recipe box Wednesday

Today I introduce you to a new weekly blog post-Recipe Box Wednesday.

I came across an old wooden recipe box, still full of recipes, at a garage sale this summer. The woman running the sale told me it had belonged to her mother-in-law, who was an amazing cook. Why are you selling it? (I nearly cried in disbelief!) She smiled, and told me that her mother-in-law had written all of her recipes into a book that she had given her daughter-in-law, and she assured me the recipes were safely in her kitchen.


Me, being tactile, would have sold the book and kept the box. (She is clearly more practical than me.) The cards are handwritten, worn around the edges, some are clearly given by friends, and there are scattered recipes cut from magazines and newspapers. Holding them makes me feel connected to the person, who cared about her family and wanted to show her love for them by making a wonderful new recipe.


I have been digging through the box for treasure, it has dividers for things like 'Puddings', and 'Chafing Dish'. There are enough of those recipes to need their own categories! I love it.


So each week, I plan to share a recipe from the box. Some of them you may feel compelled to make, one may make you giggle, perhaps one will trigger a childhood memory of your own relatives. Here we go ( I am sharing them with you just as they are written):




Apple Cake


Slice 3 or 4 apples or peaches into a buttered baking pan. (It doesn't specify, I am going to guess a 9 x 9 square pan?) Sprinkle with 1/2 c. sugar, t tsp. lemon juice, 1/4 tsp cinnamon. Cream 1/4 c. butter with 1/2 c, sugar, add 1 egg. Sift into this 1/2 c. flour, 1/8 tsp salt, and 1 tsp. baking powder. Pour this mixture over fruit. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, then lower heat to 325 degrees and bake until done. SAUCE: 1/2 c. sugar, 2 Tbsp. flour, 1 c. orange juice plus 1 Tbsp. lemon juice, 1 Tbsp. butter. Boil until thick. ( I am guessing you pour this sauce over the cake when you serve it).


Let me know if you try it!