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From: Patty
Sent: Thursday, December 05, 2013 8:27 AM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
Subject: Macy's Department Store (NYC) Peach Melba Cake
Hi Uncle Phaedrus,
I've been searching for this recipe for a long time without any success. I hope you can help me.
In the late 1970's, Macy's department store had a bakery which sold my all-time favorite cake.
I requested it for birthdays, graduation, etc.
It had buttercream frosting with apricot jam and slivered almonds on the outside. The filling
included fresh peach slices and raspberry jam. It was delicious.
Thanks for your website, Uncle Phaedrus, and have a wonderful holiday season!
Hello Patty,
I had no success finding any mention of a peach melba cake from Macy’s.
I’ll post your request on the site. I’m afraid there are lots of requests ahead of you, though,
so it will be January before it appears.
Phaed
Gwen sent this:
On the search for a peach melba cake (https://hungrybrowser.com/phaedrus/m0106M14.htm#1), I offer
a line of inquiry for you, or the requester. 'Cafe Eclair' (or, Eclair -bakery/bakeshop/pastry shop,
newspaper articles use all those descriptors) was the supplier for Macy's and Bloomingdale's cakes
in New York the 1960s and 70s. Their cakes were sold at a branch of Eclair in Macy's Marketplace
from around 1976-1996. In the 90s the owner, Alan Sloan, was forced to file for chapter 7 bankruptcy
and auction off the company, including the license to sell at Macy's. Eclair had been founded in 1939
by Alexander M. Selinger. Old newspaper ads for Eclairs prominently feature "peach melba cake."
Assuming this is the right bakery, if the requester were able to track who ended up with Eclair's recipes,
they might just find the precise cake.
The obituary for the founder can be found here: NY Times 1998
A fabulous collection of documents, including photographs of the founder and his work can be found
here at the Center for Jewish History: Center for Jewish History
It might be that the requester could collaborate with the Center for Jewish History to track down those
recipes, as that would certainly be a boon for their collection!
Gwen
From: Gloria
Sent: Sunday, December 08, 2013 1:01 PM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
Subject: Help with Pound Cake Recipe
Dear Phaedrus, I have searched your site and everywhere else I can think of for the recipe I found
many years ago in a Woman's Day or Family Circle magazine for "Thomas Jefferson's Favorite Pound Cake."
The recipe was the only one on a page close to the back of the magazine. I made it for years and then
somehow lost the recipe! I have seen other Thomas Jefferson Pound Cake recipes online, but none are mine.
I didn't use cake flour. It was a simple recipe - nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe one of your readers
used and saved this recipe; that is my only hope now!
I appreciate any help you can give me. Once you taste this cake, it will be your go-to pound cake.
Thank you for any help you can provide.
Gloria in Boston.
Hello Gloria,
I cannot find any Thomas Jefferson Pound Cake recipe with any connection to either Woman’s Day or Family Circle.
Both of those magazines have websites, but the recipes on them only go back a few years.
We have “The Woman’s Day Encyclopedia of Cookery”, but it’s not in there.
There are “Thomas Jefferson Pound Cake” recipes on these sites that do not call for cake flour:
My Mama's Thomas Jefferson Pound Cake
Better Recipes.com
We have copies of “Dining in Monticello”, “Thomas Jefferson’s Cookbook”, “First Ladies’ Cookbook”,
“Famous White House Recipes”, and “The Original White House Cook Book”, and none of those has a
pound cake recipe with any connection to Thomas Jefferson.
I’ll post this in case a reader can help, but it will be about a month before it appears on the site.
Phaed
Dear Phaedrus,
Thank you!!! I will look for the post and I will continue to search through the thousands recipes
I have stashed away everywhere!!!
I can picture the page; the left page of the magazine with the top half showing the cake. If I find
my copy, I'll send it to you for your readers....
Gloria
From: Susan
Sent: Sunday, December 08, 2013 5:24 PM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
Subject: IGA chocolate chip morsel recipe
Man, I hope you can help! About 30 years ago, I found a chocolate chip cookie recipe on a bag of IGA
chocolate chip morsels. It was the best one I've ever used. Every time I made it and put it in fairs,
I'd get the blue ribbon. It used solid shortening instead of butter or margarine and that kept the
cookie from thinning out like toll house cookies.
It used a mixture of brown sugar and granulated sugar, then solid shortening, flour, soda, eggs...maybe milk.
The recipe began with "Cream together shortening and sugars." I've tried for three Christmases now to find
this recipe to no avail. Is there anyway you could find my long lost blue ribbon recipe? Thanks!
Susan
Hi Susan,
I had zero success locating a chocolate chip cookie recipe that mentioned being off the IGA chocolate morsels bag.
I did find a chocolate chip cookie recipe from IGA that’s made with shortening, soda, egg, milk, and brown sugar.
However it does not have the exact phrase “cream together shortening and sugars”. See here:
IGA Guy
I found that phrase “cream together shortening and sugars” in lots of cookies recipes, but almost all had
some extra ingredient that you do not mention. Some had both shortening and butter; some had buttermilk.
I did find a couple of chocolate chip cookie recipes with that phrase, but they did not mention IGA:
Ifood
Tasty Kitchen
IGA has a website here: My IGA - You could always try
e-mailing them and asking for the recipe.
I'll post this on my site, but it will be about a month before it appears.
Phaed
Concerning the IGA chocolate chip cookies, below are a few options.
Cowboy Cookies from IGA home economist Lois Young
1 cup shortening
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 cups rolled oats
6-oz. package chocolate chips
Cream shortening and sugars; add eggs and vanilla. Blend well. Sift flour, soda, salt and
baking powder together and add to this. Shape into balls with hands and place on greased baking sheet.
Bake in a 350° oven for about 15 minutes. P.S. These are great for school lunches or after school snacks.
-----------------------------------------
IGA Chocolate Chip Cookies
These are listed as "Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies," on the IGA website,
but the Toll House recipe is definitely different.
2-1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup oat bran
1 stick (1 cup) butter or margarine, softened
1 cup shortening
3 teaspoons water
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1-1/2 cups chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 F.
Combine flour, baking soda, salt and oat bran in small bowl.
Beat butter, shortening, water, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large mixing bowl until creamy.
Add eggs and beat well. Gradually add flour mixture and stir to combine. Stir in chocolate chips.
Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased or parchment lined baking sheets. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until
golden brown. Let stand for 2 minutes remove to wire rack to cool.
------------------------------------------------------------------
IGA CC Cookies
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1 med egg
1 tsp Vanilla extract
2 1/2 cup All purpose, bleached wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup skim milk
1 package iga chocolate morsels
Directions
1. Beat shortening and sugars in medium bowl until fluffy; beat in egg and vanilla. Mix in combined flour,
baking soda, and salt alternately with milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Mix in chocolate morsels.
2. Drop cookies by tablespoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets. Bake until browned, about 10 minutes. Cool on wire racks.
Makes about 60 cookies.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 c. shortening
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
2 c. unsifted plain flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. soda
1 c. chopped pecans, optional
1 (12 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Cream shortening and sugar. Add flavoring and eggs. Beat until creamy. Sift flour, soda and salt together and add to
cream mixture. Add chocolate chips and nuts. Drop by tsp. on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 350 degrees 10 minutes or
until golden brown.
------------------------------------------------------------
Someone on a messageboard claims this was from the package in the 1970s, who knows how reliable that information is!
Possibly IGA package cookie recipe
2-1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup oat bran
1 stick (1 cup) butter or margarine, softened
1 cup shortening
3 teaspoons water
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1-1/2 cups chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 F.
Combine flour, baking soda, salt and oat bran in small bowl.
Beat butter, shortening, water, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large mixing bowl until creamy.
Add eggs and beat well. Gradually add flour mixture and stir to combine. Stir in chocolate chips.
Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased or parchment lined baking sheets. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until
golden brown.
Let stand for 2 minutes remove to wire rack to cool.
Best,
Gwen
======================================================================================
Subject: IGA Chocolate Chip Cookies
From: Susan
Date: 12/23/2019, 3:30 PM
To: "phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com"
Several years ago, I asked for the chocolate chip cookie recipe that was on the 12 oz. bag of IGA Chocolate Chips.
I'd even contacted IGA to try to find it. You weren't able to locate it either. Some kind people sent me recipes
to try. They were close but no cigar.
We have a Goodwill outlet store here. They sell hardback books for 50 cents and paperbacks for 25 cents. I always
look through them and have picked up some nice cookbooks. I saw one, but I tossed it back in the bin, thinking I
didn't need another cookbook. Something told me I should check it for the cookie recipe and thought what's the
chance they'd have it. They did!!!! I've made it three times now and it's the exact recipe I'd been looking for.
I always got a blue ribbon at the fair using this recipe. Here it is, in case someone would like to try it.
Thanks again for looking for it.
Susan
Chocolate Chip Cookies - IGA Chocolate Morsels bag (circa 1976)
1 cup solid shortening like Crisco (NOT butter)
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs, room temperature
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
12 oz. bag of chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Cream together vanilla, shortening, and sugars until light and flully.
Add eggs and beat well.
Combine flour and baking soda. Gradually add this mix to the creamed mixture.
Drop by teaspoonful onto UNGREASED cookie sheet. (I use parchment paper.)
Bake at 350 degrees for 8 – 10 minutes until lightly browned. Cookies will look “not quite baked.”
Allow to cool on sheet (5 to 10 minutes) before removing from sheet. The cookies will be extremely
soft until they cool.
From: Laura
Sent: Sunday, December 08, 2013 9:19 PM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
Subject: Cajun Muffaletta Sandwich
Hi there!
I've been searching for several years for a recipe, which I believe is called "Cajun Muffaletta Sandwich"
from a small, special interest magazine called "Occasionally Vegetarian." The magazine was available around 2000,
perhaps a Betty Crocker publication, and I am sure that I picked up a copy at the checkout counter at my local grocery store.
The recipe includes olives, giardiniera, and I believe provolone cheese, served on some sort of (toasted?) bread.
There were other ingredients as well, mainly seasoning, if I remember right.
I've searched Google multiple times, but have had no luck at all!
thanks so much,
Laura
Hi Laura,
I can’t find any mention of a magazine called "Occasionally Vegetarian". There was a series of cookbooks by that name
that was published by Land ‘O Lakes margarine. Those may have been the kind of small soft-cover cookbooks that one
occasionally sees at supermarket check-outs. If you recognize one of the covers, you can order a used copy of the one
you had from Amazon. For pictures of two of the covers, see here:
Occasionally Vegetarian #1
Occasionally Vegetarian #2
There was also a cookbook called "The Occasional Vegetarian" published by the New York Times. See:
"The Occasional Vegetarian"
I also looked for a particular muffaletta recipe with the exact name “Cajun Muffaletta Sandwich”, with no success.
Since the recipe you had was from a vegetarian magazine or cookbook, and a real muffaletta typically has ham and
salami and sometimes mortadella, then I looked for vegetarian muffaletta sandwiches. I found two:
Valerie Passanno
Group Recipes
Note that vegetarian muffalettas often have artichoke in them, although those two don’t..
Nearly all muffalettas have ham and salami and sometimes mortadella or other meats. They always have olives of some kind,
and they nearly always have giardiniera, although it may be called “Italian olive salad” in some recipes. For regular,
non-vegetarian muffaletta recipes, see these sites:
Chef Lynnie
A Spicy Perspective
Food and Wine
Phaed
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