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Sara Lee’s-style Carrot Square Cake

Sara Lee’s-style Carrot Square Cake

By Gloria Pitzer, from her cookbook, Secret Fast-Food Recipes (Secret Recipes, St. Clair, MI; March 1985, p. 94)

Cake ingredients:

  • 2 Eggs
  • 1 tsp Vanilla
  • 6 oz. Oil
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
  • 2 tsp Cinnamon
  • 1 cup Sugar
  • 1 1/4 cup All-Purpose Flour
  • 1 cup Carrots (grated fine)
  • 1 cup Walnuts (well-chopped)
  • 1/2 cup Light Raisins (optional)

Icing ingredients:

  • 6 oz. Cream Cheese (softened)
  • 1/4 lb. Butter
  • 1 lb. Powdered Sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp Orange Extract
  • 1 tsp Spice Island Orange Peel
  • 1 TB Light Corn Syrup (or Pancake Syrup)
  • 1 TB Cornstarch (or Flour)

Cake instructions:

  1. Combine first 8 ingredients with electric mixer on medium-high. Beat 3 minutes scraping down sides of bowl often. Remove beaters. Stir in last 3 ingredients. Grease and flour 9″ square pan. Spread batter evenly in pan.
  2. Bake at 325 degrees F about 50 minutes. Cool in pan about 30 minutes. Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting and sprinkle with additional walnuts.

Icing instructions:

  1. Cream the cream cheese with the butter until light and fluffy, using med-high speed of electric mixer. Add half of the sugar, increasing speed to high. Add extract and peel and beat about 1 minute.
  2. Scrape down sides of bowl often. Resume beating adding remaining powdered sugar. Beat smooth. Frost sides and top of cake.

About Sara Lee’s®

Sara Lee, often known for the long-running slogan “Nobody doesn’t like Sara Lee” is often misquoted as “Nobody does it like Sara Lee”. As companies go, so do theme lines. In 2006, Sara Lee announced a new company wide campaign: “the joy of eating.” The campaign was part of a restructuring of operations.

Today, Sara Lee sells food, beverage and household products in over 180 countries and has some 50,000 employees worldwide.

For more information, check out www.SaraLee.com It has a variety of information including nutrition, their history, and what’s new.

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Schlotzsky’s-Style Sandwich Rolls

Schlotzsky’s-Style Sandwich Rolls

By Gloria Pitzer, Secret Restaurant Recipes (Secret Recipes, Marysville, MI; May 2001, p. 56)

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup Warm Water
  • 1 TB Granulated Sugar
  • 1 package Rapid Rise Dry Yeast
  • 6 oz. Milk (very warm )
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 1/4 TB Baking Soda (softened in 1 TB water)
  • 2 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour

Instructions:

  1. In large mixing bowl combine warm water, sugar and yeast. Let stand about 5 minutes till very bubbly. With wire whisk add the rest with only 1 cup of the flour, beating to smooth dough. Beat in rest of flour until batter is thick and sticky but smooth, all flour being dissolved.
  2. Divide dough between 5 ovenproof, Pam-sprayed, cornmeal dusted (let excess shake out) soup bowls (each 5 inches in diameter). Cover each one in a square of Saran wrap sprayed in a bit of Pam and that side down. Let rise almost an hour or till above rim of bowls or cans. Discard Saran pieces.
  3. Bake on center rack of 375º F oven about 20 minutes or till golden brown. Let cool in containers on rack, spraying tops each in a bit of Pam while they cool to keep crusts soft.
  4. To use for sandwiches – slice in half horizontally and grill on lightly buttered hot griddle as you would for grilled cheese sandwich or broiler toast till golden. Then fill with lettuce and assorted lunch meats and cheese or sandwich fillings.

About Schlotzsky’s®

In 1971, Don and Dolores Dissman opened a small shop on South Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas, home to The Original® by Schlotzsky’s. This one-of-a-kind, delectable sandwich is composed of a unique combination of premium meats, cheeses, and marinated black olives on fresh-baked Muffuletta bread.  The public went nuts for it.  Quickly, the sandwich developed a passionate customer following…and things started to take off for Don and Dolores.

40 years later and from humble origins, the chain grew to 759 stores in 2001 with over $400 million in sales. Today, Schlotzsky’s is an international franchise restaurant chain with locations in 35 states and six foreign countries. The Original® sandwich is still the mainstay of Schlotzsky’s, but today you can also enjoy fresh baked bread, delicious hot sandwiches and panini, specialty pizzas, toasted wraps, freshly tossed salads, gourmet soups, and more!

For more information, check out www.schlotzskys.com It has a variety of information including nutrition, their history, what’s new and some great franchise opportunities.

Source: schlotzskys.com &wikipedia.com

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Wednesday’s Chili – Like Wendy’s-Style

Wednesday’s Chili

By Gloria Pitzer, originally from Eating Out at Home (Secret Recipes, St. Clair, MI; Sep. 1981, 12th Printing, p.16)

WHEN A VERY SUCCESSFUL HAMBURGER FRANCHISE decided to give the ‘Golden Arches’ a little nudge in the marketplace, it won the public’s approval by adding a velvety-textured, mildly-seasoned chili to its menu, which has not been duplicated by any other food chain. Today, it’s the leading lady of Wendy’s fast food menu. Here’s [Gloria’s] version…

Ingredients:

  • 2 TB Oil
  • 1 1/2 to 2 lbs. Ground Round
  • 10-oz.. can French Onion soup
  • 1 TB Chili Powder
  • 2 tsp Ground Cumin
  • 1/2 tsp Pepper
  • 3 to 6 drops Tabasco (to taste)
  • 21-oz.. can Red Kidney Beans (undrained)
  • 6-oz.. can Tomato Paste
  • 8-oz.. can Tomato Sauce

Instructions:

  1. Brown the ground beef in the vegetable oil, crumbling the beef into rice-size pieces with the back of a fork.
  2. Put the onion soup through a blender on high-speed until it’s smooth; then, add it to the beef mixture and mash it thoroughly again with the fork.
  3. Stir in the remaining ingredients and simmer gently for about 15 minutes or until the flavors are well-blended and the chili is piping hot!

Makes about 6 servings. Left-overs keep well in a covered container in refrigerator for a week, or freeze up to 6 months, but it should be thawed/re-heated in the top of a double boiler over gently simmering water. NEVER thaw frozen meat and tomato sauce over direct heat or it may scorch. Oven-thawing tends to dry it out quicker, evaporating the natural juices more than steaming it will do.

About Wendy’s®

Founded by Dave Thomas in 1969, Wendy’s is the third largest hamburger fast food chain with approximately 6,700 locations and more than 46,000 people in its global operations recording $9.45 billion (USD) in annual sales.

Wendy’s menu consists primarily of hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, French fries and beverages but does not have a signature product such as the Whopper or the Big Mac. What is unique is that their burger patties are square. The burgers are also made from fresh ground beef, not frozen.

For the complete story of Wendy’s, visit www.Wendys.com, where you can find out everything you could possibly want to know about this amazing restaurant concept.

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White Tassel Hamburgers (like White Castle’s)

White Tassel Hamburgers

By Gloria Pitzer, Secret Restaurant Recipes (Secret Recipes, St. Clair, MI; Apr. 1978, 6th Printing, p. 10)

Ingredients:

  • 4 TB Minced Onion
  • 1/4 cup Hot Water
  • 2 lbs. Ground Sirloin
  • 3 oz. Baby food Strained Beef (jar)
  • 2/3 cup Clear Beef Broth (or prepared Bouillon)

Instructions:

  1. Soak minced onion in hot water until soft. Mix ground sirloin & baby food strained beef with beef broth or prepared bouillon.
  2. Make patties uniform in size, flattening 3-4 ounces of meat mixture to 1/4 ” thick. Fry each patty quickly in 1 TB oil on a hot griddle. Make 3 or 4 small holes in the patties, with the tip of a knife or skewer, during frying to ensure even doneness. Cut hot dog buns in half and cut away the rounded ends. [Not available in 1981, companies now market “slider” buns!]
  3. Fry 1 tsp. of softened onions under each patty when turning to fry the other side. Slip patties into buns and serve with pickles, mustard & ketchup. Add chips on the side.
  4. The number of servings is questionable, depending on how many Sliders™ you can eat! Freeze whatever patties are not fried right away.NOTE:  This recipe did not appear in the 1st printing of the Secret Restaurant Recipes cookbook…but, I don’t know if it was in any other printings between the 1st and 6th ones.

About White Castle®

Founded Billy Ingram and cook Walter Anderson, White Castle is the oldest American hamburger fast food restaurant chain with its first locations openning in 1921 in Wichita, Kansas. It is known for square burgers, sometimes referred to as “sliders” (officially spelled and trademarked as “Slyders”) that were priced at five cents until the 1940s, and remained at ten cents for years thereafter.

Besides a being a great concept, with a killer little burger, White Castle aslo set some amazing records. First fast-food hamburger chain ever. First industrial-strength spatula. First mass-produced paper hat. First to sell a million hamburgers. First to sell a billion hamburgers. First frozen fast food for sale.

And something for all of the guys to remember, every year on February 14, White Castle offers to reserve a candlelit table for two, complete with a server for Valentine’s Day.

For more information, check out www.whitecastle.com It has a ton of information including nutrition, White Castle history and terminolgy, locations, what’s new and some great promotions.

Source: whitecastle.com & wikipedia.com