Family Recipe Friday - 1950s/60s era Clam Dip

Do you have old photos taken back in the 1950s and early 1960s to sort through? This is the perfect snack for that trip down Memory Lane project! Or if you want to throw a Mad Men themed party LOL.

Back in the 1950s and 1960s, Clam Dip was a staple to serve at any party. Every housewife had her own recipe for it tucked away in her recipe box. I have fond memories of my mother's older sister Marianne serving this in a chip and dip glass serving bowl set when we would visit. Of course, she would be wearing one of her fancy lacy "entertaining" aprons during these occasions.

Clam Dip

Yield: 1 Cup

Ingredients:

1 6 ½ ounce can chopped clams
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon lemon juice
 Dash of hot sauce (optional)
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion salt
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh parsley

Preparation:

Drain the clams and reserve the liquid. Place the cream cheese in a bowl, add the clams, the Worcestershire, lemon juice,  hot sauce (if desired), garlic powder and onion salt.  Blend well.  Gradually add the clam juice, a tablespoon or so at a time until the dip has a nice consistency.  Stir in the parsley.

Serve with crackers or potato chips.

Family Recipe Friday - Apple Pie (Cobbler)

Apple Pie

Even though this is called "Apple Pie" on the recipe card, it is actually a cobbler. This is the first recipe I ever made from scratch about 50 years ago as a young girl. The recipe was from the homemade recipe collection cookbook my mother began when she was a newlywed in 1955. It was typed on an index card, given to her by a former coworker.

6 to 8 medium apples, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon (more if you prefer)
1 large egg
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup sifted flour
6 tablespoons melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. chopped nutmeats (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9" pyrex pie plate. Fill with the peeled and sliced apples. Over the top of the apples, sprinkle with 1/2 cup sugar plus cinnamon mixture.

In a bowl, beat 1 egg. Add 1/2 cup sugar and beat. Add 3/4 cup sifted flour and beat. Add 6 tablespoons of melted butter and 1 tsp. vanilla and beat. Optional - stir in 1/2 cup chopped nutmeats.

Pour and spread the mixture over the top of the fruit. Bake for 50 mins or less, until the top is a nice golden brown.

(drained canned apple slices - NOT apple pie filling - can be substituted for fresh apples in a pinch)

Enjoy!

Family Recipe Friday - Hickory Nut Cake

(Annie Adam original handwritten recipe collection held by Karen Fox)

My step-grandmother (Mom's second hubby's mother) was a real Pennsylvania Dutch farm wife. Nana, as we called her, was a "wunnerful goot" cook and she was well known for her baked goods.This was one of my favorite cakes that she used to bake. I was a young adult when Mom remarried, but Nana and Pop-pop Adam always treated us kids as if we had always been among their own grandchildren. 

Nana's written recipes usually consisted of just an ingredients list, she didn't need instructions on how to make something beyond that. The directions in this recipe came from me following her around while she baked one of these and jotting down my own notes.

Hickory Nut Cake
(from the collection of the late Annie Adam 1918-1982)

Note: If hickory nuts are not easily available to you, this recipe is also quite good using black walnuts as a substitute.

1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
a lump of butter the size of a walnut
1 cup milk
2-1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup of chopped hickory nuts

Mix together in a bowl all the ingredients except the chopped nuts. When smooth, stir in the nuts. Bake at 350 degrees in 2 nine inch greased & floured cake pans or one 9" x 13" greased & floured pan for approx. 25-30 mins or until tester comes out clean.

After cooling, Nana would usually frost the cake with a vanilla buttercream or cream cheese frosting.

Enjoy!

Missing you Nana,
~Karen the AncesTree Sprite