My grandmothers' recipe files

[CWS4322]

I do recall my grandma using graham flour (and have recipes that use graham flour), but never millet flour. These recipes are from the '20s, '30s, '40s (she was married in 1919, so I suspect she wrote down recipes when she was first married, and then stopped). I don't know how available millet flour would have been in a remote community of 3000 in Minnesota 18 miles south of the Manitoba border.

I had the same thought--no leavening--but the fudge cake is more like a brownie...but very fudge-like.

 

[Andy M.]

...I don't know how available millet flour would have been in a remote community of 3000 in Minnesota 18 miles south of the Manitoba border...

You make a good point, but millet is the only 'm' flour i could think of.

 

[CWS4322]

maybe multi-purpose flour?

 

[Andy M.]

That would be AP flour. I wonder how many different types of white wheat flour there were in a remote community of 3000 in rural Minnesota 18 miles from the Manitoba border in the 20s and 30s.

 

[CWS4322]

That would be AP flour. I wonder how many different types of white wheat flour there were in a remote community of 3000 in rural Minnesota 18 miles from the Manitoba border in the 20s and 30s.

Probably not a lot. I will ask my aunt when I see her later this month--she's 92 and still has her mind (and lived across the street from my grandma from the time she was married until my grandma died). She might know. And, she still lives in that little remote town.

 

[Oldvine]

It's sounds almost like mys sister's frosting recipe except she used all white sugar.

 

[CWS4322]

It's sounds almost like mys sister's frosting recipe except she used all white sugar.

If you mean the fudge cake recipe, it is not frosting, it is a cake. I remember this cake very well.

 

[CWS4322]

Wondering if anyone recognizes this recipe my grandma wrote down in her recipe file?

Hairdressers

2 c sifted flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c butter
1 c powdered sugar
1 egg

Topping

1 egg with water, sugar, cinnamon, almonds

Sift flour, baking powder, salt. Cut in butter, than egg. Knead, chill 20 minutes. Roll out, cover with egg, sprinkle with cinnamon, sugar, and almonds.

I'm sure this isn't called "Hairdressers." Anyone know what it is called? Could they be Almond Crescents?

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Looks almost like a coffee cake type, quick danish type dough.

 

[CWS4322]

Looks almost like a coffee cake type, quick danish type dough.

I was thinking it was a cookie...because of the egg + water being brushed on it and then sprinkled with cinnamon, sugar, and almonds.

 

[Andy M.]

I was thinking it was a cookie...because of the egg + water being brushed on it and then sprinkled with cinnamon, sugar, and almonds.

I think you should make it and report back. Think of it as a Julie and Julia kind of adventure. Make one of grandma's recipes and report, make another and report, etc., etc.

 

[CWS4322]

I think you should make it and report back. Think of it as a Julie and Julia kind of adventure. Make one of grandma's recipes and report, make another and report, etc., etc.

That sounds fun--once I finish the harvest season. I'm not doing much recreational cooking...too many tomatoes!

 

[taxlady]

I think you should make it and report back. Think of it as a Julie and Julia kind of adventure. Make one of grandma's recipes and report, make another and report, etc., etc.

I like that idea.

 

[CWS4322]

I "think" I know what these were--similar to my grandma's pecan dreams given the amount of butter and the powdered sugar...I seem to recall she made them as crescents at Christmas time, and just "discs" the rest of the time. The page is quite stained, so she did make them. Not sure if the hairdresser was the one who put the blue rinse in my grandma's hair or not...(chuckle).

 

[CWS4322]

There's another one called Lundberg's Cabbage. It uses a fair amount of cabbage...and is put in jars, but only ages for 2 hours...not sure about the safety of that, but it could be scaled down and put in the fridge...or maybe in the freezer. I have a freezer coleslaw recipe s/place...This is kind of fun, btw.

 

[Aunt Bea]

It is close to the sable recipe that bolas uses for his pie crust.

The topping would give you a quick cookie, french butter cookie type of thing.

 

[Oldvine]

I think I would figure it was her hairdresser's recipe for a cookie or something like a coffee cake... something that was available as a snack down at the salon and she liked it when she ate it. Once you stir it up, you should be able to figure out what do do with the dough. It looks more cookie like than coffee cake and I've seen cookies in my sister's salon many times.

 

[CWS4322]

I think they are more like:

Danish Mandel Kager Almond Cookies Recipe - Food.com - 13455

This is definitely not for "Sandbakkel," but probably would be a Scandinavian influenced recipe because everyone was either Swedish or Norwegian in that little community, even though the community has a French name! My great-grandfathers settled in that area because they were both pharmacists and were recruited to go from Sweden to that area (one was in the town where my grandparents lived; the other a small community on the shore of Lake-of-the-Woods). It will be interesting to make the recipe and decide if it is a cookie or a bar. I doubt it was put through a cookie press--she would have noted that.

I know she got it from her hairdresser--she had her hair done every week. It makes me laugh that is the title she gave the recipe when she got it home and transferred it to her book. So like her. There is another one that is "Bridge" and it is for a salad. That came from one of the ladies with whom she played bridge every week.

All these years later, the book still smells like her kitchen. I'm in her kitchen when I pick it up. It is an emotional experience. She died 40 years ago.

 

[taxlady]

I think they are more like:

Danish Mandel Kager Almond Cookies Recipe - Food.com - 13455

This is definitely not for "Sandbakkel," but probably would be a Scandinavian influenced recipe because everyone was either Swedish or Norwegian in that little community, even though the community has a French name! My great-grandfathers settled in that area because they were both pharmacists and were recruited to go from Sweden to that area (one was in the town where my grandparents lived; the other a small community on the shore of Lake-of-the-Woods). It will be interesting to make the recipe and decide if it is a cookie or a bar. I doubt it was put through a cookie press--she would have noted that.
...

It does sound a lot like a recipe for Danish almond cookies. Those are usually rolled into small balls and then flattened a bit with ones thumb. The almond goes in the dimple.

 

[CWS4322]

It does sound a lot like a recipe for Danish almond cookies. Those are usually rolled into small balls and then flattened a bit with ones thumb. The almond goes in the dimple.

I don't remember a round cookie with an almond in the center--I remember some crescent cookies that were sprinkled with ground up almonds. I don't remember the sugar and cinnamon. I also remember "S" cookies and a Norwegian "log" cookie, but it had cardamon in it and I don't remember any topping on it. And, I know which recipes those are, I've made those for years. She hand formed the crescents...but then, there were times she just rolled out the dough and cut circles (why she didn't make balls and flatten, who knows). Dang that I didn't do this when my mom still had her mind.