American Classic Digest - Spring & Summer Desserts: In the Pantry Classics, #2

By Joyce Middleton

Spring & Summer Desserts
Volume 2 in the series In the Pantry Classics

This Classics Digest contains 12 vintage recipes for spring and summer - just enough of the BEST that you'll reach for them time and again!

Here's a few of the recipes included:

• Chocolate Chip Ice Box Pie
• Date Ice Box Roll
• Glorified Rice
• Lemon Ice Box Pie
• Lime and Berry Parfait Pie
• Stained Glass Pie

Spring or summer - you want a fantastic dessert that is cool, light, and easy.  Back in the 1950s, women became intrigued with new ways to use old ingredients that were easy, fast, and delicious.  Re-discover some of the classics and how much better they taste than many you buy at the supermarket. Discover classics that you never heard of and will delight in serving.

You'll find some surprises, such as how women used a common freezer pan for a creative, easy and "just the right amount" dessert.  Maybe you don't have any canned or fresh fruit in your pantry, but you'll have a fabulous dessert quickly with a common ingredient everyone has on-hand.

Sometimes the best recipes can be found in the past.  You'll be taken step-by-step through the recipe using the correct ingredients found in stores today.  Every recipe has been tested, some are improved, and include tips for preparing and serving.  Not only are these recipes delicious as they are presented but, they are versatile enough that you'll want to make them a spring and summer staple!

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: In the Pantry
• Release date: Oct 27, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215597088

Book preview

SPRING & SUMMER DESSERTS

DEDICATION

To my mother

Thanks for cooking with me and

passing on all your tips for these original

classic recipes

PREFACE

Oh, how life has changed... I know every generation complains about this as they get older. But why are so many young people fascinated with things retro and vintage?  I believe it has a lot to do with the notion that life was simpler back then. 

And that’s why I created this In the Pantry Classics series. Growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, we literally went from living the life of Father Knows Best to the hippie movement, Haight-Ashbury, and the Viet Nam war. Life moved very fast in the late 60s and most of the family life changed dramatically.

Not only did I live through it but I am also fascinated by how dedicated our mothers were in raising us right. Once I was in high school, I couldn’t wait to begin exploring all that had opened for us in the social climate of the early 1970s; that’s a whole different story.

Back in the 50s and 60s, we didn’t have a microwave oven or a food processor. That means melting butter and making puddings and custards was done on the stovetop. Making a graham cracker crust meant that we had to roll out the crackers with a rolling pin. Unfortunately, I was making these recipes with my mother, and she doesn’t have a food processor, so my method was to put the graham crackers in a large freezer bag and roll the crackers. This took quite a long time but was easier than in my Mother’s Day because I was able to contain the rolled crackers within the freezer bag. In her day they used two sheets of waxed paper... imagine the crumbs scattering all over the countertop (we didn’t have plastic bags at that time)!

Using vintage recipes can be tricky because many of the ingredients have changed over the years, such as canned goods and marshmallows are now sold in different sizes. That’s why we baked everything from scratch and have converted the items for you in the recipes included in this book.

Since my mother and her three sisters were from Minnesota and my Father was from South Dakota, we were raised with values from the Midwest. How close was it to the famous TV shows of those times?

Let’s explore the 1950s through twelve of the classic desserts of that era in this American Classic Digest.

LIFE IN THE 1950s

My parents brought their ethics and values to California from the Midwest. After meeting at the Aragon Ballroom in Santa Monica, California during WWII, my parents married when the war ended and decided to stay in Southern California. They found the sunny weather refreshing