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-----Original Message-----
From: Euphoria
Sent: Monday, January 14, 2013 8:37 PM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
Subject: Hail Merry chocolate miracle tarts
Hello Uncle Phaedrus,
Today a friend shared her Hail Merry Chocolate Miracle Tart with me and I fell in love.
It was one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten and I imagine it would be rather
easy to make but I can't seem to locate a recipe for them. Do you think you can?
Thank you for your great site!
In hungry anticipation,
Euphoria
Hi Euphoria,
Here's what their website says:
Our tarts are filled with a heavenly ganache made with coconut oil
(instead of heavy cream) and sweetened with raw blue agave.
The crust is made with almond flour and a hint of sea salt.
We celebrate our ingredients: organic maple syrup, Fair trade dark cocoa,
natural raw almond flour, organic extra virgin coconut oil, sea salt.
From the ingredients, it does not, as you say, appear that it would be difficult to make a copycat recipe. However, no one appears to have done so as yet.
I had no success.
Phaed
Success!
I actually found a version of the recipe and, while it doesn't have exactly the
same ingredients it seems like it'll be delicious:
Deliciously Organic
Thanks for trying!
Euphoria
-----Original Message-----
From: Nancy
Sent: Saturday, January 12, 2013 5:48 PM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
Subject: Doughnuts
I am looking for a doughnut recipe that I use to make in the 50's. It was
in a booklet that came on a can of Spry. I don't remember much, but I know
that it had nutmeg and you had to melt some of the Spry for the shortening.
I hope you can help.
Nancy
Hello Nancy,
Nancy, why is the recipe that was sent to you on RecipeLink not right? It
fits your description. Explain why it's not the right one. How will I know
the right one when I see it?
Phaed
-----Original Message-----
From: Nancy
Sent: Sunday, January 13, 2013 10:47 AM
To: Phaedrus
Subject: Re: Doughnuts
That recipe was deleted from my computer before I could use it. I looked in
the archives but could not find it. I would appreciate it.
Nancy
Hello Nancy,
Your request on Recipelink, along with the replies, is here:
RecipeLink
The recipe you were given is below, along with two other Spry donuts
recipes. There are other Spry donuts recipes, along with a reproduction of a
Spry booklet here:
Recipe Curio
Phaed
Donuts Delicious
3 1/4 cups sifted flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cups sugar
1 tsp. nutmeg
2 tbsp. Spry vegetable shortening (not melted)
4 egg yolks, well beaten
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. lemon extract
1 c. milk
Sift flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg together 3 times.
Cream shortening, add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks
and flavoring. Beat well. Add milk and mix thoroughly. Add dry ingredients
beating until smooth. Chill dough for easier handling.
Roll out on floured board. Cut with doughnut cutter.
Fry in hot fat until golden brown. Fry 2 to 3 minutes on each side
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Raised Donuts Recipe
2 cakes compressed yeast
1/4 c. lukewarm water
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 c. Spry
2 teaspoon salt
1/2 c. sugar
1 c. scalded low-fat milk
2 large eggs, beaten
5 c. all-purpose flour
Directions
Crumble yeast into a small bowl - add in lukewarm water and 1 tsp sugar; set
in a warm place till it becomes light and spongy (about 15 min). Put
together salt, spry and 1/2 cup sugar in large bowl and add in low-fat milk.
Stir till spry is melted, then cool till lukewarm. Add in yeast and large
eggs; mix. Add in flour and knead till smooth dough. Cover and let rise till
double in bulk (about 2 hrs).Roll dough to 1/2 inch thick and cut with a 2
1/2 inch donut cutter. Place on spray coated pan 1 inch apart. Let rise till
very light. Fry in deep hot spry at 360 degrees till light brown, turning
once.
For hot spry you can use no cholesterol canola oil.
Yield: approximately 20-24 donuts.
---------------------------------------
Doughnuts
To sugar doughnuts, cool first, then shake in a paper bag with granulated or
confectioners’ sugar.
4 cups sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 tablespoons Spry
3/4 cup sugar
4 egg yolks, beaten or 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk
1 cup thick sour milk
Sift together flour, spices, salt, soda, and cream of tartar . . . Cream
Spry and sugar until well blended . . . Add egg yolks and beat until mixture
is light and fluffy. Add milk. Add sifted dry ingredients and mix thoroughly
until smooth . . . With as little handling as possible, roll dough on
floured board to 1/4-inch thickness. Let dough stand 20 minutes. Cut with 2
1/2-inch doughnut cutter . . . Fry in deep Spry (375°F.) until brown,
turning when first crack appears. Drain on absorbent paper . . . Makes 3
dozen . . . If sweet milk is used instead of sour milk, reduce milk to 3/4
cup, omit soda and cream of tartar, and use 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder .
. . Egg yolks make more tender doughnuts than whole eggs.
From: Linda M
Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2013 12:35 PM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
Subject: WWII code language question
Dear Uncle Phaedrus
My husband was recently reminiscing about an incident from his
childhood in which he heard his parents and their dinner guests
suddenly begin speaking a nonsense language. This was used
to keep sensitive subjects from little ears. This would have been
around 1960. His father was a WWII veteran and served in the
South Pacific aboard an aircraft carrier. The story he was told
later was that this was a code used during the war to thwart the
Germans as it was a uniquely American code that may have been
based on pig Latin. The dinner guests as well as his mother were
all very familiar with the language as well and spoke it easily so it
must not have been strictly confined to military use. The name he
remembers, phonetically, is Libotibo or Liebotiebo or Lybotybo.
It sounds like “lie bo tie bo”. We have searched and searched and
can find nothing about this on the internet, but he swears it was a
very common language that almost all American servicemen of that
time would have known. It was not Navajo code talking or anything
that formal but a made up language that seemed to have been very
successful in relaying messages that the Germans could not understand.
It would be great if you could find out anything about this mystery language.
Thank you
Linda
Hi Linda,
I struck out completely on this. I found nothing at all on the web, and I found nothing in the several books
that I have on secret codes and ciphers, etc.
I have a friend who was in military intelligence in the 1960s. I’ll write him and ask if he has ever heard of it.
If he hasn’t heard of it, then I’ll post it on my site. Perhaps one of my readers knows of it.
Phaed
Thank you so much! It would be great if something could be found about this pseudo language!
Linda
Hi Linda,
Well, my friend from military intelligence was not any help. He had never heard of it.
Phaed
Thanks for trying. Guess it is one of those things that might have existed but was never documented in any way.
I appreciate your help and still love reading your website.
Best
Linda
------------------------------------------------------------
Hello
Back in January, Linda M. wrote to you about WWII Code Language.
I think she was referring to Ubbi Dubbi. More information here:
Gibberish
Ubbi Dubbi
Please pass that on to her.
Thank you
Darryl
Hello Darryl,
Thanks for the tip. I did some additional searching to try to find an origin for “ubbi dubbi”. The majority of references that I found
said that “ubbi dubbi” originated with the PBS children’s show “Zoom”. A few said that Bill Cosby created it in his comedy sketch “The Dentist”. Either case would make “ubbi dubbi” too recent to have been used in WWII or even in 1960, which is when Linda's husband says he heard it.
However, one site said that “ubbi dubbi” was in use years before either of these given origins: Nationmaster Encyclopedia
To wit:
Ubbi Dubbi (also called Pig Greek or Double Dutch) is a language game spoken with English. Although popularized by the long-running PBS television show ZOOM and by Bill Cosby (in his Dentist Sketch and his voice-over of the character Mushmouth from Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids), Ubbi Dubbi was in use many years before these came into existence.
More importantly, further down the page, that same site mentions another gibberish language called “ib”:
ib
Another variation following the same rules but substituting -ib- /Ib/ Examples:
speak - spibeak
hello - hibellibo
extra – ibextriba
“Ib” would seem to fit the description of “ibo tibo” even better than “ubbi dubbi”.
I’ll copy Linda on all of this.
Thanks,
Phaed
THANK YOU! You are absolutely wonderful to follow up on this.
I’ll let my husband know what you found. You. Are. The. Best!!!
Linda
From: Patricia
Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2013 1:36 PM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
Subject: ISO recipe from the archives of RSVP Bon Appetit
Hi
This is a long shot but someone pointed me in your direction so I’m
happily searching for an answer. Back in the 1970’s (OMG) within the
RSVP column of Bon Appetit a recipe was published as an answer
to a request for a cookie originated in a New Jersey Bakery.
I cannot recall the issue and that’s part of the problem. Because the
Epicurious, Bon Appetit, etc magazines are not archived I’m looking
for a proverbial cookie in a haystack.
The recipe is called a chocolate bar cookie but it’s actually shaped like
a mini biscotti.
Ingredients included:
Eggs
Flour
Chocolate
Cashews
Whole Almonds
Roasted pignoli
Apricot Jam
The cookie has a fudge like icing which is then sprinkled with bits
of pistachio
I have spent so much time looking for this it isn’t even funny.
I’ve written to the bakery (Conca D’Oro in Union, NJ) as they used to have
the article on their counter but no longer do.
If I could find a library with microfiche trust me I’d sit for hours in search
of this one but I’m hoping you can help me.
OK, I’m begging!!
Patricia
Hi Patricia,
I feel as though I’m being “double-teamed” because I just got another e-mail request for this from someone else.
Here’s their website and the website description of this cookie/biscotti:
Conca D'Oro Bakery
Chocolate Bar Cookie: famous family recipe made of a combination of all nuts (cashews, roasted pignoli, whole almonds),
a thick layer of apricot jam, chocolate fudge and sprinkles of pistachio nuts on top
I saw that you have already posted this request on several message boards with no success. I did a thorough search,
and I am ready to assume that this recipe is not on the Web at all. I searched by any link to Conca d’Oro, any link
to Bon Appetit, and by ingredients. No joy.
I think that absolutely the only way you are going to get this recipe is from an employee/former employee of the bakery
or by locating someone with that issue of Bon Appetit. I cannot help you find an employee or former employee. The only
way that’s going to happen is if one sees your request on one of the message boards or on my site.
Finding the magazine would be great, but since you don’t know which issue, then that’s 10 years’ worth of magazines.
None of the recipe sites that have recipes from Bon Appetite go back that far. There is no index online of what was
in each issue of Bon Appetit going back to when it started. It would be nice if there was, but there isn’t.
There are some sites that sell back issues of Bon Appetit, and a few of them have issues for sale from the 1970’s
on E-Bay, and a few on these sites:
Search Old Magazines
Bonanza
E-Bay
Some of these have listings of the recipes in the magazines they sell, but I didn’t find one that had your recipe.
That’s not really surprising because your recipe was in the RSVP column, and recipes in that column probably wouldn’t
be listed in an index or magazine description. I suppose you could write to those sites and ask them to search the ones
that they have from the 1970s for your recipe. Also because it was in the RSVP column, it probably didn’t make it into
any of the Bon Appetit cookbooks.
You might try calling Bon Appetit and begging. You might find a sympathetic employee there who would be willing to look
through all of those back issues in their spare time to find your recipe.
You might talk to your local library. Libraries often maintain collections of magazines. Even if yours doesn’t have
Bon Appetit, they might be able to find another library through the state or national network that does have issues
from the 1970s. You may have to go to that library, wherever it is, and go through them yourself. A whole decade of
magazine issues is a lot to ask someone to go through. I suppose you could even check and see if the Library of Congress
has them. It might be worth at trip to DC to you.
Finally, There are a couple of people on my lists of helpers who have collections of Bon Appetit. I don’t know if they
have issues from the 1970s, but I can ask. Again, it’s asking a lot to ask someone to go through a whole decade of magazines
and look for a recipe. I’ll let you know if I get any response.
In 1982 Bon Appetit published a cookbook containing 500 of the recipes from their RSVP column. However, this recipe is not in it.
Phaed
Super!!!
I’ve seen a few postings recently for this darned recipe too but I have exhausted many of the things you suggest.
I am going to go back to the bakery this weekend and see if someone there can help me. I’ve tried in the past
unsuccessfully simply because the owners have long been deceased and the new owners didn’t keep the historical
article that this was originally in.
I am certain that at this point my alternatives are going to be either scour through old issues (I have no problem doing so)
on microfiche somewhere or just buying every year of magazines from the 70’s. I currently have a bid on the 1978 issues on ebay.
I probably would be smarter just to attempt recreating this on my own. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to take a product
to some science lab somewhere for cooking DNA? LOL. I probably shouldn’t laugh – that’s how the line of Copy Cat cookbooks
probably came about.
At any rate, I so thank you for the time you spent today researching this – it’s far more than I would have though someone
would do for one little recipe ?
Happy New Year!!!
PS – all of your points are well taken. I’ll keep trying.
Patricia
===========================================================
From: Rosemary
Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2013 1:09 PM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
Subject: Chocolate bar cookies from Conca D'Oro bakery
a.. This is a description of a cookie from the bakery that made it:
a..
a.. Chocolate Bar Cookie: famous family recipe made of a combination of all nuts
(cashews, roasted pignoli, whole almonds), a think layer of apricot jam, chocolate
fudge and sprinkles of pistachio nuts on top
It was in the RSVP section of Bon Appetit magazine probably in the '70s.
Thank you!
Rosemary
Hi Rosemary,
I feel as though I’m being “double-teamed” because I just got another e-mail request for this from someone else. Do you know each other?
Here’s their website and the website description of this cookie/biscotti:
http://www.concadorobakery.com/pastries.php?type=cookies
Chocolate Bar Cookie: famous family recipe made of a combination of all nuts (cashews, roasted pignoli, whole almonds),
a thick layer of apricot jam, chocolate fudge and sprinkles of pistachio nuts on top
I saw that this request has already been posted on several message boards with no success. I did a thorough search,
and I am ready to assume that this recipe is not on the Web at all. I searched by any link to Conca d’Oro, any link
to Bon Appetit, and by ingredients. No joy.
I think that absolutely the only way you are going to get this recipe is from an employee/former employee of the bakery
or by locating someone with that issue of Bon Appetit. I cannot help you find an employee or former employee. The only
way that’s going to happen is if one sees your request on one of the message boards or on my site.
Finding the magazine would be great, but since you don’t know which issue, then that’s 10 years’ worth of magazines.
None of the recipe sites that have recipes from Bon Appetite go back that far. There is no index online of what was
in each issue of Bon Appetit going back to when it started. It would be nice if there was, but there isn’t.
You might try calling Bon Appetit and begging. You might find a sympathetic employee there who would be willing to
look through all of those back issues in their spare time to find your recipe.
You might talk to your local library. Libraries often maintain collections of magazines. Even if yours doesn’t have
Bon Appetit, they might be able to find another library through the state or national network that does have issues
from the 1970s. You may have to go to that library, wherever it is, and go through them yourself. A whole decade of
magazine issues is a lot to ask someone to go through. I suppose you could even check and see if the Library of Congress
has them. It might be worth a trip to DC to you.
Finally, There are a couple of people on my lists of helpers who have collections of Bon Appetit. I don’t know if they
have issues from the 1970s, but I can ask. Again, it’s asking a lot to ask someone to go through a whole decade of magazines
and look for a recipe. I’ll let you know if I get any response.
Phaed
Thank you, Uncle Phaedrus!
There was a (disjointed) discussion about this recipe this morning on the Chowhound "Home Cooking " site.
You were mentioned, and more than one person emailed. Your answer was .. full..!
-- thank you for the thorough response. I have passed on your information.
Rosemary
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