The Red Spiral Notebook - "Cake, Cookies, Pudding"

Later today, I'm going to a Coffee party at a friend's house. She asked us to bring a treat that would go well with coffee and tea. My first thought was to make a run to Starbucks for some yummy Biscotti. How ridiculous! This is a great opportunity to try out some recipes from Grandma Daisy's notebook! So, I retrieved the notebooks from my cabinet and started looking. These sound delicious:

Crunchy Coffee Cake
(looks like this was cut out from an old magazine)
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp Calumet Baking Powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup Chiffon Margarine
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup Post Grape-Nuts Cereal
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Combine flour, 1 cup sugar, the soda, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl; mix well. Add sour cream, margarine, eggs, and vanilla. Blend at low speed of electric mixer or by hand; then beat1 minute at medium speed or 150 strokes by hand.
Combine cereal, 1/2 cup sugar, and the cinnamon; mix. Pour 1/3 of the batter into a greased 9-inch square pan; sprinkle with 1/3 of the cereal mixture. Continue layering, ending with the cereal. Bake at 350 for 40 to 45 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.
Makes 8 to 10 servings.
NOTE: If desired, this recipe may be doubled and baked in a greased 13x9 inch pan at 350 for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the cake tester comes out clean.

Newspaper clipping circa 1969 (Jewish month of Tishri and the start of the year 5731 in the Jewish calendar)...Apple, honey and carrot dishes in different versions are served at the Rosh Hashannah dinner. Here are a few of the best known recipes.

CARROT CAKE
1 cup carrot pulp
5 eggs seperated
1 cup sugar
1 pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 pint cream, whipped
Cook and strain carrots; squeeze dry. Mix egg yolks, sugar and salt and beat lightly. Stir in carrot pulp and fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. Add chopped nuts and vanilla. Bake in spring-form pan 45 minutes at 400 degrees. Cool. Serve with whipped cream.

HONEY CAKE
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup honey
1 cup boiled coffee
2 Tbsp salad oil
3 1/4 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp each: baking solda, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg.
2 Tbsp chopped nuts
Beat eggs well, adding sugar gradually. Mix honey and coffee, add oil and dry ingredients, sifted together. Add to beaten egg mixture. Reserve chopped nuts.
Sprinkle bottom of greased pan with nuts. Pour in dough. Bake in 350 oven 40 minutes. If desired, add 1/2 cup chopped nuts to dough.

Cut & Paste Recipes from Grandma Daisy

One of my most precious possessions is a collection of three small 9 1/2 inch x 6 inch spiral notebooks. One is red, one is blue and one is green. Each one is worn from decades of use. Each one is bulging with hand picked recipes from across the span of my Grandma Daisy's life as a new wife in late 1930's, mother in the 1940's, hostess, Grandmother and active member of many committees, including DAR.
Although I have also inherited my Grandma Daisy's Good Housekeeping CookBook, Third Printing, 1955, and her Betty Crocker's Picture CookBook, Seventh Printing, 1950, these are not nearly as dear to me. When I think of her putting these spiral notebooks together over the years, testing out different styles and tastes, I feel like a piece of time has been preserved.
The red spiral is titled "Cake, Cookies, Pudding" across the cover and she taped a vintage drawing by Louise Howe Ewing that depicts a cheerful lady rolling out dough on a simple table, surrounded by various baking supplies. I believe it was part of a greeting card.

The Red Spiral Notebook


The blue spiral is the fullest one, newspaper clippings hanging over the edges. This one is titled "Bread, Candies, Soups, Pickles". The green spiral is titled "Meat, Chicken, Fish, Sauce, Salads, Vegetable". Although each spiral had it's own title, I have found that several recipes are mixed around in other spirals. You just may find a wonderful recipe for "Chinese Chicken Livers" in the blue spiral, which you would expect to find in the green instead. I guess that's one of the benefits of compiling your own recipes, you make the rules.