THE BEST OF THE OPEN LINE BULLETIN
MAY  PAGES 1234

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WHIP CREAM CAKE

1 cup whipping cream
1½ cups white sugar
2 cups cake flour
½ cup cold water
¼ teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
4 egg whites beaten stiffly
1 teaspoon vanilla

Beat egg whites first and set aside. Wash and dry beaters. Then beat cream stiff in mixing bowl. Sift flour, salt and baking powder together and add alternately with water. Beat well. Fold in vanilla and then egg whites. Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes in greased and floured 9 inch cake pans. (Mrs. Marguerite Brown, Cedar Rapids)

SPRING CASSEROLE

4 ounces potato chips
1 package frozen asparagus
6 hard cooked eggs
Quartered ham
½ pound Velveeta cheese
2 cans cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup
½ can milk

Cook and drain asparagus. Set half of the potato chips aside. Arrange remaining potato chips, asparagus, sliced eggs, ham, and cheese in even layers in the bottom of a large casserole. Pour on soup and milk. Top with potato chips. Do not crush potato chips. Bake uncovered at 350° for 45 minutes.

LIBRARY PASTE:

Mix one cup unsifted flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon powdered alum, and 4 cups water together and cook till thick. Remove from heat and stir in 30 drops oil of cloves. Pour in jars and keep covered.

WALDORF RED CAKE

1½ cups sugar
½ cup butter or shortening
2 eggs
2 ounces red food coloring
2 teaspoons cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
2½ cups sifted cake flour
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon vinegar

Cream shortening and sugar, beat in eggs. Add small amount of coloring to the cocoa to make a paste, then add rest of coloring and put into shortening mixture. Add buttermilk alternately with cake flour and salt, starting with flour and ending with flour. Add vanilla. Lastly, combine vinegar and soda and when foamy, fold into the cake mixture. Bake in two 8 or 9 inch floured and greased cake pans for 30 minutes at 350°. When cool, split layers and fill with frosting. Refrigerate.

ICING FOR RED CAKE

1 cup milk
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cook milk and flour until thick. Let cool. Cream softened butter and sugar. Add vanilla. Add the cooked mixture and beat well until fluffy. If the frosting will not fluff up, put bowl in refrigerator for a few minutes until the butter cools and thickens a bit. Put icing between split layers and frost the top, leaving the sides of the red cake exposed. Refrigerate. NOTE: The frosting makes the cake. Be sure you beat the frosting a long time, so it is real fluffy.

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RAISED DONUTS

4¼ cups flour
2 cakes yeast
¼ cup lukewarm water
½ cup sugar
¾ cup milk, scalded
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs or 4 yolks
1/3 cup butter or margarine
½ teaspoon flavoring, if desired

Stir yeast into lukewarm water, add 1 teaspoon of the sugar. Let soften 10 minutes. Mix milk, sugar, and salt and scald. Cool to lukewarm in a four quart mixing bowl, then stir in yeast mixture and beaten eggs. Add half flour and mix, then beat in cooled shortening and flavoring. Stir in all but ¼ of the remaining flour. Cover, let stand 10 minutes to stiffen, then turn onto board sprinkled with remaining ¼ flour. Knead thoroughly at least five minutes. The dough must be soft to make delicate, flaky doughnuts. Adding more flour makes a bready product. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, turn once to bring greased side up. Cover with damp cloth and let rise in warm place till double (1½ to 2 hours). Turn out on lightly floured board and cut in half. Round up portions and cover with bowls. Let rest 10 minutes. Roll out ½ inch thick. Cut with doughnut cutter. Let rise on lightly floured board in warm place until very light; about 45 minutes. Do not cover as light crust that forms makes it easier to lift and slide doughnuts from pancake turner into hot fat. Fry in deep fat about 3 minutes at 270°, turning once during frying. Makes about 24. (Mrs. Gertrude Stieglitz, Iowa City, Iowa)

GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE

2 packages frozen or 1½ cans french cut green beans
1 can condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 cup french fried onions

Pour off all but one half cup of green been liquid and turn into 1½ quart casserole. Stir in undiluted soup. Top with 1 cup of canned french fried onions. Bake covered for 10 minutes at 350°, then uncover and allow to brown.

PICKLED HAM

Boil shank end of ham and cut in small pieces. Place ham in pint fruit jars with sliced raw onion. Add 1 teaspoon pickling spices. Combine ¼ cup vinegar with 1 cup cold water and pour over ham. Let stand 3 or 4 days in refrigerator before serving.

LO-CAL LIVER

3 large sliced onions
2 cups water
1 pound liver
2 tablespoons french dressing
6 tablespoons water
salt and pepper

Cook onions in skillet in water until transparent. Remove from skillet. Brown liver in small amounts of oleo. Brown one minute on each side. Return onions to pan. Mix french dressing, water and salt and pepper and pour over onions and liver. Cover and heat quickly to boiling. Simmer three minutes until it loses its pinkness.

ENGLISH TOFFEE

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon white corn syrup
3 tablespoons water
1½ cups chopped walnuts
1 six ounce package chocolate chips, melted

Butter 9 inch square pan. Melt butter in 2 quart sauce pan. Stir in sugar gradually. Add syrup and water. Cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally to 290°, or until hard crack stage. Add one cup of the walnuts. Cook three minutes more, stirring constantly. Pour into pan. When cold, remove from pan. Melt chocolate over hot water. Coat one side of toffee with chocolate and sprinkle with nuts. Allow to set for a minute or so. Flip over on wax paper and repeat. Break into bite size pieces.

WOODWORK AND VARNISHED WOOD CLEANER

1 part turpentine, 1 part linseed oil, and 1 part paraffin oil. Can be easily mixed by paint dealers. Use to clean and polish all types of woodwork.

* * * * 365-9405 * * * *

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CUSTARD PIE #1

4 eggs, slightly beaten
½ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2½ cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 unbaked 9 inch pie shell

Beat eggs slightly, and add sugar and salt. Add milk and vanilla and strain custard. Pour into unbaked pie shell which has been sprinkled with 1 teaspoon nutmeg. Bake at 425° for 25 to 35 minutes. Cup of shredded coconut may be added if desired.

To test doneness, insert sharp knife in center of pie and if it comes out clean the pie is done.

To make garlic butter, peel and slice a clove of garlic. Place in a bowl with ¼ cup butter. Cover tightly and let stand for one half to one hour. Remove garlic.

When cooking with garlic, stick a clove of garlic with a toothpick after peeling and slicing and place in food whole, removing with the toothpick when food has desired taste.

To remove odors from refrigerators, mix powdered dry mustard with cold water and set in the refrigerator in an open dish. Let sit overnight.

To make a small inexpensive table favor, use the large lids of detergent bottles or other decorated bottle tops. Fill them half full of plaster of Paris and stick the small plastic flowers into the soft plaster. Finished product will resemble a miniature flower pot.

Wren house holes should be 7/8 inch in diameter and bluebird house holes should be 1½ inches in diameter. Bluebird houses should be 8 inches high with a 5 inch square floor. Locate the hole 6 inches from the floor.

After having papered a room, write on a piece of paper the number of rolls it took for the sides, ceiling, and border. Paste it on the back of a picture. It's a handy reminder for the next time you paper the room.

CUSTARD PIE #2

3 cups milk, scalded
½ cup sugar
4 eggs, slightly beaten
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla
nutmeg as desired, (grated whole nutmeg is best)

Mix eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla, nutmeg. Add scalded milk while still warm. Pour into fresh 9 inch unbaked pie shell. Do not fill pie shell completely. Build up sides of pie  dough by pinching edges and finish pouring in custard in the oven. Bake at 425° for 10 minutes then 350° for 15 minutes. Test for doneness (jelly consistency) by shaking it. Remove from oven. Over baking causes watery custard.

HINTS AND HELPS

When butter is too hard to spread easily, use a vegetable peeler to shave off thin curls from the stick. Almost instantly they will be soft and easy to spread.

When making a pineapple upside down cake, use leftover pineapple juice instead of milk in the cake batter. It gives a delicious pineapple flavor.

To hold a thimble on your finger when sewing or mending, blow into it once or twice before putting it on your finger. No more falling off.

To keep the sparkle on the metal trim of a new handbag, brush it lightly with clear nail polish.

Before painting, if you are a sloppy painter, rub linseed oil on your hands and under your finger nails. Paint spots vanish like magic when soap and water are applied.

Use a plastic bag to roll out graham crackers for pies or soda crackers for shrimp or chicken. No more crumbs all over the table and floor.

Try giving our children pancakes in their favorite color. Simply add food coloring and they'll love them.

For a different and delicious fruit salad dressing, try mixing 2 tablespoons of frozen orange juice (before dilution) to 1 cupful or more of sour cream. More or less to suit your taste.

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BANANA CAKE

½ cup shortening
1½ cups sugar
1 cup mashed bananas
2 egg yolks
2 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup sour milk
3 egg whites
2 teaspoons vanilla
½ cup nuts

Cream shortening and sugar Add egg yolks and bananas. Sift flour, baking powder, soda and salt together and add sour milk. Beat egg whites and fold in vanilla and nuts. Bake in 9x13 inch greased pan for 25 to 30 minutes at 350°.

HAMBURGER QUICK

2 pounds hamburger
1 chopped onion
1 can condensed chicken rice soup
1 can condensed mushroom soup

Combine hamburger and onion and break up loosely until cooked. Then combine all ingredients in a casserole and stir well. Bake one hour at 350°. (Mrs. Doris Johnson, Vinton, Iowa)

EASY ICE CREAM PIE

1. Blend to ether lightly in a bowl one pint of vanilla ice cream and one cup of milk.

2, Add one package of Instant Chocolate Pudding mix. Beat until mixed.

3. Pour into 9 inch baked pie shell.

Let stand in refrigerator one hour then serve. It will keep in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Can be frozen.

OTHER COMBINATIONS: Instant Strawberry Pudding and Strawberry Ice Cream. Instant Lemon Pudding and Pineapple Ice Cream. Instant Vanilla Pudding and Pistachio ice Cream. (Mrs. Ernest Reth, Mechanicsville, Iowa)

THE OPEN LINE is heard daily Monday through Friday from 3:10 to 4:66 PA. Our mail in address: THE OPEN LINE, WMT Radio, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52406. OPEN LINE PHONE NUMBER - 365-9405

SOURDOUGH BASIC STARTER

½ package active dry or compressed yeast (1¼ teaspoons dry yeast)
2 cups unsifted flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2½ cups water

Combine ingredients in a stone crock or bowl. Beat well. Cover with cheesecloth and let stand for two days in a warm place. Refrigerate starter between bakings.

SOURDOUGH HOTCAKES

1 cup starter
2 cups unsifted flour
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 eggs
3 tablespoons melted shortening
2 tablespoons sugar

About 12 hours before serving hot cakes, mix starter, flour, milk and salt and let stand in a covered bowl in a warm place. Just before baking cakes, remove 1 cup batter to replenish sourdough in crock. To the remaining batter in the bowl, add soda, eggs, shortening and sugar. Mix well and bake on lightly greased, hot griddle. For thinner hot cakes, add more milk to the batter. Makes about 30 silver dollar sized hot cakes.

SOURDOUGH BISCUITS

1½ cups sifted flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda (½ teaspoon if starter is quite sour)
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup butter or margarine
1 cup starter

Sift dry ingredients together. Cut in butter. Add starter; mix. Turn dough out on floured board. Knead lightly until satiny. Roll dough ½ inch thick. Cut with floured 2½ inch cutter. Place biscuits in greased 9x9x2-inch pan. Brush with melted butter. Let rise one hour in warm place. Bake in hot oven 425° 20 minutes. Serve hot. Makes 12 biscuits.

To replenish starter, stir in 2 cups warm water and 2 cups flour.

(This article was sent to the Open Line by Mrs. Jacqueline Trout, Olin, Iowa and was written by Barbara Pierson, Editorial Assistant Food Staff for one of the national ladies' magazines.)

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