I had so much fun as usual at the Fremont Pub. Lib. Dist. last night discussing Southern Vintage Treats over red velvet cupcakes and more. But I have two more fun shows coming up this weekend:  Vintage Snacks and Sweets at one library and Crafting Retro Fashion Accessories at the other. I made this fascinator for the second.

My Grandma used to crochet fascinators decades ago for herself and my Mom/Aunts and they were a triangular mantilla sort of thing. Now they are perky little hat type accents that folks like Kate Middleton wear.

I found this easy pattern on the Simplicity site and a great descriptions here. But I didn’t want to sew it at a show, so I found some black/gold fine yarn and wrapped it around 3 little feathers. Then I wound it around a silver craft barrette and tied the two ends on. I glued on a star button. This was great fun, and not too hard. I also didn’t want to use a hot glue gun at a show because someone always seems to get burned even with the cool melt ones. I used craft glue from the bottle.

I have also seen circular fabric and lace covered fascinators with fake cherries glued on and that is also cue, but I figured I had more of a chance wearing something like this (especially to a vintage show).

Does anyone wear these? I wonder about my British readers. I met a delightful on Twitter this week while home with now two sick boys and we exchanged recipes and pleasantries. She kindly mentioned me and some recipes on her charming blog today. Check it out!

I’m already thinking about Valentine’s Day, partially because of my new Alana O’Neill novella out. I have blogged from this 1978 gem on Thanksgiving and Christmas, but they have cute Valentine’s and birthday recipes, too. Also, I was reading a mystery with a book club that constantly ate cheese straws and had a taste for those types of things.

The caption for this is “An ideal snack to serve with drinks. You’ll find its hard to resist these delicate tidbits.”

Cheese Bites
2 cups flour

1 cup butter, slightly softened

1 cup grated Cheddar cheese

1 egg, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water

Sesame seeds

Measure flour into a circle in a wide bowl. Inside the circle, cream butter and cheese and work into the flour with a fork. Form into a ball and chill. Using half the dough at a time, roll between 2 pieces of waxed paper until 1/8 inch thick. Cut into hearts, arrows or other shapes. Brush with beaten egg mixture and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake on a chilled baking sheet in a preheated 375F oven about 10 minutes or until golden and firm. Makes about 4 dozen 2-inch snacks. Which might serve 1 dozen in my house.

I’m packing to talk about Vintage Southern Treats to go with The Help tonight at the Fremont Public Lib. Dist. in Mundelein. It is one of my favorite places to go and I’ve been there a bunch of times.

This is in the snack section of the 1956 Entertaining Six or Eight cookbook that the charming cookie recipe came from in yesterday’s blog post. This one is perhaps not so charming. And yes, those are meats around it. Snack or Insanity?

Molded Pickle Salad

Set out a 1-qt. mold. Empty into a bowl: 1 pkg. lime-flavored gelatin, and stir until gelatin is completely dissolved in 1 cup very hot water. Stir in: 1/2 cup cold water and 1/2 cup liquid from sweet gherkins. Chill until mixture is slightly thicker than consistency of thick, unbeaten egg white. Meanwhile, prepare: 3/4 cup sliced sweet gherkins, 2/3 cup shredded cabbage, 1/3 cup grated carrot, 1/4 cup chopped pimiento, 1/4 cup chopped green pepper. Lightly oil the mold with salad or cooking oil (not olive oil) and set it aside to drain. While gelatin is of desired consistency, beat with a rotary beater until light and frothy. Add and beat in 1/4 cup mayonnaise. Mix in the prepared pickles and vegetables. Turn into the mold and chill in refrigerator until firm.

This 1956 treasure has very interesting menus for “Ladies Luncheons,” like the one pictured on the cover. I don’t want to know what that is, actually!

But these sound delicious:

Meltaway Chocolate Cookies

Sift together and set aside: 1 cup sifted cake flour, 1/3 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar, 2 tablespoons cocoa, 1/4 tsp. salt.

Cream together until butter is softened: 1/2 cup butter, 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Beating until smooth after each addition, add dry ingredients in fourths.

Drop dough by teaspoonfuls about 2 in. apart onto the cookie sheets. Flatten each to about 1/8-in. thickness with tines of a fork, dipped frequently in water. Form a crisscross pattern. Bake at 300F 12 – 15 min. Remove cookies from cookie sheets and place close together on waxed paper. Generously sift confectioners’ sugar over warm cookies. Makes 4 dozen.

Four dozen for 6 – 8 people? Isn’t that like 8-6 per person? I like that math…