Spin-off: Molasses and other ingredients you don’t hear of much anymore

[tvguy]

Like with many items, much of this stuff can be regional I suppose.

I guess, but to me lard is a cooking staple just like salt and pepper. But I will look again when I am in the store. I think for a lot of us who don't buy it, we may not notice if it is still on the shelf. There was a thread here a few months ago where people thought they no longer sold margarine, only butter. When I looked for that, there were 18 slots at Walmart for different brands of margarine and 2 slots for butter.

 

[scrhsa]

As a kid I would mix a bit Grandma's Molasses with a bit of peanut butter when I wanted a sweet snack. My daughter will make a molasses and peanut butter sandwich every once in a while. And we use it for our Poppy-Q Sauce. All the grandkids called my dad Poppy. He made some awesome bbq sauce. My middle dd came up with the name many years ago and it has stuck. So now we always have some Poppy-Q sauce hanging around

 

[neverlandsky]

Bacon grease is a big one. Followed by Heavy Cream or Buttermilk. The ingredients that I have a hard time finding in-store are:
*Liquid Smoke
*Tamari
*Jarred Horseradish
*Fish Sauce
*Pimentos
*Lamb
*Plain Rice Cakes

 

[RedAngie]

It is one of the baking supplies my wife keeps on hand. That and things like Karo Corn Syrup, Cream of Tartar, Corn Starch, Baking Soda. Our container of Molasses is half empty, and expires in 2024 so it gets used in gingerbread cookies, pumpkin pie, and homemade granola.

I didn’t know molasses had an expiration date. I thought it was like honey and lasted for millennia.

The only time I bought it, maybe 30 years ago, I used about half the jar. The rest was still in my pantry when I moved in 1998, so I heaved it.

 

[RedAngie]

As for “margarine,” yes, it’s still sold, but most non-butter packages are now called “spread.” I think there may be a specific FDA definition for margarine that spreads don’t meet.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I make sour cream molasses cookies with dark chocolate chips quite often. They are so soft and delicious. It’s one of my husband’s family recipes from years ago.

Will you share the recipe?

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I use it occasionally for candied yams, pecan pie, shoofly pie or bran muffins.

I've noticed people don't cook with canned fruit, cool whip, Campbell's cream of soups, or jello like they used to. (Child of the 70's here)

When I was a kid, every other starchy side dish involved cream of chicken/celery/mushroom soup. And about every dessert contained some combination of either cool whip, jello or canned fruit.....

We were never a “cream of” soup cooking family, but I know a lot of people still use them. And yes, on the cool whip, jello and canned fruit, lol. I actually like fruit in jello, and still buy it sometimes. (I haven’t made it yet, but I do make jello still!)

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Dream Whip powdered topping mix. It’s still available, but I don’t think many buy it.

There were plenty of 60s recipes featuring it.

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Ha! Haven’t seen that in a while! But I remember Mom making it in the Hamilton Beach mixer.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I have 2 bottles of molasses in my cabinet, one will expire next month so going to use it up to make Hermit cookie bars this weekend.
It is a must ingredient for Christmas baking!

No surprise, I love hermits! Probably because Mom loved hermits. (No surprise!)

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

Saltpeter

I also used to search for this. Luckily my local farm shop butcher has a source and orders it for me. I only use it for spiced beef.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

we have it on the shelf for when dh makes baked beans.

I have never actually made baked beans. I do like to do baked beans, onions and kielbasa in the crock pot, especially for parties! And these days I’m probably more likely to buy Bush’s beans than B&M, come to think of it.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I have two recipes that call for 2 somewhat hard to find (for me) ingredients.
Lard - cookie recipe
Saltpeter - spiced beef recipe

I've started to notice lard in the stores a bit more. Saltpeter I've managed to find at a Amish/Mennonite grocery store in Dover, De.

My FIL used lard in his pie crusts up until recently, not sure where he got it.

 

[Schneewittchen37]

Bacon grease is a big one. Followed by Heavy Cream or Buttermilk. The ingredients that I have a hard time finding in-store are:
*Liquid Smoke
*Tamari
*Jarred Horseradish
*Fish Sauce
*Pimentos
*Lamb
*Plain Rice Cakes

I like that you mentioned pimentos. I use them a lot (chicken ala king, four bean salad, pasta salad) and don't have any trouble finding them. Harris Teeter and Giant always have them. But you're right, I can't think of anyone else that I know of that uses them regularly like I do.

But what I do have trouble finding since the pandemic started is wax beans. I love wax beans. Frozen bags or canned. Frozen for a side with a steak or fish entree. Canned for my awesome bean salad.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Molasses is as common a baking ingredient for me as any other - it goes in lots of things, especially spice flavored ones.

DH and I were in Honolulu celebrating our anniversary during the molasses spill there a few years ago. It was a big, big deal. No people were hurt but it took out huge masses of sea life (deoxygenated the water apparently).
Honolulu molasses spill - Wikipedia

It's still available and I actually keep a box on hand most of the time. I've got a very quick cream-pie recipe (may even actually be the Dream Pie shown here - the printing is too small for me to read) that's always a sure hit and I make it if I need to roll something out on the fly.

I didn’t realize there was a molasses spill in Hawaii! Sad that all the sea life died. Thanks for sharing

 

[Pea-n-Me]

As a kid I would mix a bit Grandma's Molasses with a bit of peanut butter when I wanted a sweet snack. My daughter will make a molasses and peanut butter sandwich every once in a while. And we use it for our Poppy-Q Sauce. All the grandkids called my dad Poppy. He made some awesome bbq sauce. My middle dd came up with the name many years ago and it has stuck. So now we always have some Poppy-Q sauce hanging around

That’s what’s in Mary Janes - molasses taffy and peanut butter. Yum! (I know from previous candy threads here that many absolutely hate them! )

 

[tasha99]

I think I'm a cooking hoarder. If lard is unusual, what about the tallow, schmaltz, and duck fat in my freezer? I render lard every fall to go in tamales (I like it to get kind of porky flavored, so Im not too careful about cooking it too long), and I buy completely flavorless lard for baking. Where I am, lard is usually in the Mexican section of the store, though I've read that stores are going to do away with ethnic aisles. If they do, I think it would make most sense next to the Crisco in the baking aisle.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I like that you mentioned pimentos. I use them a lot (chicken ala king, four bean salad, pasta salad) and don't have any trouble finding them. Harris Teeter and Giant always have them. But you're right, I can't think of anyone else that I know of that uses them regularly like I do.

But what I do have trouble finding since the pandemic started is wax beans. I love wax beans. Frozen bags or canned. Frozen for a side with a steak or fish entree. Canned for my awesome bean salad.

I like wax beans too! A staple at my house growing up (60’s/70s).

 

[Chokky]

I make sour cream molasses cookies with dark chocolate chips quite often. They are so soft and delicious. It’s one of my husband’s family recipes from years ago.

Would love this recipe if possible too please!

 

[Chokky]

the only reason it's on our shelf is we found a recipe for 'butter beer' and when it's used with a particular soda (that i only found for a couple of weeks last halloween-stocked up so we still have some) tastes identical to the stuff they sell at universal.

I love butter beer! Any chance to get the recipe please and which brand soda?

 

[fla4fun]

We have a Christmas gingerbread cookie recipe that calls for dark molasses. Boy is that hard to measure! Even using a little non stick spray first doesn’t always work. We make them every year.