These Are The Recipes Your Mother Should Have Taught You
I’ve always wondered what it is about grandmothers and their cooking. I mean, if you sneak into their kitchen and go through all their cupboards, you’ll only find very basic, classic ingredients. Yet, all the vintage recipes they make taste so amazing that you would think they used some kind of an exotic, secret ingredient! At least that’s the way it always was with my grandmother, and now my mother.
Maybe they possess some kind of magical powers that you will only get once you become a grandmother. Or maybe with all those decades of experience, they know exactly how much “a pinch” or “a dash” is, and therefore all their meals turn out delicious.
Whatever the case, I’ve started to collect a bunch of vintage recipes that my grandmother often made for us. I’m thinking, if I hold on to these and make them often, I will become as great a cook as she was. Maybe that’s just wishful thinking but at least I’m going to enjoy these super amazing meals while doing that!
6 Vintage Recipes, #6
Some recipes never die… this is one of them. I do believe that my favorite way to enjoy this deviled ham spread would be on Ritz crackers. However, my grandma preferred to make sandwiches out of it.
Check out what my pal Audrey from the Melady Cooks blog had to say about this wonderful recipe:
The spread was great! It was so very much like the funeral spread I consumed in the 60s and 70s it was eerie. I guess minced ham was an accurate description of bologna. Once I minced some very real ham with the same ingredients, it was a flavor clone. Eating it on Ritz crackers was a bonus. I can now cross making deviled ham off my kitchen bucket list. It wasn’t as devilishly difficult as I’d thought. I simply one upped the church ladies and added capers to their soothing spread.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups cooked ham (about 1/2 pound); chopped
- 1/3 cup Duke’s mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons whole grain mustard
- 3 tablespoons onion; chopped
- 1 teaspoon whole capers; drained
- 1 teaspoon Heinz Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon Sriracha sauce (I used a large pinch of cayenne)
- 2 teaspoons Vlasic sweet pickle relish (I used a dill relish)
Instructions
- 3-4 tablespoons curly parsley (I substituted chopped green onions, you could simply omit both)
- Place ingredients in the bowl of your food processor (minus the parsley or green onion) and pulse a few times, scraping down sides if necessary. When the are all reduced in size (just eyeball it), transfer mixture to a storage container.
- Stir in chopped parsley or green onions if you’re adding them. They do make the deviled ham look more interesting but are not needed for flavor.
- Cover and refrigerate the spread for at least an hour to allow the flavors to meld. Even better, refrigerate for 24 hours for best flavors.
- Serve cold with crackers or spread on bread for sandwiches.
Thank you Melady Cooks for this great recipe.
6 Vintage Recipes, #5
You’ve never made beef tips quite like this before! This recipe for slow cooker beef tips is so easy to make! Take a look at what my friend Erin from the Making Memories With Your Kids food blog had to say about this magnificent recipe:
Now that my kids are back to school and I’m back to work I dread dinner time. We get home, we do homework and then I realize it’s time to eat. Ugh. I forgot about dinner. So this year I’ve decided I’m going to do a lot more slow cooker/crock pot cooking. I forget about how easy it is to throw everything in there in the morning and when we get home, boom, dinner is ready.
I am a huge fan of slow cooker meals, too. I homeschool my kids and I often throw lunch in the slow cooker in the morning and it is ready by Noon to be chowed upon.
Ingredients
- 2 lb cubed beef stew meat
- 1 envelope McCormick brown gravy mix
- 1 envelope Lipton onion soup mix
- 1 can Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup
- 1 cup ginger ale
Instructions
- Put the beef tips in your slow cooker.
- Mix all of the other ingredients and pour over the meat.
- Cook on low for 8 hours.
- Serve over mashed potatoes or egg noodles.
Recipe and image courtesy of Making Memories With Your Kids.
6 Vintage Recipes, #4
This cake might be a southern thing but us northern girls have got this recipe figured out, too 🙂 This chocolate fudge bundt cake is one of the best desserts I’ve ever eaten. It tastes great with tangerine segments. Take a look at what my friend Audrey from the Melady Cooks food blog had to say about this magnificent recipe:
I think Martha Stewart’s look-alike would have been proud of her pan’s performance. As I washed the pan I remembered why I thought bundt pans were annoying. There are a whole lot of lines and crevasses to clean. I used a toothbrush but it wasn’t a fast job. Hm. I hope that doesn’t prevent me from using it more often.
Haha! Audrey, you are too funny! I do agree, though, budt pans are a pain to wash.
Ingredients
- Chocolate Bundt Cake
- 2 1/2 cups Gold Medal all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon Morton salt
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup Daisy sour cream (4 ounces)
- 8 ounces (2 sticks) Kerrygold unsalted butter, plus more for pan
- 1 1/2 cups Domino sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure McCormick vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
- Glaze:
- 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons Cognac or rum (optional)
- Tangerines, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour a 14-cup Bundt pan.
- Whisk flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Mix milk and sour cream in a small bowl.
- Cream butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, then vanilla. Reduce mixer speed to low, and add flour mixture, alternating with milk mixture, ending with flour. Fold in walnuts, if using.
- Spoon batter into pan evenly. Slide pan into oven and set timer for 45 minutes. Bake until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 45 to 60 minutes.
- Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Invert cake onto a serving plate and drizzle with glaze.
- Make the glaze: Place chocolate in a bowl. Heat cream in a small saucepan until simmering, then pour over chocolate. Let stand for 2 minutes. Add butter and Cognac or rum, if using, and mix until smooth.
- Let stand, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened. It will take an hour or more to firm up.
- Pour glaze over cooled cake. Slice, and serve with tangerine segments.
Recipe and image courtesy of Melady Cooks.
6 Vintage Recipes, #3
SOS is a classic supper dish that folks have been eating for years. I’m glad I’ve joined them! Let’s be honest, we all know what SOS stands for…shit on the shingles. Although, it isn’t a very pretty name, don’t let that deter you from making this wonderful dish. My husband and kids love this stuff!
I am so excited that I found this recipe over on YouTube. Some people may call this “poor man’s food” but I feel pretty rich while I’m eating it! I tend to fill my plate a few times when we are having SOS for supper 🙂
What are your favorite side dishes to eat with SOS? Personally, I enjoy mashed potatoes, green beans, and dinner rolls with lots of butter.
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs – 80/20 Ground Beef
- 1/2 Gallon – Whole Milk
- 1 – Yellow Onion (Diced)
- 1/4 Cup – Gold Medal Flour
- 1-2 tsp – Heinz Worcestershire Sauce
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Loaf white bread
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium high heat brown the ground beef.
- Do not drain unless there’s excess grease.
- Add diced onion and cook 2-3 minutes, or until softened.
- Mix in flour until it’s absorbed and cook 1-2 minutes to cook the rawness from the flour.
- Stir in the milk, add Worcestershire, salt and pepper to taste.
- Bring to a simmer until thickened, approximately 10 minutes.
- Serve over toasted white bread.
Watch jmarylastone’s great how-to video below!
Recipe and image courtesy of jmarylastone and YouTube.
6 Vintage Recipes, #2
My husband told me to throw away all my other stuffing recipes and only make this one from now on. You can’t go wrong with this easy-to-make sausage stuffing. Take a look at what my friend Erin from the Making Memories With Your Kids food blog had to say about this magnificent recipe:
When I was in Graduate School a friend of mine asked me if I wanted to try her famous Pork Sausage Dressing. I said no thanks, that I didn’t like stuffing and she looked at me like I sprouted a second head. “How could you not like stuffing?” she asked me. I didn’t even know the answer to that one. I just never liked it. But somehow she convinced me to try hers and I was completely shocked at how good it was.
I am so thankful your friend told you about this recipe, Erin! Thanks for sharing it with all of us.
Ingredients
* 1 box Mrs. Cubbison’s Classic Dressing (seasoned)
* 1 1/2 lbs. Jimmy Dean pork sausage
* 1 cup diced onion (I used a sweet onion)
* 1 cup chopped celery
* 2 cups College Inn chicken broth
Instructions
Cook the sausage while you are dicing the onion and celery.
When the sausage is almost done, add the celery and onion and cook until they are soft.
Mix Mrs. Cubbison’s Classic Dressing with the sausage and veggie mixture. Don’t judge on this one, but make sure you add the grease as well. You can go ahead and drain the grease if this freaks you out.
Add the chicken broth and gently stir to mix everything together. Scoop into a casserole dish.
Doesn’t it look delicious!
Cover and cook in a 350-degree oven for 45 minutes. Uncover and cook another 15 minutes until top is browned.
Recipe and image courtesy of Making Memories With Your Kids.
6 Vintage Recipes, #1
Who do I have to pay to get a second slice of this blueberry cream pie? I love this blueberry cream pie so much and I know that you will, too! Take a look at what my friend Barbara from the Bless Us O lord food blog had to say about this magnificent recipe:
For the Feast of Our Blessed Mother’s Nativity, I bought everything to make this delicious pie. And then we drove fours hours to pick up a puppy and the pie never happened. I used the blueberries in a Buckle and saved the idea for the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary instead. We had company over and everyone enjoyed end-of-summer blueberries over a base of vanilla creaminess. You don’t have to limit yourself to Mary’s feast days or summer for this pie though. Blueberries are usually available all year ’round (although they can get pricey in the winter).
Yes, blueberries can get very pricey in the winter but they are so worth the cost!
Ingredients
9-inch Pillsbury pie crust, prebaked and cooled (You may also use graham cracker if you prefer)
1 sml. box Jello instant vanilla pudding
1 c. milk
1 1/2 c. whipping cream
¼ t. McCormick vanilla
3 c. blueberries, washed and picked over for stems
2 T. Argo cornstarch
1/4 c. Domino sugar
juice of half a lemon
1/4 c. water
Instructions
Place milk and whipping cream in mixer bowl. Add pudding mix and vanilla and whip until it holds its peaks. Spoon into cooled pie shell and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Mix cornstarch, sugar, lemon juice, water, and 1 cup blueberries in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook over med-low heat until berries burst and sauce is thick. Add a tablespoon or so of water if necessary for a good consistency (depending on how juicy the berries and lemon are the sauce can thicken too much — you want the consistency of pie filling). Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup more berries. Cool for about 15 minutes.
Top cream with berries — being gentle so as to not disturb the cream filling. Top with remaining 1 cup berries. Refrigerate until ready to serve — at least two hours.
Recipe and image courtesy of Bless Us O Lord.
