veal is perfectly tender, about 1 hour. Add sour cream, paprika and salt and reheat to boiling. Serve at once. 5 servings. The Modern Family Cookbook

I love coffee cake. I should really make it more often. Homemade tastes so much better than store bought.
1½ cups all-purpose flour
2¼ teaspoons baking powder
½ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg
½ cup milk
¼ cup shortening
1½ cups chopped tart apples

Streusel topping:
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon butter
½ teaspoon cinnamon

Sift flour, measure and resift 3 times with baking powder, sugar, salt and cinnamon. Beat egg, add milk and melted shortening, and pour into dry ingredients; then add the raw apples and mix well. Turn into a well-buttered 8-inch square baking pan. Mix together ingredients for streusel topping to make a crumbly mixture and sprinkle over top of batter. Bake in a moderately hot oven (400° F.) about 30 minutes or until done.  The Modern Family Cookbook