Cutting & Chopping Food Tips

More tips from Cookies Galore (by Frances Barton, General Foods Corporation, copyright 1956).

Vintage Crunchy Coco-Roon Recipe

Crunchy Coco-Roons is May's Macaroon Of The Month  -- that's a lot of "M"s!

This recipe, and the basic recipe you start with, are from Aunt Jenny's Old-Fashioned Christmas Cookies & Other All-Time Favorites.

Is Your Bed Dirty?

You may know why we do the laundry, but Missy Tannen, president of luxury linen company Boll & Branch, says we are doing it wrong.

Tips On Storing Cookies

These tips on storing cookies come from Cookies Galore (from Frances Barton of the General Foods Corporation, copyright 1956).

Store cookies in a refrigerator if they are the no-bake type. Store baked cookies in a tightly covered metal or earthenware container. To soften cookies, keep a piece of fresh apple in the cooky jar.

Best of all is the adorable photo tip: A cookie jar should have a tight lid, "but not so tight a small boy can't raid the jar." *wink*

How To Identify Common Garden Insects

Clear illustrations on identifying common garden pests from 4-H Bulletin number 52, the 4-H Vegetable Gardener, from the Michigan State College Cooperative Extension Service, East Lansing. Second printing of First Revision, June 1953. NOTE: The suggested treatments may be vastly out of date. This is posted as a guide for identification.

April's "Macaroon Of The Month" Recipe: Scottish Cookie-Roons

From Aunt Jenny's Old-Fashioned Christmas Cookies & Other All-Time Favorites, here's the recipe for Scottish Cookie-Roons. Don't forget to start with the basic recipe here!

Where Are My Vintage Cookbook Fans?

I found this nifty quote on a Facebook Page called Cookbook Love. If you love -- or even hate lol -- vintage cookbooks, you should follow the Page. And the blog too.

From that Page, I found another cool Page, Vintage Recipe Cards, which also has a website. Worthy of following and reading as well.

Anyway,  back to the quote...

I wrote about this a bit at my personal blog before and it's why I've amassed quite a collection! I do share some of the practical things, including recipes, here at Things Your Grandmother Knew; but my main interest is in the cultural stuff. Anyone else collect cookbooks? If so, for the recipes or the culture? Comment here or on my Facebook Page. I really do want to hear from you! Thanks!

Molded Sugar Cubes

From a 1956 Wilton's molds booklet, details on using candy molds to make fancy sugars for hot and cold beverages. This would be great for teas, wedding & bridal showers, and other fancy events. "Remember," it says, "you can make them in advance and keep them for weeks, ready to use whenever you have guests."

The recipe (from page 3):

Sugar Mix

Sugar Mix is easily prepared by mixing 3 teaspoons of slightly beaten egg white to two cups of sugar and adding color to suit.

Details of how to use the mix in the molds, including swift drying, are below.

Getting Ready To Garden? Simple 25-By-50-Foot Vegetable Garden Plan

From a vintage 4-H vegetable gardening booklet comes this handy little chart on succession planting. While the veggie varieties are suitable to northern climates (specifically Michigan, where it was published) there are sound ideas for the beginning gardener.

Monthly Vintage Macaroon Recipes

In 1952's Aunt Jenny's Old-Fashioned Christmas Cookies & Other All-Time Favorites (a promotional cook booklet featuring Spry shortening) there was a "Macaroon Of The Month Calendar" -- naturally, I had to share it. *wink*

Each recipe begins with this basic recipe for Lever House Macaroons...

And then there's a variation for each month. March's Macaroon Recipe is for Banana Nutties. (There are, of course, options for making them green for Saint Patrick's Day -- sorry I didn't find it earlier!)

Let me know if you make them!

How To Pack Cookies For Mailing

If you're packing cookies to send to those in the military or folks a bit closer to home, there are some great tips in Cookies Galore (from Frances Barton, Consumer Service Department, General Foods Corporation, copyright 1956). While many of these are pretty basic, I found the part about the best cookies to ship helpful.