Otter Creek Used Books

I’m always coming across some cool recipes tucked into pages used as a bookmark. I’m thinking today would be great to start featuring them.  And I’m so afraid of losing the clippings! Now I’ll always have them. I’m sorry but I forgot what book this first recipe came from. I meant to note that because I think it would be fun to keep track of. There probably would be no relationship with the recipe to the book but just be an interesting tidbit, don’t you think? Generally they are clipped from magazines or newspapers. They must have struck a hungry bug with the clipper. So here’s the first recipe and I’ll try to remember to keep a record of the title of the book and any other info with it for next time. Enjoy!

Mock Indian Pudding

• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 14 graham crackers, finely crushed (about 1 cup)
• 1 Tbsp. butter
• 2 cups milk
• Vanilla ice cream (optional)

Beat together first six ingredients. Add graham cracker crumbs and butter to milk. Heat and stir into egg mixture. Pour into 6 greased custard cups. Set cups in shallow pan containing 1/2 inch water. Bake in preheated oven, 350 degrees, for 40 minutes or until set. Serve warm with ice cream.

2nd Recipe - Mushroom Club Sandwiches

• 2 Large slices toast
• 2 slices bacon
• 4 large mushrooms
• 2 slices tomato
• Lettuce leaf
• Mayonnaise
• Butter

Peel mushrooms, chop stems fine and cook in butter until tender. Put a bit of butter into each cap and broil until tender. Spread stems on a slice of toast, cover with lettuce leaf. Spread with mayonnaise, then tomato slices,then broiled caps and crisp bacon. Place the other slice of toast and cut into diagonals. Makes one sandwich.

Doesn’t that just sound tasty? Of course as my daughter says anything with bacon has to be good. With me it’s all about the mushrooms hence why I saved the recipe in the first place. And again, I forgot what book this was found in.  It had been kicking around on my desk and counter and I just found it again. I think I’m going to have to try it out tonight.

3rd Recipe – Feather Beds
This recipe just sounds so cool and the directions are even better! It actually is from a torn-up cookbook I stumbled upon and just so happens to be the first recipe on the page. I have no idea what cookbook it is from only that many women contributed to recipes so I’m imaging a church group. Anyways a Mrs. Thorpe submitted it. Here is the recipe as it was published. Hope you find it as interesting as I do:

2 eggs beaten light. 1/2 c. melted butter and lard. 2 c. milk slightly warmed. 1/2 yeast cake. 3 tb. sugar. Flour enough to drop stiff from spoon. Start at 9 A. M. Stir down if very light during day. At 4 P. M. put in cup cake tins. Let rise until very light and bake quickly.

4th Recipe for Halloween – Crackerwitch Castle

The following recipe is actually from a book that I just took from a box to price. It’s so cute! “Strawberry Shortcake’s Cooking Fun” by Michael J. Smollin. What? A man wrote this? Strawberry didn’t write this herself? My world is shattered! Hmmm….

“To build a Crackerwitch Castle, all you need are round crackers and cheese. Put a piece of cheese on a cracker, than add another cracker, and keep stacking this way until the castle is as high as you want it to be.

This witch’s castle is a great nibbling treat when you’re reading or watching TV with your friends. Just start munching at the top and work your way down. The tower at the top is made of cheese, [a cheese wedge] and there are olives [laid] around the edge. Strawberry Shortcake and her friends need a ladder to build this castle, but you won’t!”

How sweet!

5th Recipe – Fresh Grape Mold

Ok, this is a weird one but reflective of the times, I suppose. It came from a cookbook from the 70’s that I rescued. It’s a newspaper clipping announcing that Thompson Seedless Grapes Are Ready. Now if you didn’t know, Thompson Seedless are “easy-on-the-cook” grape. Why, you ponder. It’s because there is no peeling, no seeding – ready to use as it comes from the store.  I’ve never peeled my grapes. The thought of it is crazy, to me. Anyways, Thompson Seedless Grapes are a delight in salads, desserts and dozens of meat dishes. Did you know department: 90 million vines bear the huge Thompson Seedless grape harvest in California. They are the descendants of one little old vine shipped by accident with a large order of grape cuttings to a Mr. W. Thompson in 1872. Ah! That’s why they are called Thompson Seedless Grapes! They’re perfect for an all-purpose fruit bowl, white wine and raisin grape. “Specially treated vines produce some 7,000 carlot equivalents of choice, golden-green clusters of de luxe size for the fresh market.” That’s more than I knew about grapes let alone Thompson Seedless Grapes. And for the record, I am not a fan of mold salads. Especially one with carrots. I like carrots but please…not in a mold or jello salad. And with shrimp? That’s just wrong, I tell you! Anyways, here’s the recipe. Enjoy but please don’t tell me made it or ate it.

• 2 envelopes unflavored gelatine
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 2 1/4 cups boiling water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup fresh lemon  juice
• 1 1/2 cups Thompson Seedless Grapes
• 3/4 cup shredded fresh carrots
• Shrimp Salad

Soften gelatin in cold water. Sir in boiling water, salt, sugar and lemon juice. Chill until mixture begins to thicken. Fold in grapes and carrots. Turn into a lightly oiled 5-cup ring mold. Chill until firm and ready to serve. Just before serving, unmold salad onto a serving plate. Fill center with shrimp salad. YIELD: 8 to 10 servings.

6th Recipe – Macaroni Wreath

Just in time for Christmas! I know this isn’t something to eat BUT it is so cool and retro to the max! I love it! Almost want to make one mysef and well, I just might. I was looking through the book, The Joyful Christmas Craft Book written by Kathryn Holley Seibel (D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc., 1963) when I happened upon the wreath. To tell the truth the book is awesome. I am a retro fan. Not sure why but I love the 30’s-60’s. Christmas totally brings it out of me.  Oh, stop laughing and grab your macaroni, spray paint and start gluing. I’ll tell you what, if you make one and bring it in to show me I’ll give you 50% off a book. That’s how much I believe in gold macaroni! Directions are as follows:

“Wreaths can be made of any size you like. Cut or saw a 2-inch-wide circle of corrogated boxboard. Divide and mark the board into equal sections, and plan the wreath so that each section can contain an equal number of large pieces. The repeat motif is most effective if planned three, four, five, six, or seven times. If you make your design in terms of the largest pieces, the rest will be easy. The design should stand out at first glance. Avoid piling up macaroni pieces without a good strong plan in mind. Think of your wreath as a wood carving, a thing of beauty, with all elements in a definitely repeated desgin.

To avoid a flat appearance, build up the center of the wreath with cotton batting from a department store. Cut a 1 1/2-inch-wide circle of it to fit the wreath and glue to the cardboard, shaping it into a mound uniformly thick all around the circle.

For a finish, you might spray with gold and cover the raw edges of the boxband with gold braid. If you prefer a color, wrap a length of red or green velvet rope in and out of the wreath, and fasten the ends at the back. Or hang your wreath against a red, blue, or green wall. “

7th Recipe – Hashed Turnip

This recipe floated out of a book. It wants to be posted, I guess. Well, it makes sense to offer a turnip recipe in winter. Sounds good. Should be good. And good for you.

By the way, I was so disappointed that no one came in with a macaroni wreath. I’ve got to make one next Christmas. Just have to! Anyways, here is the recipe.

• 1 large yellow turnip
• 2 level tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon chopped [fresh] parsley
• 1/4 cup thin cream

Peel the turnip thickly and cut into dice. Cook until tender in boiling water, then drain and return to saucepan; add the butter, seasoning, parsley and cream. Let the whole boil up once and serve.

Hmmm, I’m hungry!

8th Recipe – Archaeologists Corn Bread

A very good friend came into the store today. So good to see her! Well, she was shopping for used books – with her own bag, too, she’s so smart! She shared a recipe for the blog from a book that she has read. She and her husband really liked it so much that they made it twice in a week. Now you can’t get a better testimony than that! What was cool is that the recipe is in the book, The Blue Corn Murders by Nancy Pickard. A Eugenia Potter Mystery.  Recipes in the book include Colorado Pine Nut Orzo, Bingo’s Chocolate Cornies and Sweet Dream Cookies. Hmmm. Now I’ve never read any of Pickard’s books but it says on the book jacket that the inimitable Mrs. Potter is a culinary,  deductive adventurous. My type of woman! So, of course, I’m going to have to read this book as well as try out the recipes especially this one. Thanks, Betsy!

You will need one large and two small bowls

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/3 cup blue cornmeal
• 1/3 cup white cornmeal

In the large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the eggs, milk, and shortening. Beat until smooth, but don’t overbeat. Pour 1/3 of the mixture into a second bowl. Pour 1/3 of the mixture into a third bowl, leaving 1/3 in the original large bowl. Mix the yellow cornmeal and 1/3 of the sour cream into one one of the bowls. Mix the blue cornmeal and 1/3 of the sour cream into the second bowl. Mix the white cornmeal and 1/3 of the sour cream into the third bowl. Layer the mixtures into a greased 9-inch-square baking dish. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Remove from dish after 10 minutes.

9th Recipe – Indian Pudding Vermont Style

I found this recipe tucked into the Vermont Travel Information Guide. Can’t find a publishing date but from brochures inside I’m guessing 1970. The recipe is on a postcard titled Milk and Vermont, Olde Vermont Recipes. It also includes Vermont Corn Chowder. Really not sure what sets these two recipes apart from others that I’ve seen. I mean, they don’t include maple syrup so I’m not sure what makes them Vermonty. Well, I guess it’s the milk used. Turning the card over it promotes Vermont’s agriculture so, Milk it is. Here’s what the back says: “Agriculture is Vermont’s largest industry. Vermon’ts great dairy industry leads our agricultural economy with a total contribution of 130 million dollars. We invite you to add to your Vitality by enjoying Vermont’s top quality dairy products. If you would like to Visit Vermont Agriculture ask for a Vermont Host Program flier at any state information center or write to the Vermont Host Program, Dept. of Agriculture, Montpelier, Vermont 05602. This card is presented to you in the interset of Vermont Dairy Farmers by the Dairy Council of Vermont and Milk Promotion Services, Inc.”  I’m pretty sure there isn’t a Vermont Host Program now. But anyways, enjoy the recipe and make it with Vermont Cabot butter and Vermont milk to support our Vermont dairy farmers.

Indian Pudding Vermont Style

• 4 cups [Vermont] milk
• 1/2 cup dark molasses
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons [Cabot] butter

Heat 3 cups of the milk in top of double boiler. Add molasses, sugar, cornmeal, salt, spices, and butter. Cook over hot water, stirrying occasionally, about 20 minutes, or until mixture thickens. Pour in 1/2 quart casserole and add remaining cold milk without stirring. Bake in slow over (300 degree F.) 2 1/2 hours. Serve warm with plain cream or with small balls of ice cream and Vermont Maple Syrup. Yield: 6-8 servings.