From the Kitchen of the Cypress House, July 23, 1980:

My mother made the best tomato aspic: highly-seasoned, perfect consistency, delicious. But for some reason the recipe was never written down and put in her recipe box. I could vaguely remember the procedure, but it wasn’t until I found a recipe in the Good Housekeeping Cookbook that I truly thought I could duplicate it.

Aspic goes with almost anything and it’s good winter or summer.

Mother’s Tomato Aspic

3 cups tomato juice

1 stem celery

1 small onion, sliced

2 slices lemon

1 small bay leaf

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin

2/3 cup cold tomato juice

1 tablespoon vinegar

3 or 4 good shakes Tabasco

2 tablespoons Worcestershire

2 (3-ounce) packages cream cheese

Combine 3 cups tomato juice, celery, onion, lemon, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Simmer, uncovered, 20 to 30 minutes. Strain, pushing through as much pulp as possible.

Meanwhile, mix cold tomato juice, vinegar, Tabasco and Worcestershire. Sprinkle gelatin over the mixture, stirring to soften.

Stir gelatin mixture into hot mixture until dissolved.

Check for seasoning, adding salt, pepper, etc., until it suits your taste. Pour into mold or molds and refrigerate until slightly set.

Soften cream cheese (season lightly if you like with salt, pepper, lemon juice and onion.)

Drop by teaspoonful into aspic. Return to refrigerator until completely set.

Serve on lettuce leaves topped with homemade mayonnaise.

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From the Kitchen of the Cypress House, Aug. 6, 1980:

With the addition of several eggs, a little oil and perhaps a bit of flavoring, we can make a box cake mix taste almost as good as homemade. But no matter how hard we try, there’s no hope for a box of icing mix.

So we are always trying to find frostings that are delicious but easy enough for the inexperienced cook.

Silk Chocolate Frosting

4 squares unsweetened chocolate

1 stick butter, softened

2 eggs

1 box powdered sugar

3 tablespoons hot water

2 teaspoons vanilla

Melt the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl over hot water. Add remaining ingredients and place bowl in ice. Beat until creamy with electric mixer and spread over cake.