Old-fashioned Stewed Prunes

stewed prunes

Hundred-year-old cookbooks sometimes contain very basic recipes, such as a recipe for stewed prunes. I’m a little surprised when an author puts such a simple recipe in a cookbook – though I also find it fascinating how basic foods have changed over the past hundred years. Back then (and even when I was young) prunes were very dry and needed extensive soaking and cooking to make tender stewed prunes; whereas today many supermarket prunes are very moist when taken out of the package and need to be stewed for only a few minutes.

Here’s the original recipe:

One-half pound of prunes is about 1 cup of prunes. I’m not clear why the directions refer to 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 tablespoon of lemon for each two cups of prunes. Maybe the author was referring to the volume of prunes after they are soaked. In any case, when I updated the recipe, rather than trying to estimate the volume of the prunes, I assumed that the recipe calls for adding 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon lemon (if desired).

And, here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Stewed Prunes

Servings: 3 - 5
Time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: easy
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1/2 pound prunes (approximately 1 cup prune)

1 cup water (more may be needed if the prunes are very dry.)

1/4 cup sugar, if desired

1 tablespoon lemon juice, if desired

Put prunes and water in a saucepan. If desired, stir in the sugar. Bring to a boil using high heat, then reduce heat until it simmers. Cook until the prunes are tender and the liquid is syrupy (about 15 minutes – if the prunes are moist; longer if they are very dry). Remove from heat, and, if desired stir in the lemon juice.

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Old-fashioned Coffee Cake

piece of coffee cake on plate

Coffee cake is a wonderful sweet treat to have with coffee (or without), so I was pleased to find a hundred-year-old recipe for Coffee Cake. The cake turned out well. It was moist and tender with a nice cinnamon and sugar topping.

Here’s the original recipe:

And, there’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Coffee Cake

Servings: 7 - 9
Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: moderate
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Cake

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons shortening, melted

1 cup milk

Topping Mixture

3 teaspoons flour + additional, if needed

1 tablespoon cinnamon

3 tablespoons sugar + additional, if needed

3 tablespoons shortening

Preheat oven to 375° F. Put all of the cake ingredients in a mixing bowl. Beat to combine. Put batter in a greased and floured 9-inch square cake pan.

In a separate bowl, place the flour cinnamon, and sugar. Stir to combine. Add the shortening, and mix together until the texture is crumbly. It may helpful to use your hands to get the shortening mixed in. (When I made the recipe I added more flour and sugar than called for in the original recipe, to make it more crumbly).

Spread the topping mixture over the top of the cake. Bake for 30 – 35 minutes, or until a wooden pick comes out clean.

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Old-fashioned Nut Squares

Nut Squares on Plate

Warm weather is finally here, and I’m ready to sit on the porch with tea and a snack. So when I saw a hundred-year-old recipe for Nut Squares that said, “Very nice for afternoon tea,” I knew that I needed to try the recipe.

The Nut Squares were tasty and chock-full of nuts with a crispy crust and a chewy middle. The one downside is that the crust had a tendency to crack and break when I cut the cookies into bars.

Here’s the original recipe:

Nut Squares on plate — Source: Ladies’ Union Cook Book (Concord Junction, MA, 1921)

I was surprised that the recipe did not call for any butter or shortening – though the cookies still had a nice texture. Perhaps the top crust may have had less tendency to break and crumble off the bars if the recipe had inclued butter or shortening.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Nut Squares

Servings: about 24 bars
Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: easy
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3 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 cups chopped nuts (I used chopped walnuts.)

Preheat oven to 375° F. Put eggs in mixing bowl and beat. Add sugar, flour, and baking powder; beat until smooth. Pour mixture into a greased 9 X 13 inch baking pan. Bake until set and the top is light brown (about 25 – 30 minutes). Remove from oven. When partially cool cut into squares or 1 X 2 inch bars.

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Scrambled Eggs, Country Style

When I make scrambled eggs I typically break the eggs into a bowl, add a little milk, salt, and pepper, and then beat the eggs until they are smooth and frothy, but I was intrigued by a hundred-year-old recipe for Scrambled Eggs, Country Style, and decided to give it a try. The recipe was extremely easy, and similar to how I make scrambled eggs when camping.

I broke the eggs directly into the skillet and let the egg whites begin to turn white; then I broke the yolks and began mixing the eggs while they cooked. This resulted in bigger chunks of the egg white in the scrambled eggs – but they were tasty.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Scrambled Eggs, Country Style — Source: Boston-Cooking School Cook Book (1921)

And, here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Scrambled Eggs, Country Style

Servings: 2 - 3
Time: 5 minutes
Difficulty: easy
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2 tablespoons butter

4 eggs

salt and pepper

Using medium heat, melt butter in skillet. Break the eggs into the skillet, and cook until the eggs are partially set with the egg whites beginning to coagulate; then break the yolks and stir and fold the eggs until they are completely cooked. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to season.

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Old-fashioned Cheese Puffs

Cheese Puffs on Plate

When I think of Cheese Puffs, I think of a cheesy snack that’s in the snack aisle at the supermarket, so I was surprised to see a hundred-year-old recipe for cheese puffs. These Cheese Puffs are a delightful cheesy tidbit that can be eaten as a snack or a part of a meal.

The old recipe recommends serving the Cheese Puffs with a salad, which is what I did. Cheese Puffs and a salad are just right for a light lunch.

Here’s the original recipe:

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Cheese Puffs

Servings: approximately 12 Cheese Puffs
Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: easy
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2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup water

1/8 teaspoon salt

dash pepper

3/4 cup flour

1/4 cup grated cheese (I used cheddar cheese.) + additional grated cheese to garnish

1 egg

Preheat oven to 400° F. Put butter and water in a large sauce pan; bring to a boil. Stir in salt, pepper, and flour. Remove from heat, and add 1/4 cup grated cheese and egg; stir until thoroughly mixed.

Place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with addiitonal grated cheese. Put in oven and bake 20 minutes or until lightly browned. If desired, serve with a salad.

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Old-fashioned Marguerites Recipe

This week I decided to make an old-fashioned snack called Marguerites. They are saltine crackers topped with jelly, meringue, sugar, and chopped nuts.

Another blogger in a post titled, Retro Recipe Challenge No. 9: The Candy Man wrote this about Marguerites:

Marguerites are something of a culinary Marie Celeste, if you ask me. You’ll find them in recipe books from the teens, the 20s, the 30s, even the early 40s–and then they’re gone. They vanish without a trace . . . But The Joy of Cooking doesn’t mention them. Neither does Betty Crocker. By 1960, the day of the Marguerite had passed.

I can see why they’ve vanished from modern recipe books. The Marguerites had a nondescript taste and aren’t nearly as sweet as many modern snacks; yet at the same time, I liked them and they were a surprisingly satisfying snack.

Marguerites are fun to make and made a nice presentation. The salt on the crackers was noticeable in the finished product, which was both salty and sweet.

Will I make Marguerites again? I’m not sure – yet a piece of me thinks that I might. They’re an easy snack to whip up, and eating just a couple really did take the edge off my late afternoon hunger.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Marguerites — Source: Mrs. Scott’s Seasonal Cook Books (The North American Newspaper, Philadelphia, Winter, 1921)

The 1 tablespoon of jelly called for in this recipe was not nearly enough since each cracker needed to be spread with the jelly, When I updated the recipe, I didn’t list an amount, I just indicated that currant (or other tart) jelly was needed to make this recipe.

Pulverized sugar is an old term for powdered sugar.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Marguerites

Servings: 12 crackers
Time: 25 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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2 egg whites

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

12 soda crackers

currant jelly (or any tart jelly)

powdered sugar

chopped nuts (I used walnuts.)

Preheat oven to 325° F. Put egg whites in bowl and beat until stiff. Add granulated sugar, and beat a little more to get the sugar evenly distributed in the egg whites. Set aside.

Put crackers on a baking sheet. Spread currant (or other tart) jelly on each cracker. Put approximately a tablespoonful of the beaten egg white on top of each jellied cracker; gently spread using a fork, and then sprinkle with powdered sugar and chopped nuts.

Place in oven and bake until the beaten egg whites are lightly browned (about 15 minutes).

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Daisy Salad

Happy Easter

Extra hard-boiled eggs in the refrigerator? Here’s a fun way to use them.

Here’s the original recipe:

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Daisy Salad

Servings: 3-4
Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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4 hard-boiled eggs

2 cups shredded lettuce

French salad dressing

Grated onion, if desired

Cut the eggs in half length-wise and remove the yolks. Cut the whites into narrow strips; and, mash the yolks. (I mashed them with a fork. Another way to mash them would be to force them through a strainer.) Put a teaspoon of the yolk in the center of each plate, and arrange the strips of egg white around the mashed yolk to make it look like a daisy. (When I made this recipe, it took a little more than one egg for each daisy. I had left-over yolk.) Put shredded lettuce around the daisy. Serve with French salad dressing. If desired add a little grated onion to the French dressing before serving.

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