Monday, September 24, 2012

Mother-in-law Recipe Box Project

When my mother-in-law closed her kitchen , the one thing Mr.Hunting Creek wanted was her recipe card file. My sister grabbed the same thing when her mother-in-law closed her kitchen. But what to do with all these recipes? We  decided that we needed to write a cookbook, so they would not be lost. Some of them are quite charming, and all have that special mid-century certain American calories and fat be damned attitude. (Also, what was all the margarine love about?)We didn't want them to be lost forever. Of course, that means we will actually have to scan them in and then write it.
As we all know, the best way to tackle a project like this is just to START.
Here's the first recipe installment:

Banana Nut Pancakes
This one was cut from newspaper - probably the Los Angeles Times Food Section.  And then taped to a 3x5 note card. There is another, hand-written recipe on the back for muffins that we'll get to another time.

These are moist and delicious and an excellent use for a ripe banana.

I cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons oil
1 medium banana, chopped
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Combine flour sugar, baking powder and salt, set aside. In large bowl, stir milk, egg and oil until well blended. Add flour mixture., blend well. Stir in banana and walnuts. Scoop by scant 1/4 cup cupfuls on to hot, lightly greased griddle. Cook, turning once, until golden. Serve with margarine and syrup. Makes 12

What I do differently in my kitchen: for one thing, I never let margarine so much as darken my fridge. It would be a nice touch to toast the walnuts first, but that is unlikely to happen in my kitchen on a  Sunday morning. But maybe if I were feeling OCD about it, I'd toast them the night before.
I use melted butter in them instead of oil, just because I like that extra layer of buttery flavor. And sometimes   add a dash of vanilla, if I remember. And I serve these with applesauce or other fruit, bacon and Real. Maple Syrup. That fake stuff is just flavored Corn syrup.

One recipe card down,about a hundred more to go.


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I believe that recipe is from Woman's Day or Family Circle Magazine. They use to do a calendar of menus and the recipe had the corresponding date. I just threw thousands away from my files. And margarine was so BIG as it was considered a polyunsaturate and therefore healthier than sat. fat butter. Ah, childhood memories.