I should have paid attention to this sooner. I have a miserable cold just like George.

A touch of fall sneaks in every now and then this time of year. The produce market starts to bulge with apples, pears, the fruits of autumn. My family makes this pie for Thanksgiving, but really, I could probably eat it every day. I use about half the sugar the recipe calls for and don’t peel the apples.

Harvest Moon Fruit Pie

Double crust pastry for 9-inch pie
11/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3 cups (3 med.) peeled and thinly sliced apples
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, ground
1 cup dried apricots, ground
milk
sugar

Oven 375

In large mixing bowl, combine sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg; stir in apples, cranberries and apricots. Turn into 9-inch pastry lined pie pan. Roll out remaining dough; cut slits for escape of steam. Moisten rim of bottom crust. Place top crust over filling. Fold edge under bottom crust, pressing to seal. Flute edge. Brush top with milk; sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 375 for 45 to 50 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm.

Now, Luella has a different take on cheese pudding. This is actually similar to how my mother made what she called Cheese Souffle. It is tasty…and retro…and well…I think you will like it. Simple!

Luella’s Cheese Pudding

6 slices toast
1/4 c. butter or margarine
21/2 c. sliced American Cheese
3 slightly beaten eggs
21/2 c milk
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp. dry mustard
1/4 c dry sherry

Butter toast, quarter each slice. Alternate layers of bread and cheese in 2 qt oblong baking dish with top layer cheeese. Combine eggs, milk, seasonings and sherry. Pour over all. Bake in a slow oven, 325 degrees, 30-45 minutes or until knife comes out cleam. If you wish, decorate after bakign with drained, warmed canned asparagus. Good for Friday supper or bridge lunch. (6 servings) Ursula Johns Gill submitted this to Talk About Good published by the Junior League of Lafayette, Louisiana.

This recipe strikes me as a bit too much retro convenience even for me. At the same time…it is strangely appealing. Hey, anything comparable to mac and cheese can’t be half bad. From my Great-grandmother’s recipe collection:

Cheese Pudding

1 sm box saltines
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can Carnation milk (large)
2 hard boiled eggs (sliced)
1/2 can pimentos
1/2 lb. sharp cheese, grated
Mix soup, milk and crackers together (leave some crumbs for top). Pour in casserole. Add sliced eggs and pimentos. Add another layer of soup. Top with cheese and cracker crumbs. Bake at 350 until bubbly and slightly brown on top.

This recipe is great in place of macaroni and cheese. It is particularly good with the typical Thanksgiving or Christmas meal.

Gloria Harrison

These are very easy and incredibly convenient. Instead of grabbing the pricey ones out of the dairy case or the ones out of the freezer case…try keeping these on hand. It calls for Crisco but you can use butter instead.

Ice Box Biscuits

4 cups self rising flour
2 eggs beaten with
1 1/4 c milk
1 c Crisco

Work flour and Crisco, add milk and eggs, knead lightly using flour on board, roll thing. Cut biscuits, place on floured tin, freeze. Store in plastic bag and use as needed. Put in cold oven set at 400 degrees F. Bake until done. Brown quickly

It is super chilly this morning…say 66 degrees. Sure, it will be in the 80s but currently it is chilly. I don’t like it. I wanted some temperature between too hot to breathe and chilly. Of course, chill in the air means new foods on the menu. This is easy and yummy and a bit err heavy…but really, you deserve it with the chill. Use thighs or drumsticks to save money and keep in mind the time for baking is based on bone in chicken breasts.

Chicken with Sherry

Salt and paprika chicken breasts and then dredge with flour. Brown both sides of breasts lightly in pan with stick of oleo or some corn oil. Arrange chicken in pan and pour the following mixture over it:

1 can mushroom soup, can of mushroom (pieces), carton of sour cream, and cup of cocktail sherry-plus the drippings from the frying pan mixed with a little water. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 1 to 1 hour and 15 minutes, depending on size of chicken breasts.

If you are a person who likes cream cheese dip on your fruit, this is the one for you. Even better–this is good on a hearty brown bread. This would be just the thing to perk up your fruit platter or coffeecake at your next breakfast party at work.

I adore the 6 servings -45 cents part of the recipe. Sorry, I have no idea what year. Still, thriftier than buying the pre-made and chemical-laden cream cheese fruit dips in your produce section.

Italian Cream Cheese

1 cup creamed cottage cheese
4  tbs. sour cream
1 tbs. sugar
1 tbs. rum
cinnamon

Blend ingredients, except cinnamon, til smooth. Mound in center of a plate. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon. Delicious on fruit, stewed or fresh, nut bread, or coffee cake.

We have a new Wii at our house. This means that the modern youth and us old folk have spent two evenings in the living room looking rather uncoordinated and silly WHILE having a lot of fun. I think one of the dance games will eventually come to our house… in the meantime just imagine the Retro house family making funny faces and moving sort of like this video except with wii-motes in hand.

A different cheese cake today-a chocolate one. This is a no bake cheese cake and chocolate making it a hit for many of you. It isn’t my favorite chocolate cheese cake - I am not a gelatin cheesecake fan. It is quite retro in prep though…including the cooking of the chocolate pudding.

Chocolate Cheese Cake

2 cups crushed cinnamon graham crackers
1/2 cup unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup cold water
2 4-oz. packages chocolate pudding
2 cups milk
1 12-ounce carton (1 1/2 cups) cottage cheese, sieved
1 cup heavy cream, whipped

Prepare crust, mix crushed graham crackers and melted butter together. Press on bottom and sides of 9-inch spring-form pan. Soften gelatin in water. Cook chocolate pudding according to package directions; however use only 2 cups milk. When thickened, stir in gelatin. Fold in sieved cottage cheese. Cool to about room temperature and then fold in whipped cream. Pour into crust. Chill until firm. This dessert may be frozen. Makes 10-12 servings. Garnish with whipped cream and shaved chocolate, if desired.