What would you call these two recipes? As a bonus - Rhubarb Custard Pie!

[csziggy]

Last edited Sun Aug 11, 2013, 10:24 PM - Edit history (1)

I was given a cookbook that my great grandmother owned - the Cloverland Cook Book by The Young Women’s Auxillary of the First Presbyterian Church, Escanaba, Michigan. There were a few recipes printed in the book attributed to her but there were two handwritten recipes on a piece of paper stuck in the book with no recipe names on them.

What would you call these recipes?

4 pkg cream cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsps lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1 cup crushed pineapples
3 cups pitted cherries (dark sweet)
2 cups whipped cream or large can evaporated milk, sugar to sweeten

Blend cheese and mayonnaise, add lemon juice, salt and fruit. Fold in whipped cram, place in tray. Freeze.

Serves 20 people.

1 cup lemon juice
2-2/3 cups orange juice
8 eggs, beaten
2 cups sugar
1 small can evaporated milk, whipped

Heat fruit juices in top of double boiler. Combine eggs and sugar, beat well. Add to fruit juice; cook until thick. Cool. When ready to serve add whipped cream.

There are also several recipes cut from magazines, newspapers and product labels - including some gelatine recipes and one for "Bohemian tea". And since there was a discussion about rhubarb pie, here is my great grandmother's recipe:

Rhubarb Custard Pie
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup milk
yolks of two eggs
1 cup sliced rhubarb
Pour into crust and bake. Cover with meringue of whites of eggs.

Found a reference for this cookbook - I think you can download the whole thing in PDF format: http://mmm.lib.msu.edu/record.php?id=45187

[Gormy Cuss]

1. The first one looks like an ambrosia

Second one, an orange custard maybe?

[csziggy]

3. I haven't seen an ambrosia with cream cheese and whipped cream

Plus, she froze it at the end. But maybe it's a regional variation. I live in Florida, she grew up in New York state and lived in Escanaba, Michigan after her marriage.

I did find a Frozen Cherry Salad Loaf that is a little bit like the first recipe.

The second one does seem to be a type of custard. There is a word above it, but I can't make it out - maybe "Shemix" or "Thessup"? Her handwriting is terrible and this is pencil on a well used piece of paper that is at least 65 years old (she died in 1947).

What's neat is that on a number of recipes she made notes - it will be fun to try some of these old recipes, though I will have to research what a "fast oven" means for temperature settings!

[msanthrope]

2. The first is a frozen ambrosia salad. You could put it into a tray for

buffet service, or into an oiled mold for slicing, to be served over iceberg lettuce.

The second sounds like a thick pudding or pie filling, given the amount of sugar and eggs. I would bet it would taste good with fresh berries.

[winter is coming]

4. The method behing the second one reminds me a little bit of something my grandma made.

She called it Snow Salad, because by the time you added the whipped cream, it was a pale pastel color, about the consistency of Cool Whip. It's really good served as a big dollop on a piece of angel food cake.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

5. The rhubarb custard pie recipe is a bit light on details

Is the rhubarb cooked prior to putting in the pie? The pie is baked how long? Is the pie shell pre-baked or not? Enquiring minds want to know.

[csziggy]

8. That is exactly how the recipe is printed in the recipe book

That one was not one of her handwritten recipes, but one of the ones published in the book. The title page of the books says, "The present volume is a compilation of recipes gathered from private sources. They have been tried and tested."

Many of the recipes leave out vital details. Usually no oven temperature is mentioned or it's described as a "fast oven". I have no idea when this was published - there is no copyright date **See below!

If I ever try the rhubarb pie recipe, I will research it - it is not at all similar to other rhubarb pie recipes I have in my collection of cookbooks!

Found a reference for this cookbook - I think you can download the whole thing in PDF format: http://mmm.lib.msu.edu/record.php?id=45187

They think it was published in 1913.

[The empressof all]

6. I think the first is an ambrosia semi freddo the second is pretty much a "fool" or even a pudding

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruit_fool

Fools are usually some sort of pureed fruit mixed with whipped cream,.,.,.Or a trifle without the cake I beleive. Since the second recipe doesn't use fruit it may be a stretch to be a true fool so we may be moving more into pudding territory.

[locks]

7. good ole days recipes

When I was a child we did not have fridges with freezers, just iceboxes. Always had tasty desserts and often used evaporated milk and fresh or home canned fruit. Of course, the eggs were gathered about a day before we got them. And the cream was so heavy we hardly had to stir it to make whipped cream. I still use some of my grandmother's and great-grandmother's recipes but usually cut sugar in half and use 2% milk or sour cream, light cream cheese. Don't remember any using mayonnaise but these all sound good.

[csziggy]

9. This lady lived in a very advanced house

Her father in law, my gr-gr-grandfather, had a house built in 1886 and had it wired for electricity. The house was basically a duplex - both my gr-grandfather's and his father's families shared the house, with separate living rooms and kitchens on separate floors.

The family owned that house until my great-grandmother died in 1947, even though she lived her last few years with a daughter in Oberlin, Ohio. The family that bought it still owns it and is on the second or third generation growing up in the home.

From what my grandmother said, and the memories of my father (who is 90), my great-grandmother probably owned a refrigerator very early along. I know my grandmother complained in her diary when she moved to Florida in 1925 and did NOT have a refrigerator, just an icebox!

See my edit to the OP above - the entire cookbook (and others) can be downloaded from a Michigan State University site.

[locks]

10. Thank you for the recipes and the reminder

that even in the Great Depression our families didn't always feel deprived and I had a happy childhood. When I go to the historic mountain and mining towns in Colorado I am constantly amazed at the indomitable spirit of the women and how they made good meals in unbelievable conditions.

[csziggy]

11. Even my Mom's side of the family was happy

The great-grandmother who had the recipe book was on my Father's side of the family. The men were typical business people - they had good years and bad and went bankrupt more than once. But on average they were prosperous, especially after 1900.

Mom's side of the family was very poor - mostly dirt farmers and blue collar types. Her father lost everything in the depression and they had to live with various relatives. But Mom and her brothers had a pretty happy life even though they had very little. Mom's mother was a very frugal woman but she was a great cook and Mom learned how to cook good food without it costing a lot. I learned a lot from them both!