1-2-3 Pastry

by Mrs Marvel

No tedious sifting, friends, just dip a dry (did you hear that? DRY!) nested measuring cup into the bag of flour. What’s that? You need several cups of flour and would like to use something other than a dry nested measuring cup? I don’t know…Betty, what say you? Betty? Are you there?

First question, who uses a wet measuring cup to measure flour?

Second, what if you use a knife to level the flour? Will that somehow void the warranty??

These questions and more plague the modern baker. Story at 11.

So, here we have another slip out of a Gold Medal Flour bag, this one from a 10 pound bag and therefore worth 4 coupons toward the lovely silverware. As per usual, the slip includes several recipes, just in case someone randomly bought a bag of flour without knowing what to do with it. :-) The recipes on side one include a basic pie crust recipe, Nut Brown Glazed Apple Pie, and Cherry Pie. The Nut Brown Glazed Apple Pie sounds pretty good with it’s walnut topping, but I think I’d follow Gram’s recipe for cherry pie instead of this one. Just my two cents.

Please feel free to right click and copy/paste into your word processing program to enjoy all these 1965 vintage Betty Crocker recipes.

Butterfudge B Side

by Mrs Marvel

Welcome back for the back side of our Butterfudge Creations recipe sheet from Betty Crocker. Can I say, right off the bat, that recipe number one up there – Butterfudge Mallow Cake – does not sound at all appetizing to m? It’s the marshmallow frosting. Not to say that I despise marshmallows, but they are not my favorite, and a whole bowl of icing based on marshmallows just sounds sticky and overly sweet to me. So, were I to undertake the baking of this cake, I’d toss the marshmallow icing and use a nice vanilla buttercream instead. The cake itself – Butterfudge cake – sounds like a good start, and the Butterscotch Filling has merit. I might even ask a baker friend of mine her opinion on the filling and how it could even be worked into an icing. Yummmm.

Scrolling down the page we have Butterfudge Pecan Pie. In my opinion, butterfudge and pecan pie might have been made for each other. It’s like a chocolate brownie pie with pecans and a bit of whipped cream on top. Oh my…enjoy!

Butterfudge creations

by Mrs Marvel

This is the “top” portion of the slip that also included the savings coupon and often a regular coupon a homemaker could use at the store, like so:

This particular coupon expired in 1966, so don’t try it at the local Vons, and they definitely won’t double it!

So anyway, one side of the  slip has three complete recipes and the other side has two complete recipes. Each recipe is at least a few hours work if you want the item to turn out anywhere near the example. The luscious sounding Honey Buttered Fudge Cake has mere mortal women splitting the cake into 4 layers and adding swirls into the icing, while the the Butterfudge Fingers (which are the ones that I am positive Mrs. P used to make) feature a two step process of baking the brownie layer then icing it then topping it all with a layer of chocolate. Don’t get me started on the 8 individual Butterfudge Tarts with their Frozen Fudge Filling. Better Crocker was good for alliteration if not quick and easy recipes. For my own sanity I am not going to transcribe the recipes, but please right click to copy and then paste into your own word processing program to print and enjoy.

Caramel Pecan Rolls – 1965

by Mrs Marvel

Here’s one of the recipes from the flour sack. I like how they give the “new” instructions on how to measure flour. Flour used to be much more predisposed to clumping which is why we used to sift. Today, sifting isn’t necessary, but it does give your baked goods a more fluffy and light texture as the flour has been infused with air during sifting and won’t stick to itself when mixed with liquids. Also, perhaps one of our “moms” can explain Continue reading →

Savings coupons

by Mrs Marvel

Enchantment 2x coupon

Back in the day merchants and manufacturers gave out coupon incentives to housewives to encourage brand loyalty (and of course they still do today). These particular ones from General Mills were part of the Gold Medal flour package. A 5 pound bag included a Betty Crocker coupon worth 2 coupons, and a 10 pound bag included a 4x value coupon. The coupons could be redeemed for a variety of household items, but around 1965 Betty Crocker and General Mills were pushing silverware by Oneida Community Silversmiths.

Twin Star 2x coupon

Enchantment 4x coupon

Take a look at the order form on the back.

Order form

Pick out the fork, knife or spoon (individual item, mind you) and enclose ten cents and 70+ coupons or 45 cents and 3 coupons. Now I understand that times were different in 1965 but seriously, 70 coupons? The 5 pound bag only gave you 2 coupons and a 10 pound bag gave you 4. You would need to purchase as many as 45 bags of flour before you could get one fork. Granted, the coupons came with around 50 other General Mills items, but holy moly! I can guarantee I would have been saving up the 45 cents as fast as possible to get my fork.

Over the next few days I will feature some of the recipes that also were included with the bags of flour, and one of them I am positive that site regular Diane B’s mother used to make and we would have them after school. So prepare yourself for a walk through pie, cake and cookie recipes from 1965!