1930's XMAS Recipes ( 1)

"Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality..."

   -Washington Irvine

On the farm, in Bethune, Saskatchewan,  ( not just in the 30's, but over the years she visited home), my mother would bake these pastries  with my grandmother. Vinegar tarts, and Mincemeat....doled out at the holidays......with care. Counted into their Christmas tins , to await  the holidays. Savoured and saved. At Christmas, we tend to  bake  that which reminds us of our past, maybe a past we never knew , but cherish cause it's  family. My mother said these pastries reminded my grandparents of the family they left behind in Scotland all the years ago ,and ever saw again.

My mother also said her brothers liked to sneak them  , and run off with them into the snow, stuffing their cheeks as they ran. Every time she baked them, she said she could see Bill and Stuart , their cheeks full like chipmunks, laughing, as grandmother threw up her hands in good humoured despair. Ingredients were precious. To make up for it,  there were extra chores for  the boys. Year after year, when they were children, grandmother never seemed to really mind.....

DEPRESSION ERA VINEGAR TARTS 

2 cups brown sugar , 2 large gobs of butter ( tblsps),

4 splashes ( tblsps of any vinegar), 1 cup corn syrup, 4 eggs 

Beat ingredients till fairly combined. There will be pieces of butter swimming in the mix. That's okay. 

Bake in a hot wood stove oven ( or 350 degree modern oven for about 15 minutes. test the centres. Should be bubbling, add 4 minutes extra time, till set and pastry browned.  

Set out in tins in the snow to cool. Make sure tins are covered with a tea cloth. Store in tins, possibly dust pastries with icing sugar, if you wish.  

"Like snowflakes, my memories gather and dance...each beautiful , unique.....and gone too soon." -Deborah Whitt

MINCEMEAT TARTS 

PASTRY ( tarts or pie):

2 ½ cup all-purpose flour,1 Tbsp sugar, pinch salt, 3 Tbsp veg oil or lard,

1 cup cool unsalted butter, cut into pieces ,¼ cup cool water, 2 tsp vinegar

(Combine together quickly. Keep in fridge to chill until ready to use as shells.)

It used to be that the tarts were actually made in large muffin tins. Nowadays we use frozen tart shells. My mother always made this for the mincemeat ( homemade or bought cans)....she'd serve them scalding hot from the oven......and slathered with thick cream. 

"Christmas may be a day of feasting, or of prayer,  but always it will be a day of remembrance. A day in which we think of everything we have ever loved..." - Augusta E. Randel

HOMEMADE MINCEMEAT 

medium apples, peeled and coarsely grated

1 cup golden or Thompson raisins,1 cup dried currants, ½ cup dried cranberries

¼ cup finely diced candied ginger, ½ cup packed dark brown sugar

⅓ cup honey, ¼ cup brandy, optional,1 Tbsp finely grated orange zest

2 tsp finely grated lemon zest,2 Tbsp lemon juice,½ tsp ground allspice

½ tsp ground nutmeg, ¼ tsp ground cloves,¼ cup unsalted butter, melted

Cover and chill  Mincemeat ingredients for at least 2 hours, up to 24 hours. You may want to pulse the ingredients in a food processor if not fine enough . If ingredients are too thick , the mix will be coarse and not cook down to gooey loveliness.

 Preheat the oven to 400 F. Pull out the dough from the fridge 15-30 minutes before rolling out or cutting into tart shells.Place the pie onto a parchment-lined baking tray and bake for 10 minutes at 400 F, then reduce the oven temperature to 375 F and then bake for about another  40 minutes, until the crust  is golden brown. If doing tarts takes about 20-28 minutes. Keep an eye on them .

                                                                 

"Christmas is a tonic for our souls. It moves us to think of others, rather than of ourselves. It directs our thoughts to giving...." -B.C. Forbes

Stack into tins, or ice cream pails you can freeze..may last long enough to serve to company!

"What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past. Courage for the present, and Hope for the future.." -Agnes M.Pharo

Photographs 2024 and family vintage....

 

VINEGAR TART SQUARES

"Baking is a labour of love... passed from generation to generation..." -Regina Brett

VINEGAR TARTS or SQUARES are from a very old recipe from the 1800's.

My grandmother used to make them, on the farm in Saskatchewan, in the early part of the 20th century. My mother would bake them when I was a child.They were part of regular summer fare when company popped by. Kind of like a butter tart square, only better. No raisins to pick out!My mother would make them into massive muffin cup sized tarts, with pastry walls that defied  gravity. 

This recipe is even older than I first discovered, coming from  civil war times, and earlier than that.  It was perfect for when times were hard,and supplies were short; when no fruit was available. Eggs and sugar  were saved to make this. My grandmother made them for the farm hands as a treat.

 Vinegar makes the filling a little tart to ward off  sweetness. It fools the taste buds into thinking there is fruit, in the  ooey gooeyness ( is that  word? I think it is!) I've adjusted the recipe to turn this into a 9x13 pan size square. I really dislike making tart pastry, so I created a shortbread style base, instead. 

FIRST: In a bowl, combine 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 cup cold marg, 2/3 white sugar. ( I was saving brown sugar for the filling, so used white instead) 

Cut in the margarine till crumbly.

Spray a 9x13 pan with veggie spray. Then line with parchment. really important to do as filling will stick otherwise. Don't use foil. Or you will be peeling foil out of the filling.

Bake at 350 degrees till set like shortbread. About 20 minutes, maybe a bit longer. Test with your finger to make sure it is baked. Shouldn't be crumbly.Shouldn't be tough. 

Let pan cool on rack on counter while you make filling.

FILLING: Combine 3 cups brown sugar, with 3 blobs of butter or margarine....about 3 tablespoons.I don't measure, I plop the marg in.
ADD the vinegar: 3 tablespoons of white vinegar.Can add 5 if you wish. 3 is pretty mild.

Crack in 6 eggs. BEAT by hand. I use a large serving fork to do that. Not a mixer.

Dump in 1 1/2 cups corn syrup. Don't use  maple syrup etc. 

Pour on top of baked bottom layer. Smooth out filling. 

BAKE at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. 

You will have to test it off and on with a knife to see how it is doing. If you bake too long will be too firm.Should not be runny. Should be firm and still have some jiggleeee-ness.( I think that is a great word!)

Let sit till cool, before cutting into narrow squares. Cuts great when cooled down. The squares are even better the next day. Does not freeze great. Good for potlucks.

This was definitely a treat in the summer when I was a kid. Except they were mammoth muffin tarts that you had to  eat with a knife and fork. Sometimes my mother would plop on whipped cream on top. Then the best way to eat them was to eat them outside: Scoop up the cream first, then the gooey innards, leaving the thick pastry wall to fend for itself.

Of course, I always  threw the thick pastry into the forest, for the birds.  Never told my mother. And she continued to make huge muffin tarts for years to come. Always made me wonder how many of those tart shells might still be in existence on the forest floor, even to this day...... 

Photographs 2019