Pie Bird Cook

Christmas in the midwest is my favorite time of year.  If snow decides to fall, in any amount, even better. We were blessed to spend part of the holiday season with my husband’s family in Kansas City and then headed to my family’s homestead in Missouri for another week.

The weather was warm enough to be outside so we did a little walking. We visited Union Station in St. Louis and took a train to…

Old Fashioned Pineapple Upside Down Cake

At my father’s request, my mother baked pineapple upside down cake for the holidays.   Luckily, I was around to snap photographs.

When my father’s birthday rolls around in April each year, he inevitably asks for one of two cakes: German chocolate cake or pineapple upside down cake.  At 85 years old, dad has seen a lot of birthdays…and I’ve watched mom make a lot of his birthday cakes.  Both of…

1887 Irish Potato Soup

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I call myself an Irishman, but my Green Isle heritage is a bit far from the true native Irish tree.  My “lassie” genes have been diluted with German, and French, and a bit of Cherokee (from Virginia) so I’ll claim any and all those heritages, when it suits me.  Back to the Irish part.  Let’s see. My mother’s maiden name is Patrick, because her father (my…

Peach Walnut Relish is a simple but delicious topping for appetizers, pork, chicken, salads, etc…

Peach Walnut Relish Recipe Type: Relish Author: Kathleen Scott Prep time: 10 mins Total time: 10 mins Serves: 2 cups Peach walnut relish can be used on many things but my favorites are fried green tomatoes, chicken, pork, salads, toast points, and fancy pants crackers. Ingredients

2 cups…

Baked Figs, from 1917, Scrumptious, elegant dessert! @piebirdcook #antiquerecipe

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This is a light and elegant Baked Fig recipe from 1917.  Historically, fig recipes were quite popular around the winter season and holidays.  This is a perfect recipe to try this time of year.  I found it in Mrs. Ida C. Bailey Allen’s cook book, Mrs. Allen’s Cook Book, published in 1917.

I haven’t found an easier baked fig recipe to truly enjoy all that figs have to…

Welcome to our new site

We are pleased to announce the launch of our new website! Pie Bird Cook partnered with Pixel Me Pink Austin Web Design to create a new online presence where you can:

stay up to date on all of our happenings via our blog

check out any of the recipes in our large collection

submit a your own recipe by going to our details area

Take a look around and make sure to contact usfor any of your food…

Peach Leather, 1887 – the original fruit roll up

Hmm, doesn’t really sound appetizing but recipes with odd titles always intrigue me.

“Peach Leather: Stew as many peaches as you choose, allowing a quarter of a pound of sugar to one of fruit; mash it up smooth as it cooks, and when it is dry enough to spread in a thin sheet on a board greased with butter, set it out in the sun to dry; when dry it can be rolled up like leather, wrapped up in a…

The Latest and Best Cook Book, 1884

My copy of this old manuscript is falling apart. The binding is split, many pages have come loose and tatters of paper flitter out each time I open it. The prior owner, whomever she or he was, left additional treasures inside.  Lots of little recipes, both clipped from newspapers and handwritten, are found within the yellowed sheets.  They include canning okra, dandelions, egg-plant and summer…

The Frugal Housewife, 1830

  Written by Lydia Marie Child, this is the oldest book in my arsenal, and also my most favored.  My publication is the third edition; the first edition was published in 1829.  I can’t help but wonder how many homes this book has lived in and how many cooks have thumbed through its pages, creating dishes for family and friends.

Michigan State University manages the Historic American Cookbook…

Fall is the perfect time of year to dive into baked apple desserts.   When I was young, my friend’s country church would make hundreds (literally) of gallons of homemade apple butter in huge kettles on the front lawn of the sanctuary.  People would take turns stirring and stewing apples over hot coals for hours, and the end result was a warm wonderful gooey mess on homemade lard biscuits.   My…

Smoked Salmon on Flowered Cucumber

  I needed a treat for a fancy little soiree (that’s an exaggeration; it was only a few girl scout moms planning camping trips and cookie sale strategies).   No time for a grocery run and subsequent cooking, my mind raced through the items in my fridge.  Aha!  I already had all the ingredients for THESE.

Trying out an antique recipe for tartare sauce resulted in way more tartare than we can eat.…

Tartare sauce was as common in the 1800’s and Tartar sauce is today.  Ingredients are still readily found (thank goodness).   Uses are mostly consistent with trending American cuisine with one exception. The White House Cook Book, 1887, recommended pairing this sauce with broiled and fried fish…blah, blah, blah… and boiled tongue (ooh, I don’t think so).  Note, they didn’t mention whose tongue…

Cashews are my all time favorite nut:  sweet, creamy, heaven in a bag…or canister… or whatever you find them in.  This is equally true for cashew BUTTER.  In my humble opinion, cashew butter is even better than almond butter (and almond butteris already pretty incredible).  Creamy, cashew butter on fat puffy toasted artesano bread with sweet, crispy red delicious apple slices will bring you to…

Cranberry Chicken Salad Author: Kathleen Scott Prep time: 15 mins Total time: 15 mins Ingredients

2 cups shredded chicken, cooked

½ cup mayonnaise

2 green onions, chopped

½ cup sweetened dried cranberries

¼ green apple, shredded

¼ teaspoon dried dill weed

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 pinch salt

1 pinch pepper

¼ cup chopped pecans (optional)

Instructions

Mix chicken and mayonnaise in a…

A Proper Tea Room

              My dear friend arranged for a group of us to visit a proper tea house.  How have I never done this before? What fun!  The china!  The elegance!  We enjoyed four different blends of yummy tea: candy cane (fav!), tropical (fav!),

    The charming experience started with the rose garden outside.

          Our tea hostess placed beautiful things to see.

                    We…

My mother, her mother, and HER mother made these noodles.  My children, and most of my nieces and nephews can make them, too.  A reasonable estimate is that my mom has made these noodles several hundred times, and that might be guessing on the low side.  We eat them for every holiday, nearly every birthday, and most Sundays.

They’re made with sifted flour, egg, salt and water.  That’s it.  The…

Literally.  Like, holy mackerel, my husband’s grill is on FIRE.  Right now.  On FIRE. And it’s totally my fault.  Earlier today, my youngest thought it would be a “hoot” to clean Daddy’s grill. Distracted and on the phone, I said “no”. She really wanted to do it.  “Mommy, please. Please”.  Still on the phone, I say, “okay, but we need to burn off the BBQ chicken goo”.  I turn every dial on HIGH…