Real Food found in old recipe books - a treasure I had forgotten I kept

I wanted to get this post written before the weekend was over, but I have been so busy today going through and discarding magazines, papers and books I don’t need or want. Every time I do this I discover so much interesting material I had forgotten I had.

In a closet downstairs filled with a hodge-podge* of stuff, I discovered several old recipe books with recipes that I like and plan to use. New recipe books are no fun to read. They include foreign ingredients I never heard of or fat-free and sugar free recipes using other things I am not familiar with to improve the taste.

In one of the old books I found a biscuit recipe that uses mayonnaise instead of vegetable shortening. It brought back the memory of when my niece, Lyn, stayed with me one summer and we made mayonnaise biscuits. They are very good.

When I was a young woman, our Rural Electric Association published a newsletter and many of my mother’s friends sent in recipes. I had clipped them and found them in a folder. Some of the names jumped out at me. Mattie Rossman submitted a recipe for Cherry Delight. I often heard Mother speak of Georgia Wooten. She shared her recipe for Shell Point salad, pineapple, sugar, and gelatin with a topping of nuts, coconut, grated cheese and Cool Whip.

Some of these recipe books dated back to the sixties and seventies. We ate differently then. We used real foods, not processed and boxed meals with all kinds of preservatives in them. Cakes were made from scratch using flour, not ready-made mixes that only need milk or water added to them. I became so excited about the recipes I found that I look forward to cooking again. Since Barry died, I have not had much enthusiasm for making meals. It seems such a waste of time to spend an hour in the kitchen to cook a meal that I will sit down and eat in just a few minutes.

I have already begun to cook some of my favorite things though. Just this week I cooked black-eyed peas, adding ham flavoring, green pepper, onions and garlic with a dash of red pepper flakes. I made some terrific cornbread from corn meal that came directly from a local granary in Blairsville,Georgia. I added buttermilk, salt, baking powder and a couple of eggs. It turned out so beautifully that I enjoyed it for two meals and gave Lexie a little. She loves cornbread. A true southern Chihuahua, she is. I am trying to eat gluten free right now, so cornbread is something I can eat that I enjoy. No wheat in the real thing.

But if you buy a cornmeal mix, which is what is usually found in the grocery stores, wheat flour is added to the corn meal. I can add rice flour or almond flour if I wish, but I don’t find I need it.

Real food. Fruits and vegetables are good and easy to make. Last night I cut up an apple and cooked it with a tiny bit of brown sugar and apple spice seasoning. I put a pat of butter on top and a tablespoon of orange juice in it. It was delicious!

Since I want to cut out wheat products, I don’t eat as many sandwiches now. The gluten free bread is just not as tasty although I found one that I can use for toast in the mornings. The brand is Canon white bread but it is not made with wheat.

Well, it is time for a snack before Lexie and I head off to bed. She has been urging me to go upstairs for a while now, so I think I will. Have a good week, readers, and stay warm if you live in the cold areas. Stay cool if you live in the hot areas. I appreciate you all.

* hodge-podge - Etymology: an altered form of hotchpotch, from Middle English hochepot "mixed stew," derived from early French hochepot (same meaning), from hochier "to shake" and pot "pot, container" : a confused mixture