Vintage Spiced Cream Pie Recipe

A picture of a slice of spiced cream pie on a plate. Text: 1953 Recipe for Spiced Cream Pie

Are you looking for a pie recipe that is somehow both traditional and fresh this Thanksgiving? Then have I got the pie for you. This vintage pie recipe fits in nicely with fall flavors but stands out from the crowd of apple and pumpkin.

This is an old-school sour cream and raisin pie, and it’s better than it sounds. It appears in 250 Superb Pies and Pastries, a 1953 recipe booklet, but the recipe is probably much older. It has serious prairie vibes.

A worn vintage pie recipe booklet "250 Superb Pies and Pastries" with a cherry pie and two cups of coffee on the cover. — You’ve got to be confident if you put “superb” right in the title.

The flavor settles somewhere between an oatmeal raisin cookie and custard, and it’s quickly become a favorite. Try it and see!

Looking for more old-fashioned pie recipes for Thanksgiving? I’ve got you covered.

This recipe appears in my upcoming pie booklet, available for free to any and all who subscribe to my email list.

5 Unique Vintage Holiday Pies will help you establish yourself as a pie-baking expert and shine at any winter potluck. These mid-century recipes are tested and modern palate-approved, with clear instructions to make things easy as…well, pie.

It’s coming out the first week of December, and every recipe is a winner. Subscribe to get your copy as soon as it’s out.

Continue reading →

The Joy of Cooking: Emergency Pea Soup

I will tell you right now that this was not a success.

Looking through my facsimile of the original Joy of Cooking, I found an amusing subhead in the soup chapter.

Emergency Soups.

I know that means “soup for when you need something fast,” but I kept chuckling trying to imagine soup emergencies. Problems that can only be solved with soup. Disasters averted because of soup. Soups to put out fires. Soups for distracting evil-doers so you can make your escape.

I decided to try the emergency pea soup recipe because it sounded like the most 1930s thing ever. My expectations weren’t high, but this is the classic book that taught generations of people to cook at home, so I figured it might know something I don’t.

I knew everything I needed to know, folks.

It is very fast to make and very cheap. If I were a housewife in the Great Depression, I might feel more enthusiastic about it. Also, peas have a significant amount of protein, not to be overlooked.

But would take a Great Depression to make me eat this soup.

Continue reading →

Easy Grapefruit, 1940’s Style

Winter citrus is great.

This winter, I’ve been trying to dig deep into all the things that are special about winter. One of those is citrus fruit, which comes into season in Florida and California during January and February.

I’ve been enjoying Imperfect Produce, which rescues “ugly” fruits and vegetables that don’t fit grocery standards, and sells them cheaply to consumers. On impulse, I added a grapefruit to my weekly box of perfectly delicious, but sometimes weird-looking, produce.

This grapefruit was banished because of its discoloration.

Every couple of years, I get seduced by how pretty grapefruit is, and buy one. It’s not my favorite citrus, but it’s grown on me over the years. I decided to try something I remembered seeing in several vintage cookbooks: Broiling it.

Continue reading “Easy Grapefruit, 1940’s Style” →

Maker Monday: Winter Salad

Recipes for salad seem a little silly.

But this one was really delightful, so I’ll share it.

Summer salads are lush and lovely, but winter invites minimalism. Lettuce forms the base of this one, but spinach, cooked greens, or massaged kale would be good, too. A crisp apple and crunchy broccoli stems co-star in an unlikely, but delicious, pairing.

Continue reading “Maker Monday: Winter Salad” →

Maker Monday: Magic Healing Soup

So I’ve caught the plague…

Almost certainly due to a herd of little kids coughing in my face, high-fiving me with their germy hands, and general spreading their germs in my direction, I’ve been struck down with illness.

This has featured:

a sore throat
a kind of spooky episode of chills
body aches
so much sleeping
an uncomfortable amount of television
magic healing soup

Magic Healing Soup is something my mom invented, and I continue to make, with additional tweaks. It may or may not be actually magic, or healing, but it makes me feel like I’m doing something for my health. Continue reading “Maker Monday: Magic Healing Soup” →