“In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It Goes On.”
Robert Frost
Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts

Thursday, June 9, 2016

Throwback Thursday - 50 years of Cool Whip


Happy Birthday Cool Whip, you're 50 years old this year!

source

Most of you are familiar with "Cool Whip".  It's one of those items that Martha Stewart has probably never eaten.  But back when I was growing up it was a staple in our household, it replaced another 'almost food' item called Dream Whip.  Don't get me started on that foul concoction. I'm not sure if they even make it anymore....

Anyway, we're here today to talk Cool Whip which was brought to a supermarket near you back in 1966.  Do you remember that catchy phrase and commercial jingle in the late 80's, called Cool Whip's the One?
If not let me refresh your memory....






The lyrics as far as I could make out are something like....

"What makes everything so whip smackin',
lip smackin'... a-aah good... mm-mm
Cool Whip's the one, that whipped creamy taste.

Cool Whip's the One,
That makes it whip smackin',
lip smackin'... a-aah good, yeah!
Cool Whip's the one,
That whipped creamy taste,
Cool Whip's the One!"

OK so wasn't that fun! Never mind that the debate still rages as far as whether Cool Whip is a food or not... Health nuts, don't lecture me... it's not as though we eat this stuff everyday. Besides, if you've ever eaten a prepared salad dressing or pretty much any processed food you've eaten the ingredients that are in Cool Whip!

Now back to my story,.... so my Mom loved to make Jell-O Salads and they almost always had a Cool Whip addition to them.  By the way Jello-O is twice as old as Cool Whip!  Sometimes the Cool Whip was incorporated into the salad or it was just a festive dollop on top. I remember how a plain old cherry Jell-O with sliced bananas suspended inside was transformed into a work of art when Cool Whip was slathered on top and sprinkled with chopped walnuts! My mom served it in a clear glass salad bowl and to a ten year old kid it looked like a sparkling jewel!

One reason cooks love Cool Whip is because it holds it's shape for a long time.  Regular whipped cream will start to melt and break down, especially in warm conditions.  That's why Cool Whip was a popular item for all those pot-lucks and church dinners!

So I can't leave you without sharing a simple recipe that has tons of variations all over the internet. Is it a dessert, is it a salad?  Who cares, it is delicious!  Here's my favorite...




Fruit Cocktail Cottage Cheese Salad
1 box Lemon or Lime Jell-O (3 oz.)
1 can crushed pineapple (8 oz.)
1 can fruit cocktail (14 oz.)
1 small container Cool Whip (10 oz.)  UPDATE: I now use Truwhip instead.
1 container small curd cottage cheese (16 oz.)

Drain the fruit cocktail juice into a glass measuring cup and heat in microwave until hot (about 30 seconds) or heat in a small pan on your stove. Remove from heat and stir in the Jell-O and mix until it's dissolved. Set aside to cool to room temperature while you prepare the other ingredients.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the pineapple, cottage cheese and the fruit cocktail. HINT- To help this set faster, I refrigerate the canned fruit ahead of time so that it is cold.

Add your dissolved Jell-O and stir to combine.  Fold in the Cool Whip and transfer to a large serving bowl or container and refrigerate for several hours. It will have a somewhat soft consistency.

More HINTS-- Use any flavor Jell-O you like. If you like less sweet and more like a salad, add 1/2 cup sour cream or 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt in addition to the cottage cheese. If you want it more like a dessert, add marshmallows.  Want nuts, add some. You can do pretty much anything to this salad/dessert and it will turn out yummy!








Want this salad but without the Cool Whip? Here's a recipe for whipped cream, try substituting it for the Cool Whip. Best if eaten the same day, remember the real whipped cream might not hold up as long as Cool Whip.

UPDATE: I no longer use Cool Whip as they have been using High Fructose Corn Syrup and other questionable ingredients in this product. I use a product called Truwhip instead.

Homemade Whipped Cream
1 cup whipping cream
1/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt

Pour the heavy cream into a large metal bowl with crushed ice under the bowl.

Add about a 1/3 cup of sugar and a tiny pinch of salt.
Whip for approximately 5 minutes until it forms soft peaks. Must be  keep refrigerated for best results.

Disclaimer.... These are my personal opinions, I'm not being reimbursed for anything I say or do on my blog!

Hope you enjoyed this little trip down memory lane! 
So the burning question... Is Cool Whip a Food? 

Thanks for joining me on Throwback Thursday!
~~~ Diane ~~~



Friday, September 25, 2015

Toast Anyone?

Autumn has arrived and everyone is posting their incredible photos of their trees, flowers, front porches etc.... all decorated with the seasons best.

Not me, today you get toast.


Yes, it may seem an odd thing to talk about, but I can't get it out of my mind these days....

I dropped by a moving sale last week and an elderly couple was selling off a vast majority of their things. I picked up a few teacups and other little items, but the most interesting item I came home with is this fun cookbook.

"A Book of Recipes and Suggestions for the Use of Toast", by Mills Bakery, Detroit Michigan - Halls Baking Co - 1937.


While I'm making light of what seems today like a funny book, remember this was written during the Great Depression (1929-39), the deepest and longest-lasting economic downturn in the history of the Western industrialized world. Another horrible event at that time was the Dust Bowl, also known as the Dirty Thirties, a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the US and Canadian prairies during the 1930s; severe drought and a failure to apply dryland farming methods to prevent wind erosion caused the phenomenon. 
Times were extremely tough for people throughout the country and food was hard to come by. What little they had was extended by using a relatively inexpensive item at the time, which in this case was sliced bread. My parents families were both farmers and lived through both of these horrid events.


So I guess at the time, it was appropriate for Toast to have 
a special place at the table for all to enjoy. Let's take a look 
at a book about Toast!

























This was declared the First and perhaps Last book about Toast!





The Glory of Toast!

Toast, a happy glorification of the world's oldest and most important food, now takes on a new significance in the preparation of the daily meals......... golden brown toast adds to the attractiveness of whatever it is served with, and eye-appeal always makes good food taste even better. .... and of course it is easy on the food budget.  Particularly so, because it is the smart way to serve leftovers. - from A Book of Recipes and Suggestions for the Use of Toast



A Toast To Toast 
by 
Grace McKinstry




I will never think of Toast in the same way again!








Just a peek at some fun Toast Recipes!





Hope you enjoyed my book about toast! If you'd like to purchase the book it's available in my shop, CraveCute on Etsy.




Who knew toast was so much fun.....

I found these on Flickr!

Fun Toast People!

Toast Talk (13), c1965





Glamorous Cocktail Party Toast!
1937 ... toast juggling!



I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! 
And don't forget to Toast your Toast!

~~Diane~~





Thursday, October 4, 2012

And Now For Something Different . . .

 via
 19th Century tribal women harvesting wild rice in the traditional manner. -- by S. Eastman.

If you visited last month you may recall I mentioned that I am doing a monthly post for the Eco Etsy blog. Well it has already been a month and here we are again. I hope you visit and read the entire article.  Make sure to visit some of the links too. Wild rice is now an important alternative to regular rice in light of the arsenic that has been found in much of our American grown regular rice. Here is the link and title of my article --  An Ancient Harvest: Wild Rice . The link at the bottom of the post titled Waiter There's Arsenic in my Rice, is quite eye opening.

I hope you enjoy the article and the recipes that I included from the vintage cookbook in my shop. While you are visiting Etsy, check out this shop that sells hand harvested wild rice from northern Minnesota, Native Woman . OK, I am done with my shameless self-promotion, but seriously read the article, please!

Have a great Thursday!


Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Rhubarb Dream Dessert

Springtime means the rhubarb is ready for picking. I've already harvested some, cleaned and chopped it and it has been stored in the freezer for later months when I need an interesting ingredient. I am still picking some every week or so and have been trying a few recipes old and new.

A new one wasn't to my liking, so I reverted back to an old recipe from my Mom's recipe box. The crust is crisp like a shortbread and the rhubarb topping is soft and creamy.  The only other flavoring is a bit of nutmeg - which could be omitted if you don't care for it. I am sharing the recipe below. Let's enjoy some rhubarb today!


Rhubarb Dream Dessert topped with luscious whipped cream!


Canadian Red Rhubarb







Recipe

Rhubarb Dream Dessert

Crust
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, cold

Filling
2 whole eggs, beaten
1/4 cup flour (I used a white whole wheat flour)
1 dash nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 cups rhubarb, finely chopped

With pastry cutter blend the first 3 ingredients and press
into an ungreased 7" x 11" baking dish. 
In preheated oven, bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. 

Mix the rest of the ingredients and spoon onto the crust.  
Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.  
Store leftovers in the refrigerator.
Serve with whipped or ice cream.





Want to know more about Rhubarb?  Check out this link to The Rhubarb Compendium.



Linked with:






Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Delicious Cookies

Delicious Cookies, yes that's the name and the description. The original recipe came from my husband's Grandmother who ran a cafe in rural South Dakota. I of course can not leave well enough alone, so I made a few simple changes. I replaced the margarine and rice crisp cereal and put my own spin on these delicious "Delicious Cookies".





This picture does not do these cookies justice, they are even prettier than this! The cookie has a delightful crispy texture that everyone loves. There are a lot of ingredients that go into this cookie! The recipe makes a huge batch of cookies (about four dozen). I use my handy Kitchen Aid mixer with the paddle attachment. It makes combining these ingredients so easy! I always use scoops to make evenly sized cookies and it is much faster. This is a small size scoop, sorry I don't think it has a number.






Smoosh the cookies with a fork to slightly flatten them out.

Ready for the Oven


Ready to go on the cooling rack




They come off easily from my half sheet pans. No grease required. 

Hint: Never wash your sheet pans in the dishwasher. It will dull the finish 
and your cookies will stick.



Cookies cooling on the rack!







Delicious Cookies
Yields around 4 dozen cookies

1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup vegetable oil
1 whole egg
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup oats, rolled (raw)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup walnuts, chopped fine
1 cup  Craisins®(dried cranberries)
3 1/2 cups flour, white
1 cup rice krispies® (or your favorite crisp cereal, I use Natures Path Granola)

1.    Cream together butter and sugar, gradually add oil. Blend in other ingredients as listed above until you get to the flour. Blend in the flour and cereal at the very end. Do not over mix.

2.    Use small scoop or teaspoon size amount and drop onto cookie sheet. Flatten slightly with a fork. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 12 minutes. Cookie will brown slightly around edge. Cool on wire rack.


Notes: You may switch out some of the ingredients for your own preferences, such as using raisins or chopped dates instead of Craisins® or pecans instead of walnuts.

I hope you try them sometime, you will not be disappointed!
For more sweetness visit Crazy for Crust or Mom's Crazy Cooking!
Just click on the buttons below!












Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Butterscotch Pumpkin Cookies

I have pumpkin on the brain. I have been thinking about pumpkins too much. My Pinterest board is overflowing with pumpkin things, soups, main courses, desserts, decorations, all pumpkin. After a while, I will have had it with pumpkins. The next thing I will be into this season will be cranberries, but that is for another day.

Today we are still thinking pumpkin. Here is a wonderful recipe that I adapted from one I found on Pinterest. My family thinks these are the best pumpkin cookies ever! The Butterscotch Frosting really makes these cookies over the top good!


Butterscotch Pumpkin Cookies

2 cups flour
1- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup chopped pecans (toasted)


Butterscotch Frosting: 6 Tablespoons butter
1/3 cup brown cane sugar
2 cups powdered sugar 1 or more teaspoon(s) water to right consistency

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Chop pecans.  In a saute pan, toast pecans until fragrant.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon,ginger and nutmeg.  Set aside.  In a large bowl (or mixer) cream together the sugar and butter.  Add one egg.  Stir in the pumpkin.  Add flour mixture and mix until incorporated.  (Do not over mix.)  Stir in pecans by hand. Drop with a teaspoon onto a cookie sheet.  Bake at 375 degrees for 10 – 12 minutes.

For the Frosting:
Heat butter in a a saucepan.  Add brown sugar and stir.  Remove from heat and whisk in the powdered sugar.  Add a teaspoon of water or more until you reach desired consistency.  Frost the cookies. Grate a little more nutmeg over the top before the frosting sets. Wait at least five minutes, then sample!





Pumpkin Chewy Deliciousness




Linked to What I Love Wednesday

Monday, November 7, 2011

Happy Birthday To Betty!

Hold the presses err, hold the blog automatic poster thingy. I had another post all set to go, until I heard this morning that is was someones 90th birthday.


It is Betty Crocker's 90th birthday. 






Betty, you don't look a day over 30! Happy Birthday, I look forward to many more years celebrating together!