German Potato Salad

Yet another vintage recipe from the shoe box to try, although I must confess I made only half of this recipe, as Leo just is not fond of it. I had to by guesstimate as there were no amounts on this card with the exception of 2 level tablespoons of flour and a handful of sugar.

German Potato Salad


8-10 Potatoes
8 slices bacon
2 tbs flour
½ cup Cold Water
½ cup White Vinegar
½ cup Sugar
1 onion - Chopped fine
salt - To taste
pepper - To taste


1. "Boil & Slice potatoes with jackets on"
2. Cut bacon in pieces and fry
3. Add bacon pieces to potatoes, but reserve bacon grease
4. To bacon grease add flour, water, & vinegar and cook over medium heat until sauce thickens
5. Add onion, sugar, potatoes and bacon to skillet and stir until everything is covered in sauce.
6. Salt & pepper to taste and serve warm.

Servings: 8

Turkey Cheese Puff

From a 1980 church cookbook, I've modified this vintage recipe just a bit so that you can enjoy it with your left-over turkey.

Turkey Cheese Puff


6 slices White bread
1½ cups Turkey, cooked
¼ cup Mayonnaise or Salad dressing

2 tsp minced onions
2 eggs beaten
1½ cups Milk
1 can Cheddar cheese Soup Condensed


1. Trim and reserve crusts from 4 slices of bread.
2. Places the 4 trimmed slices in bottom of an 8x8x2" Dish
3. Combine turkey, Mayo, and onion and spread over bread in dish.
4. Cube remaining bread slices and reserved crusts and sprinkle over turkey mixture.
5. Combine eggs and milk and pour over all.
6. Cover and chill for 1 hour
7. Take dish from refrigerator. Open and stir condensed soup and then spoon over top.
8. Bake uncovered in 325 degree oven for 1 hour or until knife inserted just off center comes out clean.
9. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Vintage Recipe - Date Cake

Yummy date cake! I haven't tried this one yet but I have the dates, so maybe next weekend. Looks sweet, so I will have to have a small piece.

Do you wonder why I share these fun recipes with you? Of course, to give back to the internet community, but also, I hope that occasionally one or two of my readers might actually check out some of my eBay items. Now on with the recipe.

Date Cake


1 cup dates
1¼ cups hot water
3 tsp baking soda
¾ cup shortening
2 cups sugar divided
2 eggs
2 cups flour
¾ tsp additional baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts
1 tsp salt


1. In sauce pan, add dates to the hot water. Add the 3 tsp baking soda and heat until hot and then let stand for 1 hour
2. After hour, mix shortening, 1/2 of sugar, 2 eggs, flour, salt, and the 3/4 tsp of additional baking soda.
3. Mix in date mixture and pour into greased baking pan.
4. Sprinkle chocolate chips, nuts, and other half of sugar on top
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Vintage Recipe - Cherry Fluff Salad

I thought something different for a fruit salad would be nice. When I was sifting through the "shoebox" I found this one. You probably could substitute pie fillings as well to make it blueberry fluff or peach fluff or apple fluff...

Cherry Fluff Salad


1 Can Cherry Pie Filling
1 8 oz Container Whipped Topping
1 can Condensed milk
1 20 oz Can crushed Pineapples
1 cup Small marshmallows


Combine all ingredients and refrigerate for one hour. You can add nuts if desired.

Vintage Recipe - Puddin Cookies

In the recipe shoe box, I would guess this clipping to be from the 1980's. I think I will try these this weekend with the butter pecan pudding I have been hoarding. Maybe I'll add a dab of white chocolate to the top.



Puddin' Cookies


¾ cup bisquick
1 package instant pudding mix
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 egg

1. Mix all ingredients well
2. Form into balls and flatten with handd on ungreased baking sheet
3. Bake 8 minutes at 350 (mod.)

Servings: 36
Yield: 3 dozen

Vintage Recipe: Spice Cake

Here is a fun vintage recipe for a spice cake fit for the Thanksgiving feast. Now directions are to bake in a moderate oven, which I usually set at 325 degrees.

Spice Cake
From an 1891 cookbook, cooking directions are cook in bread tins in moderate oven

1½ cups sugar
½ cup butter
½ cup sour milk
2 cups raisins, chopped
½ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves, ground
1 tsp baking
soda

Mix all ingredients and bake in loaf tins in moderate oven

Servings: 24
Yield: 2 loaves

Vintage Thanksgiving Recipe - Roast Turkey

This vintage recipe is shared for fun, more than for the recipe. As we are busily "working" on our Thanksgiving meal, we can be thankful for the things we do not have to do.

This recipe is an excerpt from The Everyday Cookbook by Miss E. Neil. My copy was published by The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company and is not dated, but I have seen copies on line dated in the 1890's.

Roast Turkey

Carefully pluck the bird, singe it with white paper, and wipe it thoroughly with a cloth; draw it, preserve the gizzard and liver,and be particular not to break the gall bag, as no amount of washing will remove thebitter taste it imparts where it once touches. Wash it inside well, and wipe it thoroughly with a dry cloth; the outside merely requires wiping nicely. Cut off the neck close to the back, but leave enough of the crop skin to turn over; Break the leg bones close below the knee; Draw out the strings from the thighs,and flatten the breast-bone to make it look plump. Have ready your dressing of bread crumbs mixed with butter, pepper, salt, thyme or sweet marjoram; Fill the breast with this and sew the neck over to the back. Be particular that the turkey is firmly trussed. Dredge it lightly with flour, and put a piece of butter into the basting ladle; As the butter melts, baste the bird with it. When of a nice brown and well frothed, serve with a tureen of good brown gravy and one of bread sauce. The liver should be put under one pinion, and the gizzard under the other. Fried sausages are a favorite addition to roast turkey; they make a pretty garnish besides adding much to the flavor. When these are not at hand, a few forcemeat balls should be placed round the dish as a garnish. Turkey may also be stuffed with sausage meat and a chestnut forcemeat with the same sauce is, by many persons, much esteemed as an accompaniment to this favorite dish.

SECOND RECIPE-After drawing and cleansing the turkey, prepare a dressing of sausage and bread crumbs, mixing in butter, pepper, salt, and thyme to flavor. Fill the craw and body of the turkey with this, and sew up carefully. Dredge with flour and put in the oven to roast, basting freely first with butter and water, and then with gravy from the pan. The time it takes to roast will depend both on the age and the weight of the turkey. If you have a good fire, you will be safe to add 10 minutes or so to the pound. Roast to a fine brown and serve with chopped giblets, which should be well stewed; and cranberry sauce.

Vintage "Baked Dish" Recipes

These two vintage casserole recipes were simply labeled "Baked Dish." Both were handwritten on a 3"x5" card and sound like good old fashioned home cooking.

Beef & Beans Baked Dish

1 can kidney beans
3 Small potatoes
1 pound ground beef
1 small onion
1 can tomato soup
1 dash pepper
1 dash salt

1. Fry ground beef
2. Chop onion finely
3. Dice potatos
4. Mix all ingredients except soup together and pour into casserole dish
5. Pour soup over top, cover, and bake for 1-3/4 hours at 350 degrees

Servings: 6
Cooking time: 1 hour and 45 minutes

Beefy Baked Dish

2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 pound ground beef
1 small onion
1 small can peas
4 small sliced potatoes

1. Dice onion and fry with ground beef
2. Peel & slice potatoes
3. Drain meat and mix all ingredients together and bake at 350 for 1-1/2 hours

Servings: 6
Cooking time: 1 hour and 30 minutes

Vintage Candy Recipes

It's getting close to the holidays, so I thought I would post some of the vintage candy recipes from the now infamous, at least in my family, shoe box of recipes.

Both recipes were found in the shoe box, hand written on a single piece of yellowed paper.

Chocolate Coconut Drops

2 squares (1 oz each) Unsweetened Chocolate

1 15 oz Can Sweetened condensed milk

2 cups flaked coconut (about 1/2 pound)

½ cup chopped walnuts


1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Melt chocolate in sauce pan on low heat
3. Remove from heat and stir in remainining ingredients.
4. Drop mixture by teaspoonfuls on greased baking sheet
5. Turn off oven heat and place sheet of candy in oven.
6. Leave in oven for about 15 minutes or until candy has glazed appearance
7. While warm, remove candy from baking sheet.

Servings: 48



Old Fashioned Fudge


2 cups sugar

2/3 cup milk

2 squares unsweetened chocolate

2 tbs corn syrup

¼ tsp salt

2 tbs butter or margarine

1 tsp vanilla

½ cup chopped walnuts


1. Butter 9"x5"x3" loaf pan
2. Combine sugar, milk, chocolate, corn syrup, & salt in a 2 quart sauce pan
3. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until sugar is melted and chocolate is dissolved
4. Cook stirring occasionally until candy thermometer reads 234 degrees.
5. Remove from heat and add butter.
6. Cool to 120 degrees without stirring then add vanilla
7. Beat steady & continuous for 5-10 minutes with wooden spoon until candy is thick and no longer glossy
8. Quickly stir in nuts and spread mixture evenly in greased pan.
9. Cool until firm and cut into 1" squares.

Servings: 32

Vintage Peanut Butter Recipes

More vintage recipes from the ever fun shoe box. These were all on a single newspaper clipping with ads on backside dated 1974.

Peanut Butter Muffins

2 cups sifted flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
¼ cup sugar
1/3 cup Peanut butter, smooth or crunchy
2 eggs
1 cup milk
¼ cup vegetable oil

1. Sift together dry ingredients
2. Cut in Peanut butter
3. Combine beaten eggs and milk and then pour into dry ingredients
4. Add oil and stir just enough to moisten dry ingredients
5. Pre-heat oven to 400.
6. Pour batter into greased muffin pans (2/3 full)
7. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes.

Servings: 12
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Ready in: 35 minutes

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

2 packages Active dry yeast
1/3 cup warm water
¾ cup smooth peanut butter
½ cup packed brown sugar
¾ cup mashed bananas (about 2 bananas)
1 egg
1 cup scalded & Cooled Milk
1½ tsp salt
6 cups flour

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water and let set until bubbly.
2. In a large bowl beat together peanut butter & brown sugar until creamy.
3. Stir in the bananas, egg, cooled milk, dissolved yeast, and salt Blend mixture well.
4. Add 2 cups of flour, and stir vigorously. Keep adding remaining flour until dough is stiff.
5. Move dough to a well floured board and knead well for about 10 minutes. Add additional flour as needed to keep dough from sticking to board.
6. When dough is smooth and elastic, place dough in large greased bowl and flip dough so both sides are greased.
7. Cover loosely and let stand in warm place (85 degree F.) until double in bulk, about 1½ hours.
8. Punch dough down and divide in two equal parts. cover dough and let rest 10 minutes
9. Shape dough into two loaves by rolling dough out until about ¾ inch thick. Wrap or roll dough like a jelly roll and seal ends and place in 2 loaf pans
10. Cover and let rise in warm place again until double in bulk.
11. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and then bake for 40-45 minutes
12. Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing from pans

Yield: 2 loaves
Preparation time: 3 hours and 30 minutes
Ready in: 4 hours and 15 minutes

Yummy Fruit Sauce
Great over fresh fruit or ice cream

1/3 cup peanut butter
½ cup sugar
1/3 cup dark corn syrup
1/3 cup water
½ tsp salt
¼ cup raisins or candied fruit
½ tsp vanilla

1. Measure and set aside smooth or crunchy peanut butter
2. Combine sugar, corn syrup, water, & salt in saucepan. Let simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Cool to lukewarm, then stir in peanut butter. Stir until well mixed
4. Stir in raisins or fruit and vanilla.
5. Serve over fresh fruit or ice cream.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Ready in: 25 minutes