My Great Recipes Collection

Great Recipes From the Past

Holiday

Shrimp Christmas Tree

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The Shrimp Christmas Tree comes from the Cross Country Cookery cookbook.  The recipe suggests that you could also make the Shrimp Christmas Tree with ivy leaves. For summer you might try fresh strawberries and serve with bowls of powdered sugar so guests can dip their own.

This makes quite attractive center piece and is a conversational item!

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Shrimp Christmas Tree

Servings 12 servings

Ingredients

  • 3 lb frozen shrimp peeled and deveined
  • 2 quart water
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 4 large bunches curly endive
  • 1 styrofoam cone - 2 1/2 foot high
  • 1 styrofoam square 12x12x1
  • 1 small box round toothpicks

Instructions

  1. Place frozen shrimp in salted boiling water. Let shrimp return to boiling. Cook from 2-3 min. Do not overcook. Drain and chill.

  2.  Separate and wash endive. Drain well. Chill.

  3. Place cone in center of styrofoam square and draw circle around the base of the cone. Cover base and cone with overlapping leaves of endive. Fasten endive to styrofoam with tooth pick halves. Start at the outside edge of the base and work up. Cover fully with greens to resemble Xmas tree.
  4. Attach shrimp to tree with toothpicks. Provide cocktail sauce for dunking.

Sandbakkelse (Swedish Tarts)

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These fancy tarts can have pecan or almond filling – your choice. The recipe comes from the Cross Country Cookery cookbook.

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Sandbakkelse (Swedish Tarts)

Ingredients

For the crust

  • 1/2 lb butter
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond flavoring
  • 3 cup flour

For pecan filling

  • 1 egg beaten
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup dark corn syrup
  • 1 tablespoon butter melted
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/3 cup pecans chopped

For almond filling

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 2/3 cup almonds finely chopped

Instructions

Make the crust

  1. Cream butter and sugar. Cream well.
  2. Add egg and extract.
  3. Add flour to make a stiff dough. Chill dough 3 hrs or overnight.
  4. Allow to soften slightly before pressing into tins.
  5. Take a small ball of dough and press into bottom and sides of a tart pan. Repeat till all dough is used. The dough must be 1/16" thick.
  6. Bake on cookie sheet at 375 for about 10 min. Take tins from oven and turn upside down until cool enough to handle. Pinch tins lightly and remove tart.

Make ONE filling only (choose between the pecan or the almond; baking method is the same for either type).

  1. Blend all ingredients together.
  2. Spoon into UNBAKED tart shells. Fill 2/3 full.
  3. Bake at 350 for about 20-25 min. Makes 36.

Gingerbread Men

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Christmas in July? Why not!

Here’s a recipe sure to please the young and young at heart – gingerbread men from the Cross Country Cookery cookbook.

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Gingerbread Men

Ingredients

  • 1/2 pounds butter or oleo
  • 1 cup dark molasses
  • 1 cup evaporated milk
  • 5 tablespoon ginger
  • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/4 cup sugar
  • 9 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Warm together butter, molasses, milk. Blend well. Add lemon juice, vanilla, and salt.
  3. Mix ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, sugar, baking soda.
  4. Mix liquid and dry mixes together well.
  5. Sift flour into mix, one cup at a time, stirring after each addition. When mix becomes too stiff to stir, blend with hands until all flour is absorbed. Easier to roll out on cookies sheet, cut out cookies, then remove the excess dough from around the cookies.
  6. Decorate with raisins, currants, red hots, or small candies for buttons, etc. Press securely into dough before baking.
  7. Bake at 350 for about 15 min, or until dough springs back when touched lightly in the center.
  8. Decorate with colored icing when cool: 1/2 cup powdered sugar,1/2 teaspoon butter, 2 teaspoon hot milk, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Tint with vegetable coloring, making it the consistency to go through the writing tip of the cake decorator.

Recipe Notes

*May not need quite 9 cups flour

Sherried Sweet Potatoes

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This sounds like a lovely holiday sweet potato. It’s from Cross Country Cookery and serves 8.

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Sherried Sweet Potatoes

Course Vegetables
Servings 8 servings

Ingredients

  • 8 medium sweet potatoes cooked and mashed
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cup orange juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon orange peel shredded
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 6 tablespoon oleo
  • 1/3 cup dry sherry
  • 1/4 cup walnuts chopped

Instructions

  1. Combine sugar, cornstarch, orange peel and juice. Cook until thickened and bubbly.
  2. Add oleo, sherry, walnuts, and raisins, stirring until oleo is melted. Pour over potates. Mix.
  3. Bake at 325 for 30 min.

Recipe Notes

From Helen Hass, Falls Church, Va.

Christmas Cheer Recipe

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Take bushel of tinsel, sprinkle well throughout the house.

Add two dozen stars and one Xmas tree.

Take a generous spray of mistletoe, an armload of holly, and a full measure of snow laid in curved hills along the window sills.

Toss in a Christmas carol and season well with good will and friendly laughter.

Light the candles, “one” for adoration, two for celebration.” Let the first burn brightly, and may those you love be near.

The yield: One Happy Christmas.

–

This recipe is from Cross Country Cookery which was published privately by Mrs.N.C. (Helen Bemis) Black, 2214 South Goebbert, Arlington Heights, Illinois 60005. Bicentennial Edition, 1976.