Baking Day Hints

I love finding baking hints in vintage cookbooks. Some are just plain fun to read, but sometimes you find some bits of wisdom. I found these in a 1911 cookbook.  Hope you enjoy them. Have a Blessed Day!
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On Baking-Day

When you wish a fine-grained cake, beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff foam with a Dover egg-beater. If something spongy, such as an angel cake, is desired, use a wire egg-beater, which makes a more air-inflated foam.

Recipes in the older, much-prized cook-books often call for a teacupful of yeast. A teacupful liquid yeast is equal to one cake of compressed yeast.

To remove pecan meats whole, pour boiling water over nuts and let them stand until cold. Then stand the nut on end and crack with a hammer, striking the small end of the nut.

If beef or mutton drippings are used in making a pie-crust, beat them to a cream with a teaspoonful of baking-powder and the juice of half a lemon. This effectually removes all taste.

When a cake sticks to a pan, set it for a few minutes on a cloth wrung out of cold water. It will then come out in good shape.

Heat the blade of the bread-knife before cutting a loaf of fresh bread. This prevents the usual breaking and crumbling of the slices. For cutting hot fudge, first dip the blade of the knife in boiling water.

Nothing is better for pudding molds than jelly tumblers with light tin covers. One can readily tell when the puddings are done without removing the covers.

The juice will not boil out of apple or berry pies if you dot bits of margarine near the outer edge.

A little salt in the oven under the baking-tins will prevent burning on the bottom.

There is nothing more effective for removing the burned crust from cake or bread than a flat grater. It works evenly and leaves a smooth surface.

Use a wooden potato masher for stirring butter and sugar together for a cake. It is much quicker than a spoon.

Ways of Using Left-Over Foods

No one likes to waste food, but it is hard to come up with new ways to use leftovers.  I ran across this table in a vintage cookbook and thought you would like to see it.  Some uses may be outdated, but it gave me a few new ideas.  Hope you enjoy...

 

WAYS OF USING LEFT-OVER FOODS

Left-over Meats	Left-over Vegetables
Croquettes Scalloped meat with rice or or potato Shepherd's pie Ham with scrambled eggs Ham fondue or omelet Hash Hash with poached eggs Meat pie (biscuit) Meat pie with dressing Meat balls rolled in cooked rice Minced meat on toast Mincemeat for pie Minced meat in ramekins Stews Stuffed peppers Stuffed tomato Meat bones cooked for stock	Buttered vegetables may be used in Soup Creole soup Meat stews Hash Salmon loaf (peas and celery) Peas in omelet Stuffed peppers Stuffed tomatoes Rice may be used in Scalloped rice with cheese Soups Puddings Croquettes Hash Salmon or fish loaves Potatoes, used same as rice All creamed vegetables can be scalloped or used in soup

Left-over Fruits And Juices	Left-over Breads And Cakes	Left-over Dairy Products And Eggs
Blanc manges Brown Betty Cocktail Cobbler Scalloped fruit Gelatin Mince pie filling Fruit salads Sherbets and ices Tapiocas Whips	Bread puddings Brown bread Brown Betty Crumb pancakes Crumb cookies Crumb muffins Dressing Scalloped fruit Fondues Meat loaf Hamburg balls Stewed tomatoes	Dairy Sour milk cakes corn bread gingerbread muffins pancakes Sour cream butter corn bread spice cake salad dressing Cheese bean loaf cottage cheese loaf cottage cheese croquettes rice and cheese Salads soufflés fondues Eggs, broken dipping mixture cakes custards croquettes salad dressing

 

Macaroni with Tomato

This was always a favorite dish in the hollow.  Sometimes Mom would add a little browned ground beef and a layer of shredded cheddar cheese.
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MACARONI WITH TOMATO
For baked macaroni with tomato, put in baking dish first a layer of the cooked and rinsed macaroni, then a layer of tomatoes, either fresh or canned, but well seasoned, then another layer of macaroni, then one of tomatoes, and on the top sprinkle rolled bread crumbs. Scatter tiny lumps of butter all around, season again, and bake a light brown in a quick oven.

The Interesting Potato

I found these potato recipes in a vintage cookbook for children and thought you would enjoy them.

 

The Interesting Potato

Every girl should know how to cook potatoes properly; yet really there is scarcely any other one vegetable that can be prepared in so many ways and still is often so poorly cooked as to be practically unfit to eat. It would seem an easy thing to make a light, appetizing dish of mashed potatoes—and what is more inviting?—but how often are they served wet and soggy! To understand the right way to cook and serve potatoes is as much an art as to make a salad or bake a cake.

BOILED POTATOES

Plain boiled potatoes, with the skin on, are delicious when cooked as they should be. The requisite number should be selected, perfect in form and uniform in size, and scrubbed with the vegetable brush, but the skins not broken. If they are old they will be better for soaking half an hour in cold water. A half hour before dinner-time, if they are of medium size, they should be[46] covered with boiling salted water and placed on the stove, where they will boil gently, not hard, until the skins begin to crack open. Test with a fork, and as soon as they are tender, drain off all the water and set on the back of the stove to steam dry. Serve in a hot, open vegetable dish; and if there is company or you are very particular, remove the skins (without breaking the potatoes) just before sending to the table. In case there is to be fish or a meat dish without gravy, serve the potatoes with the white sauce our little cook was taught to make in one of her first lessons.

MASHED POTATOES

For mashed potatoes the mother should tell the child to pick out the imperfect ones, or those too large to bake, to be peeled and cut up. Have her put them on in boiling salted water half an hour before dinner-time, cook until perfectly tender, then drain and let steam dry. After standing a few moments (in a hot place), have her mash them thoroughly, first with an old-fashioned wooden masher until all the lumps are removed, and then with a wire one. To each cupful of potato add a teaspoonful of butter and a tablespoonful of hot milk. They should be beaten up[47] creamy with the wire beater, then turned out into a hot covered dish, with a lump of butter in the center and a sprinkling of pepper over the top, and served at once.

If dinner is delayed, however, and there is danger of their getting cold, have her put them in a baking-dish or tin, smooth them nicely over the top and set where they will keep warm. Then when needed, if she will grate a little cheese over the top and put in the oven for a few minutes to brown, she will find that they are even nicer than when first made. The mashed potatoes left from dinner can be worked up with a little cream and molded into small round cakes, to be fried brown next morning.

CREAMED POTATOES

Often in buying potatoes one finds a quantity of little ones usually considered "too small to be bothered with." They seem hardly worth peeling, but if scrubbed clean and boiled as directed the skins can be removed quickly when they are tender. Then if a white sauce is made, these little potato balls can be dropped in and served garnished with finely chopped parsley on top. This is a favorite way of preparing new potatoes and most appetizing.[48]

LYONNAISE POTATOES

If the mother prefers, she can have the child take these little balls (peeled after they are cooked), cut them up fine, and fry them as follows: In a hot pan melt two tablespoonfuls of butter and add a teaspoonful of finely chopped onion, which should be cooked until a delicate brown before the seasoned potatoes are added.

CHEESE POTATOES

Parboil sliced potatoes, or slice cold boiled ones, line the bottom of a baking dish, sprinkle with salt, pepper, a little flour, grated cheese, and dots of butter. Repeat until the pan is nearly full, cover with milk, sprinkle the top with the grated cheese, and bake until brown, or about half an hour. Cheese potatoes are particularly good served with cold meat.

BAKED POTATOES

Potatoes for baking should be of uniform, medium size and perfect. After being well scrubbed they should be wiped dry and put in a moderate oven three-quarters of an hour before meal-time. If the meal is delayed for any reason they should be pricked with a fork in several places to let out[49] the steam, and then set where they will keep hot, but not in a covered dish, or they will get wet and soggy.

STUFFED POTATOES

If it is necessary to keep them any length of time, cut off the end of each potato, scrape out the inside, season with salt, pepper, a little butter, a small quantity of cream and to every three potatoes one egg, the white beaten stiff. After whipping up light put back in the shells, where they will keep warm. Just before sending to the table, put in the oven for a few moments, until they puff up and brown at the ends.

FRIED POTATOES

Cold boiled potatoes can be used in so many different ways that where there is no servant in the house it often is a saving of time and labor to boil a quantity at one time and then heat up as needed. They are nice simply sliced thin and fried brown in butter.

HASHED CREAM POTATOES

If this is considered too rich, half the amount of butter will be sufficient to flavor and keep from scorching, and then when they brown as they are[50] hashed in the pan pour in a few spoonfuls of cream. Season well, allow to brown down again, then fold like an omelet and serve on a hot platter garnished with parsley.

SCALLOPED POTATOES

Scalloped potatoes are very nice for a supper dish, as they can be prepared early in the day and set away until needed. The little cook, after washing and peeling her potatoes, next cuts them in thin slices, enough to fill the dish needed and parboils in salted water for ten minutes. Then drain. Arrange a layer of these, with a sprinkling of flour, pepper and salt and a few small pieces of butter, repeating in layers until the pan is full. Pour over enough milk to cover. When ready to cook, allow half an hour for the baking, and from time to time add a little extra hot milk. It is well to set a large pan containing water under the baking-dish to catch any milk that might boil over and burn on the bottom of the oven.

Cabbage Salad?

Have you noticed how dishes are called by different names in other areas of the country?  One reason is the influence of our diverse heritage.  But, those dishes were also called by other names in days gone by.  Take cabbage salad for instance.  Ever heard of it?  This comes from a 1910 cookbook and it's the same recipe we've used in the hollow for years.  We just call it slaw!

CABBAGE SALAD
Cabbage salad is possible at all seasons of the year, and should be one of the first that the child should learn to make. Insist on getting small, perfect heads, and have the leaves removed one at a time, examined closely and washed as carefully as lettuce, for fear of worms. After chopping finely, the desired quantity is to be seasoned with salt and pepper and served on the small, tender white leaves, with the following dressing:

SOUR CREAM DRESSING

To half a cup of thick sour cream, add half a teaspoonful of salt, a teaspoonful of sugar, a dash of black pepper, and two teaspoonsful of strong vinegar.

Woodman, Spare That Tree!

 

Woodman, Spare That Tree!

Woodman, spare that tree! Touch not a single bough! In youth it sheltered me, And I'll protect it now. 'Twas my forefather's hand That placed it near his cot; There, woodman, let it stand, Thy ax shall harm it not. That old familiar tree, Whose glory and renown Are spread o'er land and sea— And wouldst thou hew it down? Woodman, forbear thy stroke! Cut not its earth-bound ties; Oh, spare that agèd oak Now towering to the skies! When but an idle boy, I sought its grateful shade; In all their gushing joy Here, too, my sisters played. My mother kissed me here; My father pressed my hand— Forgive this foolish tear, But let that old oak stand. My heart-strings round thee cling, Close as thy bark, old friend! Here shall the wild-bird sing ,And still thy branches bend. Old tree! the storm still brave! And, woodman, leave the spot; While I've a hand to save, Thy ax shall harm it not.

George Pope Morris.

Hollow Suppers

I think Mom had a million ways to use ground beef.  In the days when it was cheap, she could really stretch a food budget with it.  I thought you'd enjoy one of our favorites.
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Oriental Steaks
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1 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
4 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon lemon juice
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Mix ground beef with salt, pepper, garlic, 1 teaspoon of soy sauce, ginger, and lemon rind.  Shape into patties - one pound should make 4 patties about an inch thick.  Mix the rest of the soy sauce with the lemon juice. Brush part of the sauce mixture over the patties, reserving some for basting.  Broil, basting and turning patties half-way cooking (about 7-8 minutes each side) until well done.