Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Vaniall


I was at my dad's the other week looking through my mom's recipe books. I wanted to find her recipe for a weird dip she used to make back in the 1970s that she called veggie dip, but that she used exclusively to dip sesame sticks. It looked like Thousand Island dressing, but had cream cheese and... and I can't remember. Salsa? No idea. 

Anyway, I never found that (and it probably wasn't an actual recipe anyway - it probably was on a package of cream cheese or a bottle of whatever sauce went into it (cocktail sauce?). What I did find was a binder with a bunch of random recipes and this recipe card for Fruit Cocktail Cake. I loved that cake and you'd better bet I'm going to try to make it (but do they still make cans of fruit cocktail?). As I recall, it was ooey gooey deliciousness. We shall see. 

Looking at the recipe gave me all the feels because my mother never could spell vanilla. It made my heart do little backflips to see it misspelled in her usual way, in her handwriting. A little taste of Momcat. 



P.S. I'm intrigued that she wrote mine, my dad's, and my brother's names on the binder. Was she doodling her most important people? Was she saying - look here, family, I'm collecting recipes for you! As with many things mom related, I'll never know. 

P.P.S. We just found out this morning that Dr. M's Aunt Judy passed away last night. Sad times in the Bug Household today...

9 comments:

  1. Fruit Cocktail Cake is one of my special treats. And yes they still do make fruit cocktail, although I can't figure out who would it it except those of use who put it in fruit cocktail cake. Anyway, I make the cake and then cut it up and freeze the pieces to pull out when I want to treat myself.

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    1. I've tried freezing something I baked and it SORT of worked - I left it in the freezer for about a week. Ha!

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    2. Regarding your next post, I had forgotten to mention that I cut back the sugar in the recipe. It helps. Although it still is sweet!

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  2. They sure do still make fruit cocktail. One of the serious bits of business in our house was dividing the cherries so I didn't get ALL of them! I don't think I ever came across fruit cocktail cake, but drained fruit cocktail in jello was a winter standby when fresh fruits weren't so easily available.

    I love the 'vaniall' note. After Mom died, I found a torn-off piece of envelope she'd used as a bookmark. In her handwriting, it bore this message: "Being disorganized is not a moral problem." I framed it, and keep it nearby.

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    1. The cherries were the BEST!

      I love that you framed her note. I might have to do something similar.

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  3. Fruit cocktail cake sounds good. Thanks for the recipe! :)

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    1. You're welcome! If you try it just be aware that it is VERY SWEET. Which is not a problem for me. Ha!

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  4. I love this story. It makes me wonder now where my mother's cookbooks are. She no longer is able to cook or bake--sadly, she even realizes that she can't remember how she used to make things or even correctly/reliably follow a recipe anymore.

    The only problem you might have with your cake is the size of the can of fruit cocktail and how full of fruit it actually is. Cans have gotten smaller now, and they are not as full of solid contents as they used to be. I hope you make your mom's cake and let us know how it all turned out.

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    1. We bought the ingredients yesterday but I was (as you suspected) struggling over how much fruit cocktail to get. I mean, what even IS 303 fruit cocktail? Was that a can size? We ended up getting two cans and we'll be winging it. I think I might try making it tomorrow. Stay tuned!

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