Welcome!

Our Grandmothers were experts at stretching their grocery dollars to feed large families! At times, it was necessary for them to be very creative cooks - making do with what they had on hand or what was readily available.

Take a step back in time learn how Grandma did it - much of her knowledge can be applied to our modern households!



Friday, April 27, 2012

Remember these?


For years, Betty Crocker had points coupons on their products which could be redeemed for silverware and other cookware and cookbooks.  I received this coupon in my bag of goodies purchased on Ebay and with a little research found this information.

Savory Beans and Meat Balls


I received in the mail a recent Ebay purchase of a couple of old cookbooks and some recipe clippings.  Included was this one from a Pet Milk label.  The collection appears to be more of the 60's era, but one looked to be a pretty frugal dish.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Just "Cookies"

I ran across this recipe in an old community cookbook - the name is simply "Cookies". The recipe calls for "Spry" which this ad indicates was a brand of vegetable shortening - I assume something similar to Crisco.

Cookies


1/2 cup Spry
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 eggs, well beaten
2 cups sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Combine Spry, salt, vanilla and nutmeg and blend. Add sugar gradually and cream well. Add beaten eggs and milk, mix well. Sift four with baking powder and soda. Add to creamed mixture, blending well. Drop from teaspoon on greased baking sheet. Let stand a few minutes, then flatten by stamping with a glass covered with a damp cloth. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake in moderately hot oven (375 degrees F) 8 to 12 minutes. Makes 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Quick One Egg Cake

1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup melted lard
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Sift dry ingredients. Add cooled shortening. Add eggs beaten with milk and vanilla. Beat well by hand 1 minute. Bake at 350 degrees 25 to 30 minu

Another household use for vinegar...

For a great shower cleaner - mix equal parts of white vinegar and Dawn dish soap in a spray bottle. Spray on, let set a few minutes and rinse off.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Aprons

In Grandma's day, you didn't enter the kitchen without donning your apron. Over the years we seem to have gotten away from this tradition. After numerous attempts to remove kitchen stains from clothing, I realized that maybe it was time to use some of my fabric stash and create an apron. This is the pattern that I'm going to be using.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Clara on Youtube

Some wonderful videos on Youtube of this lady demonstrating her depression era recipes!