Cheese Straws

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Cheese Straws

It’s my anniversary today! Three years ago today, I was furiously completing my first blog post, Cayenne Cheeses, which still is one of my favourite historic recipes. Each year ever since, I’ve made another baked cheesy recipe with cheese, butter, flour, salt and cayenne pepper in the ingredient list.

This Cheese Straw recipe is from the 1903 Good Housekeeping Everyday Cook Book and it’s very simple to put together. Grate cheese and season with salt and cayenne pepper. Sprinkle on top of thin strips of pastry and bake. It’s an excellent recipe for making a delicious snack from the extra pastry when you’re making a pie. You could also make or buy pastry if you want a larger batch. They taste quite more-ish, so you might very well want to make pastry specifically for this recipe!

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Cheese Straws

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Cheese Straws

Today’s my 2nd Blogaversary! 2 years ago today, I nervously and excitedly hit “publish” on my very first recipe post, which was Cayenne Cheeses from the 1861 cookbook Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management. I selected Cayenne Cheeses because it was – and it still is – my favourite historic recipe that I’ve ever made and eaten.

A year later, I started the tradition of posting a similar recipe each year on March 31st to celebrate my blogging milestone. Last year’s recipe was Cheese Hooies from the 1965 Stillmeadow Cookbook by Gladys Taber, and 2020’s twist on baking flour, butter, cheese, salt and cayenne pepper together is Cheese Straws. This recipe come to us all the way from the 1891 Tried and True Cookbook, a community cookbook compiled by the “Ladies Aid Society and Friends of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Deadwood, South Dakota”.

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Cheese Hooies

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Cheese Hooies

One year ago today, on March 31st, I hit the "Publish" button for the first time and put out my first Food History blog recipe for the world to see and taste. I selected Cayenne Cheeses, a scrumptious cheese biscuit, from the 1861 Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management because it has been one of my favourite historic recipes since I began working in Historic House Museums. They are very delicious, you should try them!

When it came to picking out a 1-year anniversary recipe, I knew right away that I’d make Cheese Hooies. When I first read this recipe in the 1965 Stillmeadow Cookbook by Gladys Taber, I saw the ingredient list (butter, cheese, flour, salt and cayenne pepper) and thought, "These Hooies are basically Cayenne Cheeses". Cheese Hooies haven't kicked Cayenne Cheeses off my favourite recipes list, but making them was interesting look at how a century changes a recipe.

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Filled Dills

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Filled Dills

Filled Dills are just as fun to say as they are to eat! They’re appetizers from The Stay Out of the Kitchen Cookbook, published in 1968. This cookbook contains make ahead recipes and dishes that can be left in the oven so that a hostess can spend time with her dinner guests instead of spending her dinner party in the kitchen. Filled Dills are large dill pickles hollowed out with an apple corer, filled with cream cheese & various flavourings, then finally sliced into thin pieces. They are very tasty and easy to make ahead for your next gathering.

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Mushroom Rolls

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Mushroom Rolls

Mushroom Rolls would be perfect for your next afternoon tea, or as an appetizer at your next celebration. Or anytime. They would probably be perfect to eat at any point in time. I'm a huge fan of mushrooms and butter, and this recipe uses both ingredients liberally. Add lemon juice, curry powder, salt & pepper, a dash of cayenne pepper...and additional butter...to the mushrooms, then package it up in crispy bread. Yum.

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Taheeni

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Taheeni

This Taheeni recipe isn't a Tahini recipe, simply because its main ingredient is eggplant and not sesame seeds. I'd describe Taheeni as basically Baba Ganoush, ironically without the tahini! I found this recipe in The Blender Cookbook by Ann Seranne & Eileen Gaden from 1961 in the International Specialties chapter under "The Near East". Today, I'm able to walk into almost any grocery store and buy myself a container of tahini or baba ganoush, but this was likely not the case in 1961. I'll chalk up the name to something getting lost in translation, but whatever it's called, my tastebuds give this this dip two thumbs up.

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Cayenne Cheeses

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Cayenne Cheeses

When I decided to start my own food history blog, I knew right away that my first blog post would be about Cayenne Cheeses. Why? Cayenne Cheeses were the first historic food that I fell in love with when I started working as a Historical Interpreter, and I'm not alone. If my coworkers don't have dietary restrictions against dairy and wheat, it's a pretty safe bet that they're also mad about Cayenne Cheeses.

 

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