Old-fashioned Lyonnaise Potatoes

Lyonnaise Potatoes in Bowl I recently made a hundred-year-old recipe for Lyonnaise Potatoes. Diced potatoes are coated with butter, chopped onion, and parsley. This classic comfort food makes a nice side dish.

This recipe also brought back food memories of a similar dish from my childhood that we called Parsley Potatoes. I don’t think that Parsley Potatoes contained any onion, but otherwise it was the same as Lyonnaise Potatoes.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Lyonnaise Potatoes — Source: Lowney’s Cook Book (Revised Edition, 1921)

Some Lyonnaise Potato recipes call for browning the potatoes, but since this one didn’t; I didn’t brown the potatoes.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Lyonnaise Potatoes

Servings: 2 - 3
Time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: easy
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2 cups boiled potatoes, diced into 1-inch cubes

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon onion, finely chopped

3 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped

salt and pepper

Melt butter in a skillet; stir in the onion. Cook until the onion is transparent while stirring occasionally. Stir in parsley. Add potatoes, and season with salt and pepper; stir gently to coat with butter, onion, and parsley. When hot, remove from heat and serve,

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Chapter Headings in 1921 Cookbook

Chapter 7 Heading — Source: The Science of Food and Cookery (1921)

H.S. Anderson, the dietitian at Loma Linda Sanitarium, published a cookbook called The Science of Food and Cookery in 1921. The sanitarium was operated by the Seveth Day Adventist Church. Over the years the sanitarium grew and expanded, and is now Loma Linda Unversity. According to the cookbook’s introduction, it was “not merely a vegetarian cookbook, but a treatise on food and nutrition as well; and as such we send it forth on its mission of health.” Many of the chapter headings include a quote that lays out the book’s philosophy.

Chapter 18 heading — Source: The Science of Food and Cookery (1921)

Hurry-Up Cake Recipe

piece of cake on plate Yesterday was hectic, and I hadn’t even selected a recipe to make for this post by mid-afternoon – let alone made it. So when I flipped through a hundred-year-old church cookbook, and saw a recipe for Hurry-Up Cake, I immediately knew that it was just the recipe I needed.

Hurry-up Cake is a moist and tender spice cake – and it’s easy to make (of course). It contains a delightful mixture of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. It’s the perfect cake to make when you’re in a hurry – or when you’re not.

Here’s the original recipe:

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Hurry-Up Cake

Servings: 8 -10
Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: easy
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1 1/3 cups brown sugar

1/3 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup milk

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 eggs

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Pre-heat oven to 350° F. Put all ingredients in a mixing bowl; beat for 3 minutes. Put in a greased and floured 8-inch square pan. Bake until a wooden pick comes out clean (approximately 45 minutes). Frost if desired.

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1921 Advice About Ice Quality

ice cubes in glass Considerations when determining ice quality have changed across the years. Here is what it said in a 1921 home economics textbook:

Ice is frozen water, and is just as pure as the water from which it was made. Ice from a pond should never be dissolved in drinking water or other beverages. Artificial ice is made by freezing water in tanks, the freezing temperature being secured by the evaporation of ammonia. This ice should be much purer than ice from ponds, lakes and rivers.

Elementary Home Economics (1921) by Mary Lockwood Matthews

Valentine Milk Biscuit Novelties

Happy Valentine’s Day!

You might enjoy this hundred-year-old recipe for Valentine Milk Biscuit Novelties. These sweet biscuits with a cinnamon and sugar topping are tasty and easy to make,

Here’s the original recipe:

The original recipe makes a lot of biscuits so when I updated the recipe I made it for half of the old recipe.

Valentine Milk Biscuit Novelties

Servings: approximately 20 biscuits
Time: 30minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter (1 stick) softened

3/4 cup milk

melted butter

sugar and cinnamon

Preheat oven to 450° F. Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl. Cut in butter. Add most of the milk and mix using a fork until dough starts to cling together. Add more milk if needed. Roll dough on a prepared floured surface into a rectangle 1/2-inch thick. Cut with heart-shaped cookie cutter. Brush with melted butter, then sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for approximately 12-20 minutes (or until lightly browned).

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1921 Menus for Children’s Valentine Parties

Menus for Children's Valentines Parties — Source: Mrs. Scott’s Seasonal Cook Books (The North American Newspaper, Philadelphia, Autumn, 1920)

Valentine’s Day parties used to be one of the big annual elementary school events. Remember making valentine “mailboxes” out of shoeboxes? . . . And, remember reflecting on who to give which card? And, the anticipation and suspense before opening the valentines?

A hundred-years ago Valentine’s Day parties were also popular. A 1921 newspaper recipe supplement contained several menus for children’s valentine parties. Some of the recipes, like Brown Sugar Cracker Tarts, sound intriguing; others less so. Somehow heart-shaped minced ham sandwiches and heart-shaped creamed cheese sandwiches don’t quite work for me.

Old-fashioned Coconut Pie

slice of coconut pie on plate Sometimes I crave classic old-fashioned cream pies. I recently came across a lovely recipe for Coconut Pie in a hundred-year-old cookbook. This pie differs from many modern coconut pies because, in addition to the usual milk, egg yolks, and coconut, the recipe calls for grated lemon rind and lemon juice. The lemon adds a lovely sunny note to this rich creamy pie.

Here’s the original recipe:

When I updated the recipe I updated the spelling of coconut. “Cocoanut” is an archaic way of spelling coconut that I sometimes see in old recipes and cookbooks.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Coconut Pie

Servings: 6-8
Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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2 cups milk

3 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon butter melted

grated rind and juice from 1 lemon

1 cup grated coconut

1 10-inch pie shell

Preheat oven to 425° F. Put milk, egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, salt, butter, and lemon juice in a mixing bowl. Beat until smooth. Stir in grated lemon rind and coconut. Pour into pie shell. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350° F.. Bake additional 60 minutes or until knife inserted into center of pie comes out clean.

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