Cooking Hints and Tested Recipes

by Crisco Shortening, The Proctor & Gamble Company, 1937

 

This is a booklet I have come across many times when checking out vintage recipe books on eBay. It must have had a pretty wide distribution. Admittedly, it's not much to look at. No color pictures, or even queer/funny pictures inside. On the cover it claims to be "From Winifred S. Carter". Winifred... now there's a name you don't really see anymore. In fact I've never known anyone with that name. Who, oh who, is Winifred S. Carter? A brief scan of the internet tells us Mrs. Carter was a noted American celebrity chef and cookbook author. Okay, now that is established. 
Inside the booklet it is stressed how "digestible" Crisco is. It's a plus to use digestible ingredients in your recipes, I always say. Maybe not necessary...but a plus just the same.
Some other tidbits:
Miracle!   It's super-creamed! (No more disconcerting lard chunks - yea!)
Miracle!   It makes extra-digestible pastry! (Eliminating completely the need for table-side spittoons for those indigestible bits and pieces found in other brands!) 
Miracle!   You can use Crisco for everything. (Everything? Yes, apparently, everything. At this very moment I have a space heater plugged into a can of Crisco and it is chugging away just fine!)
There were a couple other Miracles! listed, but I think these are far and away the top three. 
 Even though I am a mere human and not qualified to perform miracles I will try a couple recipes. First up...

Hashed Brown Potatoes

6 medium-sized cold boiled potatoes (I left the skins on and just scrubbed them)
3 small raw green peppers
salt and pepper
Crisco

Chop potatoes fine, season with salt and pepper. (You can, of course, add more later if you so choose). Remove seeds and stems from peppers. Wash, drain, and chop fine. (I used just 2 green peppers because they only sell the "Gilligan's Island Radioactive Seed Giant Green Peppers at my local grocery store.) Mix with potatoes. Put about 1/8 inch of melted Crisco in large frying pan. (You'll just have to kind of eyeball this measurement.) At this point we are again reminded by the author that "Crisco is a digestible frying fat.) Heat slowly. When hot, add potatoes and peppers and cook slowly, stirring with a fork. (Note: I chose to stir with a wooden spoon as I did not care to ruin the finish on my non-stick frying pan.) When partly brown, fold into omelet shape in one side of pan. Fry until a rich brown. Turn out on platter, keeping omelet shape. 
I did not bother with the omelet-folding business. I try to steer clear of food origami unless I see a real purpose for it. I mean, folding it into an omelet shape was not going to fool anyone into thinking it was an omelet. 
These took forever. I don't know if it's just me, but hash browns always take forever to brown for me. Well, I was in no hurry anyway. 
They turned out nice. Soft here, crispy there. No indigestible bits. The green peppers were a nice switch-up for me. If I made these again though I think I would like to add some onions. They were just a tad bland, even with my copious use of black pepper (which I am inordinately fond of).  

Gird your loins... here comes...

Lady Baltimore Cake

I have been meaning to make this one for some time now. It is, in fact, the first recipe in the book. Also, for whatever reason, it is a cake my father wished to try. I wish I had made it for him in his lifetime, but I dedicate this cake to him. 
There are a few reasons I have put this one off. Number one: the amount of work that goes into it just seemed daunting. Number two: the number of dishes, utensils, etc. seem like an awful lot for someone whose dishwasher is on the blink. And number three: boiled icing!

Here are the particulars:

1/2 cup Crisco
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups cake flour
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp lemon juice
4 egg whites, beaten stiff

Blend Crisco and sugar until light. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together. Add alternately with the milk. Add lemon juice and then the beaten egg whites. Pour into two round layer pans (9 inch) rubbed with Crisco and dusted with flour, and bake in a moderate oven (350 degrees F). When cool, spread Lady Baltimore Filling between layers. Ice with Boiled Icing. (Note: my layers were done in 30 minutes.)

Lady Baltimore Filling

3/4 cup chopped raisins
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup chopped steamed figs
1/2 cup drained and chopped maraschino cherries
1/4 cup icing

Mix chopped fruit and nuts together. Add  one-quarter cup of icing prepared for top. Blend thoroughly. (Note: I "steamed" my figs by taking my dried figs and placing them in a bowl with a small amount of water. I then put them in the microwave for a few minutes until they had absorbed the water and "reconstituted")

Boiled Icing

2 cups sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup water
2 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla

Cook sugar, corn syrup, and water, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Boil to 242 degrees F, or until syrup forms a soft ball in cold water. Pour this syrup over egg whites beaten stiff. Beat constantly until mixture holds its shape. Add vanilla. (Note: do not become discouraged if it looks like it's never going to thicken up. I almost quit twice, but I carried on and it eventually became maybe even a little too firm.)

The result:
Well, I was right. It was a massive hassle. It used a boatload of bowls/pans/utensils/racks etc.  Also, I now have to figure out what to do with 6 lonely egg yolks. But... I can now say that I have made and eaten Lady Baltimore Cake. The cake itself is pristine white and is somehow both firm and soft. It has a tasty fruity-nutty filling and the frosting is a dentist's dream. I ate one piece and I feel I have consumed enough sugar to last me three days. But...I conquered boiled icing! Yea! 

I just read online that the counterpart to the Lady Baltimore Cake... the Lord Baltimore Cake, was created to use up all those egg yolks. This recipe pamphlet does not include that recipe. Not that I would make another whole cake just to use those egg yolks! I'm only one person!!