Apple Souffle Pudding

Since it's fall, which means "apple everything" and "pumpkin everything" season, I've been diving into Real, Old-Time Yankee Apple Cooking (1969), by Beatrice Vaughan, which I shared last week. Here's the Apple Souffle Pudding, which came out great and was really easy! In reading about Mrs. Vaughan, she seemed like the type who would test her recipes and not let anything into her book that wasn't perfect. So far my suspicions about her are right on target. Thanks, Mrs. Vaughan!

Apple Souffle Pudding

Casa de Shenandoah

I'm DYING! Today Wayne Newton's Las Vegas home (though he isn't living there at the moment) opens as a museum! We've GOT to go! And there is even a tour package available where HE will be your tour guide! They don't tell you online how much that costs. I guess if you have to ask, you can't afford it. But afford it we WILL, because we are doing this! Click here to learn all about it!

Cocktail of the Week

I'm returning to something I used to do years ago on my defunct personal website, the Cocktail of the Week! Here's this week's, which is perfect for fall! Cheers!

Equinox Sour

2 oz applejack

1/2 oz blood orange liqueur

1/2 oz fresh lime juice 

1/8 tsp ground ginger

Dash of Angostura bitters 

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Beatrice Vaughan: Food Columnist and Expert Cook

Few things make me happier than going through my vintage cookbooks and discovering a fabulous, forgotten lady who was a food celebrity in her day.  Today we're celebrating Beatrice Vaughan, of East Thetford, VT, who "demand(ed) a piece of the action" by starting a second life as a food researcher and writer in her fifties and published a number of cookbooks in her day.  And I was doubly happy to find this article about her from December 3, 1969 by "nationally known food columnist" Gaynor Maddox, since we're the proud owners of one of his records, "Hear How To Plan The Perfect Dinner Party," which he recorded with his wife Dorothy!  We'll be sampling some of Mrs. Vaughan's apple recipes in the coming days.  Apples and Autumn - the perfect pair!  And here's to Beatrice Vaughan, who never approved of "women in middle age who just sit down and wring their hands and complain about not being needed anymore.  There is always something to do if you look for it."  She was living proof of that!

Bake a Boston Cream Pie in September!

And learn all about the phases of the moon while you're at it! Rawleigh's Good Health Guide 1955 Almanac & Cook Book has got it covered! Did you know that you can still buy Rawleigh's products? You can, although you can safely use other brands for that pie. ;)

September is Velveeta Time!

There are new vintage recipes on our site for September, featuring Velveeta! Fall is comfort food time and melted cheese is pretty much the definition of comfort food. Click here for more!

Back home... but for how long?

We're back from our second trip to Southern California in a month and I can't wait to go back for good! It's just our happy place. We're such fish out of water in the northeast, try as we might to make the best of it. The west feels like home. We have a friend who calls us bicoastal, so that may be a possibility in the future, too.

Here are a few photos of good times at Tiki Oasis and beyond:

Paul's birthday dinner at Albie's Beef Inn

Happy hour at the Amigo Spot, this year's happy discovery

After brunch with friends at the Bali Hai, San Diego

Damon's Steakhouse in Glendale

Seeing Mary and Elayne at the Dresden in Hollywood - a fabulous night!

Being interviewed by Fox5 Live about our Tiki Oasis symposium

In-N-Out Burger, a must stop on any trip out west

Eating fire, aided by MeduSirena Marina - fabulous performer and person