Apr 30
Tarrant FiglioBeverages, Desserts, retro food
Today was warmish for our area. It put me in mind of summer and an ice cream soda with Old fashioned goodness seemed just right. This recipe comes from a 1968 advertising leaflet from Hershey’s-Chocolate Town Classics.
You see, back in about 1958 they created a powder “Hershey’s Instant” which is rather like Nestle Quik…except it had some issues with not dissolving easily (note the instructions on mixing powder with milk) and people liked Quik better. They attempted to revamp it in the 80s but it is long gone from the supermarket shelves. While this recipe uses that no longer available product-you could substitute Nestle Quik or Hershey’s Syrup just fine. Another option would be to use the Scharffen Berger sweetened cocoa mix-in that case-use the milk/dissolving instructions. Note the serving size is way smaller than today’s “scoop” of ice cream and enjoy without guilt.
Ice Cream Soda
3 heaping teaspoons HERSHEY’S INSTANT
2 tablespoons milk
1 scoop vanilla ice cream (about 1/3 cup)
Chilled soda water to fill glass
COMBINE…the HERSHEY’S INSTANT with the milk in a tall 12-oz glass.
ADD…the ice cream and fill slowly with the soda water, stirring gently to mix.
Yield: 1 serving
Nov 12
Tarrant FiglioBeverages, Recipes, retro food
The oldest daughter up and got married last spring. Then she moved to Hawaii! That is pretty far away and we miss her. We also are unmoved by her grumbles when it rains and she has “bad weather.” Hello child. Your moms live in Illinois. A little rain and 75? Oh well.
I thought of her though when I saw this recipe–even though I can’t imagine what is “Beach Boy” about it. It sounds just like the Cranberry Holiday punch my mother served to “the kids” and the church ladies when I was a child. She threw some fresh oranges on top and froze some oranges and cranberries in the ice ring though.
Beach Boy Punch
Mix 1 quart cranberry juice, juice of two lemons, and 1 pint orange juice; pour into punch bowl over cake of ice. Add two quarts chilled ginger ale. Makes about 4 quarts.
Better Homes and Gardens Holiday Cookbook, 1959
Oct 23
Tarrant FiglioBeverages, retro food
Oh, around the first kid pick up from school this year, I learned that my children…at least some of them were clueless about Tang. How could that be? Astronauts drink it! Kids drink it! I was sure I had served it to them at some point. Maybe I had. I confidently added it to the grocery list. The girl child will drink buckets of Trop-50. Surely Tang will suit. Well, no one liked it when I finally made a pitcher. Not only that…they have artificial sweeteners in it now! (which means I won’t drink it because I have a nasty reaction to one of them so have sworn off all of them) Why do such a thing to my beloved Tang? I tried adding it to a pitcher of sweet tea but the kids grew instantly suspicious and wouldn’t drink it.
I haven’t tried making Hot Russian Tea with it. Who knows how crushed my heart will be to learn they hate it that way too? I mean my best friend Beth Carey and I would hot foot it up to the neighborhood holiday “craft sale” to purchase a 1/4 cup of the mix for 50 cents. I now realize that the neighborhood association cleaned up on our purchases of that and other goofy stuff.
Hot Russian Tea
1 7-oz jar of tang
1 cup Instant tea
1 1/4 cup sugar, granulated
1 tsp cloves, ground
1 teaspoon cinnamon
dash of salt
Blend ingredients together well. Use heaping teaspoon of blended ingredients per cup of boiling water. Garnish with slices of lemon.
Oct 21
Tarrant FiglioBeverages, Recipes, retro food
If you are looking for a cold cider treat or a non-alcoholic punch for a Hallowe’en or Thanksgiving party-this one that uses yesterday’s base recipe for Hot Spiced Cider for a cold punch is perfect. The kids enjoyed this with dinner on Sunday night-as did I-even though I call Ginger Ale the worst beverage on the planet. Since we didn’t have a party’s worth of people-we made the cider/juice part in a pitcher and then poured half and half cider mixture and ginger ale.
Tangy Cider Punch
Omit spices and heating process in previous recipe. (Basically-start with 2 quarts cider) Combine chilled cider and 1/4 cup sugar with 1 cup orange juice, 1/2 cup lemon juice (it sounds like a lot but it worked out perfectly and wasn’t too sour) and 1 qt ginger ale. Pour over ice cubes or crushed ice in tall glasses.
(From The Holiday Cookbook, Culinary Arts Institute, 1954.
Oct 20
Tarrant FiglioBeverages, retro food
Last week while the 19 yo girl child was here to visit. (hmph-should be while the 19 yo was home-but she claims this home she has never lived in, in a state where she has never lived, is not home, darn big kids) we went to a lovely junk shop and coffee house. (fab combo-more places should do that)
They had a great selection of retro cookbooks and cookbooklets-once you found them on the bottom shelf in a back corner, behind stuff, under stuff, etc. One of the ones I picked up is “The Holiday Cookbook” from the Staff Home Economists at the Culinary Arts Institute, published by Culinary Arts Instituute, Chicago 1, IL. 1955.
I think we will have a lot of fun with this one as the year goes by, but since Halloween is nigh…let’s start there. First it is “Hallowe’en” in this lovely book. Second, well, some of the Hallowe’en Garnishes make me giggle….though the cheese pumpkins are on my list.
My scanner is not cooperating today but let me share the first recipe our family tried from this cookbooklet. It was a big hit at Sunday breakfast-and as my 13 yo said- “Like Starbucks, but not too sweet and just better”
Hot Spiced Cider
Combine in a large saucepan:
2 qts apple cider
1/4 cup sugar (you could probably skip this if you start with a sweet cider)
12 whole cloves
6 whole allspice (I substituted 1 tsp ground allspice)
4 3-in sticks cinnamon
Heat slowly to boiling. Boil 3 to 5 min. Remove spices. (I didn’t-my kids are accustomed to feel better tea so won’t flip out over a stray clove)
Serve hot garnished with orange slices or rings of unpeeled red apple with whole cloves forced through peel. 16 servings
(Ok, I didn’t garnish and 16 servings? We got 5 average sized mugs out of this recipe. Granted they were not punch glass sized. Of course, I guesstimated on the cider amount. I had a gallon and used half-ish but I didn’t measure. My Tupperware measuring cup that does well with large measures is MIA. )
Jul 22
Tarrant FiglioBeverages
My 19 yo has a cold. I added on Facebook that she probably needs feel better tea. She said she probably did. Unfortunately, I am not there to make it.
Just in case YOU need feel better tea-here is how:
Grab a pot. Add a 2 quarts or so of water and a number of tea bags roughly equal to the number of cups of water you used (ok I throw a dozen in). Add 1/2 can to 1 can frozen oj and three little cans of pineapple juice. Then throw in a couple teaspoons of whole cloves (helps with the sore throat) and some cinnamon sticks. Bring to boil. Add sugar to taste. (Usually around 1 cup)
Nov 27
Tarrant FiglioBeverages, Recipes, retro food
My father loved Dry Sack sherry. Our neighbors often gave him a new bottle every Christmas. That bottle would last more than the year…my father didn’t drink often. But it always struck me as something so sophisticated. I still have one of those bottles of Dry Sack in my house. My father drank his neat…but the following is a traditional English drink…at least according to the Osterizer Holiday Ideas cookbooklet from 1964. It will certainly be a frugal way to serve alcohol at your next retro party.
Sack Posset
3 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 eggs
1/2 cup sherry
Put all ingredients except sherry into OSTERIZER container, cover and process at Lo until well mixed. Pour into a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened. Add sherry slowly, stirring constantly. Serve warm in mugs or punch cups, or chill before serving. Yield: 8 1/2-cup portions.
Oct 30
Tarrant FiglioBeverages, Recipes, retro food
Just the thing for a hairy, scary Halloween beverage…or to perk up your morning any day of the year, from the Mary Meade Magic Recipes (yes, I know I am stuck on it lately, but I love the name AND the recipes). I tend to skip the simmering with today’s moister coconut, but if you buy organic or your coconut is a bit dry, definitely simmer.
Orange Coconut Flip
Simmer for 10 minutes, covered
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
3 cups water
Cool, strain and add
1 can frozen orange juice
1 cup cracked ice
Blend about 15 seconds. Pour over more cracked ice in tall glasses.
Sep 10
Tarrant FiglioBeverages, Recipes, retro food
I needed tomato juice for this recipe for Roadside Bean and Potato Salad which is on the menu this week at our house. Instead of thinking this out clearly and realizing that I could use the tomato juice drained from the Macaroni with Tomatoes and Summer Vegetables recipe from AICR; (I can’t find that recipe on their site right now-I received it in their Health-E Recipes Weekly email newsletter, which by the way is very nice.) we put tomato juice on the grocery list. So, while we were bright and didn’t get the huge can that needs to be used up in the next 2 days or else, we do have quite a bit of tomato juice at our house. Yes, the can may have been more economical per ounce, but not if we didn’t use it up.
We will eventually need to use it though. I am not sure that any of these recipes from the Campbell Cookbook Easy Way to Delicious Meals will be quite my choice for using up the rest. Wait, the dilly vegetable juice might work-it sounds kind of like an easy gazpacho. The V-8 A la Mode- NO WAY! Lime sherbet with tomato juice?
What do you do to use up unusual ingredients in your house? Do you just avoid recipes with them in the first place? Have you got any V-8 recipes to use it up? I will drink it-but only about once a year.
Eye Opener
3 cups “V-8″ juice
1/2 small clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire
Dash “Tabasco” sauce
Combine all ingredients. Heat; simmer a few minutes. 4 to 6 servings
Lime ‘n “V-8″
Thin slices of lime
3 cups “V-8″ juice
4 teaspoons lime juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire
6 drops “Tabasco” sauce
For garnish, prepare ice cubes by placing twisted lime slices in each cube compartment; fill with water and freeze. Combine remaining ingredients’ chill. Pour over ice cubes in glasses. 4 to 6 servings.
Dilly Vegetable Juice
3 cups “V-8″ juice
2 tablespoons finely chopped cucumber
Generous dash dill seed
Sour cream
Combine “V-8: juice, cucumber, and dill. Simmer a few minutes; stir now and then. Garnish with sour cream. 4 to 6 servings.
NOTE: To serve cold, combine “V-8″ juice, cucumber, and dill. Chill 3 to 4 hours.
“V-8″ a la Mode
3 cups “V-8″ juice, chilled
4 teaspoons lemon juice
Lime sherbet
Cinnamon
Combine “V-8″ juice and lemon juice; pour into chilled glasses. Top each with a small scoop of sherbet. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Stir and serve. 4 to 6 servings.
Aug 16
Tarrant FiglioAppetizers, Beverages, Recipes, Soups, retro food
Now I know that everyone and their cousin has a Gazpacho recipe these days. Now, once upon a time, Gazpacho was exotic and Tomato Bouillon commonplace. So, try this for a refreshing summer retro treat. Retro soup, cocktail, and beverage all in one!
Tomato Bouillon on the Rocks
1/4 cup diced celery
1/4 cup diced carrots
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 sprigs parsley
4 cups canned tomato juice (or homemade)
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
6 whole cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
2 cups canned bouillon or consomme, chilled
6 lemon slices
6 green scallions or celery sticks
Early on the day, if desired :
1. In large saucepan, combine all ingredients except bouillon, lemon slices, scallions. Bring to boil; cover; simmer over low heat 1 hour.
2. Strain; then refrigerate
15 minutes before serving:
1. Combine chilled tomato mixture with bouillon.
2. Serve in Old-fashioned glasses, filled one-fourth full with crushed ice. Garnish each with a lemon slice which has been snipped in center and has a scallion threaded through this center. Makes 6 servings.
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