Catsup / Ketchup

4 quarts of tomatoes, cut into pieces
2 onions
2 tablespoons whole spice
2 tablespoons salt
1 teaspoon mustard
1/2 teaspoon red pepper
1 stick of cinnamon
3 cups sugar
2 cups vinegar
2 tablespoons corn starch

Mix all ingredients except for the starch in a large soup pt and and boil for one hour.  Once the mixture has cooled enough to not give you third degree burns, strain the mixture.  Dissolve 3 tablespoons into the mixture and boil again for 15 minutes.  Bottle and seal.

Icebox Cookies

Long before raw cookie dough became a thing, Gram made icebox cookies.

Ingredients:
1 cup butter
4 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
6 1/2 cups flour
pinch of salt
dash of vanilla

Directions: (from memory)
Mix all ingredients until smooth and of standard cookie dough thickness.  Roll into a ball onto a sheet of wax paper, and use the paper to massage it into a tube shape. Refrigerate up to a week or freeze for a month.  You can slice off the end and eat the dough, or bake accordingly. 10 minutes at 350?

Mrs. Jones's Fruit Cake

Over the holidays, I raided my gram's recipe card boxes and took pictures of all sorts of family recipes from my great-grandmother, grandmother and mother.  We haven't made any yet, but when we do, we'll publish observations and final product pictures accordingly.

 

Ingredients:

1 lb raisins

1 lb currants

1/2 lb citron

1/2 lb almonds

1/2 lb pecans

1/2 lb cherries

1/2 lb pineapple

1 lb butter

1 lb sugar

rind and juice of 2 lemons

2 tsp vinegar

10 eggs beaten seperately

Directions:

Cream the sugar and butter until creamy.  Add egg yolks, next lemons and vinegar.  Then egg whites and flour alternately.  Lastly fruit and buts, which have been floured thoroughly.  Bake in slow oven 2.5 to 3 hours.  After cake is cold, soak with good whiskey or brandy.