Old-fashioned Eggs with Asparagus

Eggs with Asparagus

Happy Easter!

Easter is such a special time of year. It’s so much fun coloring eggs with children or grandchildren – but it’s often then a challenge to figure out ways to eat the eggs. So I was pleased to find a recipe for Eggs with Asparagus in a hundred-year-old cookbook.

The Eggs with Asparagus is a classic recipe with the asparagus topped with chopped hard-boiled eggs embedded in a white sauce.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Eggs with Asparagus — Source: General Welfare Guild Cook Book (The General Welfare Guild, The Beaver Valley General Hospital, New Brighton, Pennsylvania), 1923

Here’s the original recipe:

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Eggs with Asparagus

Servings: 3 - 4
Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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1 bunch asparagus (about 1 pound), cut into 1-inch pieces

1 cup water

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

dash pepper

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 hard-boiled eggs, finely chopped

Put the asparagus, salt, and water in a saucepan, and bring to a boil using high heat; reduce heat and simmer until tender (about 3 minutes). Remove from heat and drain, reserve the water that was used for cooking.

Meanwhile in another saucepan, melt the butter. Stir the flour and pepper into the butter. While stirring constantly, slowly pour in the water that was used for cooking the asparagus and the cream; bring to a boil using medium heat while stiring constantly. Stir in the chopped eggs (reserve a small amount of the yolk for garnish). Remove from heat and pour over rthe cooked asparagus. Garnish with the chopped egg yolk.

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(Black) Walnuts and Sweet Potatoes

Black Walnuts and Sweet Potatoes

I love the bold, earthy taste of black walnuts – but seldom see them in stores, so I often forage for them. One of my favorite autumn activities is gathering black walnuts, hulling them (oh, what mess!), and then on a cold winter day cracking them to get the nut meats out. I now have a jar of black walnuts in my refrigerator so was excited to see a recipe for Walnuts and Sweet Potatoes that called for black walnuts in a hundred-year-old cookbook.

The recipe was delightful. It called for sugar instead of the usual brown sugar used in sweet potato recipes which allowed the robust taste of the black walnuts to shine.

Here’s the original recipe:

Walnuts and Sweet Potatoes Recipe — Source: Larkin Housewives’ Cook Book (1923)

This recipe calls for a lot of sweet potatoes (12), so when I updated the recipe I reduced it to 4 sweet potatoes (2 pounds). After all the specificity about the number of sweet potatoes, the recipe was oddly unspecific about the amounts for the other ingredients. So when I updated, the recipe I also added amounts for the other ingredients. And, I changed the name from Walnuts and Sweet Potatoes to Black Walnuts and Sweet Potatoes to better describe the recipe.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Black Walnuts and Sweet Potatoes

Servings: 4-6
Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: moderate
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2 pounds sweet potatoes (about 4 medium sweet potatoes)

3 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup black walnuts, coarsely chopped

Wash sweet potatoes and then place in a Dutch oven or other large pan. Cover with water and bring to a boil using high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are tender. Remove from heat and let cool enough to handle. Remove skins from the sweet potatoes. They should slip off easily. Then cut the sweet potatoes in quarters and arrange in a shallow baking dish.

In the meantime, preheat oven to 375° F. Dot the sweet potatoes pieces with small pieces of butter, then generously sprinkle with sugar. Top with the chopped black walnuts. Put in oven, and bake until the sweet potatoes are hot, and the sugar is melted and bubbly.

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Old-fashioned Breakfast Apples

I’m always looking for new recipes for simple, yet tasty ways to serve apples – and I recently found an excellent new (old) recipe. The hundred-year-old recipe was for Breakfast Apples, though they are work equally well at lunch or dinner.

The Breakfast Apples were delightful. Apple slices were sautéed in butter then sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.

Here’s the original recipe:

And, here is the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Breakfast Apples

Servings: 2-3
Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: easy
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4 large tart apples (Braeburn, McIntosh, Granny Smith, etc.)

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoons sugar

Core and slice the apples (do not peel them). Melt butter in a skillet using medium heat; add salt and stir to combine. Add sliced apples, then put lid on pan. Cook for 5 minutes, then remove lid and use a spatula to turn over the apple slices so they evenly cook on both slides. Put lid back on the pan and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove lid and check to see if the apples are soft. (If they are not soft, cook for several additonal minutes.)

In the meantime, put the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl, and mix together.

Sprinkle the cooked apples with the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Serve hot.

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Old-fashioned Hawaiian Delight

Hawaiian Delight on plate I remember enjoying cakes with pineapple when I was young, so was intrigued by a hundred-year-old recipe for Hawaiian Delight. Hawaiian Delight is a cake that includes a cinnamon and sugar topping – which is then served with crushed pineapple spooned on top of cake pieces.

The recipe was easy to make. The Hawaiian Delight is an old-fashioned classic type of dessert and was quite tasty.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Hawaiian Delight — Source: Good Housekeeping’s Book of Menus, Recipes, and Household Discoveries (1922)

The list of ingredients for this recipe includes shortening, but the directions refer to butter, so when I updated the recipe, I listed butter rather than shortening. I think that grated canned pineapple is just an older name for crushed pineapple, so I used a can of crushed pineapple. The recipe called for pastry flour, which is difficult to find where I live, so I used all-purpose flour, and it worked fine.

The old recipe said that Hawaiian Delight should be served hot – though I enjoyed it both hot and cold.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Hawaiian Delight

Servings: 8 - 10
Time: 35 minutes
Difficulty: easy
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1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar + 1 tablespoon sugar

1 egg

3/4 cup milk

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 can crushed pineapple, 20 oz.

Preheat oven to 400° F. Put flour, baking powder, salt, 1 tablespoon sugar, egg, milk, and butter in a mixing bowl; beat until smooth. Put in a greased and floured 8-inch square cake pan.

Put cinnamon and 1 tablespoon sugar in a small bowl. Stir together, then sprinkle the top of the cake batter with the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

To serve, cut into squares, and spoon crushed pineapple on top. May be served hot or cold.

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Eggs and Mushrooms on Toast

I recently came across a recipe for Eggs and Mushrooms in a hundred-year-old cookbook. The Eggs and Mushrooms are served on toast.

The recipe was quick and easy to make – though I found the Eggs and Mushrooms to be a little bland.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Eggs and Mushrooms

Servings: 4
Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: easy
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1 8-ounce can tomato sauce

1 cup mushrooms, sliced (or 1 8-ounce can of mushrooms)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

4 eggs

4 slices toast

Put tomato sauce and mushrooms in a skillet. Using medium heat, heat until hot and bubbly, and the mushrooms are tender. Add salt and Worcestershire sauce.

Break eggs into a bowl, and then slip into the hot tomato and mushroom mixture. Break yolks and stir gently until the mixture thickens. Serve on toast.

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One Egg Chocolate Cake

piece of cake on plate

I’m always intrigued by old cake recipes that have titles which emphasize the use, or non-use, of a specific ingredient. For example, I recently came across a recipe for One Egg Chocolate Cake. Why was the number of eggs stated in the title? Were eggs really expensive back then? . . . or maybe the recipe was aimed at families that raised chickens, and the chickens didn’t lay many eggs during the winter so cooks were looking for recipes that used few eggs. . . or. . . ?

This recipe made a 9-inch square cake, and was very tasty. I never missed any reduction in eggs.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for One Egg Chocolate Cake — Source: Cement City Cook Book (1922) Compiled by First Baptist Church, Alphena, Michigan

I followed the recipe directions and grated the chocolate, then melted it by adding a little hot water and stirring. I was surprised how well this process melted the chocolate – though think that the baking chocolate probably could be melted in the microwave to avoid the extra effort of grating the chocolate.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

One Egg Chocolate Cake

Servings: 10 - 12
Time: 50 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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1 cup sugar

1 egg yolk

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup grated baking chocolate (about ounces of chocolate)

2 tablespoons hot water

approximately 3/4 cup milk

1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice (I used vinegar.)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 350° F. Put the grated baking chocolate in a measuring cup, then add hot water and stir until the chocolate is melted. Stir in vinegar and enough milk to make 1 cup. Set aside for at least 2 minutes.

Put sugar and egg yolk in a mixing bowl, stir to combine. Add butter, milk and chocolate mixture, baking soda, vanilla, and flour; beat until smooth. Put in a greased and floured 9-inch square pan. Bake until a wooden pick comes out clean (approximately 35 minutes). Frost if desired

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Old-fashioned Potato and Egg Salad

Potaot and Egg Salad in bowl

Memorial Day doesn’t seem complete without Potato Salad – and the best Potato Salads contain hard-boiled eggs, so I was thrilled to find a hundred-year-old recipe for Potato and Egg Salad.

The Potato and Egg Salad was delightful with crunchy celery and chopped pickles – but what made the salad really special was the dressing. The dressing was made with whipped cream and vinegar – and was amazingly light compared to the usual mayonnaise dressing. The whipped cream dressing takes a little longer to make than mayonnainse dressing, but it was well worth the extra effort

Here’s the original recipe:

I didn’t have any onion juice, so substituted 1 tablespoon chopped onions.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Potato and Egg Salad

Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
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2 cups cold boiled potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 cup celery or cabbage, chopped (I used celery.)

2 or 3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped (I used 2 large hard-boiled eggs.)

2 tablespoons pickle, chopped (I chopped several Bread and Butter Pickle slices.)

2 tablespoons green pepper or pimento, chopped (I used green pepper.)

1 tablespoon parsley, chopped

1 tablespoon onions, chopped

cream dressing, see below

If desired, lettuce or cabbage leaves

Put the cubed potatoes, celery or cabbage, chopped eggs, chopped pickle,, green pepper or pimento, parsley, and onions in a mixing bowl and gently stir to combine. Chill in refrigerator. Just before serving, add Cream Dressing and gently stir until the potatoes and other ingredients are evenly coated with the dressing. If desired, serve on lettuce or cabbage leaves.

Cream Dressing

2 teaspoons flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon mustard

1 1/2 teaspoons powdered sugar

dash cayenne (red) pepper

1 teaspoon butter

1/3 cup vinegar

1 egg yolk, beaten

1/2 cup whipping cream

Put the flour, salt, mustard, powdered sugar, cayenne pepper, and butter n a saucepan or double boiler, and gradually add vinegar while stirring constantly. Using medium heat, cook until thickens while stirring constantly. Put a a spoonful of the hot mixture in the bowl with the egg yolk, and immediately stir rapidly; then add the mixture to the mixture in the saucepan or double boiler while stirring rapidly. Continue stirring and cook for 1 minute. The mixture will be very stiff. Put in a small bowl and cool in refrigerator.

Shortly before serving, whip the cream until it is stiff. Add the cooled vinegar mixture, and beat until smooth.

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