Spicy frankfurters, browned potato loaf, succotash, banana-bran bread, baked fudge dessert

Today's menu comes from a booklet I got from my grandma, entitled "Carefree Cooking...ELECTRICALLY."




Your New Range: of course... it's ELECTRIC.
It's a shining jewel in your kitchen, and just as priceless. With it you'll get a new kind of satisfaction in preparing meals for your family--new zest and fascination in cooking the easy modern electric way. There's no learning to cook over again--use your own favorite recipes or any standard ones--and depend on the accurately measured heat of your "up to the minute" electric range to do the rest.




This lot is all supposed to be put in the oven at the same time at 350 F. for 50 minutes. Unfortunately, my oven is a tiny apartment model. Boo.

Spicy Frankfurters
1 pound frankfurters, sliced
2 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons water
2/3 cup catsup
4 tablespoons vinegar
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons prepared mustard

1. Cut frankfurters and place in baking dish.
2. Combine flour with water and mix until smooth. Add other ingredients and pour over frankfurters.
3. Cover and place in oven.




Please observe how I used bakeware from the same vintage as the recipe.

Browned Potato Loaf
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt--dash pepper
1 cup milk
4 to 5 cups cooked potatoes, diced
1 tablespoon minced parsley

1. Make a thick white sauce of butter, flour, salt, and milk.
2. Add potatoes seasoned. Cook 5 minutes.
3. Press into waxed paper lined loaf pan
4. Place in electric refrigerator overnight.
5. Unmold. Turn onto oven-proof platter. Place in oven.




It must be an ELECTRIC refrigerator. Do not worry, electric refrigerators are no harder to use than iceboxes, so do not fear them. I only did a half-recipe, so I molded it in an oval tupperware container. If I were smart, I would have baked this in the other half of the vintage bakeware. That is probably why it was designed with the little wall down the middle that is so usually annoying.

Succotash
1 or 2 packages frozen Succotash
2 to 4 tablespoons butter
Salt
Pepper
2 to 4 tablespoons water

1. Place frozen Succotash in a pan with a close fitting cover.
2. Season with salt and pepper.
3. If 1 package is used, use 2 tablespoons butter and water. 4 tablespoons of each if two packages are used.
4. Bake covered.


Yeah... so I didn't know what succotash is. I later found out, a mixture of corn and beans, possibly with peppers and onions. I didn't find any in the frozen foods, so I came home empty-handed only to discover that they now market succotash as "Southwestern Vegetable Blend." What was wrong with "succotash"? It's a lovely word! Also, why does "heat up ready-made food you found at the store" count as a recipe?? Anyway, we had corn instead.

Banana-Bran Bread
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas
1 egg, well beaten
1 cup all-bran
1/4 cup melted shortening
1 1/2 cups sifted enriched all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1. Mash bananas, stir in egg, bran, and melted shortening.
2. Sift dry ingredients together, add to banana mixture; stir until well blended.
3. Pour into greased loaf pan 9x5x3.




Baked Fudge Dessert
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
5 tablespoons cocoa
1/4 cup shortening
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup nuts
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
3/4 cup boiling water

1. Mix and sift flour, salt, sugar baking powder, and 3 tablespoons cocoa.
2. Cut in shortening. Add milk, vanilla, and nuts. Mix well.
3. Spread in 8-inch square pan.
4. Mix brown sugar, remaining 2 tablespoons cocoa, and corn syrup. Add boiling water and mix well.
5. Pour this sauce over mixture in pan.
6. Place in oven.



We also ate this watermelon that Ron cut in the fancy way they showed him in Afghanistan. Neat! You can fork pieces out and eat them out of the rind. We've never figured out exactly the kind of melon they kept giving him. We think it could be a christmas melon.



Verdict:

Spicy frankfurters: These were really, really good. Not spicy in any way whatsoever, but good. As hot dogs go, you know. I was skeptical, what with the saucy sauce, but this is why I like trying out these weird recipes. One step below grilled, but how is a hot dog more delicious than grilled? Especially the ones that got a little burned to the bottom. The sauce caramelized those bits into deliciousness. I'm making these again. Don't knock it 'til you've tried it.

Browned potato loaf: Ron liked it. I thought it was fine. Nothing special. Kind of, you know, potatoey. What is with the 50's and loafed things, though? Does everything have to be made into a loaf?

Banana-bran bread: Oh look, a loaf. Amazing. As banana bread goes, not great. As a breakfasty bread, fine. Still, it's no invalid muffin.

Baked fudge dessert: It made fudge sauce on the bottom. Oh man, it made fudge sauce on the bottom. Fudge sauce.