The Ladies Auxiliary, Guilford Grange No. 81, assembled a “Favorite Recipes” book in 1955. The book, “dedicated to the Modern Home”, where “Life is centered around our kitchens”, included “treasured old family recipes.”
An anonymous poem in the beginning of the book began:
“Come hither, all ye Granger cooks,
And many others too!
Come hither and you’ll shortly learn
To bake boil and stew.”
The book includes many tips and recipes including:
When making griddle cakes grease the pan for the first cake. After that rub a piece of raw potato over hot griddle instead of greasing. The cakes brown nicely and there will be no smoke.
When making fruit pies sprinkle the sugar under the fruit instead of on top. The juice will boil up through the fruit and not out and over the top.
Roll raisins in flour before stirring them into a cake to prevent them from going to the bottom.
When making cookies add 1 tsp. jam or jelly. The cookies will have a better flavor and stay moist longer.
Quick Tea Doughnuts
1 egg ¼ tsp. salt
½ cup milk 1/3 cup sugar
1 1/3 cup sifted flour 1 Tbsp. melted fat
2 tsp. baking powder 1 lb. lard or Crisco for frying
Beat egg, add milk and beat together; sift dry ingredients together. Add to milk and egg. Mix to blend thoroughly. Stir in 1 Tbsp. melted fat. Heat 1 lb. lard slowly in deep kettle (cube of bread browns in 60 seconds, if it is ready to fry doughnuts).
Dip teaspoon into hot fat then dip up a spoonful of batter. Quickly immerse spoon into hot lard and drop off the batter. Turn doughnut balls when they come to the surface. Fry 3 to 5 minutes or until delicately brown. Drain on absorbent paper. Makes 14 to 18 small doughnuts.
Options:
Orange doughnuts: Add grated rind of 1 orange
Spice doughnuts: Add 1 tsp. cinnamon or nutmeg
Pecan doughnuts: Add ½ cup finely chopped pecans
Honey doughnuts: Use honey instead of sugar omitting part of the milk until dough is finished then add milk If necessary
Cream doughnuts: Use 1/3 cup cream in place of milk
The recipe book can be found in the Historical Room at the Guilford Free Library.
Source: Favorite Recipes, The Ladies Auxiliary Guilford Grange No. 81 Guilford, CT. North American Press, Kansas City, MO. 1955
Compiled by Tracy Tomaselli – 2019
