Real Crazy Cake - Guest Featured Recipe

I'm super excited to share my first guest recipe! This recipe comes from my friend Kristy's (yes we have the same name and spelled the same!) Grandma, Barbara. I love recipe cards like this one. First, because it's handwritten and second, because you can tell it's been made quite a few times. She sent me a few recipes, so I'll be making them in the future.

The first thing I noticed about this recipe was that it doesn't call for any eggs. The fact that there also isn't any milk or butter didn't dawn on me until later. The word before cocoa stumped us all. It obviously looks like "bft" but I couldn't find anything under bft cocoa. So if you know what it could be, please let me know!! This was a simple cake, made in one bowl. While my kids thought it needed some icing on top, I thought it was good without it. Not too sweet and would probably go really well with a scoop of vanilla ice cream :)

My interpretation of the recipe:

Real Crazy Cake

From the Kitchen of Barbara

My Friend Kristy's Grandma

1½ cups sifted all-purpose flour

3 Tablespoons (bft) cocoa

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla

5 Tablespoons salad oil

1 cup water

Combine well all ingredients .

Bake in 8" square greased pan

350° - 35 minutes

I hope you enjoy and give this recipe a second chance in your kitchen too.

Sugar Cream Pie (Folgate's Prize Winning Pie)

 

This has got to be one of the easiest pies I have ever made! Honestly, it was assembled faster than the oven took to preheat. Yes, I used a refrigerated pie crust but that's because the kids were helping with this one and it was just easier :) If anyone has any information about Folgate's Prize Winning Pies or Pie Contest, please let me know. I couldn't find anything on it.

My interpretation of the recipe:

Sugar Cream Pie

Folgate's Prize Winning Pie

1 cup sugar

4 tablespoons of flour

1 pint of whipping cream

1 tablespoon of butter

A sprinkle of nutmeg

In a bowl combine flour, sugar. Pour in cream slowly. Stir with a wire wisk untill (until) sugar is dissolved. Melt butter and spread over unbaked pie crust. Pour in cream mixture, sprinkle top with nutmeg.

Bake at 350° for 35 to 40 minutes

*I used heavy whipping cream

This pie came out like a custard pie. Very sweet, so I would have added more nutmeg on top for added flavor. I also thought it tasted better refrigerated. It was super quick and easy!

I hope you enjoy and give this recipe a second chance in your kitchen too.

Pineapple Chess Pie

This was definitely a quick and easy pie. Okay, okay, I cheated and used a refrigerated pie crust, but the recipe didn't say I couldn't :)

Here's my interpretation of the recipe:

Pineapple Chess Pie

¾ stick butter or margarine (melted)

3 eggs beaten

1 small can crushed pineapple

2 tablespoons flour mixed with

1½ cups sugar

Mix all ingredients well and pour into unbaked pie shell. 

Bake at 325 - 1 hour

*So like I said, I used a refrigerated pie crust. I also couldn't find a small can of crushed pineapple so I used half of a big can, which was probably a bit too much. I also used butter instead of margarine. 

*This pie was quick and easy and a bit too sweet for my taste buds. I would definitely make sure I used the correct amount of crushed pineapple next time and probably cut the sugar back to 1 cup? It was sweet!

I hope you enjoy and give this recipe a second chance in your kitchen too.

King Ranch Casserola

 

 

Yes, yes, I know that it's supposed to say Casserole but part of my love of looking through these recipes is to see all the different handwriting and different ways people spelled (or misspelled) words. It's fascinating to me, which is why I came up with this entire Second Chance Kitchen in the first place.

Just like many of you, I've made this casserole many times before. BUT, I've never seen it call for a hen. I've never cooked an entire chicken. Good thing my mom was here! She shook her head when I told her I was going to toss the whole thing in a pot and cook it then cut it up. She quickly grabbed my big knife, cutting board and went to town cutting up that raw chicken. While she was doing that, I asked her if we were sure it was a hen and not a rooster. The recipe specifically calls for a hen. How do you know which one you're getting? Probably a dumb question, so please enlighten me if you know the answer. 

Here's my interpretation of the recipe:

King Ranch Casserola

1 Hen cooked and deboned

2 cups grated American cheese

1 doz. tortillas cut fine

1 onion cut fine

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup chicken broth

1 can rotel

Combine last 4 ingredients for sauce. Place layer of ½ chicken, ½ of sauce, ½ of tortillas, ½ of onion and cheese in casserola (casserole) and repeat for secold (second) layer with cheese on top. Bake 1 hour at 350°

* I used all the meat from the chicken for this recipe

* I used the broth the chicken was cooked in for the 1 cup of chicken broth

* I used corn tortillas (just incase someone was wondering)

* I used the mild rotel to make sure my kiddos would eat it

* I used mild cheddar cheese

* Lastly, I used a deep 9x13 glass casserole dish to make this in.

I hope you enjoy and give this recipe a second chance in your kitchen too.

Pork Chop Caserole

Pork Chop Caserole

First of all, yes I realize "caserole" is misspelled. That's how the recipe is written though, and personally, I LOVE that :) It's why finding handwritten recipes is so wonderful and one of the main reasons why I started this blog 7 years ago :)

My normal cooking usually involves chicken or ground beef/turkey. Since having kids, I can’t stand the smell of ground beef cooking. I usually have to season the pan, add the beef then add more seasoning to it. So, if I had my choice we’d eat ground turkey more often than not. Anyway, I’ll be completely honest and say that I have no idea how to pick meat in other forms. It’s not that I don’t love other types of meat, I just don’t buy it enough. My husband doesn’t care for meat on the bone which means I don’t buy it often. My poor kids have no idea how to really get in there and clean off a rib bone or piece of chicken on the bone. Poor things, I’ve done them a disservice!

Anyway, I’m trying to venture out more so when I found this little gem of a quick and easily put together “caserole” I had to try it. Now, I had to think back to when these recipes might have originated. My guess was that they didn’t use brown rice and they probably didn’t have center cut boneless pork chops back then. I could be wrong. So I used good old fashioned white rice and regular cut bone-in pork chops. It really was super easy to throw together. I will say that I accidentally rinsed the rice. It’s a habit and I didn’t realize the recipe didn’t call for a pre rinse. Oops. It was also really hard to not season the meat. I can’t stand gamey tasting meat, so against my better judgement, I just laid it in the broth. I only used 4 pork chops since that’s what fit nicely into my baking dish. I also wanted to add another 1/2c of rice but I didn’t. Just a mental note for future reference.

Ready for the oven

Out of the oven

My interpretation of the recipe:

Pork Chop Caserole

From: Eva

4½ cups water
½ cup rice
1 pkg. dry onion soup mix
4 or 5 pork chops

Pour water in baking dish, sprinkle rice in water, sprinkle soup mix over rice, place pork chops on top

Bake in 350 oven for 1 hour or until done.

* I used a 9x13 deep glass baking dish
* Do not overbake! I kept adding time because there was so much liquid. I would have added at least another ½ cup of rice to help.
* I did not season the pork chops. If I make this again, I will definitely do so.
* Using bone-in chops made the rice have a gelatinous consistency.
* Will use boneless chops if made again.

I hope you enjoy and give this recipe a second chance in your kitchen too.

Recipe Requests

Requests

Are you looking for a particular recipe? Is there something from the past that you've had before but don't have the recipe for it? Want something that's been tried by real people and has a story behind it? Well, this is the place to voice your request! If I don't have it or can't find it, maybe someone who reads this will! It never hurts to ask, right :)

Request away and have a beautiful day!
~Kristy

Revival Time Once Again

It's the time of year when I realize how many recipes I've acquired and how much I really want to get this blog up and running once again. So...here I go! I've decided to open this up to some guest contributors to help keep me motivated. If you happen to stumble across this blog, read this post and think of an old handwritten recipe that you have and would like to have it featured, let me know! I would be honored to keep it going. 

With that said, I'm off to sort through some recipes to see what I can make with things I currently have on hand. 

Please feel free to leave any input or advice. I will also start another post where you can suggest a recipe to be made :)

Have a beautiful day!

~Kristy