A simple white sauce to accompany your favorite Christmas pudding. I think I might prefer the yellow sauce version which uses egg yolks for added richness. I might also take the suggestion to use rum as the flavoring ... an eggy, rummy sauce? Now that's a fun Christmas!

Fanny's White Sauce for Xmas Pudding
2 cups milk
1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar (depending on taste)
2 tablespoons corn starch
Butter
Vanilla or rum or nutmeg to taste
(2 yolks for yellow sauce)

There are no instructions on preparing this sauce. I suggest bringing the milk and sugar to a simmer, then add corn starch. Cook for several minutes until thickened.

Add 1 tablespoon butter and any desired flavoring.

Try this sauce with one of the growing list of pudding recipes you'll find on this site.

A simple vanilla sauce notated as 'regular' vanilla sauce. Perfect for drizzling over baked puddings or cakes, the sauce is thickened with corn starch and doesn't include any eggs.

Try this sauce with one of the growing list of pudding recipes you'll find on this site.

Basic Vanilla Sauce
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 cup boiling water
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix sugar and corn starch, then add to boiling water. Stirring constantly, boil ten minutes. Remove from heat, add butter and vanilla.

Use the sauce for pouring over your favorite pudding or cake.

The more I read pudding recipes (i.e. the cake type of puddings), the more I crave them. I've only made pudding once and enjoyed it. Oddly, I never grew up with them even though my family originated in England where such puddings are commonplace.

I especially like this recipe - the chocolate sauce on the bottom sounds like a good enough reason to try this soon!

Chocolate Fudge Pudding
1 cup sifted flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons melted shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 cup packed brown sugar

Sift flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and cocoa. Add milk, shortening and vanilla, mix only until smooth. Add pecans.

Place into a greased, shallow quart baking dish [note: read recipe for full instructions]. Pour 1 1/2 cups boiling water over the top.

This pudding when baked has a chocolate sauce on bottom and cake on top.

Bake in a moderate oven 350F for 40 minutes. Serve warm with cream.

As the advertisement states, "make never-fail fudge in 15 minutes!". Quick and no fail? It would be hard for me to turn down this recipe.

The texture and taste intrigue me. I don't think I've ever had fudge made with cream cheese and wonder how it would be different. I assume it might make for a less sweet fudge (as some fudge can be too sickly sweet) and am eager to try this recipe closer to the holidays.

Philly Chocolate Fudge
1 3-ounce pkg. cream cheese
2 cups sifted confectioner's sugar
2 1-ounce squares unsweetened chocolate, melted
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
dash of salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Place cheese in a bowl and cream it until soft and smooth. Slowly blend the sugar into it. Add the meltjavascript:void(0)ed chocolate. Mix well. Add the vanilla, salt and chopped peacnd mix until well blended. Press into a well greased, shallow pan. Place into the refrigerator until firm and cut into squares.

For a slightly softer fudge, blend in 1 teaspoon cream.

More chocolate fudge recipe ideas:
Fantasy Fudge - 101 Cookbooks
Dad's Favorite Fudge - Simply Recipes
Peanut Butter Fudge - Joy the Baker

Fudge is a decadent treat which I love. At the holidays is when my mother always made it, sometimes layering peanut butter fudge and chocolate fudge together. It makes my teeth tingle just thinking about it.

The following recipe uses few ingredients, unlike most recipes I've seen. As the name 'candy' implies, I suspect this isn't a traditional fudge but instead a chocolate treat infused with nuts and dried fruit.

Elizabeth's Chocolate Fudge Candy
1 can Challenge milk
2 pkgs. chocolate chips melted
Nuts, raisins or peanuts
2 tablespoons marshmallows

Beat together the milk and melted chocolate until creamy. Add nuts, raisins or peanuts. Beat in 2 tablespoons marshmallows.

Recipe Notes:
There are quite a few issues with this recipe but regardless, it's chocolate. It won't taste bad.

I assume the can of milk is likely evaporated milk. The packages of chocolate chips are likely small 6 ounce packages (not our modern 16 ounce bags).

In order to beat in the marshmallows, I'm also assuming you'll need to heat them so they are softened. When mixed, I would suggest pouring into a buttered pan and chilling until set. Cut into small squares.

More fudge recipe ideas:
Grandma's Fudge Recipe - White On Rice Couple
Chocolate Fudge Two-Ways - YumSugar
Tootsie Roll Fudge - Food Blogga

A simple bread pudding without too many bells and whistles. When I think of bread pudding, I anticipate eggs and a rich custard binding the pieces of bread. Surprisingly, this recipe does not call for any eggs.

If making a bread pudding, you may want to consider a sauce to pour over it. You'll find a few good ideas in the links provided below.

Bread Pudding
1/4 loaf of bread
Cinnamon
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 quart milk
1-2 tablespoons butter
Raisins (optional)

Break bread in pieces in pudding pan. Shake generously over the top with cinnamon. Add about 2/3 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon salt. Mix until combined.

Pour 1 quart milk over the bread and mix thoroughly. Dot with butter and bake.

Add raisins if wanted. Use your own judgment about bread, about 1/4 loaf.

More bread pudding recipe ideas:
Bread Pudding - Simply Recipes
Savory Bread Pudding - New York Times
Tiramisu Bread Pudding - The Kitchn
Croissant Bread Pudding - Culinary concoctions by Peabody

A perfect recipe for using up that can of cranberry sauce we all seem to have in our cupboard. You'll find cranberry sauce on sale after Thanksgiving so make a mental note to stock up when it's in season. I think these bars would be delicious, especially when served with ice cream.

I hadn't thought to use it before in this way, but it seems very similar to blueberry oat bars which I've made a few times. A quick and easy dessert for when guests arrive unexpectedly.

Cranberry Crunch
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 can whole cranberry sauce

Mix oats, flour and brown sugar. Add in butter until crumbly, put half into 5x8" baking dish, cover with the cranberry sauce, top with balance of crumb mixture.

Bake 45 minutes or until nicely brown. Cut in squares and top with ice cream. Serves 6 to 8.

More cranberry bar recipe ideas:
Browned Butter Oatmeal Cranberry Bars - Culinary in the Country
Cranberry Bliss Bars - Something Sweet
Eggless Cranberry Bars - Madhuram's Eggless Cooking

When I started Recovered Recipes last year, I felt as though I might be the only person interested in rediscovering old recipes. In an age of online recipe sharing and food blogging, I worried vintage recipes might be doomed.

Over the months, I've come to meet others who share my passion for preserving the past and I am hopeful we can save an important piece of our heritage. Jane Garrett, an avid recipe collector herself, was one of my first readers and is very much a recipe card preservationist. Jane contacted me recently to announce the publication of her book, The Market Basket: Cooking and Eating in Lawrence, Kansas 1921-1949.

I recently received a review copy and as I flipped through it, I could feel Jane's passion on every page. The book captures over 500 recipes published in the Lawrence-Journal World newspaper as part of a weekly recipe competition held from 1921-1949. Jane lovingly transcribed the recipes and compiled them into this thoughtful collection.

In addition to the recipes, you'll find vintage advertisements, menus,and local stories found in the newspaper at that time. I particularly enjoyed a list showing 1932 grocery prices -- would anyone like 1 lb. of beef roast for 18 cents per pound?

In another snippet from 1944, it's noted that beef supplies are slim during the war time, "Since the invasion started, local markets report beef has been a scarce article and several stores practically out of beef." It continues by noting the shortage was expected to last 6-8 weeks.

I immediately felt attached to a small city in Kansas I had never visited.

The book spans 250 pages, entirely in black and white, illustrated with vintage artwork and reprinted newspaper clippings. Chapters include beverages, salads, breads, sandwiches, pancakes and doughnuts, soups, main courses, noodles and vegetables.

I reached out to Jane and asked her a few questions to which you'll find her answers below. If you'd like to receive your own copy of this book, please visit Jane's website to purchase this book.

What inspired you to write this book?

A single recipe. I was amusing myself one afternoon at the local library, sitting at the microfilm reader, "flipping" through a 1933 issue of the local newspaper. In the supermarket ads section, I spotted a recipe for "Mrs. Shultz's Apple Butter," and noticed that it was a prize-winner in a weekly contest sponsored by the newspaper. That's all it took to hook me. I wanted to know when the contest began and when it ended, and I wanted every single recipe that was selected as a winner.

From beginning to end, how long did the book take to write?

After finding Mrs. Shultz's apple butter recipe, I returned to the library day after day--whenever I had a spare couple of hours. I was a chef's apprentice, working full time and enrolled in a rigorous program, so my time was limited. But, after 18 months of chipping away at it, I amassed 1,400 prize-winning recipes, one for every week of 28 years. For the next five and a half years, I organized the recipes in two volumes (this one and the second, yet-to-be published one), and illustrated them with old newspaper ads, menus, etc. I also included food-related stories that ran in the local paper during that time. Essentially, it took me seven years to put this book together (and the one that will follow).

In rediscovering these recipes, what did you learn about the women, ingredients or cooking conditions of the time period?

These women truly labored to put food on the table. They grew and canned their own food. They baked their own bread, rolls, pies and cakes. They boned, cut and ground their own meat. They raised and processed their own poultry. Everything was made from scratch. Convenience foods were unheard of back then. Nothing much was easy--especially when money was scarce and food was rationed. How spoiled we are today !

Is there a particular recipe or contestant which caught your fancy?

There's one recipe in the book that's near and dear to my heart: Mrs. Pearson's Muffins. It's just an ordinary little recipe, but what makes it special to me is the address of the author: 1336 Massachusetts St., which happens to be my former address, my home of 17 years, a two-story 100-year-old residence complete with high ceilings, dark, dark woodwork, and a quirky old Depression-era kitchen. So many times I imagined Mrs. Pearson--a woman I've never known--bending over to put her pan of muffins in the oven.

Since the book focuses primarily on main courses and side dishes, can we expect a dessert book to follow?

Yes! The next volume--The Market Basket Vol. II: More Cooking and Eating In Lawrence, Kansas, 1921-1949--features mostly sweets. Its chapters are: Putting Up Fruits and Berries; Cookies, Bars, Candy and Pastry; Cakes, Icings and Fillings; Pies and Cobblers; Puddings and Custards; Ice Creams, Sherbets and Ices; More Sweets--From Bavarians to Whips; and Menus. In this volume is a cake recipe made for President Coolidge, recipes for old English plum puddings, all kinds of jams and jellies, and hundreds of other treats, including Anise Seed Cookies, Baked Apple Flowers, Pineapple Betty, Apple Dumplings with Lemon Sauce, Orange Meringue Pie, Banana Sherbet, etc. etc. There's also a menu for a Non-rationed Sunday Dinner.

Is it true that you have your own recipe card collection at home?

I have literally thousands of recipe cards I've collected over the years. I've found them at garage sales, estate sales, in dumpsters, and on ebay. I also have my mother's and grandmother's collections. To me, a card with a hand-written recipe on it is worth more than that recipe that's published in a mass-produced book.

Thank you to Jane for sharing her time for this interview and also for helping to preserve the past!