Warning: Undefined array key 1 in /home/crackedice/www/www/wp-content/plugins/visitors-online/visitors-online.php on line 505

Warning: Undefined array key 2 in /home/crackedice/www/www/wp-content/plugins/visitors-online/visitors-online.php on line 505

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/crackedice/www/www/wp-content/plugins/visitors-online/visitors-online.php:505) in /home/crackedice/www/www/wp-content/plugins/visitors-online/visitors-online.php on line 557
Cooking – Cracked Ice and Chrome

Category: Cooking

Posted on

A Recipe Treasure

A few weeks ago, I was at my mom’s house, and she showed me a cookbook she had discovered in a box. She imagined it came from one of my relatives who had passed away, but my eyes got big when I saw this cookbook. It was a vintage lover’s dream.

It’s not even the cookbook itself that is exciting; do you see all the newspaper clippings hanging out the sides? This little book is STUFFED with all sorts of handwritten recipes and recipes cut out of various publications. (I see an article about bladder irritation is hanging out for your viewing pleasure. You’re welcome.).

This book is fragile, as are the pieces of paper, so I will take care to scan everything in as carefully as possible. In the meantime, enjoy this little nugget that was buried in the middle, all about the wonders of LARD.

Of course, working in and living near Chicago now, I notice when things are published in Chicago. This little pamphlet was published by the National Live Stock and Meat Board, which had offices in the Old Colony Building at 407 South Dearborn. This from Google Maps:

And a pic from the Old Colony Building in its heyday:

This article talks more about the buzz surrounding this building during its construction in 1893. This will be one I make sure to include on my lunch walking tour next time I am working downtown.

On the back of another recipe clipping, I found this funny little ad for Marvene soapless suds.

It’s not a full ad, of course, but I was intrigued by this soapless suds that I had never heard from. I found this from a Winona, MN newspaper:

And this from the 1944 Midland Reporter Telegram:

Google couldn’t provide an answer to when these “soapless suds” stopped being made, but the ads seem to dwindle shortly after the end of WWII.

Stay tuned for the fun scans that I will be sharing from this cookbook!

Share
Posted on

A little slip of paper

I am giving my office a much-needed cleaning today, and I found this little tiny square of paper with a recipe on it.

I don’t know where it came from. The reverse side shows some text talking about some product designed to help pigs gain weight, so it must have been clipped from a farm magazine. Don’t know how it got into this plastic storage tote, and I am amazed that it is in unwrinkled condition.

The recipe actually sounds kind of good. Lots of sugar, of course, but that was life in the 50s (assuming this is from that time period). I mean, this was the regular Jello mix that already had sugar; you’re adding MORE sugar and fruit to this mixture – yikes! I try not to eat extra sugar, so I probably won’t make this one for review. However, one of YOU brave souls might want to take it on and report back.

Share
Posted on

12 Pies Husbands Love Best

This little pamphlet caught my eye because, well, I am an Aunt Jenny to my nieces and nephew. Spry used this character in its marketing materials and recipe books. I’m not sure if Aunt Jenny was not a real person; she was more of an idea of a cook like Betty Crocker. As with many things that I write about on this blog, wondering about how Aunt Jenny came to exist sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole, where I learned that Aunt Jenny also had a radio program that ran the astonishingly long period from 1937 to 1956. Considering that the character of Aunt Jenny was invented to sell shortening, this is marketing brilliance. Read all about that radio program and listen to some episodes over at the Internet Archive.

I discovered a tiny little pie pamphlet with my other cookbooks. I have no recollection of picking this up anywhere, so I imagine that it was probably thrown in with some other items that I purchased somewhere. It’s a short little book, but it does have some wisdom about how to successfully craft and bake a pie. I am no pie-baking expert, but I do know that it is a skill to be able to make a good crust that isn’t too thick, isn’t too thin, and won’t fall apart when it’s baked. The title is cute, too: 12 Pies Husbands Like Best. It’s just so 50’s.

Of course, we will have to assume that these recipes will work with <gasp!> Crisco, since even Aunt Jenny couldn’t save the fate of Spry.

Check out the full booklet here.

Share
Posted on

MEAT POWER!

Lest you think I’ve lost my ever-lovin’ mind, let me assure you that I did not just blurt out this phrase without any inspiration. My inspiration was, in fact, a little booklet published by Swift — the meat company — with tips and tricks for holding different types of parties. The back of the booklet touts the “meat power” – and it’s a graphic that I’ve seen in various vintage groups. I mean, c’mon . . . it’s funny.

Here we have the usual selection of 1950s animatrons (I want to know what mom is thinking in that middle picture!) with everyone living their best life. They even have some spectacular ideas for holding a stag party. Forget those plans of visiting the strib clubs! Here ya go:

Decorations: Make a cigar centerpiece, using at least one cigar for each man present. Write humorous fortunes on narrow strips of paper and tie them on each cigar with ribbon bows. Guests helps themselves to cigars after dinner and read their fortunes aloud.

Games: At a stag party, men usually get together for games of their choice. For extra entertainment, have a soap box contest. The only thing needed is a soap box for the guests to stand on while they deliver a 3-minute talk on silly subjects that they draw out of a hat. Write the subjects on slips of paper for the guests to draw in turn. Sample subjects: “If the barter system is adopted, how much should. a good wife be worth?” and “An effective method of stopping snoring.”

Now doesn’t that sound like FUN?

It’s on page 5 if you need a complete menu for said stag party.

Smack dab in the middle of the booklet is a nice colored insert touting all of Swift’s new products, like square shaped turkey roasts (I wish I were joking). It also contains a nice little reference for how long to roast different types of meat and types of boneless oven roasts.

You can head over to the “Miscellaneous Catalogs and Cookbooks” section, or you can check it out directly here.

Whoever owned this cookbook must have used it quite a bit, for many pages wear the proof of various dishes being made, which you can see on the scanned pages. That’s how you know that the recipes must be fairly good.

And remember:

MEAT POWER.

Share
Posted on

Yum! Tastes like Summer!

I suppose I am not unlike most people that I find myself making certain foods during a particular season, and it doesn’t feel like that season until I make that food item. For example, when I make apple pie in the fall, then it truly FEELS like fall. I have found that summer isn’t truly summer until I decide to make a couple of different food items. Last summer I was traveling a lot, and I was really too busy to cook a whole lot, so I never made my traditional “summer” items. So, really guys, I am still waiting for LAST summer to happen. Does that mean I can opt out of this 2020 one? Because if I’m being honest, it kind of sucks so far. Anyway, let’s talk about food that will herald that arrival of summah. (Not a typo – just introducing a different accent into my written words, which is totally normal. Right? RIGHT?)

Continue reading “Yum! Tastes like Summer!”
Share