April, 2007

  1. Corn Sticks or Muffins

    April 28, 2007 by Tarrant Figlio

    We wrap up the year of Modern Family Cookbook menus with this recipe. Grab some nice butter and molasses to serve on top. Heating the pans beforehand really gives a nice texture to the finished product. So, give it a try and give the Jiffy folks a day off. It really is a satisfying thing to make corn sticks from scratch.

    Corn Sticks or Muffins

    ¾ cup all-purpose flour
    3 teaspoons baking powder
    2 tablespoons sugar
    ¾ teaspoon salt
    ¾ cup yellow or white corn meal
    1 egg
    1 cup milk
    ¼ cup melted shortening

    Sift flour, measure and resift 2 times with next 4 ingredients, the last time into mixing bowl. Beat egg well, stir in milk and melted shortening, and pour all at once into center of dry ingredients. Stir quickly until dry ingredients are just dampened, then give 3 or 4 more stirs. Batter should not be smooth. Spoon quickly into greased, hot corn stick pans or muffin pans, filling about â…” full. Bake in a hot oven (425° F.) about 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans immediately and serve at once. 10 to 12 medium-sized muffins. The Modern Family Cookbook

    Category Breads, Recipes, retro food | Tags: | 2 Comments

  2. Housekeeping of Yesteryear

    April 27, 2007 by Tarrant Figlio

    Yesterday, when I saw this post at Modern Mechanix…I chuckled. Time and money-saving tools for Woman’s Workshop in the Home, 1924…how quaint. Then browsing through the junk mail last night…Solutions Catalog. Same sort of stuff. Same sort of sell. The more things change…the more things stay the same

    Category housekeeping | Tags: | No Comments

  3. Curried Shrimp

    April 27, 2007 by Tarrant Figlio

    I feel like we are having a processed food week here. There is only one recipe left on the Modern Family Menus (I think, I need to double check) and it is for tomorrow, so I have been filling in with the Make it! Bake it! cookbook. It seems to be overly fond of the processed but of course that is something to love in retro food and a week of it isn’t about to kill us. I do have an idea proceeding forward after the first (oh my! That is Tuesday!) but in the meantime…one more from Make it Now Bake it Later.

    I have to admit an adulthood fondness for curry. My mother would occassionally make curried fruit when I was a child for parties but it never did a lot for me then. (Love it now though) Somehow, that changed. Interestingly, as much as I like “real” curries from around the world, quirky retro American curries DO make me very happy. (particularly hot curried eggs)

    This one definitely is very American in its nature. Go along with it. You can never go wrong with Cream of Mushroom soup! Even rich folks use it!

    Add a bit more curry and a dash of salt if needed after heating. (says a double boiler, but if you stir constantly on low you can do it stove top, or zap it in the microwave) If you skip the refrigerate step, it is more likely that you will want to add more curry…as the refrigeration gives the curry flavor time to bloom.

    Curried Shrimp

    Quick and Tasty!

    1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
    1 4-oz can mushrooms, undrained
    ½ tsp. Worcestshire
    ¼ tsp. dry mustard
    ½ tsp. curry powder
    â…› tsp. pepper
    ¾ lb. fresh cooked shrimp–or 2 or 3 cans, drained and washed
    ½ cup slivered almonds, Toasted lightly in a little butter

    Mix soup, undrained mushrooms, and seasonings.
    Add shrimp. Refrigerate.

    To serve, heat in top of double boiler until piping hot. Add nuts.
    Serve over hot fluffy white rice – with a fruit salad.

    Have plenty of chutney on hand when serving curry! Serves 4~

    Category Fish, Recipes, retro food | Tags: | 2 Comments

  4. California Barbecue

    April 26, 2007 by Tarrant Figlio

    Another one from Make it Now, Bake it Later #3. It is also another with the curious “California” designation. I definitely want to know what that is about!

    I am amused by it because well, we have some fondness for canned macaroni and cheese in our house. Next time we are up to preservatives, fat and total hedonistic trashy food pleasures…we are totally making at least a half size casserole…I am afraid it won’t photo well…but maybe that is the point. Anyone want to hazard a guess as to why pre-grated cheese is banned in her recipes?

    California Barbecue

    Try this at your next cookout!

    5 cans macaroni with cheese sauce (15 oz. size)
    1 pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
    ½ lb. freshly grated sharp cheese. Don’t buy pregrated! Save some for top when adding to casserole
    1 small bunch green onions, cut up finely
    ½ tsp. oregano
    1 can French fried onions

    Mix all together except French-fried onions. Remember to save some of the cheese and sprinkle on top. Refrigerate.

    Cover top with French-fried onions and bake, uncovered, in a 350° oven 45-60 minutes until hot through.

    A 3 qt casserole is fine for this.

    Serves 8

    Category Recipes, retro food, Vegetables | Tags: | 6 Comments

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