Jr. Potato Boats

Ships Ahoy Mushroom Men!

Betty Crocker 's Cook book for Boys and Girls 1957
"Three Men in a boat"


I saved the best looking vintage kid's dish for last!

Most recipes I only make once and if they fail, what ever.  There wasn't going to be a next time anyway.  I just add the experience to my baking collective knowledge and figure that in the future it may come back into play to help me out somehow.
However, these potato boats...I wasn't going to let them kick my keister and did make them twice.  Their tricky feature is making those sails.  Look closely at the ship on the right, top sail, the original.  You see that crack right below the post?  It defies logic that it's still in place.  This should have been a hint that if even the food stylists couldn't get this feature to work then the housewives that like to make wacky food sculptures were going to have a hard time...never mind that this is a recipe book for kids!



This is the original "recipe", which isn't even the same look as the "color photograph on p. 159".

The first time I attempted these was while trying to interject some fun into our locked up lives.  It was about 2 months into quarantine and I had plans on putting an extra fun spin on the idea.  I told the Fam to find 3 "men" to put in their boats, instead of mushrooms.  PB had 3 little plastic weird creatures, Mr. Husband had 3 Simpson lego people, and I had 2 green aliens and a mini cow.  This is going to be great!  Then I started assembling the cheese sails which immediately cracked, tore, and slid down the poles.  I had to cancel potato boat fun dinner and we ate our plain baked boring potatoes in silence.  I was so bummed.  I could have just moved on but I really wanted another whack at making these.  I tried several different attempts.  I applied cling wrap on the back of the cheese for extra stability.  I tried cutting a hole in the cheese for the pole rather than punching the pole through the cheese.  None of it really worked well. Also had the major issue of the cheese sliding down.
In the end I used a large needle, a bit smaller that the pole to make something similar to a pilot hole for the poles.  I then used bits of cut apple/mushroom skewered on the poles in spots to hold up the cheese.
I was able to get this to hold together long enough to take a few quick photos before the sails flopped off.  Maybe a different kind of cheese would work but at this point I am done.  The original recipe called for a firm cheese but by the looks of their own photos that didn't seem too good of an idea, also I don't have that kind of cheese on hand.  At this point I've decided to wash my hands of this.  I prevailed, and have a photo to prove it.

Peach Delight

Check out this easy Peach Delight!

[Better Homes and Gardens Junior Cook Book 1955}

I used cool whip instead of whipping my own cream.  Ain't no kid got time to make whipped cream with a hand beater!

I do admit the flavor of this dessert was a bit dull.  Also the crumb mixture after applied to the peach will get soggy quickly so it is not a make-ahead kinda thing.

Recipe Repair:  Add cinnamon and/or brown sugar to the crumb mixture.  Dash a bit of cinnamon over the cool whip for extra presentation points.

Jr. Strawberry Ice-Cream Pie

Better and Homes and Gardens Junior Cook Book 1955

Strawberry Ice Cream Pie is something that you need to file away for a summer treat!

This is so yummy and cooling!

It's strawberry ice cream with a rice crispies crust!!

 Modern strawberry ice cream is a bland blah shade of drab pink so I added some red dye to my ice cream for presentation points.  

For more metal ice cube trays as seen above crack over to:
Frigidaire Double Quickube tray
Magic touch ice cube trays

Cherry-fill Ups

This is an easy peasy recipe that is a kind of reinvention of biscuits with jelly.

From Better Homes and Gardens Jr Cook Book 1955

Cherry jelly wasn't on our grocery shelves when I made these so I used cherry pie filling.  Either jelly or the pie filling will taste yummy but if you are going for looks as I always am I recommend the filling due to it having copious amounts of whole cherries for optimal visual appeal!

For a flavor boost, drizzle the tops with a simple sugar glaze.

Polka Dot Macaroni and Cheese

For this recipe I only used it as a visual serving suggestion.  I made prefab box macaroni and cheese and then topped it with cut up hot dogs!  Done and done!

Here is the inspiration image:

From Betty Crocker Boys and Girls Cookbook 1971

And here is the true recipe if you want to get all technical:

Junior Cooking

1957

I think I have been wasting my time on adult cook books.  When I am looking for a vintage recipe to make, it has everything to do with how it looks more than what it is going to taste like.  I can always do substitutions to the ingredient list to tweak flavors to my liking anyhow, so the recipe is really just a suggestion.  Grown-up cook books contain a handful of recipe ideas that I love the look of but kid's cook books are always busting out with fun presentations.  The other bonus to kid's cook books is that the ingredient list and prep are simple stuff!

1955

I have several cook books and booklets that are aimed at Junior cooking so for the next series of posts I'm dishing up recipes for and by the Hostess and Host of tomorrow!

1971

And this will finally clear out my food related posts that have been in the deep freezer of drafts from 2 years ago!

Snow Day Decor

 

I've been holding out hope that our area would get a February Snow Day, but it's just not in the forecast for us this year.

During that eager anticipation I decorated a little cabinet with a Snow Day theme: 

This is all the winter wonderland we are getting this year!

I also have a snowy treat and craft coming up next!

Here are all of last year's festivities:

Snow Day!

Snow Day Confectionaries

Snow Day icicle cake

Ivory Snow Day

Yeti Spaghetti

Here is our Snow Day craft ....circa 2012!

This post has been sitting in the deep freezer of drafts for a decade!

During PB's elementary years he would get craft kits, science kits, build your own robot kits, grow a dinosaur plant kits, all sorts of these boredom buster brain booster kinda things for Christmas.  We would stash them away for summer fun since during the school year his brain was already busting with homework.

This little guy ( which PB named Yeti Spaghetti) was one of the kits that PB and I made. The making part was balling up sparkly blue air dry clay and squashing it onto the plastic body form.  I think I got it at Michael's as a stocking stuffer. PB also got a make your own snow kit, so we put the two together.  The igloo was made from a piece of styrofoam.

Yellow Snow

 For our Snow Day treat I made " Don't  Eat The Yellow Snow Cones".  I made them by crushing ice in a blender and topping it with some sugar free coconut syrup (store bought, meant for coffee drinks) that I dyed yellow.

This treat is something that you don't want when it's frigid weather but works for us since we are heading into the 70s this week. 

Valentine's Love Cats

This year for Valentine's Day decor I decided to finally tackle a theme I have been wanting to do for years!  The Cure's song Love Cats!

It's not a plunge into the lyrics or visuals from the music video or anything deep like that.  I just thought it would be fun to do a mash up kinda thing with vintage valentines of cats and The Cure (Robert Smith really!).

😻"We're so wonderfully, wonderfully, wonderfully, wonderfully, pretty!"😻  

😻"Oh, you know that I'd do anything for you"😻

😻"We should have each other for tea, huh?"😻

😻"We should have each other with cream"😻

😻"Then curl up by the fire and sleep for awhile"😻

😻"It's the grooviest thing, it's the perfect dream"😻

The Cure is one of mine and Mr. Husband's fav-o-rite bands and so I really wanted this theme to be top notch looking.  That's kinda why I had been putting it off for so long.  I only decided to do it this year (last minute actually) because I mentioned the idea to PB and he was all about it.  He is a Cats/Cure fan also!

Decor and craft break down:

So since I don't have access to free wide format printing anymore, I had to come up with another way to create a large focal wall centerpiece.  I wanted an image of Robert Smith and I thought making it like a stencil would be the easiest way to go.  There are a couple of stencils already out there in internetland but I decided that wasn't good enough.  I found a photo I liked and turned it into a black and white image and printed it as an 8x10.  I then built a projector from a cardboard box, a flashlight, and the image traced onto a piece of plastic (google DIY projector and you'll see what I'm talking about).  Well, this contraption wasn't so hot because it only helped me to put his primary features in the appropriate spots, you just can't see details. This idea then morphed into me having to do a large scale drawing. I think I did a good job on his rendering but it's just not the look I was wanting overall. The other crafty thing I made were the oversized red "Kiss Me" candy hearts.  I know, a different song, but just too perfect for Valentine's day!  I made these from some scrap styrofoam I cut into heart shapes, painted red, and added epsom salts to look like sugar crystals. 

Here are a couple of past v-tine decor:

Vintage Valentine's Day Decor

Valoween Decor

And click on the "valentines" label down below left for all my past v-tine post goodies!

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Sweetheart Rings

I love mid-century vending machine stuff.  I came across this "Sweetheart Ring" vending display card and absolutely fell in love with the illustration.  It's practically perfect in every way!  

I planned on framing it and hanging it up at Valentine's time.  But when it came in the mail I was in for a surprise.  I apparently didn't read the size of the card because this thing is micro sized...2 inch x 3 inch.  Not suitable for framing...it's like a gum wrapper!

I still wanted to come up with a way to display it so I made this mini fake vending machine:

I bought a couple of packages of cheap-o plastic rings from 1.25 Tree that have 2 colors, red and fuchsia.  I don't do fuchsia unless it's vintage 80s fashion so I popped all of those 'jewels' off.  I had even painted some of them black with nail polish but decided to just keep it simple and tossed the stripped rings in as background filler and placed the red rings up front.

I made the vending machine out of an old Christmas card box, aluminum foil, and red craft paper.

This one is more of a mock up.  I want to find a tall small square glass canister at a thrift and make something a bit more substantial.

Here is another vintage packaged "Sweetheart rings" that Mr. Husband got me.  Looks like the Mr. on the package is under witness protection.

February Coconut Cake of the Month

{image source}

February's coconut cake of the month is called "Ever-Lovin' Heart" in keeping with Valentine's Day.

I thought it was clever how the directions turned a round cake into a heart shape.  Only in the end it makes for an ugly heart shape, in my opinion.  What you see from my version is a cake that I really had to shape, far more than the instructions lead me to believe.   Even then it's a cake only a stomach can love.

 

Bestmaid Children's Tableware

 

A vintage set of 'Bestmaid" Children's plastic tableware that we picked up from my most favorite antique mall for just 5 bucks.

This mall is in the next town over and pre-covid we would make it a day trip, going to some thrift stores, other neat shops, and getting lunch at a our favorite retro styled pizza restaurant, such a good time.  However for the past 2 years we have drastically cut back our outings for obvious reasons (ie: Covid and we live in Florida, two deadly things combined) and have only ventured over there twice.  We happened to be in the area back in October, not a planned visit, and decided to swing in.  I was stopped in my tracks when I read the sign by the front door " Last weekend, owners retiring".  I have been shopping at this antique mall for 20 years. It's a part of my history and my life.   I have so many things all over my house that I have bought from there and posted on here.  I loved the way the building smelled.  Everyone knew, no hesitation that The Rusty Cricket* was my favorite antique shop. I was even once at an estate sale run by some friends several years ago and the antique owner happened to be shopping there too.  My friend kinda dragged the owner over to me telling her I was her number one fan.

I loved that they played music from the 1940-60s on the over head.  I loved that it was a real vintage/antique mall having actual old stuff... I know, who would think?  There weren't booths of handmade big hair bows and discarded cookbooks from 2008 like 90 % of "antique malls" in our area are, along with those blasting cringy country music crap.  I know in the big scheme of things this isn't or shouldn't be a big deal.  But it was truly my happy place and I am devastated.   

Mr. Husband and I took our time and browsed the store.  Apparently the whole place had been on sale for the week and it was fairly picked over.  I only found a few things, one of them being this set of plastic kid's toy eating utensils...something that is so me.

I scanned the package card for you all to use for your crafting pleasure!

So then to make matters worse and complicated, we called our friend (the one mentioned earlier) and were like Hey did you know Rusty Cricket* is closing up?  He then tells us a side of this story that made me question my commitment.  Our friend knows a lot of dealers due to his business and the shop is also in the neck of the woods where he grew up, so he knows the gossip.   He first tells us that the owner didn't tell the dealers about the shop closing until the week before, leaving them in a bad spot.  He also told me that the owner is a nutsy anti-mask idiot!  Once he was loading something into her shop and she tells him she would prefer if he didn't wear his mask.  What the?!  Like I said earlier...Florida.

So now I am in this weird state of feelings, having to separate the positive experience of the shop from the morons that ran it.

But to not leave this post on such a negative spot, a couple of weekends ago I had a last minute crazy idea for Mr. Husband and I to drive over to Alabama and go to an estate sale.  It was the last day and only 20 percent off, meaning I figured it wouldn't be packed out with people.  Since Alabama is a hour or so drive away I decided to look up a few other fun spots for us to stop at too.  One was a thrift store and the other was a super cute antique mall!  It only carried vintage what-nots and doodads (no bows!), had really good prices and was housed in a neat mid century modern building.  

I think I may have found myself a "rebound" however it's a long distance relationship.

*Name changed since gossip is involved

Kitchen Approved Selected Tomatoes

Some NOS food packaging I got for Christmas featuring a super cute "Tomato" holding a tomato!

 

Frankaroni Loaf

It's a sight to behold!

Just let your eyes rest and take it in for awhile!

{From Tested Recipe Institute 1958}

During the months of quarantine back in 2020 I tried out several vintage casserole concoctions.   It's the only hobby I had left, other than sleeping till noon.   For the most part these dishes have all been fairly tame, even some being a bit on the dull side.  This is because we do have to eat these for dinner and I didn't want to disturb the Fam with anything too out there.  However I was getting to the bottom of the barrel of options that look fairly normal and include ingredients that we would actually eat.  Frankaroni Loaf was the turning point.  It's the first sign that things are not okay anymore.

(This dish does not include a cheese custard pie.  It's just an extra non-photographed recipe included on the card)

The ingredients are normal in and of themselves, but not usually placed all together baked in a molded loaf.  They also don't typically have a tomato sauce- olive speckled bandolier across them.



For this recipe (as with all recipes) I did some substitutions to make the dish more healthy or use foods I keep on hand.  I used turkey hot dogs, chopped up dill pickle slices as the relish, fat free shredded cheese, skim milk, and whole wheat penne pasta.  

Although the dish looks a bit out there it's not so bad tasting.  I think the only thing it's missing is a bit more of a sauce, not the tomato sauce...maybe a white sauce!  Everything tastes better when drowned in white sauce!