Need to find missing half of a two-page Jack-O'-Lantern Cookie recipe
October 21, 2024 1:41 PM Subscribe
Once upon a time, I had two pages of a two-page recipe for chocolate-and-orange Jack-O'-Lantern Cookies. At some point, one of those two pages disappeared, and I'm left with only one. It's a good page, with a lot of information, but it's missing some things, including ingredient quantities. Here's a .jpg scan of the one page I have, in Google Drive. Do you recognize this recipe, and can you help me find it?
Note: I could probably improvise/make do with the partial recipe I have, but having the full recipe is important to me for personal reasons, and it would simply be easier to have the full recipe. Other, similar, or substitute recipes won't work here. It needs to be these cookies.
Can you point me at a copy online? I've searched and not found a copy, though I've seen pictures of cookies that look like these, but obviously are not them. I've searched IA, Google, and HathiTrust. I have not searched repositories of recipes that require searching on individual websites.
I suspect that this recipe was published sometime 1955-1985. Some likelihood of more like 1965-1980, but not sure.
If you don't recognize the recipe, do you happen to know if "Decorating & Craft Ideas" seems a likely publication for this recipe, per the text at the bottom of my page? I thought it was Southern Living or Better Homes and Gardens for a long time, but I see now that there is a publication with that name out there.
Thank you for your help.
Note: I could probably improvise/make do with the partial recipe I have, but having the full recipe is important to me for personal reasons, and it would simply be easier to have the full recipe. Other, similar, or substitute recipes won't work here. It needs to be these cookies.
Can you point me at a copy online? I've searched and not found a copy, though I've seen pictures of cookies that look like these, but obviously are not them. I've searched IA, Google, and HathiTrust. I have not searched repositories of recipes that require searching on individual websites.
I suspect that this recipe was published sometime 1955-1985. Some likelihood of more like 1965-1980, but not sure.
If you don't recognize the recipe, do you happen to know if "Decorating & Craft Ideas" seems a likely publication for this recipe, per the text at the bottom of my page? I thought it was Southern Living or Better Homes and Gardens for a long time, but I see now that there is a publication with that name out there.
Thank you for your help.
If you don't recognize the recipe, do you happen to know if "Decorating & Craft Ideas" seems a likely publication for this recipe, per the text at the bottom of my page?
It absolutely is. Here’s a scan of a page from an eBay listing that uses the same distinctive numbered list format and the same footer on the even-numbered page.
posted by bcwinters at 2:25 PM on October 21 [4 favorites]
It absolutely is. Here’s a scan of a page from an eBay listing that uses the same distinctive numbered list format and the same footer on the even-numbered page.
posted by bcwinters at 2:25 PM on October 21 [4 favorites]
OK, looking through WorldCat for a place with those lead me to a little more info at the Library of Congress. Apparently 60 US libraries have some portion of these according to WorldCat, but none I have a quick in with.
posted by advicepig at 2:40 PM on October 21 [1 favorite]
posted by advicepig at 2:40 PM on October 21 [1 favorite]
Peeking at your profile, you might try Rockbridge Regional Library
posted by advicepig at 2:44 PM on October 21 [1 favorite]
posted by advicepig at 2:44 PM on October 21 [1 favorite]
Also, good instinct, Decorating & Craft Ideas was published by Southern Living from 1977-1984.
posted by advicepig at 2:46 PM on October 21 [1 favorite]
posted by advicepig at 2:46 PM on October 21 [1 favorite]
I’m still looking through eBay listings. By 1982 the footer font had changed to a serif, so it’s before then.
p.s. it is now my life’s mission to find and scan every issue of this magazine, it looks like it absolutely slaps
posted by bcwinters at 2:50 PM on October 21 [13 favorites]
p.s. it is now my life’s mission to find and scan every issue of this magazine, it looks like it absolutely slaps
posted by bcwinters at 2:50 PM on October 21 [13 favorites]
I have suspicions that it might be the October 1980 issue, because it features a lot of cut-outs similar to the recipe, although the "Sweet Treats for your Goblins" recipe part doesn't begin until page 68. Still, it might be close enough. Will keep digging for the correct issue.
posted by lianove3 at 3:55 PM on October 21 [6 favorites]
posted by lianove3 at 3:55 PM on October 21 [6 favorites]
Check the texts section of the internet archive if it goes back up before Halloween.
Before it was hacked I was able to find a book I'd read as a tween just by typing in the one line I remembered best.
posted by brujita at 1:08 AM on October 22 [1 favorite]
Before it was hacked I was able to find a book I'd read as a tween just by typing in the one line I remembered best.
posted by brujita at 1:08 AM on October 22 [1 favorite]
It's a project to make a bunch potato-inked bags and 12 dozen double layer cookies. Two gross cookies is kinda a lot! They lay out the total price, which is equivalent to about $30 today. It's a continued page,and on page 66. I think this perhaps may be the "group project" that starts on page 65 of the Halloween issue of Decorating & Craft ideas from October 1978. Table of contents here
posted by neda at 12:34 PM on October 22 [1 favorite]
posted by neda at 12:34 PM on October 22 [1 favorite]
Wow, nice thinking neda! I've requested PDF scans of both through my institution, because this is obviously an academic matter...
posted by lianove3 at 3:34 PM on October 22
posted by lianove3 at 3:34 PM on October 22
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So since your page mentioned chocolate and orange-flavored doughs, I tried "vintage recipe chocolate and orange jack-o'-lantern cookies" as a search term, and got this recipe, which looks pretty plausible as a very stripped down version of the one you have.
posted by EvaDestruction at 2:01 PM on October 21 [2 favorites]