Recipes From The Most Unusual Places

You know, I just wanted to once again stress that the "FOODIE FRIDAY" entries are designed so that you all can have a chance to have your name in print.  It's also a good way to share your recipes with the world, and maybe get some ideas from other recipes that you might not have even thought of. 

As always, you can send your recipes via e-mail at my own personal e-mail account for this blog.  The address, of course, is matthewwturcotte518@yahoo.ca.  I usually check it every other day.

Or, if you don't like e-mail, you can send a recipe link by posting it in the comments section on this blog, or by posting a message on the official Facebook page for "A POP CULTURE ADDICT'S GUIDE TO LIFE".

So, I suppose that if you've been reading between the lines, you'll know that I haven't gotten any recipe suggestions as of late...which is fine, as I can easily get my hands on some through cookbooks and other sources (which I will, of course, cite in this and every Foodie Friday blog, partly to eliminate the threat of plagiarism, but partly because I can't cook for beans and don't want to mislead people into thinking that I made the recipe up myself).  Still, I think this recipe swap idea is a good one, and I don't want to give it up!

So, in case I wasn't clear...please send your recipes!

Now, I mentioned that cookbooks were the main source of recipes out there...and certainly people have relied on cookbooks since the invention of the printing press to enhance their culinary skills. 

But what about the sources that you might not expect?  After all, recipes can be found in some of the strangest places.

Certainly, my mother was a big believer in finding recipes from any source possible.  A select few ended up being complete disasters, but the majority of them were fantastic.  And would you believe that some of the biggest sources of these recipes came from food labels, cereal boxes, and inserts from those coupon books that sometimes accompany the newspaper?

It's true.  My mom has a scrapbook of all of the recipes that she has taken from the most unusual sources.  Some of them were told to her from other family members and friends, and they're written on some of the pages...but others were clipped out of newspapers and/or food products, and are permanently pasted inside the book.  So, since I've borrowed the scrapbook for today, let's see if I can find a couple of recipes to share with all of you.

Oh, look.  Here's one that was found on the underside of a label for Carnation Milk.  It sounds like it would be interesting too.

LEMON COFFEE CAKE

1 cup NESTLE CARNATION Regular Evaporated Milk

2 tbsp vinegar
1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

4 tbsp finely grated lemon rind

1 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 cup icing sugar

3 tbsp lemon juice

- Preheat oven to 350 F.  Grease 9-inch springform pan; set aside.

- Whisk together evaporated milk and vinegar.  Stir in baking soda; set aside.

- Beat butter with sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy; beat in eggs and lemon rind.  Sift flour with baking powder; stir into butter mixture alternately with evaporated milk mixture, making 3 additions of flour mixture and 2 of milk mixture.

- Stir together brown sugar and cinnamon.  Spoon half of the batter into prepared pan.  Sprinkle evenly with half of the cinnamon mixture.  Spoon in remaining batter; sprinkle with remaining cinnamon mixture.  Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center of cake comes out clean.  Let cool in pan on rack.  Transfer to cake plate.  Whisk together icing sugar and lemon juice.  Drizzle over top.  Makes 12 servings.

And, just a little piece of nutritional info to add to this recipe.  Each serving is only 311 calories!  Not bad, right?

Oh, and I have a bonus recipe to share from the scrapbook of recipes, courtesy of some sort of Keebler product that I picked up from the United States.  I want to say it's some kind of cookie, but I don't know for sure.

By the way, you don't HAVE to use Keebler pie crusts in this recipe.  Any one will do.  Bon appetit!

DECADENT TRIPLE LAYER MUD PIE

1 Keebler Ready Crust Chocolate Flavour Pie Crust

2 squares semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted

2 cups chopped pecans, toasted

2 pkgs chocolate flavour instant pudding & pie filling

2 cups cold milk, 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 tub frozen whipped topping, thawed

Pour chocolate and sweetened condensed milk into bowl; stir until smooth.  Pour into crust.  Press nuts evenly onto chocolate in crust.  Refrigerate for 10 minutes.  Pour milk into large bowl.  Add pudding mixes.  Beat with wire whisk 2 minutes or until smooth (mixture will be thick).  Spread 1 1/2 cups of the pudding over chocolate in crust.  Immediately stir 1/2 of the whipped topping into the remaining pudding.  Spread over pudding in crust.  Top with remaining whipped topping.  Refrigerate 3 hours or until set.  Garnish if desired.  Makes 8 servings.