Handy Household Tips from 1915

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. ~George Eliot

Today I have some neat tips from the October 1915 edition of the Modern Priscilla magazine. I've had this copy for many years, and love to get it out each fall.

A Crocheting Help: When crocheting I always have a safety pin handy. When work is left unfinished, put the pin in the loop, close the pin, and many dropped or unraveled stitches are saved.

Making Over Worn Nightgowns: When a nightgown becomes worn at the neck and sleeves, cut the top off under the arms, sew on a band of beading, buy one yard of muslin, cut out neck and sleeves in one piece, sew under arm seams and join to the beading. The neck may be cut round or square and the result is a nightgown which will wear some time.

Pockets for Kitchen Aprons: A good point to remember when making new kitchen aprons is to place the pocket on the left side. It will not catch on the gas range, the food-chopper handle, or the chicken house door. Again, the housewife almost invariably stands with her right side nearest her work and for his reason the pocket is nearly always the first torn spot on the apron.

Old Glove Fingers: Cut the forefingers and thumbs from old gloves. Keep them in a box by the kitchen sink. When you have vegetables to pare, slip them on these two fingers of the right hand. They protect them from the black stains so apt to disfigure the hands after this task.

IN THE KITCHEN

To Prevent Flour Lumping: A spoonful of flour added to a fruit filling for pie, or any other wet mixture, will not become lumpy if mixed with the same amount of sugar before adding. The same is true of cornstarch in making desserts or gravies.

Quick Way to Prepare Coconut: To prepare fresh coconut for any use, in place of using the grater in the old way, just put the coconut through the meat chopper. It comes out light and fluffy and can be done in a few seconds ; and best of all, you have no bruised and bleeding fingers from using the grater.

On OFL I wrote an article on preventing bugs from wintering indoors this winter. Read it here.

Friday Recipes: Apple Pastry, Pie, Crisps, and more

Apple season is upon us once again! The local apple orchard opened a week ago and I have already bought my first jug of apple cider. Apple pie, as iconic as it is, is not the only dessert you can make with the luscious fruit.

I've put together a collection of apple recipes from Old Fashioned Living as well as some links to different apple recipes on many of the blogs I frequent. Hope you enjoy!


Cheddar-Crust Apple Pie

Crust:
1 1/2 cups flour
dash of salt
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cup (6 oz.) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
4-6 tablespoons water

Filling:
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
6 cups sliced peeled apples
2 tablespoons margarine

Heat oven to 425F. Combine flour & salt; cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in cheese. Sprinkle with water while mixing lightly with a fork; form into ball. Divide dough in half. Roll one part to 11" circle on lightly floured surface. Place in 9" pie plate. Combine sugar, flour, & cinnamon. Mix with apples. Place mixture in pie shell; dot with margarine. Roll out remainder of dough to 11" circle; place over apples. Seal edges of crust & flute. Cut slits in top of pastry. Bake at 425F, 35 minutes.


Cookie Sheet Apple Pie

Crust:
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup whipping cream

Filling:
5 medium sized tart apples
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
dash salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Glaze:
1 egg
2 Tblsp milk

For crust:

Combine all the ingredients for the crust except for the butter and whipping cream. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Blend in the whipping cream to make a firm dough. Chill if necessary until firm. Dust a lightly greased baking sheet with flour, flatten dough out onto the baking sheet. Roll or pat out to 1/4" thickness. Trim to make a 14" square. Roll out the trimmings and cut into strips.

To prepare apples:

Pare, core and slice apples. Turn into bowl, mix with filling ingredients

To assemble pie:

Arrange apples in rows over crust in pan, leaving 2" empty at edges. Dot with 2 Tblsp of butter. Arrange strips in criss-cross fashion over apples, then fold edges of crust up and over ends of strips, pinch corners to seal. Beat egg and milk, and brush pastry with the mixture. Bake at 400 degrees 30 to 35 minutes or until golden and apples are cooked.


Crumb Apple Pie

Crust:
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/4 cup ice water

Filling:
7 medium Granny Smith
or Golden Delicious apples
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt

Topping:
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup chilled butter or margarine, cut into pieces

Place rack on lowest position. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. To prepare crust; in a medium bowl mix together flour and salt. Using a pastry blender or 2 knives (I also use my fingers) cut shortening into flour mixture until course crumbs form. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with a fork, until a dough forms. Shape into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for 30 minutes. On a floured surface, using a floured rolling pin, roll dough into a 12 inch circle. Fit into a 9 inch pie plate. Trim dough, leaving a 1 inch overhang; pinch a decorative edge.

To prepare filling; peel, core and very thinly slice the apples. Mix together with other filling ingredients. Spoon into crust.

For topping, in a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut butter into mixture until course crumbs form. Sprinkle apple filling evenly with topping. Bake pie until topping is lightly browned and filling is bubbly, 35 minutes. If pie is overbrowning, cover loosely with foil. Cool on a wire rack. 8 servings.

Recipe courtesy of Brenda Hyde at OldFashionedLiving.com


Easy Deep Dish Apple Pie

2- 1 lb. cans apple pie filling
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup (4 oz.) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1- 8 oz. can refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Heat oven to 375F. Spoon pie filling into 12X8" baking dish. Sprinkle with raisins & cheese. Unroll both halves of refrigerated dough into flat rectangular sheets. Fit to cover baking dish. Combine sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle evenly over dough. Bake at 375F for 25 minutes. Top with cheese slices, if desired.


Whole Wheat Apple-Mincemeat Pie

Pastry:
1 cup Pillsbury's Best Whole Wheat Flour
1 cup Pillsbury's Best All Purpose or Unbleached
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup cold water

Filling:
4 cups sliced, peeled apples (4 medium)
1 1/3 cups prepared mincemeat
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Topping:
1 egg white
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon sugar (1 to 2 tsp)

Heat oven to 375F. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. In medium bowl, combine whole wheat flour, 1 cup all purpose flour, 2 tablespoons sugar and salt; blend shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Gradually add water to flour mixture while tossing and mixing lightly with fork. Add additional water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until dough is just moist enough to hold together. Shape dough into 2 balls. Flatten balls; smooth edges. Roll 1 ball lightly on floured surface from center to edge into circle 1 1/2 inches large than inverted 9-inch pie pan. Fold dough in half; fit evenly into pan. Do not stretch. Trim bottom pastry even with pan edge. Roll out remaining dough; set aside.

In large bowl, combine all filling ingredients; spoon into pastry-lined pan. Top with remaining pastry; fold edge of top pastry until bottom pastry. Flute edge; cut slits in several places. Combine egg white and 2 tablespoons water; brush over crust. Sprinkle lightly with sugar. Bake at 375F for 40 to 50 minutes or until apples are tender. 8 servings. Contributor's Tip: Cover edge of pie crust with strip of foil during last 10 to 15 minutes of baking to prevent excessive browning.


Crockpot Apple Pie

8 Tart Apples peeled and sliced
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter soften
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup Bisquick
1 cup Bisquick
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons cold butter

Toss apples in large bowl with cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg. Place in lightly greased crockpot. Combine milk, softened butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and the 1/2 c Bisquick. Spoon over apples.

Combine the 1 cup Bisquick and brown sugar. Cut the cold butter into mixture until crumbly. Sprinkle this mixture over top of apple mixture. Cover and cook on low 6-7 hours or until apples are soft.

More Apple Recipes you might like:

Greek Apple Pastry (Milopitas)

Easy Apple Cake

Caramel Apple Coffee Cake

Toffee Apple Crisp

Apple Crisp Pudding

Applesauce Loaf

Reader's Questions: House & Garden

Easter is the demonstration of God that life is essentially spiritual and timeless. ~Charles M. Crowe

When should we plant gladiola bulbs in order to have them blooming for my nieces wedding on September 12? I live in northern lower Michigan. Her colors of choice are red and white. Thank you! ~Tina

I have never tried to time out blooms for an occasion, but perhaps this will help:

The University of Minnesota recommends this:
Start planting in mid-May, then again every two weeks through mid-June. This schedule will keep the flowers coming form July through August. You could also choose early, mid-season, and late cultivars, plant them all in May, and still enjoy continuous bloom for much of the summer. The final strategy to extend bloom time would be to plant different sized corms. Larger corms bloom somewhat earlier than smaller corms of the same variety.

Make sure the glad corms you buy are at LEAST 1 1/2 inch big or larger. They shouldn't be shriveled or too dry either. That's not a good sign. I wish you luck, and hope the wedding is wonderful:)

A reader wanted to know about a method of making caramel that involved boiling an unopened can of sweetened condensed milk for several hours. There is a method going around like this but it is not safe. Yes, I'm sure it's worked for some, but it also could explode the can and cause horrible burns. I do not recommend this. On the Eagle Brand® site they say this:

For safety reasons, heating the unopened can (old cooking method) is NOT recommended. Instead use one of the following methods.

Oven Method: Pour 1 can sweetened condensed milk into a 9 inch pie plate. Cover with aluminum foil; place in larger shallow pan. Fill larger pan with hot water. Bake at 425º for 1 1/2 hours or until thick and caramel colored.

Stovetop Method: Pour 1 can sweetened condensed milk into top of double boiler; place over boiling water. Over low heat,simmer 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until thick and caramel colored. Beat until smooth.

I have a substantial stain on my carpet from candle wax. When the candle was dropped I clean up the wax the best I could, but the stain remains between the fiber. Any suggestions? ~Bernice

One year, my husband had just gotten a new coat-- it was vinyl, but looked like leather, and I knocked over my melt warmer, which splattered his coat. I took plain paper, laid it on top of the spots, then used a warm iron to "iron" the paper, which made the wax soft and the paper absorbed the wax. I think you could try this on your spot, but be very careful, and touch the warm, not hot, iron to the paper only. Take it slow and I think this may work. I used a brown craft paper, and a white paper that I used for packing-- but any white paper would work too.

You can find great ideas for Easter egg hunts on OFL :
http://www.oldfashionedliving.com/thehunt.html

Hodge Podge Day: Kitchen & Laundry Tips

To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring. ~George Santayana

I live in south Louisiana and have had a huge problem with drain flies {some people call them fruit flies}. I don't care what they're called, they are VERY annoying. I've had a problem for months and months now. First time I've ever seen such a creature. Anyway, I had them by the dozens and could NOT get rid of them. I tried all the remedies I could find after researching the Internet, talking to people, etc. Everything, that is, short of taking my drain apart and putting it back together again as one helpful Internet site recommended. I finally found something that seems to work. I read an advertisement selling a book on the wonders of hydrogen peroxide. An idea hit me! Peroxide kills germs and cleans wounds, etc., why not try it on the flies. If it cleans drains, could it possibly kill those pesky creatures living in my drain? Well, I tried it and it did!! The first time, I put about a third of a bottle in every drain in the house - only one time. After that first time, I just put a "dribble" drain twice a day. I put it down the drain in the AM before I leave for work and in the PM as part of my bedtime chores. Yea! No more drain flies. ~Fran

To remove oil dripping from concrete plain old laundry detergent can be sprinkled on the oil enough to cover the dripping - wait overnight and the oil is absorbed from the concrete by the powder. ~R. Schnell

I carry a gallon handled container in my car during the winter filled with Oil Ease, (grit for cleaning up the oil messes on the garage floor) Sometimes, I find that Kitty Litter is too slick. When I get shopping and step out of my car I sprinkle it by my car and when I come back out, it is all melted and I can get back into my car without slipping! Sometimes when it is icy, I sprinkle my way right into the store!! I also carry a child's shovel which comes in handy when they don't clear the parking spaces in our town, it is sometimes impossible to get over the snow pile. I am 70 and would not want to fall. Spring is coming! ~Ginny

Our appliance repairman told us to use only a couple of tablespoons of liquid detergent in our front loader and he was right. The clothes still get clean if I put extra soap on any stains and use the presoak cycle. He also told me that detergent that doesn't rinse out of clothes can cause an allergic type of itching and he was right again. The smaller amount of detergent helped and saved us lots of money, too. ~Lynn

On OFL you'll find tips on cleaning your frig coils:
http://www.oldfashionedliving.com/refrigerator.html

~Brenda