Inflation 1973-2023 in my recipe box

Today I was looking through my recipe box (sort of a historical archive now since I rarely bake) for something cobbler like/lite and found a recipe for cheesecake that serves 12 by my cousin Judy who lives in Winnebago, IL and grew up in Byron. It was dated August, 1973, so I have no idea why we were exchanging recipes. Our big family reunion was 20 years later and for that she contributed some from her mother, Aunt Gladys (d. 1976). Anyway, I'm not going to make a cheesecake, but on the back of the card I noted the prices. Things have changed a bit in 50 years. Pie filling (for topping) .59; Dream Whip .26; graham crackers .23; cream cheese .55. It seems I didn't count the sugar, eggs, and butter because I probably had that on hand (called homemaker math). It's in my handwriting, so I probably copied it to fit in this tiny box for 3 x 5 cards.

Some on FB are old enough to remember the nightmare of stagflation of the 1970s--high inflation, high unemployment, and low growth. In 1973 the average rate of inflation for food prices was over 13%. In August 1973 when I noted the prices, the food inflation rate was 18.2%! That may be why I noted the costs on the card. Compare that to 2023 food prices which was 5.8% for the year. The killer rate we all remember (and blame Biden for) was about 10% for 2022. I blame this primarily on the lockdown which really messed up all levels of the economy as well as health.

Data are from https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/food-inflation-in-the-united-states/? 

Keith's recipe for scallops and shrimp in white wine sauce

Sauté the shrimp in a hot pan with olive oil. Once they’re almost cooked take them out and sauté some garlic and shallots with 2 cups of [good] white wine. Add a quarter stick of butter. Cook over medium heat. Add shrimp and scallops. Add a little lemon juice and some lemon zest. Add a few chili flakes. Serve over your favorite pasta with a vegetable like asparagus and a nice presentation.

She makes a great pork tenderloin

 So I asked her.  How do you do this?  She told me, but I was on my walk at Lakeside, and had stopped by her house (she was sitting outside reading), so then she texted  me.

Salt, pepper, olive oil, bacon grease/ however you choose to season

> Braise to brown on stovetop
> 400* oven, do not cover
> 20-25 min.
> Done when 145* internal temp./I use a meat thermometer
> Let rest 5-10 min. before slicing.
> Serve & enjoy!

She's a vegan.  But remembers when she wasn't, so she still does a great dinner party. She had put bacon in the coleslaw, so that's how she happened to have the bacon grease. It was yummy too.

I never intended to be a writer, but have been doing it since I was a child. In college I "majored" in other things, although nothing that pays well, like library science. In a blog in 2008 I was writing about two of my favorite topics--food and money.

"In the early 1980s I was writing about food budgets, coupons, sweepstakes, and other ways to play with your food, just as I do today in my blog, but using an electric typewriter, a bottle of white-out, research in the OSU Agriculture Library, and a photocopy machine to issue my own newsletter, "No Free Lunch." I was interviewed on a local TV talk show, spoke to women's book clubs, a faculty lunch group at OSU, and I was featured in the local suburban newspaper. However, because my theme was in some ways anti-business and chiding the consumer for poor planning, I was not in great demand as a speaker or writer. You can't tell business that their methods are suspect and consumers that they are not behaving rationally and expect to be popular!

I was just as opinionated then as a liberal Democrat as I am today as a conservative Republican. I wrote a lot about how government and food conglomerates worked together to confuse or hurt the consumer and put the local food companies at a disadvantage (and I hadn't heard of a Wal-Mart). I was really hard on "food writers" in the magazines who always encouraged coupons and prepared foods. Actually, I still feel that way, but now wonder why Democrats continue to lull voters into thinking even more government control of their lives and wallets is beneficial. And I see how increased regulation of business hurts the little guy, and especially the poor."

Based on Biden's fuel policies, we'll probably be lucky to have food on the shelves to buy, but if you're concerned about inflation, you can still save a bundle by contributing your own labor, just as I wrote in 1981. These days, you'd also save a lot by discontinuing take-outs or eating out with your family. Even for us as a couple eliminating our Friday night date as we did during the Covid lockdowns saved us about $200 a month.

 
That said, if I thought my kids needed baked snacks (they were deprived and got raw sliced veggies and fruits) that weren't full of chemicals, sugar and salt, I'd keep an eye on this lady. Food Babe. She's very pretty and Hawaiian.  Homemade Goldfish Crackers With Organic Ingredients (foodbabe.com)  She must be OK because there are other web sites set up to attack her.

Cookie supreme recipe and how-to

 https://fb.watch/ddQ69nv7oj/

Cookie dough made into delicious muffin treat with Rice Krispies and chocolate sauce.

June's recipe for Butterscotch Pie

 My husband is well known locally and in his family for his dislike of corn.  What good midwestern boy could hate corn (includes corn on the cob, escalloped corn, fresh cut corn), but he does.  Little known except by me, is he also gags at the thought of eating anything "butterscotch," which would include caramel or toffee or pecan pie. So I was surprised when looking through one of my recipe book treasures, "Favorite Recipes from the One Dozen Mums" (1974, index cards attached with plastic binder) that his own mother had submitted "Butterscotch Pie" as one of her contributions to what was probably a fund raiser for her club:

1 C. brown sugar

1 C. milk

2 T. flour

yolks of 2 eggs

2 T. butter

Cook in double boiler until thick.  Put into crust previously baked & spread slightly sweetened beaten whites over the top.  Place in oven to brown very little.

That's it.  Pretty simple with no details.  I enjoyed some of her specialties like Goulash or spaghetti with garlic rolls, but don't recall ever eating home made pie at her home.

Melissa uses Paris Hilton's recipe for brinning a turkey

This year, I did a dry brine for the first time. Usually, I soak the bird in salt water and some other things. Instead, I pulled a recipe from Paris Hilton's cooking show. Yes, she has one. No, she cannot cook. That's the premise. A rich girl who has always been fed learns to cook. Anyway, I'm sharing the recipe with you here because it turned out so great that it's going to be my new go-to:

Salt 1/2 Cup

Sugar 1/2 Cup

Ground black pepper 1/4 Cup

Garlic Powder 1/4 Cup

Dried Thyme 1/4 Cup

Dried Oregano 1/4 Cup

Dried Sage 2 TBSP

Dried Rosemary 2 TBSP

Paprika 2 TBSP

Rub this all over, in and out, place in fridge uncovered, overnight.

Next day, take a soft stick of butter and grease down the skin, under the skin.

Cut 1 apple, 1 lemon, 1/2 onion and put in the bird.

Pour 1 1/2 cup of white wine (I used red) into the bottom of the pan.

NOTE: The thing that scared me is that it seemed like all the fluid came out of the turkey came out after the brine and that I'd end up with Chevy Chase's turkey from Christmas Vacation. I went with it, though. Turkey turned out fine and flavorful. Loved it and it produced a spicy gravy that was also excellent. Highly recommend!

Marinated Cucumbers, Onions, and Tomatoes--nice summer salad

It's been awhile since I posted a recipe.  Usually, they are too complicated and I don't bother.  But this one looks easy.  I saw it at a cousin-in-law's Facebook page. (We've never met.)

Marinated Cucumbers, Onions, and Tomatoes

Ingredients:

3 medium cucumbers, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 medium onion, sliced and separated into rings
3 medium tomatoes, cut into wedges
1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon fresh coarse ground black pepper
1/4 cup oil

How to make it:
Combine ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving

Blueberry French Toast Casserole

About 2 decades ago, before I started saving everything at my blog, I was searching for the perfect bread pudding recipe—like my mom made from leftover bread. I missed her and wanted that special taste for a memory.   And I wrote about it.  I found some good ones, but never the exact match because she probably didn’t use a recipe.

This recipe was posted by a guy friend, Brian Good, on Facebook.  But the website had a gazillion ads, and I couldn’t read the directions.  So I looked it up by name on a different site.  It says it is great for brunch or dessert. This one has slightly fewer eggs and cream cheese than the one I saw posted on FB. By soaking the bread overnight, it becomes more of a souffle or a bread pudding. The cream cheese gets creamy and the blueberries add a bit of sweetness and tartness at the same time. Hope you enjoy it! Blueberry French Toast Casserole | Tasty Kitchen: A Happy Recipe Community!

Ingredients

• 1 loaf Texas Toast Or Thick Cut Bread, Cubed (French Toast Style Also Works)
• 12 ounces, weight Cream Cheese, Cubed (Any Kind Other Than Fat Free)
• 1 cup Blueberries, Fresh
• 8 whole Eggs
• 2 cups Milk
• ½ cups Maple Syrup
• Cinnamon, To Taste
• Nutmeg, To Taste
• ½ cups Pecans, Chopped (optional)

Preparation

Place the bread cubes in a greased 13×9-inch baking dish; add blueberries and cream cheese evenly throughout the bread cubes.

Beat eggs, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg and syrup with a wire whisk until well blended. Pour over the ingredients in the baking dish; cover. Refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Bake, uncovered, for 35 minutes. Add the pecans if desired, then bake for an additional 10 minutes or until the center is set. Serve with additional syrup, if desired.

If you are making this recipe for dessert, forego the maple syrup and serve with whipped cream.

Enjoy!

Facebook can’t face the truth

Zuckerberg and his wife supported Biden/Harris big time, funneling mega-bucks for training poll workers and campaigners.  And we all know how that campaign fraud went.  However, it is technically free, and those of us who use it need to know the only product FB sells is us—our information.  Personal information about buying habits, religion, politics, opinions, photos—it’s all consumed and regurgitation by Facebook to buy and sell us. 

But Facebook is also pushing it’s own politics, and will blacklist our posts that they don’t like.  I’m reposting some of my blogs at my Facebook site, and they all come up with a warning—even if it is a recipe or a holiday tradition. FB by technical snooping knows I’m not one of them.  I’m just some deranged, low class, low caste college educated American who escaped the clutches of the Democrat party in 2000 for fresh air, liberation and truth.  There are a lot of us out there—every ethnicity, age, sex, religion—black, brown, white, rich, poor, employed, retired, Protestant, Jew, Muslim, Catholic. The U.S. capitalist system with freedom of religion and the religion of meritocracy has allowed Zuckerberg to arise to the heights of success, but he landed on a dead branch of socialism and is trying to clip the wings of others.  Ironically, it’s the capitalist way. Always kill off the competition.

I got a black mark for pointing out the racism and eugenics of the Leftists among us. I got a black mark for citing Newsmax, a conservative TV News source. I got a black mark for posting a an AA list on how to stay sober just for today. So I’m embedded in the the FB file dungeons as a right wing nut, no matter if I post recipes or voter fraud stories.

I have a lot of cookbooks and recipe files—some almost 100 years old, from my mom and mother-in-law to Inglenook to Betty Crocker to a collection from Ogle County Illinois homemakers.  But there are more people who have come forward to testify about voter irregularities at the polls, from the cemeteries  and from voting machines than I have recipes.  All those patriots are willing to put their reputations (and lives) on the line, and they’ve been silenced by the very government and political parties they want to save.

Mom's Meat and Potato Quiche

 I was looking through my box of handwritten recipes the other day, and saw, "copied from Mom 1990" Meat and Potato Quiche.  So I decided to try it today because I had all the ingredients.  It's in the oven now, but I don't have great hopes for it.  It uses shredded potatoes for the crust, and I'd forgotten that potatoes are very watery and turn pink when shredded.  Directs say, press them into a 9" pie dish, bake for 15 minutes at 425 then add the meat, cheese and egg mixture, then put it back in the oven for 30 minutes.  I could see immediately that the egg/milk liquid seeped through the crust, so I expect a very difficult clean up.

Meanwhile, I checked the internet, and found several versions of this, and finally one that was an exact match.  Yes, watery potatoes, and liquid seeps through!  But one comment said, "Exactly like 'More with Less Cookbook,' and I know Mom liked that.  So I got mine out, and checked.  Exact match.  You can use diced chicken, ham or sausage, and I used some of the Thanksgiving turkey.  Taste test will be later.

Meat & Potato Quiche Recipe - Food.com

Doris Janzen Longacre wrote "More with less" cookbook and also "Living more with less." She was a Mennonite missionary.  I wrote about this cookbook at my blog in 2014.  She was my age and died when she was 39, but her cookbook sold over a million copies. In the 70s we thought if we had/ate less, we some how would help people who were poor with few material goods.  We know now, that isn't how it works. Life for the poor is improved when they have viable jobs and a decent government. One that doesn't abuse them.  Being careful with money, calories and nutrition is its own reward. Better health and less stress.  At that 2014 blog I included this, "Life is too short," which sounds like her philosophy and she might have written it, however the link is broken, so I can't tell for sure. But it was definitely my philosophy as a young mother in the 1970s. And life is too short to spend time tracking down obscure and broken links (although I do it often) in your 80s.

Life is too short to ice cakes; cakes are good without icing.
Life is too short to read all the church periodicals.
Life is too short not to write regularly to your parents.
Life is too short to eat factory baked bread.
Life is too short to keep all your floors shiny.
Life is too short to let a day pass without hugging your spouse and each of your children.
Life is too short to nurse grudges and hurt feelings.
Life is too short to worry about getting ready for Christmas; just let Christmas come.
Life is too short to spend much money on neckties and earrings.
Life is too short for nosy questions like "How do you like your new pastor?" Or—if there’s been a death—"How is he taking it?"
Life is too short to be gone from home more than a few nights a week.
Life is too short not to take a nap when you need one.
Life is too short to care whether purses match shoes or towels match bathrooms.
Life is too short to stay indoors when the trees turn color in fall, when it snows, or when the spring blossoms come out.
Life is too short to miss the call to worship on a Sunday morning.
Life is too short for bedspreads that are too fancy to sleep under.
Life is too short to work in a room without windows.
Life is too short to put off Bible study.
Life is too short to put off improving our relationships with the people we live with.

So maybe I'll browse some more in that cookbook. . . and think about Mom.

Here's another blog written by someone else. Life-Changing Cookbooks: More-with-Less - Paste (pastemagazine.com)

15 minutes later: Taste test. Not ready for prime time; glad I didn't try this one for company brunch.

Cocoa and the brain--new research

 I noticed in the University of Illinois LAS Newsletter that someone has done research on the effects of cocoa on the brain.  Sweet news for the brain | College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at Illinois Been there, done that.  Not me personally, but I wrote about flavanols and the brain years ago.  Or at least, I summarized the research.  I didn't do it personally.  This has a slightly different pitch.

Collecting My Thoughts: Coffee vs. Chocolate for caffeine

Collecting My Thoughts: Dark Chocolate is good for us

Collecting My Thoughts: Habitual chocolate users perform better

Collecting My Thoughts: But make it dark chocolate

Collecting My Thoughts: Cacao vs. cocoa

And as I searched my 16 years of blogs by the tag "chocolate," I think I found more recipes than I did brain research

Collecting My Thoughts  Chocolate Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Tart with Caramelized Bananas

Collecting My Thoughts: Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake for one

Collecting My Thoughts Mrs. Bush's Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookie

Collecting My Thoughts: Chocolate mashed potato cookies

Collecting My Thoughts: Dark chocolate cherry trail mix

Collecting My Thoughts: Peanut Butter Fudge Cake

Crock Pot Chicken by Pat Miller

Mix:

1/2 cup of mayo

1/3 cup of Panko bread crumbs

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese

1 tsp. of Italian seasoning

Spread:

The above mix all over pieces of chicken and place  in your crock pot.

Cook:

Low setting in crock pot  5-6 hours

Dark chocolate cherry trail mix

Dark chocolate is good for you.

Cacao vs. cocoa

Coffee vs. Chocolate
Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup raw almonds
• 3/4 cup raw pecans
• 1 cup pepitas or pumpkin seeds
• 1 cup dried cherries
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips or chunks
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Place nuts and seeds on a baking sheet and toast 5-10 minutes, until they smell fragrant.
• Combine all ingredients, minus the chocolate, in a large bowl.
• Mix well and add chocolate once the nuts have cooled enough.
• Portion into 1/4 cup portions and store in an airtight container.

Download a printable version of this recipe here.

Serving Size:

Makes approximately 16 (1/4 cup) servings

Nutritional Information:

• 155 calories
• 11g fat
• 2g sat fat
• 0g trans fat
• 0mg cholesterol
• 58mg sodium
• 12g carb
• 3g fiber
• 6g sugar
• 4g protein

Easy cheesy potato gratin

https://www.dairycarrie.com/2019/06/04/easy-and-cheesy-potato-gratin/

She recommends a strong cheese and real cream.  Read the full directions at the link.  Sounds yummy. 

8-12 servings, can pair with ham or bacon

Ingredients

• 5-6 large russet potatoes

• 1 large onion

• 2c heavy cream

• 2Tbs butter, softened

• 2c Gruyere or other strong cheese, shredded

• Optional- ham, cooked Bacon, or other meat

• 1tsp Dried thyme,

• 1tsp Dried rosemary

• 1Tbs minced garlic

• Salt and Pepper

• Directions

• Scrub your potatoes. This dish can be made with skins left on, but you’re welcome to peel them if you like.
• Using a mandolin, slice the potatoes very thin. Not able to see through them thin, but close.
• Slice your onion in long thin strips.
• Place potatoes, onion and garlic in a pot and cover with water. Bring pot to a boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and drain.
• Use butter to grease the bottom and sides of a 9×13 pan.
• Put slices of potato in a single layer in the bottom of the pan and along the sides.
• Going in layers, add onion and optional meat then sprinkle with cheese until you’ve used up all your potato slices. Top with remaining cheese.
• In a small pan, heat cream on medium heat and whisk in seasonings. Stirring regularly let cream thicken slightly, about 10 minutes.
• Pour cream over the top of the potatoes.
• If you are freezing this for later, wrap pan in plastic wrap and place in freezer.
• Otherwise, place uncovered pan in oven heated to 400 degrees. Bake for 30 minutes. Then turn oven to broil for 5 minutes or until cheese on top is brown.
• Let potatoes sit after removing from oven for 20 minutes before serving.

If you freeze this for later, allow the potatoes to thaw completely before following the cooking directions.

Sweet and sour chicken

I received a new cookbook for Christmas—it’s a family compilation by the Shaw family, 5 of whom I met blogging and now read and enjoy regularly on Facebook. Their mother Ruth Baird Shaw went back to college after her Methodist minister husband died and became a Methodist minister.  All the children are grown with grandchildren and are quite successful and interesting people—and they have collected in 2 editions, family recipes. With photos.  As I was browsing (always looking for the easiest and quickest) I noticed “Ricky and Lyn’s Sweet and Sour Chicken.” I think Lyn is Joan’s daughter. 

With only 4 ingredients and minimal prep, this looks like one I would take to a church pot luck.

8 boneless chicken breasts

1 8 oz. jar peach or apricot preserves

1 8 oz. bottle Catalina dressing

2 envelopes onion soup mix

Mix all ingredient except chicken breasts.  Place chicken in casserole dish.  Pour mixture over the chicken breasts.  Bake covered for 1 hour at 350 degrees.  Remove cover and bake an additional hour.

This was submitted by Joan Shaw Turrentine, and Carol Shaw Johnston who was the compiler of the cook book comments that she has made this recipe several times and usually splits the recipe among 3 pans and freezes 2 of them for meals later.  It freezes really well.

How to make schmaltz

https://www.splendidtable.org/story/how-to-make-schmaltz

We eat a lot of chicken, particularly thighs—that’s the best flavor because of the dark meat.  I prefer to buy it with skin on and bone in because the flavor is better. Sometimes I cook one to have broth on hand, and skim it.  However, I always remove the skin before baking because it just looks and feels slimy.  Well, little did I know this can be rendered to chicken fat and then used in various recipes. The skin and fat can also be purchased at butcher counters.  As much chicken as we eat, that shouldn’t be necessary.

• Skin and fat from 8 chicken thighs (or 2 cups/450 grams miscellaneous reserved chicken skin and fat)
• 1/4 cup/60 milliliters water
• 1 Spanish onion, cut into medium dice

Yield: 1/2 cup/120 grams schmaltz and 1/2 cup/60 grams gribenes (craclkings)

https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/hard-cider-gravy-chives

http://www.countymarketnorthbranch.com/Recipes/RecipeFull.aspx?RecipeID=33011  Looks like it’s tasty in place of butter for mashed potatoes.

https://www.myjewishlearning.com/the-nosher/why-schmaltz-is-your-secret-weapon-for-the-best-thanksgiving-sides/?

A new way to fix chicken

I got a new recipe in September for crock pot chicken, but I decided to use it also for baked chicken thighs, and the sauce/paste makes a wonderful spread for crackers.  Mix Panko crumbs, mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning into a paste like texture, and then spread it on the thighs before baking (I always remove the skin, see above note).  Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes.  Quite yummy.

Crockpot Chicken, Pat Miller’s recipe

Mix together

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup Panko bread crumbs

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese

1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning

Spread the mix over the chicken (I used 6 boneless thighs, but could be more—that’s what I had on hand)

Cook on low 5-6 hours in the crockpot.

September 2018, from my visit in Illinois

We’re having this tonight with tossed salad and baked butternut squash.

Today’s smoothie

About 10 white grapes (seedless)

6 large strawberries

1 medium banana

8 oz. carrot juice

few handfuls baby spinach, washed, not stemmed

White grapes are used as a natural sweetener, so this one was a little sweeter than usual.  And things were a little messier since I didn’t have the appliance screwed together tightly and some carrot juice leaked out.  Always check!

Snowball cookies my mother never made

When I'm at a party, I usually reach for one or two of these.  Don't recall that Mom ever made them, nor have I, but they do appear at Christmas parties.

Snowball cookies

Yield:30

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup pecans, chopped

powdered sugar

Directions: 

Blend softened butter with powdered sugar. Add vanilla.

Mix in salt, flour and chopped pecans.

Form dough into 1 inch balls or flattened cookies and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake in a 325 degree oven for 20 minutes. While hot, roll in powdered sugar. Let cool and roll again in powdered sugar.