I often hear parents say they are their children’s best teachers. I guess that sentiment has been around for at least a hundred years (and probably a lot longer than that).
1922 Jell-o Advertisement
Old-fashioned Quick Creamed Potatoes
Creamed Potatoes are a delightful comfort food, so I was pleased to find a hundred-year-old recipe for Quick Creamed Potatoes.
Here’s the original recipe:
I am unclear whether this recipe calls for raw potato slices or previously cooked potato slices. When I made this recipe, I used raw potato slices and had issues with the milk scorching on the bottom of the pan. I tried to gently stir the potato mixture while it was cooking, but it took about 15 minutes for the potatoes to soften and it was really difficult to stir well enough to prevent scorching.
Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:
Quick Creamed Potatoes
2 cups potatoes, sliced
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoons salt
dash pepper
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped (fresh or dried)
Put potato slices in a bowl; dredge with flour and toss until the potato slices are partially coated with flour. Put in a saucepan and add milk. Gently cook using medium heat until the milk is hot; reduce heat to medium low and continue cook until the potato slices are soft while frequently gently lifting the potato slices and stirring. (Be sure to stir to the very bottom of the pan, since the milk will easily scorch). Remove from heat. Add butter, salt, and pepper; gentry stir to combine. Put in serving dish and sprinkle with parsley.
1922 Directions for Cooking Hot Breakfast Cereals
Here is a table that I found in a 1922 cookbook that contains directions for making hot cereals. The cooking times look really long to me, but maybe the cereal grains were more coarsely cut or otherwise different a hundred years ago.
Old-fashioned Oatmeal Waffles
I often get requests for gluten-free recipes, so I was excited to find a hundred-year old recipe for Oatmeal Waffles. The waffles are made with oatmeal and cornmeal. The Oatmeal Waffles were hearty, and delightful with syrup.
Here’s the original recipe:
Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:
Oatmeal Waffles
1 1/2 cups finely ground oatmeal (about 1 3/4 cups minute oatmeal or old-fashioned oatmeal)
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 1/2 cups milk
1 egg
Finely grind the oatmeal. (I used a blender.) Put all the ingredients in a mixing bowl; beat until thoroughly combined. Let sit for 5 minutes to allow the mixture to thicken a little as the oatmeal absorbs the liquids, then bake in a hot waffle grill.
1922 August Menus
A hundred-year-old magazine had seasonal recipes for various days of the week. Here are the August menus. Some suggestions still work (Savory Meat Loaf); others not so much (Lamb’s Brain and Tongue).
Old-fashioned Marshmallow Custard
I love old-fashioned baked custards. They are easy to make, and make a delightful dessert, so I was intrigued by a hundred-year-old recipe for Marshmallow Custard. The recipe called for putting a marshmallow in the bottom of each custard cup. The marshmallows floated to the top of the custard mixture, and then melted while baking. This resulted in a lovely sugary top layer on the custard that reminded me a bit of Crème Brûlée.
Here’s the original recipe:
I think that the custard cups that I used were larger than the ones used by the recipe author because there was only enough of the custard mixture to fill 4 custard cups rather then the 6 indicated in the recipe. Because of the larger size of each cup -they also took longer to bake than indicated in the old recipe.
Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:
Marshmallow Custard
2 eggs
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups half and half
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
4 – 6 large marshmallows
Preheat oven to 325° F. Put eggs in mixing bowl and beat slightly. Add sugar, half and half, and vanilla; beat until thoroughly combined. Put a marshmallow in the bottom of each custard cup. ( 4 – 6 custard cups will be needed. The number of custard cups needed will vary depending upon the size of the custard cups.) Pour the custard mixture over the marshmallows. Leave at least 1/2 inch at the top of each custard cup. Place the custard cups in a pan with hot water that comes to about an inch below the top of the cups. Bake for 40 – 60 minutes or until a knife inserted in center of the custard comes out clean. May be served warm or cold.
1922 Swans Down Cake Flour Advertisement
Some brands have been around for more than a hundred years – Swans Down Cake Flour is one of those brands.
