Lunch Box Fun

In the spirit of back to school I had pulled two books from my shelf to review, both of which I purchased while in elementary school from Scholastic Book Service.

The Cookie Book by Eva Moore
Peanuts Lunch Bag Cook Book with Cartoons by Charles M. Schulz and recipes by June Dutton

Looking through the books provided a great trip down memory lane, reflecting on early school days but also thinking about some of my early attempts at cooking!

From the Peanuts Lunch Bag Cook Book I made

Lucy's Crabby Sandwich

Little Deviled Ham Sandwiches

April Fool Proof Potato Salad

Good Ol' Coleslaw

Miss Othmar's Tested Mayonnaise

It was the first time making home made mayonnaise which was then used in the crabby Sandwich and potato Salad.  It provided a nice complex flavour that you don't get from commercial mayonnaise. 

I choose the Lucy's Crabby Sandwich version with Avocado because I am sure as I kid I would have wondered what an Avocado was,  not something that was available in rural New Brunswick at that time.  Now I will admit with the exception of Tuna Salad Sandwich I don't eat many sandwiches made from canned protein,  nothing wrong with the canned products, especially if a Hurricane is coming and you need shelf stable protein options.  But as a regular sandwich filling I think I will stick with other available options. 

The salads were a different story the Good Ol' Coleslaw had lots of other vegetable with the cabbage and was made with a tangy oil and vinegar dressing.  This recipe is definitely a make again.  Actually I think I will make it later this week for a BBQ potluck I am attending.

Everyone has an idea what Potato Salad should taste like and they will judge any other Potato Salad by their ideal.  Well this one passed the test for me.   It very much seemed like most potato salads but I think it was the addition of chopped dill pickles that made the difference in taste. It will be also a recipe I will consider the next time I make potato salad. 

From the Cookie Book we have two cookie selections, because why make one batch of cookies when you can make two!

One of my goals of this endeavour was to not make a recipe I had made before from the cookbooks selected.  As I had mentioned I have made all the recipes in the Cookie Book but one (and I still don't like pineapple so I was still not going to make the recipe!), which meant I had to make some repeats.  Since I probably haven't made the recipes in this cookbook since I was about 12 years old - it was like making a new recipe! 

The cookbook is based on a cookie of the month, therefore in honour of September I made Snickerdoodles!  I also made Three-color Sugar Cookies because I made the recipe frequently as a kid. Both are classic recipes that are easy to whip for kids of all ages and both cookies lived up to my memory.  

Time to sign off because I think it is recess time I think I will go colour while I have some milk and cookies.   Or maybe I can find someone to play Jacks with?  Anyone want to play?