Vintage Recipe Archives - Modern Retro Woman

Christmas Jell-O Salad with Cream Cheese {Vintage Family Recipe}

Dear Dr. Julie-Ann

Now that my parents have FINALLY downsized and moved to a retirement community, I FINALLY get to host the holiday dinners at my house. I am really looking forward to creating an old-fashioned holiday meal filled with family favorites.

My father often talks about a Jell-O salad—and we shall use that word loosely—that had cream cheese that his mother used to make in the 1950s and 60s. I would like to surprise him and make something similar.

Do you have any suggestions?

Signed,

FINALLY Setting Up the Grown-Up Table

Dear FINALLY,

Hosting old-fashioned holiday dinners is one of my favorite things to do! And, I think I have just the recipe for you that will make your father happy: my grandmother’s vintage Christmas Jell-O salad with cream cheese. This salad is such a family favorite that I’m required to make it for every family gathering (I just change the flavors of the Jell-O I use when I make it at other times of the year).

I remember my grandmother making this Christmas Jell-O salad when I was growing up in the 1960’s. Continue Reading

Quick & Easy Vintage Salad Dressing Recipes: Herb • Ranch • Blue Cheese

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If you've only had bottled salad dressing (or the packets of dressing) from the store, you're going to love the three quick and easy vintage recipes for herb, ranch, and blue cheese dressings. The unpronounceable ingredients in bottle or packet dressings are there to extend the shelf life and make it a bit industrial tasting. These three classic salad dressings are so delicious, they don't need preservatives in them because they'll be used up long before they go bad. #HomemadeSaladDressing #EasySaladDressing ModernRetroWoman.com

Dear Dr. Julie-Ann,

We love eating salads but I’m becoming concerned about all the unpronounceable ingredients in the bottles of dressing I buy at the store. Do you have any vintage recipes that you can share with me?

Sincerely,
Undressed

Dear Undressed,

If you’ve only had bottled salad dressing (or the packets of dressing) from the store, you’re going to love the three quick and easy vintage recipes for herb, ranch, and blue cheese dressings I’m going to share with you today. Most of those unpronounceable ingredients in bottle or packet dressings are there to extend the shelf life. To me, they diminish the flavor of the dressing and make it seem a bit industrial tasting. These three classic salad dressings are so delicious, they don’t need preservatives in them because they’ll be used up long before they go bad.

If you love Italian dressing, the herb dressing is for you. The herb dressing recipe relies on dried herbs you probably already have on your spice rack. Play around with the type of oil you use for different undertones. You can also add other herbs or seasonings to it–I sometimes add garlic powder–it is that flexible of dressing. This salad dressing is adapted from an early 1960s Ladies Home Journal Cookbook.

Shepherd’s Pie {Planned Overs}

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Dear Friends,

What do you think of when I ask you to think of a midcentury “meat and potatoes” meal? Did you think of a pot roast with a side of mashed potatoes? I hope so. Because this recipe as based on Planned Overs from your roast, potatoes, and gravy.

I used to ask the butcher for the smallest roast when I first started on this homemaking journey. After all, there are only two of us. And the price of a roast can add up quickly, even if it is on sale. Now, however, I understand that a roast can Continue Reading

Chocolate Mayo Cake

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Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake vintage recipe at ModernRetroWoman.com — Image of Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake vintage recipe courtesy of Deborah Laux

After our friend, sculptor and graphic designer Deborah Laux , mentioned that she is the keeper of a family recipe for Chocolate May Cake, I begged her to send it to me so that I could share it with the Modern Retro Woman community. In her email she writes,

My childhood was littered with Chocolate Mayo Cakes – the only cake our family made. It’s simple and quick to make. And, it’s mouth-wateringly moist.

You may notice the recipe does not call for oil or eggs. Mayonnaise is made of oil and eggs blended together. [You thought it was weird, yes?] And, whether you are a Miracle Whip family or a Best Foods family, this cake will work for you. The moistness in this cake has to do with the emulsification of the oil and eggs. If someone knows the science behind it, let me know.

My mom always made the frosting with coffee. You can look up how to make frosting with powdered sugar. Just use brewed coffee as the liquid. Coffee cuts the sweetness and it goes great with chocolate. We ate it as kids so you know it doesn’t really taste like coffee.

Bake in a regular rectangular cake pan. We always frosted it right in the pan because it never lasted long enough to bother with the fancy stuff.

Enjoy!

Naturally, I had to try this out myself so that I could gush about how good it tasted. My only dilemma was that I didn’t have any powdered sugar in the pantry for making a frosting. Thank goodness for the Internet! I did a search for sugarless frosting and found one from the sugar rationing days of World War II at RecipeCurio.com.

My only admonition about this cake is to make sure you are using real mayonnaise or Miracle Whip for best results. The low fat or “other fats” mayonnaise may not give you the results you want.

As Deborah said in her email….Enjoy!

Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake

2015-02-02 06:52:04

This vintage recipe uses mayonnaise instead of oil and eggs for a moist, chocolately, cake!

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Ingredients

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
5 Tb. cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons soda
1 cup water
1 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

Grease and flour a rectangular cake pan. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (325ºF for cupcakes).
Sift the dry ingredients together into a large mixing bowl.
Combine the water, mayonnaise, and vanilla. Add to the dry ingredients, mixing thoroughly. Pour into the cake pan (or cupcake tin).
Bake for 25 to 35 minutes for cake or 15-25 minutes for cupcakes.

Notes

Use regular mayonnaise for best results.

By DrJulieAnn - The Modern Retro Woman

Adapted from Deborah Laux Family Recipe

Modern Retro Woman https://www.modernretrowoman.com/

Note: This recipe was originally posted on October 20, 2009. It has been updated to take advantage of the Recipe Card tool.