Nancy Drew And The Clue Of The Tapping Heels Griddle Cakes.....

I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but my favourite recipe source out of all of my many vintage cookbooks is my copy of 'The Nancy Drew Cookbook: Clues To Good Cooking' by Carolyn Keene.

It was originally published in 1973...my edition is from 1977.  There are loads, LOADS I tell ya, of good, simple, old fashioned recipes in this bad boy.  There are some I use more often than others and the' Tapping Heels Griddle Cakes' are one of those.  I made them this morning...with my usual apple cinnamon variation...and they were fabulous if I do say so myself!

NANCY DREW'S 'TAPPING HEELS GRIDDLE CAKES ':

1/2 Cup Milk
2 Tablespoons Melted Butter
1 Egg
1 Cup Flour
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Salt

**Dolly note #1....I find that the cakes are fluffier if I use self rising flour instead of all purpose.  Just sub the same amount of flour, but you then need to leave off the baking powder and salt!

Beat the milk, butter and egg lightly in a large bowl.
Sift the other ingredients together and add them to the liquid mixture.  Stir just enough to dampen the flour.  If necessary, add more milk to make the batter as thick as heavy cream. 
Lightly grease griddle or skillet.  Heat.  Sprinkle a few drops of water onto it.  When the drops "dance" around, pan is hot enough.  Spoon the batter onto the pan.  When bubbles start to form on a cake, flip it over with a pancake turner.
Makes 8 Cakes.

**Dolly note #2....Add about 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and sub a tablespoon of applesauce for one of the tablespoons of butter and voila!  Apple Cinnamon Pancakes!

CLUE TO EXTRA GOODNESS
Pour honey or maple syrup 1/2-inch deep into a skillet and let it simmer.  As the cakes are baked, ease them into the skillet.  Cook 15 seconds on each side.  Serve with a tablespoon melted butter or margarine poured on top.

Try these sweeties tomorrow morning!  You'll be glad you did!

Pet Milk Magazine, 1964

Hi Hi, poppits! If you're anything like me, you love '50s and '60s advertising. When I'm reading modern magazines, I just skip over all of the annoying adverts....but give me a vintage mag and I spend just as much time staring at the ads as I do the articles! Anyhoo....



For your enjoyment, here's a little gem I found from 1964. It's a Pet Milk Company magazine and it's all kinds of fun...and it held a special surprise for me, which I can't wait to show you!....




Click and enlarge to read the articles!

This reminds me of those 'how it's made' segments on Mr. Rogers!!

This is a great article about Billy Jeff Burns, who was the Pet Milk man in my hometown in the '60s! Uber cool!!

Even more uber cool is the fact that the store seen here:

....is my grandparent's store! How nifty to find that!!!



Next up, an article on Big Shot aerosol chocolate syrup...

Holy cow, I want me some of that!!!!



Then there were a couple of tech-ish articles, that frankly were just boresville....but the pics were smash smash!!

Here's the 'high tech' Pet computer....

And some great photos of some Pet stockholder meetings. Why don't men still dress this snappy?????...or smoke pipes???




More products with lovery '60s packaging...

Stuckey's!!



Little late for Valentines Day, but here's your Whitman's chocolate fix anyway!...


The mandatory product placement recipes....


And the back cover....

'Just Dessert'- a 1960s Picnic Favourite...

Hi, my lovelies!! Today's post is inspired by a terrific post a while back by fellow blogger, Lisa, at My Pretty Baby Cried She Was A Bird. She's always throwing some great vintage cooking into the mix over there and the post in question involved some great green bevvies. This led to discussion of green foods from the '50s and '60s, which brought to mind one of my mother's signature summer recipes, Just Dessert.

Apologies for the blurry photo, but this darn camera has had a mind of it's own the last few months.

According to my mom, this lovely layered indulgence was all the rage in the '60s. The recipe book this is copied from is from a collection of recipes by the American Business Women's Association (which my mother was a member of) from the late '70s. By then, the recipe was a tried and true favourite of mom's!


JUST DESSERT

First layer (crust):

1c. flour
1 stick butter
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/2c. chopped pecans
Dash of salt

Melt buter, combine with flour, sugar, pecans and salt. Press into 9x12 inch baking dish. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Cool.


Second layer:

2c. powdered sugar
1 c. Cool Whip
1 8oz. package of cream cheese, softened

Combine these 3 ingredients. Spread over cooked first layer.


Third layer:

2 (4 1/2 oz) packages instant jello pistachio pudding
3 c. cold mik

Mix well. Pour over second layer.


Fourth layer:

Spread remainder of 9 ounce container of Cool Whip over third layer. Garnish with chopped pecans and refrigerate.


Try it, my dears...you won't be disappointed!
And don't forget to pop on over to My Pretty Baby Cried She Was A Bird and follow her fab blog!

Do any of you have some great '60s recipes that have come down through your family?

Easter Dinner: 1962

Another snippet from a 1962 entertaining magazine. The recipes sound quite nice, but the bunny...ooohhh the creepy bunny.....




I'm not sure who thought it would be a good idea to make a centerpiece out of a disembodied Peter Cottontail head.....especially one made from a balloon. Weird? Yes. Would my grandmother have made one of these for my dad and uncle for Easter? Absolutely. *shivers*
Remember kids, there is a fine line between 'kitsch' and 'creepy'....

Hunka Burnin' Birthday Love!

As I've mentioned before, I'm from Tennessee. And when you're from Tennessee, my dears, there is one thing that is certain...You must love Elvis! And dear me, how I do love Elvis! As this Saturday would have been his 76th birthday, there are lots of goodies going on in Memphis this week!

Graceland Mansion: Annual Events: The Elvis Presley Birthday Celebration




Wish I could get to the other side of the state this weekend, but I'll most likely stay in East Tennessee and sit contentedly in front of the telly with my Elvis doll watching the lovely man's films all day! We may even share a cheeky Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich!
Here's how my nanny used to make them:

Spread peanut butter on two slices of white bread.
Slice a just yellow banana and arrange on top of one of the slices of bread.
Drizzle some honey over the banana and put the sandwich together.
Heat the griddle to medium high heat.
Put a couple of big pats of butter in and let it melt.
Fry the sandwich until it is golden brown on both sides...I usually put in another couple of pats of butter when I turn it!
Cut on an angle and serve.
Yummmies!!

Here's some slightly blurry piccies of my World Dolls 1984 "Burnin' Love" Elvis:




I was going to sell him a few months ago because I really don't have room for him. Happily, though the buyer changed their mind...I'll most likely never sell him now as I'm afraid I've become quite attached!


Anyway, found this clip on youtube of himself, singing Happy Happy Birthday Baby. It's not very good quality, as it was home recorded at a friend's house in 1958. But it is beautiful!