Guest Post: Drum Cake

Hello, all! I'm Kelly, Wendy's big sister, fellow book addict, and fledgling semi-foodie.

At the farmer's market in my home town today, I stopped at the Friends of the Library booth. Two cookbooks caught my eye and I didn't even try to resist. Both Betty Crocker, both from the late 50s, both only $0.25. As I dug out my quarters, the volunteer running the booth told me cookbooks were three for $0.50, so I quickly selected a third...sadly not vintage Betty Crocker, but that's a blog for another time.

The first find was Betty Crocker's Book Book for Boys and Girls. It's hardcover, spiral bound, first edition from 1957. Frankly, it's falling apart, but it's still charming nonetheless. Along with the step-by-step directions (packed with General Mills product placements) and illustrations, there are comments from the home testers. Here's one:

"Baking is as much fun as my chemistry set. And you can eat what you mix up." Eric

Golly, boys cooking - how modern and forward thinking! And chemistry sets...do today's kids even know what those are?

The book starts off with cakes. The first few recipes are exactly that - directions on how to bake cakes from scratch. But farther into the book, the Extra Special party cakes are more about assembly and decorating than about baking...well, that and product placement. This one in particular jumped out at me:

Drum Cake

To celebrate the Fourth of July - make a cake for the family picnic and decorate it for the holiday.

Bake cake in layers as directed on Betty Crocker Chocolate Devils Food Cake Mix package.

Frost cooled cake with Betty Crocker Fluffy White Frosting Mix.

The photograph on the opposite page is of the Drum Cake.

On sides of cake press striped peppermint candy sticks at angles into icing all around cake. Set a maraschino cherry at end of each stick. If you like, cross two candy sticks on top of cake for drumsticks.

See? More of a cake decorating idea than a recipe. The illustrations truly are necessary here. Would we know the cake is supposed to look like a drum without the marching band in front of it? Perhaps the boys and girls of 1957 would.

I do love the marching band, though. It reminds me of the opening credits of The Music Man. If it weren't for that, I'd question associating a cake that looks (questionably) like a drum and the Fourth of July. But for me, the Fourth of July and The Music Man will be eternally linked. And who can argue with chocolate cake?

Unabashed Love: Caramel-Peach Crisps

I don't think I've been fair to Good Housekeeping's Quick 'n' Easy Cook Book. Several of the recipes have led me to snarkiness and derision. Not this one, though. No, this one? This one, I love. Unabashedly.

Caramel-Peach Crisp

1/4 cup syrup from peaches
2 tablesp. seedless raisins
1 No. 2 2 1/2 can cling-peach, pear, or apricot halves, drained
2 tablesp. brown sugar
3 tablesp. melted butter or margarine
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tablesp. broken pecans
2/3 cup corn flakes
Light cream

Preheat broiler 10 min., or as manufacturer directs. In shallow baking pan, place peach syrup, raisins, then peach halves, with cut sides up. Sprinkle on 2 tablesp. brown sugar; broil till bubbling and brown-tinged. Meanwhile, to butter, add 1/4 cup brown sugar, pecans, and corn flakes. Spoon into peach hollows. Return to broiler with heat turned off for at least 15 min. Serve warm, with cream, or vanilla or peach ice cream, a-la-mode-fashion. Makes 4 servings

Skillet-Glazed Peaches: In skillet combine syrup from peaches with 1/4 cup each granulated and brown sugar, and 2 tablesp. butter or margarine; bring to boil. Add peaches; simmer 30 min., basting often. Omit raisins and nuts. Serve warm, sprinkled with corn flakes. Makes 6 to 8 servings

Oh, hell, yes. I'm not much of a broiler person, mostly because our oven growing up didn't have a separate broiler, so I've only ever done this stovetop. And, OH, is it yummy. The corn flake topping seems like a cheesy addition, but it's just so delightful with caramelized peach juice and sweet fleshy peaches! Mmmm!!!

It's also very pretty, and very easy. I highly recommend this for a first dessert for newbie cooks.

Not Technically Cooking: Apricot Sherbet

Some of the sticklers out there might say that dropping toppings on a frozen pie doesn't actually count as cooking. This recipe from Good Housekeeping's Quick 'n' Easy Cook Book should keep them merrily in their snit, as there's no application of heat to foodstuffs. It's not technically cooking, folks!

Apricot Sherbet

2 cans apricot nectar (1 1/2 cups)
2 tablsp. kirsh; or 2 teasp. almond extract

Mix together the apricot nectar and kirsch. Pour mixture into ice cube tray, and freeze, stirring occasionally, until mushy. Serve sherbet at once.

Makes 6 servings

See? No heat at all!

Please note: this won't work in plastic ice cube trays, folks. You'll need proper old fashioned aluminum trays, and you can leave out the cube dividers. Don't have metal ice trays? Use a freezer-safe, not non-stick pan that you might bake brownies in, or a loaf pan (also freezer-safe, also not Telflon-ed).

The kirsch adds flavor, but the alcohol also helps keep a nice texture for the sherbet -- alcohol freezes at a much lower temperature than the nectar alone.

What I love about this: you don't need an ice cream churn or freezer to make a frozen confection. Okay, I'll admit to owning a small Krups ice cream machine, but not having to freeze a chamber, pull out the engine, etc. certainly has its appeal.

My dad talks fondly of making pineapple sherbet out of canned pineapple and not much else when he was a kid. This reminds me of that. Dad doesn't share many happy childhood memories, so each one is very special to me. If this recipe doesn't seem quite special enough for you, you can always try Julia Child's rather more involved apricot sherbet recipe

Does anyone have any idea why Good Housekeeping chose to abbreviate tablespoon and teaspoon the way they did? I haven't seen it in other books.

Puttin' On The Ritz: Top-Hat Apple Pie

Yesterday's recipes from Good Housekeeping's Quick 'n' Easy Cook Book still have me a little rattled. Let's go for something a little less...creative...than a stovetop celery quiche or a curry with next to no curry in it. Since it's starting to feel like a proper autumn here in DC, let's turn our thoughts to apple pie... 1958 style.

Top-Hat Apple Pie

Heat 1, 2, or more frozen apple pies as label directs; or heat bakers' apple pie in 425°F. oven for 15 min. Serve warm, cut into wedges, with one of these toppings:

Sharp-Cheese Spread: Use a dab, before or after heating.

Pineapple Topping: Use a spoonful of drained canned crushed pineapple.

Sour-Cream Topping: Use just a little. Sprinkle with nutmeg, cinnamon, or allspice.

Cottage-Cheese Topping: Use a spoonful of cheese; then top with a little jelly.

Cranberry Topping: Use canned whole-cranberry sauce.

Whipped Cream: Use a generous dab; top with grated American cheese.

Marshmallow Topping: Use a little marshmallow cream; then sprinkle with cinnamon.

Coco-Nut Topping: Last 5 min. of heating, top with coconut or chopped nuts.

I can't really take a cheflier-than-thou attitude with these. I mean, I loves me some pie, no matter from whence it came, and though I think it's just as easy to make your own damn pie as to do one from the freezer, I'm still going to say "frozen pie beats no pie at all." Moreover, I can't turn up my nose at the idea of adding less-than-refined things to said pie: I love Cool Whip, for example, and will slather it on anything I can. Just ask.

That being said, I think any time they talk about American cheese or Sharp-Cheese Spread, you should replace it with Cheddar. Or Brie. Or, for the love of God, anything not processed into a gelatinous orange plastic state.

I can sort of imagine the sour cream topping, but the cottage cheese leaves me a bit cold -- the only lumpy texture I want with my apple pie is, well, apple. And I love cottage cheese! With apples! This lumpy topping objection stays with me for the pineapple and cranberry suggestions.

The marshmallow topping has promise. We never stocked marshmallow cream when I was growing up, so I'll admit to an unholy fascination with the stuff.

My favorite additions to hot apple pie, for the record: Tillamook cheddar; vanilla ice cream; whipped cream; Cool Whip; cream; ginger ice cream.

I am kind of sad that, so far, I haven't found the Ritz cracker mock apple pie recipe in any of the cookbooks...

I Don't Think It Means What They Think It Means: Home-For-Lunch Quickie

The editors of Good Housekeeping's Quick 'n' Easy Cook Book seem to rather miss the point of a home-for-lunch quickie in this recipe:

Home-for-Lunch Quickie

1 can condensed cream-of-celery soup, undiluted
8 eggs
1/4 teasp. pepper
2 tablesp. butter or margarine

Empty soup into bowl; stir well. Add eggs and pepper; beat just enough to blend. In saucepan, melt butter; pour in egg mixture. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally with fork, until set but still moist. If desired, serve with crisp bacon slices.

Makes 6 servings

Wait....seriously???

At lunch time, a "quickie" had better be referring to some speedy nookie, not ... whatever the hell this is. A ... cream of celery custard? If it were baked, I could try and wrap my head around it as a souffle of some sort, but...

Why are we having a 6 serving dish at a lunchtime quickie? How many folks are coming home for this quickie? And, why are we beating eggs into undiluted celery soup and then thinking anyone will eat it?

I swear, this might just have to become a Cook The Books recipe, just to see how beyond creepy it really is. This recipe is the antithesis of hot sex during the lunch hour.

The teasing mention of bacon isn't enough, even, to make this work for me.

Bridget Jones Homage: Turkey-Olive Curry

We had an internet outage last night, so there will be two, two, two posts today from Good Housekeeping's Quick 'n' Easy Cook Book! First up, an homage to Bridget Jones's mother:

Turkey-Olive Curry

2 tablesp. butter or margarine
1/2 cup sliced onions
1 cup diced celery
2 1/2 tablesp. flour
1/2 teasp. salt
1/4 teasp. curry powder
1 chicken-bouillon cube
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup pitted ripe olives
1 cup diced, cooked turkey or chicken
1 3-oz. can chow-mein noodles

In hot butter in skillet, sauté onions and celery until tender. Remove a few onion ring; set aside for garnish. To skillet, add flour, salt, curry powder, and crumbled bouillon cube; cook until bubbling. Slowly stir in milk; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened. Add three fourth of olives, all of turkey; heat. Top with onion rings, rest of olives. Serve over noodles.

Makes 4 servings

Mmm.... No, really, this sounds highly suspicious to me. Black olives, celery, milk, and chow mein noodles? ... all things I loved in my childhood, but, together?

It does sound authentically 1950s, though. In a "what were they thinking" sort of way.

The Other Way To Quick 'n' Easy: Can-Opener Minestrone

Leftovers are one way to quick 'n' easy cooking; today's recipe goes another route. Good Housekeeping's Quick 'n' Easy Cook Book (subtitle: time-saver dishes for today's busy woman) puts the secret to quick 'n' easy right in the title of this next dish:

Can-Opener Ministrone *
(Pictured on pages 34 and 35)

1 can condensed vegetable soup, undiluted
1 can condensed chicken-noodle soup, undiluted
1 can water (measure in soup can)
2 1-lb. cans kidney beans (drain 1 can)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/3 cup snipped parsley
Lots of grated Parmesan cheese

Combine vegetable soup, chicken-noodle soup, water, kidney beans, garlic and parsley. Heat until very hot. Ladle into soup bowls; pass bowlful of Parmesan cheese.

Makes 4 servings

* Make 4 or 5 times recipe to fill electric fryer as shown in photo

The electric fryer in question is that Crock-Pot looking beastie in the lower left of the photo.

I'm hoping there's lots and lots of grated cheese. And that no one has high blood pressure issues -- there's a lot of sodium going on here, especially as we're keeping the liquid from one can of beans.

Really, making your own minestrone isn't a hard thing. This would certainly be quick... and easy... but you could use similar short cuts and end up with something that tasted a little less...canned. Try using drained and rinsed beans, frozen mixed veg, boxed stock, and dried noodles. And, you know, fresh herbs. And a tin of tomatoes.

I'll admit it -- I'm a bit of a soup snob. I love a good bowl of homemade soup. I love cooking up a big pot. I love the chopping. I love the simmering. I love how the whole house smells like someone gave a damn.

I will give you this, though: as long as there's a lot of cheese to be passed around, even the can-opener cookery soup will fill you up. The cheese shows someone gives a damn.

Good Housekeeping's Quick 'n' Easy Cook Book; Cranberry-Beef Patties

At my local grocery store, at every check out, there are small booklets of recipes, for small change, ready for the impulse shopper who is bored waiting in line. These booklets have been around for a long time, folks. The saddle stitch bindings might lack the gravitas of perfect bound tomes, but they can be fabulous little collections. This week, we'll look at Good Housekeeping's Quick 'n' Easy Cook Book, from 1958. It's not currently available from any Amazon sellers, but you can probably find it on eBay or the like; booklets might not look impressive, but they're small, so they aren't usually the first thing to go when someone purges a bookshelf to regain space.

Cranberry-Beef Patties

1 1/2 cups chopped, cooked pot roast
1 1/2 cups diced, cooked potatoes
1 1/2 cups diced, cooked beets
1 onion, chopped
1/3 cup packaged dried bread crumbs
1/2 cup milk
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 teasp. Worcestershire
1 teasp. salt
1/8 teasp. pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablesp. butter or margarine
1/2 can whole-cranberry sauce

Mix together pot roast, potatoes, beets, onion, bread crumbs, milk, egg, Worcestershire, salt, pepper. Form into 8 patties. Dip lightly into flour. Sauté in hot butter in skillet until browned on both sides and heated through. Add cranberry sauce; heat until milted. To serve, spoon sauce on top of patties.

Makes 8 servings

This recipe has "leftovers" written all over it. And why not? Leftovers make dinners quick and easy. If you've cooked up a pot roast, with root veg, and you need a way to reformat it or you'll go crazy... this is a heck of a way to do it.

If you're not in the habit of having beets with your pot roast, either use canned beets, or substitute the carrots (or parsnips) you did cook with the roast.

I've never served cranberry sauce along side pot roast, but this recipe has me wondering whyever not; tangy berries would be nice along a nice bit of beef as easily as next to turkey. And flipping them into a pan sauce for the leftovers? Pretty snazzy. If you're an IKEA devotee, you could use the lingonberries you bought to go with your Swedish meatballs ... and add a splash of milk or cream at the last minute, too.