Cherry Crumb Cake: A Farm Journal Recipe

I found this old recipe I had hand-written on a piece of paper when I was going through some old stuff.

I knew it was from the cookbook, below - and I believe I had gotten it from Mother back before I had a copy of the cookbook.
"Farm Journal's Best-Ever Recipes", seen below.
I've written about the vintage Farm Journal cookbooks a number of times before, as they contain some of our family's all-time favorite recipes that Mother used when we were growing up.

This one just sounded good - and easy - to me, and I wanted to try it.

We liked it - but we didn't love it. I'd rather have cherry pie.

Honestly, I liked it better the next day, for some reason.

The can of cherry pie filling I bought to use was not really quite enough. You know how sizes of grocery items have changed over the years, right?
If I should decide to make it again, I would buy two cans and weigh out 24 ounces to use, which is what the recipe calls for.
But I'd probably make a pie instead! And I would use canned cherries, rather than cherry pie filling.
It's funny - I think I must have had this - and liked it so much - at the time, that I wanted the recipe. But I think my taste has changed over the years. There's another old recipe that I used to LOVE when I was younger, it was a cherry cream cheese pie, made with "ReaLemon" brand juice, I think, and cream cheese and maybe sweetened condensed milk. I don't think I'd like that any more, either. It sounds kind of weird to me, now.
So much so that I don't even think I'd want to bother trying it again - why make something you don't think you will like?
That wouldn't stop me from trying it if somebody ELSE made it, though, LOL!
(Please don't let my musings keep you from trying today's recipe, if you think it sounds good! The Farm Journal recipes are, by and large, very, VERY good.)
Try it, you might like it!

Then And Now #107: Bisquick

Today's post features that versatile mix known as Bisquick.
Bisquick has been around for a good, long time!
Here's an advertisement from 1937.
I love that they're using the gorgeous Franciscan dishes! I have a small collection of that set (sorry I haven't time to try and share a photo of it with you today!) - but isn't it lovely in the aqua color?

And another one, this time - we have Bisquick biscuits in a basket. (Say that real fast five times!) from 1952:

And here we have two more vintage ads; these are both from 1954.
Pineapple Upside Down Cake looks pretty good.
It was one of our Daddy's favorite cakes:

Ooohh, and here's an ad for both Bisquick and Reddi-Wip.
Yes, Strawberry Shortcake looks good, too.
I must be hungry or something.....

Next up, we have an ad from 1964.
I will take some of that rolled turkey roast AND some of those sage biscuits, please......
definitely need something to eat ..

I found this cookbook at a thrift store, and I was sure I didn't have it:

I love the artwork inside:

And the food photos aren't bad, either:

Yum:

This advertisement is from 1964, also:

To send away for the cookbook that I DID already have - this one:

 (The other edition I found just recently was published in 1967.)
I do not remember seeing the Whole Wheat Baking Mix, and I don't know what year this advertisement dates from:

But the package I have in my pantry right now touts that it is "Heart Smart",
so, I mean - that's perfect for February, right?

I also found this recipe tin at a thrift store:

(So I added to my stacks of other cute vintage recipe file boxes I've already been collecting over the years.)
I decided I needed to make a recipe out of one of those cookbooks.
So I ended up with Peach Cobbler:

Here's the recipe from the vintage Bisquick cookbooks:

And the Shortcake recipe:

It was good; we liked it!

(I added a little cinnamon to mine.)

Chocolate (Cream) Cheese Pie, A Recipe From Farm Journal

 I made this creamy, delicious chocolate dessert yesterday:

The recipe actually comes from a cookbook we grew up with,
 Farm Journal's Complete Pie Cookbook, published in 1965:

I have Mother's copy, and the recipes in it are fabulous.
Some of our family favorites were the Frosted Apple-Raisin Pie, Crisscross Cherry Pie,
and the Best-Ever Lemon Meringue Pie, which really IS, by the way; it always got the highest bid when Mother would make one and take it to one of our 4-H Pie Socials.
Does anybody do Pie Socials any more? Our 4-H ones were fund raisers, and they were just plain, good, old-fashioned family fun. They were meant for the whole family to go, and we would bring our pies as donations, and then they were auctioned off. Maybe there was also a pot-luck dinner to enjoy; I can't recall.
But it was neat, and I miss stuff like that!
At our Gold Oak Union Elementary School Halloween carnivals, I remember also having a Cake Walk, and as I recall, working that - or participating - was fun, too.
 (I'm not sure now whether those were a 4-H Club sponsored event or if perhaps it was our 8th grade class to raise money for a class trip? Either way, they were enjoyable!)
 An array of cakes were donated by the club/class members and/or their families, and then we used a record player. There were taped out squares on the floor to walk as the music played, we'd stop the music, and then I guess we picked a number to determine the winning square? Your ticket(s) enabled you to "walk", and if you were the winner, then you got to pick whichever cake you wanted from the table. I mean, come on - how great is that?
All right, yes, I digress!
Those memories came flooding back as I was typing - so back to the topic at hand.

This is a picture of the pie from the cookbook:

And here is the recipe for the Short-Cut version:

 I didn't make the Chocolate Graham Cracker Crust this time, because I had some Cocoa Krispies in the pantry, and I found a recipe for a pie crust using Rice Krispies in an old magazine, so I decided to try that.
And then I also didn't feel like putting it in a pie plate, so I used an 8X8" Pyrex dish instead.

Here's the "crust" recipe, if you're interested:
Melt one cup of semi-sweet chocolate morsels with 1/4 cup of butter in a microwave-safe bowl for one minute or so and stir together until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth and creamy.
 Stir in 2 cups of Rice Krispies or Cocoa Krispies and press mixture into a lightly greased pie plate or square baking dish.
You could fill this crust with anything, of course; like ice cream or pudding, to create any number of refrigerated pies. It was definitely something new to me - and I really like it.
But honestly, this chocolate dream - I mean cream  (or do I?) - stuff is so delicious and so rich and decadent, I actually don't think you even need any type of crust. I think it would best be served as a wonderful sort-of Chocolate Mousse type of dessert in crystal goblets or sherbet dishes.
It's pretty fabulous. I love chocolate and I love rich things - but consider yourself warned, if you do not.
(I previously wrote about this pie back in my inaugural  "Then And Now" post, in June of 2008.
 (Click here  if you would like to go back and read that post.)
 I've also written about the Farm Journal Cookbooks more than once. Indeed I have, and for good reason.
All three of the Gold Country Girls have a collection of these fabulous vintage cookbooks, and I feel that the recipes they hold are worthy of a whole slew of posts!

More Oatmeal Cookies - And More Quaker Oats Tins

I'm back today with another post about oatmeal cookies.
Yes, I know  - You may think that I've already written everything there is to say about this subject in my previous post 
but, you see - I beg to differ, LOL!
I baked these yummy little morsels recently....

  ....  because I wanted to try yet ANOTHER recipe!

I had found some file folders in storage that I hadn't laid eyes on in years, and one of them contained recipes.
I don't believe I had ever made the Oatmeal Cookies with the Jell-O Pudding in the batter before. I had tried the Chocolate Chip cookies (many years ago) and I liked them a lot.
I added some cinnamon to the recipe, and then I froze the dough in little balls:

Then I baked them a couple of days later, as early in the day as possible, because it's so hot this summer.

The recipe did, indeed, make five dozen; I ended up with 61 cookies, in fact!

I also came across some more Quaker Oats tins that I had forgotten about.
I found this one in storage with some other tins; it's from 1984:

And the next two were tucked way back in the corner of a cupboard, and I'd forgotten they were even there.
From 1983:

And this one is from 1990:

So, now I guess I'll have to decide which ones I'm willing to part with, because we live in an old house - and there's no way that I have the space to keep five Quaker Oats tins in my cupboards!

Cookies With Quaker Oats

I love oatmeal cookies - how about you?

I got my Quaker Oats tins out of storage a while back, and now I have them in my pantry.
I wanted to use this one to store my Quaker Oats:

I have also tried a couple of new (to me) recipes for oatmeal cookies, instead of making the same ones I have always made.
(Honestly, I'm not sure why? I'm starting to wonder, and think to myself , "Stick with the tried and true, Heidi - just stick with the tried and true!".)
But I made these...

Gratuitous close-up on the batter:

"Peanut Butter Crisps" - oh, yes - now I remember; that was the reason why!
It was because I liked the idea of peanut butter being in there, since my husband also loves peanut butter cookies!

And they were good; I know we both liked them.
I have this tin, below, also.
I can use it to store oats, as well....

... or I can use it to store the cookies, themselves.
(I think I like that option better, LOL!)

I found an old magazine ad from 1992 that I had tucked away; it was to fill out the form and send away for the very same tin:

I'm sure that's what I did. I used to love sending away for things like that - I don't see any offers like that these days.
Another thing of the past, I suppose.
 I've sold or given away a lot of my old tins, but I like my Quaker Oats ones, and I wanted to keep those. 
I also decided to try this recipe recently:

(The photo seen at the top of my post shows the Oatmeal Hermits in the Bar Cookie variation.)

And I know exactly why I tried THAT recipe.
It was all about ease of preparation, and time.

Seriously, does it GET any easier than "combine all ingredients: mix well"?
 I melted the butter in the microwave in a large glass measuring pitcher, and I made the bar cookie version so I could just throw it in the oven, bake them and be done.
It was later in the evening when I made them and I didn't want to mess with drop cookies.
And they were good, too.
Just the other day, I decided to try the recipe below (also torn out of a magazine from 1992, and found with the tin offer):

I tweaked it a bit, though. I did not add nuts nor Toll House Morsels, instead I threw in about 1&1/4 cups of raisins and an extra half-cup of oatmeal, plus cinnamon and a bit of cloves.
And here's a photo of my latest batch:

But most of the time, I just make the regular old tried and true Famous Oatmeal Cookies, from the recipe on my tin:

Because I have always liked THAT recipe!
I've been making them since I was a kid.
(Oh, but I do absolutely have to add raisins, though. And some spices.)
Like I said, I just love oatmeal cookies......

My Ever-Lovin' Heart Wishes Yours A Happy Valentine's Day

Oh, my - February really IS already half-way through, and I have, once again, forgotten (until now) to share with you my February page from "The Year Around Book"!
So, here it is:

And here is an adorably illustrated page from a vintage Current book, along with a recipe for Sweetheart Punch:

The very next page in the book features this recipe for a heart cake:

"Luv You"!
Lastly, we have the pages from one of my Baker's Coconut  "Cut-Up Cakes" books, also featuring a heart cake for February:

 I have three different versions of the Baker's Coconut cake books, and these pages are from my oldest one, dated 1956.
I  also wrote a post three years ago with another version of the heart cakes. You can click here to go back and read that one.
 Make it a "really scrumptious Valentine" by sprinkling lacy white Angel Flake Coconut over the top and adding red cinnamon candies:

Happy Valentine's Day to all of our readers, from the bottom of my "Ever-Lovin' Heart"!