Playing Card Suit Sandwich (Cookie?) Cutters

Card Suit Sandwich Cutter Ad — Source: American Cookery (March, 1925)

I was flipping through a hundred-year-old issue of American Cookery magazine and near the back was a page showing free premiums that new subscribers to the magazine could select. I almost fell over when I saw a set of card suit sandwich cutters. I have a similar (but not identical) set that I use as cookie cutters.

My cookie cutters were once my mother’s, and she had them for as long as I can remember. The metal on my cutters is a little worn and some parts are shinier than other parts, but I really like them. They are a nice size and nicely cut the cookie dough. I’m now wondering if my cutters were originally intended to be sandwich cutters – though I tend to think that they probably are cookie cutters since they have metal on the top and it might be difficult to cut a thick sandwich with them.

I never really thought about it before, but assumed mine were mid-20th century cookie cutters. Now I am wondering if they are older than that and something that my mother originally got from her mother.

Old-Fashioned Apricot Souffle

Where I live March came in like a lion, and I wanted to make a cheery dessert. I found a hundred-year-old recipe for Apricot Souffle that fits the bill. It was light and had a lovely apricot flavor with a hint of almond.

Here’s the original recipe:

I got this recipe out of a cookbook that I bought off eBay. It had a penciled checkmark at the top which suggests that the original owner of the cookbook made it.

I used a 15-ounce can of apricots. I drained them, and then measured the apricots and had about 1 cup of them which I then pureed. I baked the apricot souffle in custard cups. I did not grease and sugar the cups because I thought it might make the top portion of the cups that was above the apricot mixture look messy. It worked fine not to grease them.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Apricot Souffle

Servings: 4 - 5
Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
Print

1 can (15-16 oz.) canned apricots

1/2 cup sugar

6 drops almond extract

3 egg whites, stiffly beaten

Preheat oven to 350◦ F. Drain apricots and puree. Put pureed apricots in a saucepan and bring to a boil using medium heat. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar and almond extract. Put a small amount of the apricot mixture (1 – 2 tablespoons) in the beaten eggs whites, and fold in. (The egg white is first combined with a little of the hot mixture to prevent it from immediately cooking when introduced into the hot combination.) Fold the egg whites into the remaining apricot mixture, then put into individual custard cups. Put the custard cups in a pan containing enough hot water to come halfway up the cups. Bake until set and just beginning to brown (about 20 minutes).

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

Hundred-Year-Old Considerations When Cooking Poultry

Chickens hanging from hooks

Often hundred-year-old cooking tips and advice still are relevant today, but sometimes the old advice is very different. Here are some tips for cooking poultry in a 1925 cookbook:

No poultry should be cooked before it has hung for at least eight hours. In many large cities there are live poultry markets and each bird is killed as it is bought. These birds should be hung overnight before they are drawn and prepared for cooking.

When any fowl or game is being prepared for cooking, it should be thoroughly washed inside and out, and if there is an unpleasant odor from the inside, rub it with a little cooking soda. If the odor disappears quickly the bird is good to eat. If the odor persists it is best to cut the bird open to see whether there are any bruises or recognizable bad places. A fowl that has a bad odor had better not be eaten.

—

The young chicken lends itself to many kinds of savory cooking. The older chickens are better for soups, stew, and salads. If a fowl is very old it will hardly make even a good salad because the white meat is apt to be coarse and somewhat tasteless.

Leftover fowl and game is excellent for pies, stew, croquettes and any number of casserole dishes. They should be combined with a rich gravy to give the best results.

The Home Makers’ Cooking School Cook Book (1925)

Old-Fashioned Cocoa Raisin Muffins

Cocoa Raisin Muffins

There is a fun children’s book that contains both a story and recipes called Billy in Bunbury. It was a promotional book that was published in 1925 by the Price Baking Powder Company. I decided to make a recipe in the book for Cocoa Raisin Muffins.

The muffins were delicious. They were chocolatey with a hint of cinnamon, and had a nice texture with lots of raisins. And, the recipe does not call for any eggs – an added bonus during this time of exorbitant egg prices. Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Cocoa Raisin Muffins — Source: Billy in Bunbury (1925)

It is a little surprising that a recipe in a children’s cookbook calls for 7/8 cup of milk. I seldom see recipes that call for eights of a cup, and it seems like an especially complex measure for a child to navigate when making this recipe.

Raisins were the last ingredient I added when I made this recipe, and that worked fine.

The recipe indicates that this recipe will make 16 muffins, but when I made this recipe, it only made 12 muffins. The number of muffins is very dependent upon the size of the individual muffin cups in the muffin tin. Apparently, muffins were fairly small a hundred years ago.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Cocoa Raisin Muffins

Servings: 12 -14
Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Print

1 3/4 cups flour

2 tablespoons cocoa

5 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

4 teaspoons baking powder

2/3 cup raisins

7/8 cup milk

5 tablespoons butter or shortening, melted

Preheat oven to 400◦ F. Sift together flour, cocoa, sugar, salt, cinnamon and baking powder. Slowly add milk while stirring. Continue stirring until the batter is smooth, then add butter or shortening, and stir until combined. Stir in raisins. Put batter into prepared muffin tins. Fill each muffin cup about 3/4th full. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

1925 Church Supper Menus

Most churches I’ve attended had potluck dinners and picnics where people bring a dish to share, but some churches have dinners with menus. Sometimes these dinners might be fund-raisers. A hundred years ago churches also held dinners. Here’s some church supper menus in a 1925 magazine.

Old-Fashioned Corn Souffle

Corn Souffle

I recently came across a hundred-year-old recipe for Corn Souffle, and decided to try it. The recipe called for separating the eggs and stiffly beating the egg whites, then folding them into a white sauce and corn mixture which is baked.

The Corn Souffle turned out well. It was delicious, and had a light, creamy, pudding-like texture.

Here’s the original recipe:

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Corn Souffle

Servings: 4 - 5
Time: 40 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
Print

2 eggs, separated

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

1/3 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

2/3 cup milk

1 cup cooked corn (I used canned creamed corn.)

Heat oven to 375◦ F. Put egg whites in bowl; beat until stiff. Set aside.

Melt butter in a large saucepan. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper. Gradually stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

Put egg yolks in a small bowl; stir until smooth. Place a small amount (approximately 1 – 2 tablespoons) of hot mixture into dish with egg yolk, stir quickly. (The egg is first combined with a little of the hot mixture to prevent it from turning into scrambled eggs when introduced into the hot combination.) Add egg mixture to the remaining hot mixture in the saucepan; stir. Add the corn and stir. Fold in the beaten egg whites. Pour into an 8″X8″X2″ or similar-sized casserole dish. Bake in oven uncovered until thickens (approximately 25 – 35 minutes.)

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

1925 Sioux Falls Grocery Company Advertisement

Advertisement for Sioux Falls Grocery Company Advertisement — Source – Home Economics and Cook Book: The Daily Argus-Leader (Sioux Falls, South Dakota), Supplement – March 13, 1925

This hundred-year-old ad appeared in a cookbook that was a supplement to The Daily Argus-Leader (Sioux Falls, South Dakota) newspaper. This grocery store advertisement suggests how much has changed (and not changed) over the years. I seldom have unexpected guests who would expect to be fed; and, if I did, I probably won’t serve them canned goods.

I can still buy Del Monte canned goods – though Del Monte may no longer sell salmon or berries. I think that they still sell prunes, but they are no longer sold in a can.