February 5, 2022

Christmas Magic Cake

CHRISTMAS MAGIC CAKE

By Gloria Pitzer, as shared in her 1994, homemade, Christmas card*

INGREDIENTS:

10-oz miniature marshmallows

18-oz box prepared, yellow, cake mix batter

3-oz box strawberry gelatin powder

1-lb box frozen (but slightly thawed), sliced strawberries

2/3 cup water

Cool Whip (for garnish)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Spread marshmallows out in a greased 10” x 13” pan. Spread the cake batter over that and dust the batter layer with the gelatin powder. Spoon the strawberry slices around the top of that layer and drizzle the top of that layer with the water.

Bake at 350°F for 1 hour or until it tests done. While baking, the marshmallows will come to the top and the strawberries will go to the bottom and the cake bakes up in the middle!

Cool before cutting. Top with Cool Whip. Serves 6 sensationally!

*I also shared the above recipe (November 30, 2020) on-the-air with Kathy Keene – on her “Good Neighbor” show on WHBY in Appleton, WI. If you missed the show, you could listen to the podcast at https://www.whby.com/2020/11/30/laura-pitzer-emerich-amy-albright/.

See also…

Mondays & Memories of My Mom – Holiday Cards Share Kindness

February 5, 2022

Bar Cheese With Catalina

BAR CHEESE WITH CATALINA [Like Win Schuler’s]

By Gloria Pitzer, as seen in… Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – The Best of the Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 275). [A revised reprint of Gloria Pitzer’s Better Cookery Cookbook (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; May 1983, 3^rd Edition).]

INGREDIENTS:

2 pounds Velveeta (do not substitute brand!)

½ pound margarine (2 sticks)

5-ounce bottle horseradish

8-ounce bottle Kraft’s Catalina salad dressing

8-ounce tub French onion chip dip

INSTRUCTIONS:

Combine all ingredients in top of double boiler over simmering water, stirring frequently until melted and almost smooth. Cook and stir occasionally for 10 minutes over simmering water, scraping down sides and bottom of pan periodically.

Put mixture through blender on high-speed, using on/off agitation, for 2 or 3 minutes. Pour into a 1-quart refrigerator container. Cover tightly. Keep refrigerated up to a month – OR freeze it up to 6 months.

#GloriaPitzersCookbook

https://www.balboapress.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-001062253

See also…

Mondays & Memories of My Mom – Fast Food Fix

February 5, 2022

Christmas Fudge, The Creamiest

CHRISTMAS FUDGE, THE CREAMIEST

By Gloria Pitzer, as shared in her 1994, homemade, Christmas card

INGREDIENTS:

¼-lb butter or margarine

12-oz bag [milk] chocolate chips

1-lb container ready-to-spread, chocolate frosting

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

[As listed] put first 3 ingredients into top of double boiler, over simmering water; stirring until melted and smooth [with each addition].

With electric beaters, blend [in the pan, over the hot water] for 3 minutes. [Add walnuts at this point if you want and] pour into a buttered, 9-inch-square pan. Refrigerate several hours or until firm enough to cut [into 36 pieces, pieces at 1½-inch-square each].

[NOTE: Change the flavor of the baking chips and frosting to change the flavor of the fudge.]

See also…

Mondays & Memories of My Mom – Holiday Cards Share Kindness

February 5, 2022

Angel Wings

ANGEL WINGS

By Gloria Pitzer, from her “Original 200” collection of recipes, but also published in… Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – The Best of the Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 280). [A revised reprint of Gloria Pitzer’s Better Cookery Cookbook (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; May 1983, 3^rd Edition).]

INGREDIENTS:

5 egg yolks, well-beaten

5 tablespoons each: sour cream and sugar

1 tablespoon almond extract

¼ teaspoon salt

2 ½ cups flour

INSTRUCTIONS:

Combine all, as listed; and enough more flour that dough is not sticky, but still very soft. Roll small portions of dough at a time to paper-thin on a lightly floured surface. Cut into strips, 2” x 5”, and arrange in a single layer on oiled cookie sheets. Fill a deep, heavy sauce pan at least 3 inches deep with oil, heating it to 400°F.

Make a 1-inch slit down center of each and draw the opposite ends of the strips through the slit. Drop into the hot oil to fry. They will fall to the bottom of the pan but will surface in a few seconds as they delicately brown – about 2 minutes.

Lift out with tongs and drop into large grocery sack containing about a pound of powdered sugar. Shake the bag to coat the Angel Wings evenly. Makes oodles! Flavor variations include substituting for the almond extract – dark or light rum or rum flavoring… Or ginger brandy… Or, in addition to any of these, a pinch of nutmeg!

OTHER OPTIONS:

REINDEER TEARS – cut the Angel Wing dough into diamond shapes and fry them as directed above.

ELEPHANT EARS – cut the Angel Wing dough to the diameter of a saucer and fry one at a time.

#GloriaPitzersCookbook

See also…

Mondays & Memories of My Mom – Holiday Greetings

February 5, 2022

Frankenmuth Fruit Bread

FRANKENMUTH FRUIT BREAD

By Gloria Pitzer, as seen in… The Original 200 Plus Secret Recipes_© Book (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; June 1997, p. 15)

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup [hot] scalded milk

¼ cup butter

1 TB sugar

2 tsp salt

¼ cup water

2 pkgs. dry (dissolved in ½ cup warm water, with 2 tsp sugar)

4 cups flour*

2 eggs

¼ cup each (all chopped): candied red cherries, golden raisins, candied citrus peel, and walnuts

¼ tsp cardamom

½ tsp vanilla

Melted butter for basting

INSTRUCTIONS:

Combine milk, butter, sugar, and salt. Cool to lukewarm. Add water and warm yeast mixture. Stir and let stand for 5 minutes, or until bubbly. Add this mixture to one cup of the flour*.

Beat in eggs and chopped fruits and nuts, as listed. Add rest of ingredients, working in only enough more flour* to make dough elastic. Knead in bowl 5 minutes. Let rise until doubled in size.

Grease two 9-inch loaf pans. Split dough between these, shaping into loaves and letting them rise, again, until doubled in size.

Bake at 375°F for 45 minutes or until golden brown and, when you tap the crust, it makes a hollow sound. At once, wipe top of loaves with melted butter. Dump loaves out of pans onto towels to cool on their sides.

Makes 2 loaves.

See also…

Mondays & Memories of My Mom – Small Screen Significance

February 5, 2022

Frankenmuth Inn Stuffing

FRANKENMUTH INN STUFFING

By Gloria Pitzer

As pictured above, seen in… The Original 200 Plus Secret Recipes_© Book (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; June 1997, p. 15).

Also published, as seen below, in Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – The Best of the Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 95). [A revised reprint of Gloria Pitzer’s Better Cookery Cookbook (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; May 1983, 3^rd Edition).]

INGREDIENTS:

6 cups finely crumbled cinnamon raisin bran cereal or dry cinnamon rolls (with icing)

2 cups boiling water, with ¼ teaspoon season salt

3 tablespoons dry minced onion

4 teaspoons chicken bouillon powder

1 teaspoon rubbed sage

7 ½ ounce jar baby food (Junior) apples and apricot strained dessert

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

INSTRUCTIONS:

Put it all in a pan, stirring lightly just to blend. Cover and cook on low heat until time to serve, but don’t let it dry out. Additional liquid may be added if too much evaporates while it’s kept “on-hold” – no longer than 1 hour… OR put it in the top of a double boiler over simmering water if you must hold it longer.

[OR instead of cooking on low heat,] grease a 2-quart casserole and bake the dressing, covered, at 350°F for about 40 minutes or until piping hot. Freezes well up to 3 months. Serves 4 to 6.

#GloriaPitzersCookbook

See also…

Mondays & Memories of My Mom – Small Screen Significance

February 5, 2022

Frankenmuth Fresh Cranberry Relish

FRANKENMUTH FRESH CRANBERRY RELISH

By Gloria Pitzer

As pictured above, seen in… The Original 200 Plus Secret Recipes_© Book (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; June 1997, p. 15).

Fill your blender half-full of cold water. Add enough whole, raw cranberries that it displaces the water to within an inch of the top of the container and cap it securely. Use an on/off agitation, on high speed, for half a minute – or until you can see that the cranberries are evenly and coarsely chopped, but not mushy.

Dump it into a colander to let the water drain. Repeat the blender process with an UNPEELED seedless orange, cut in pieces no larger than a marshmallow, until the size of confetti. Measure out the cranberries and then dump the orange pieces into the colander to drain.

Repeat until you have half as much oranges, as cranberries. Mix together, lightly, in a large bowl. Measure enough sugar that you have half as much sugar as you have cranberry/orange mixture.

Combine the sugar with the fruit mixture. Cover and let stand at room temperature for about 2-3 hours, stirring it occasionally. When juice has formed in the mixture, taste it for tartness. Adjust the sugar to taste – if it is too sweet, add another chopped orange, or part of an orange, until the flavor tastes right to you.

It’s not easy to give specific measurements because not all oranges have the same flavor and sweetness. Since the orange peel is included in this recipe, the sugar amount may vary.

#GloriaPitzersCookbook

See also…

Mondays & Memories of My Mom – Small Screen Significance

February 5, 2022

Creamed Chipped Beef On Toast

CREAMED CHIPPED BEEF ON TOAST

By Gloria Pitzer, as seen in her self-published cookbook, The Joy Of NOT Cooking Any More Than You Have To (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; Nov. 1983, p. 53)

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups water

1 cup dry milk powder

2/3 cup flour

¼ tsp pepper

2 tsp onion powder

½ tsp celery salt

½ tsp table salt

4 TB margarine

2 small jars chipped beef, rinsed well in cold water

OR use 1½-lbs ground beef, skillet-browned and crumbled

INSTRUCTIONS:

Put water, milk powder, and flour through blender on high speed for 1 minute, or until smooth. (If you don’t have a blender, shake mixture vigorously in a jar with a tight-fitting lid and pour through a sieve.)

Place mixture in 1½-qt saucepan on medium-high and stir constantly, until thickened and smooth. Turn off heat. [Stir in] remaining ingredients. Serve over buttered toast slices, for 4.

See also…

Mondays & Memories of My Mom – Kindness Begets Kindness

February 5, 2022

Vanilla Glaze – For Bread

VANILLA GLAZE – For Bread

By Gloria Pitzer

As seen in… Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – The Best of the Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 158). [A revised reprint of Gloria Pitzer’s Better Cookery Cookbook (Secret Recipes^TM, St. Clair, MI; May 1983, 3^rd Edition).]

INGREDIENTS:

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

10 tablespoons firmly packed powdered sugar

INSTRUCTIONS:

Whip ingredients together, with a fork, until smooth. Makes about ½ cup of glaze, which will harden nicely if applied while the bread loaves are still hot from the oven.

#GloriaPitzersCookbook

See also…

Mondays & Memories of My Mom – Michigan’s Mosaic Melting Pot

February 5, 2022

Ohio Buckeyes

OHIO BUCKEYES

By Gloria Pitzer

As seen in… Gloria Pitzer’s Mostly 4-Ingredient Recipes (Secret Recipes^TM, Marysville, MI; Reprinted – June 2002, p. 72).

INGREDIENTS:

¾-lb margarine

1½ cups peanut butter

2-lbs powdered sugar

12-oz pkg. milk chocolate chips

6-oz pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips

¼ cup additional peanut butter

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a big bowl, cream margarine and peanut butter until smooth. With electric beaters on high speed, work in powdered sugar [a little at a time] until smooth.

Chill until firm enough to roll into 1-inch balls. Meanwhile, in top of double-boiler, over hot water, melt chocolate chips and additional peanut butter with paraffin, stirring until blended and smooth.

Spear each ball with a skewer and dip it in the warm chocolate mixture, to coat evenly. Set on waxed-paper-lined baking sheet or jelly roll pan. Chill until firm. Makes about 6 dozen!

See also…

Mondays & Memories of My Mom – Family Stories