Valentine’s Day Recipes - The Old-Fashioned Way

They say what’s old is new again, and that couldn’t be more true about vintage cookbooks. If you do a quick Internet search for “vintage cookbook,” you’ll find people buying them, selling them, looking for them, collecting them, using them, saving them and collecting them. If would fit into several of those categories, as is evidenced by one whole cabinet in our kitchen.

Looking for some fun new (or not so new) ideas for Valentine’s Day recipes, I dug out a few of my mid-century cookbooks and had a blast looking through them. I’ve collected several of the books we had in our house growing up, so the pictures are so warm and familiar, and I love the words and phrases they used, things we just don’t say today.

So sit back, relax and get ready for a few not-so-new ideas you can use for your own Valentine’s Day party this year.

1935:
* Frost heart-shaped cookies with a plain frosting made by creaming 2 tablespoons butter with 2 cups powdered sugar and mixed to a creamy smoothness with 4 tablespoons cream and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add 1 teaspoon red vegetable coloring.
* Before the frosting has hardened, trace an arrow lightly across the heart with a toothpick. Fill in the depression made by the toothpick with tiny silver dragees (silver candies) or chocolate decorettes.

1957:
* Bake a square cake and a round cake of the same size (9 inches works great). Place the square cake on a serving platter with one point toward you. Cut the round cake in half and arrange with the cut sides against the top edges of the square to create a heart. Frost and decorate with red candies.

1960:
* If you own a beautiful lace tablecloth, this is the time to bring it out. Or a washable pink fabric could be used with matching pink bows pinned to the corners.
* Bake two heart-shaped cakes and stack them with frosting in between. Frost the outside of the cakes and sprinkle the top and sides with shredded coconut.
* Slice a loaf of heavy bread 2 inches thick and cut a heart shape out of each. Cut a circle out of the center, leaving 1/2 inch of bread around it. Brush with melted butter. Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Serve hearts filled with your favorite jam or jelly.

1967:
* Make a centerpiece by trimming a small Christmas tree with red paper hearts of varying sizes, pink and red bows and decorated heart-shaped cookies and candies. Tuck in tiny artificial flowers.
* Heart meringues: Heat oven to 275 degrees. Beat 3 egg whites and 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar until frothy. Beat in 1 cup of sugar until very stiff and glossy. Tint pink with 5-6 drops of red food coloring. Make 8 mounds, dropping 1/3 to 1/2 cup meringue for each on heavy brown paper on baking sheet. Shape each into a heart shape with the back of the spoon. Bake 55 minutes. Turn off oven and leave meringues in oven to cool completely. To serve, fill shells with ice cream and garnish with strawberries.

Do you have a favorite recipe from days gone by that would be perfect for your Valentine’s Day celebration this year?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Holland Creme - That Amazing White Stuff In Donuts

Image
I remember going to the grocery store every Saturday morning when I was growing up, and my favorite place in the entire store was the donut case. All the glazed, powdered and filled baked goods drew me like a magnet. My favorites, far and away, were the ones filled with that beautiful white, fluffy creme. At the time I didn't know it was called Holland Creme - I just knew it was the most amazing concoction ever. Ever. Here is my version of this sweet treat. You can make your own fried donuts and fill them, or like I did here, you can cut a crevice into store-bought donuts with a knife and fill them with creme in a piping bag. Either way, you're going to love it. Ingredients: 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup water 1 cup vegetable oil 1 cup shortening 1 cup butter 1 Tbsp vanilla 7 cups powdered sugar 1. Make a simple syrup by combining sugar and water in a sauce pan over medium heat until boiling, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool complet
Read more

Recovering An Old Card Table And Making It Usable Again

Image
This card table recover project has been on my to-do list for months. I've been using it as my workspace in the craft room for quite some time, and it sees a lot of abuse. Here it is now, with a neutral cover on it so I can take better pictures for my tutorials. There were dents and dings in the old blue covering from metal tools. And yes, I've used my embossing heat tool on it several times, leaving pretty good scars. The padding underneath the blue cover also made it difficult to keep paper crafts flat when adhering them together, so it was time for something new. That's where a simple vinyl tablecloth comes in handy. The process to recover the table is pretty simple, but I learned a couple of lessons the hard way. I share them with you now. First, don't do this on any surface but a carpet. I tried it on the deck int he sunshine to get better pictures, but all it did was tear up the cover. Second, get a second pair of hands to help you kee
Read more

Crafts For Teen Girls To Make

Image
In our teen girls Bible study, we're studying our way through the Proverbs 31 woman and it's been such a blessing to me, as I hope it's been to them. Every month we spend an afternoon or an evening together studying Scripture, making something amazing in the kitchen and creating something that corresponds to the verse we're in. Choosing the crafts each time can be a challenge for several reasons. It needs to be something they can completely finish (or do most of) because once they leave they're probably not going to work on it themselves - that's just the nature of teenagers. Remember? It also needs to be a project that keeps they're attention, is age-appropriate and is cool enough that they'll want to keep it or give it to someone special. But hey, no pressure on the Bible study leader, right? Here are just a few of the projects we've done together in the year we've been meeting. * This month's craft will be the adorable cross stit
Read more