Hi everyone! Time for another edition of Vintage Recipes here at “Cowgirls in the Kitchen”! Oh, golly, I had a lot of trouble deciding what recipe to feature today–so guess what? I had to include more than one! I think you will enjoy all of these and they are for very different types of “eating pleasure”, but none of them are hard to make (you know my rule about having to be something easy if I make it!)
This first one is one my best friend’s mom used to make sometimes when we were all over at her house and hungry. I had never had these before, and I begged my mom to make them, but with my dad’s work schedule, we rarely had leftover mashed potatoes, which is a key ingredient for these coveted MEXICAN HATS! And these are so simple–I still make them sometimes just because I love them. (I will say, if I’m remembering right, ours looks more like a Mexican Hat than this picture, but this will give you an idea).
MEXICAN HATS:
You will need only three basic ingredients:
Bologna
Sliced American Cheese
Leftover Mashed Potatoes (though I have been known to make fresh or buy some ready-made)
On a griddle, place 4 pieces of bologna. Place a dollop of leftover mashed potatoes in the center, in a circle (like the rise of a sombrero) and cook on low heat. As the bologna begins to cook, the edges will turn up, curving around the mashed potatoes (again, like a sombrero). Place a piece of cheese on the top and let it begin to melt over the potatoes. Remove them from the heat, and season as you like. I’ve even been known to eat these with a little picante sauce.
Another version is to put these in the oven–I’ve never done them that way, but here’s how they say to do it, if you want to try that instead of the griddle–(and this calls for instant mashed potatoes, which of course, were not available back when I was eating them as a kid):
Heat oven to 325-350 degrees. place bologna on a cookie sheet and bake until bologna is desired color. Meanwhile cook the instant mashed potatoes according to directions on package. Take the bologna out of oven and put the 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes on it. then put the fat free kraft single on top and bake until cheese melts.
They are wonderful no matter how you eat them, and boy, do they bring back some great childhood memories.
FOR DESSERT: RUM CAKE AND GLAZE
My mom loved to make Rum Cake. This was back in the 60’s and 70’s when bundt cakes became all the rage. She got a HEAVY bundt cake pan (no teflon lining in it, that hadn’t become the norm yet) and that’s what she made these in.
Here’s the original cake recipe written in my mom’s handwriting. It’s really faded, and I’ve had to recopy it, but I keep this copy as a keepsake, remembering all the times she made this wonderful recipe and how much we all loved it and looked forward to it.
I’ve written the instructions below so you can read it better.
RUM CAKE AND GLAZE
1 box of golden deluxe butter recipe cake mix (you may have to substitute this for yellow cake mix–not sure they make this one anymore)
1 package Jello instant vanilla pudding
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup rum, OR 1 teaspoon of rum flavoring
4 eggs
Grease and flour pan– you can sprinkle butter pats, brown sugar and nuts in before filling pan with batter. Bake at 325 degrees for 50-60 minutes. Let cool about 15 minutes before inverting on cake plate and putting the glaze on.
GLAZE:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup of rum
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Add all ingreditents to saucepan over medium heat. Stir well until butter has melted and mixture is smooth. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring, and boil for TWO minutes. You can pour the glaze over the top, or you can put the cake back into the pan and poke holes in it and pour some of the glaze over that to let it soak it up, then pour the rest of the glaze over the top. Mom always just poured it over the top and it was always wonderful.
And last, but not least, a tried and true recipe for plain, good ol’ fashioned pancakes that is simple to make and you can make it from ingredients you usually have on hand.
PANCAKES:
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
Measure and sift dry ingredients. Add slightly beaten egg, milk, and oil together and mix well. Add dry ingredients and mix. Don’t OVER mix. Spoon mixture onto griddle for whatever size/thickness of pancakes you want to make. Garnish with fruit, if you like, or you can also add chocolate chips, pecans, etc. while they are cooking. These are really good!
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I’ve never had the Mexican Hats, but my dad sometimes fried bologna.
Rum cake always reminds me of celebrations at my Italian-American friends’ homes.
Denise, my dad loved fried bologna too, and so do I. I eat it on sandwiches with mustard, when I fry it, and when I don’t fry it, I eat it with mayo. LOL It really does kind of change the taste of it to fry it. I did not know that rum cake was an Italian dessert. I haven’t had it for a while, and posting this recipe made me want to make it!
Some Italian-Americans make a cake like yours, and some of the Italian bakeries made them as layered sponge sheet or round cakes, and they would have custard layers in different flavors vanilla, chocolate, and sometimes strawberry. The bakery cakes are also known as Continental cakes or Italian birthday cakes, and they have a whipped cream icing.
Those layered cakes sound wonderful! Well, honestly, they all sound wonderful. I’m a sucker for sweet stuff, and I do love cake.
Memories for sure with the Rum Cake. My Mom made this up until the day she passed at 96. Like you, I have her recipe written on a 3×5 card that shows signs of being well used. Sad to say it never has been a go to for me but my daughter has picked up making it when she needs a quick, tasty desert for any occasion.
Carol, it has not been my “go-to” either, probably because I didn’t have the same kind of life my mom had where she had to constantly be making desserts for family get-togethers, or different kinds of social events. And now, with our lives so hectic and the advent of so many ready made desserts available, so many times I have just opted for “picking something up” instead of making it. I’m glad your daughter is carrying on the homemade rum cake tradition. It really is so much better than something store bought.
They all sound good. The Mexican has are a cute idea. I have had fried bologna before though.
Barbara, I have always loved fried bologna–bologna was a staple in my growing up years, the late 1950’s through the 1970’s. I can still remember how wonderful those Mexican hats tasted when all us kids were starving and we ate those. Now, they’d be a lot more “at the ready” since we have instant mashed potatoes, which were not a “thing” back in that time.
I have never had the Mexican dish, but then I am not much for Mexican food. But that Rum cake sounds good. Thanks for sharing.
You are welcome, Kathleen, and I hope you will enjoy it if and when you make it!
These do sound good and I do love me some fried bologna.
HA! Quilt Lady, I do too! That is a TRUE “comfort food” isn’t it?
I’ve never had Mexican Hats, though we used to eat fried bologna sandwiches!! My uncle also used to fry bologna for breakfast and put it on homemade biscuits.
Oh, yes, Trudy. I’ve done that fried bologna on biscuits too, and I am not ashamed to say I was just like that guy in Slingblade who always wanted mustard on his biscuits when I made them like that! LOL
I’ve never heard of the Mexican hats but my granny did make fried bologna for us when I was a kid. I can vouch that the rum cake is delicious, though! I make that same recipe at Christmas. It’s so moist and flavorful and downright YUMMY!
Christy, it really is good, isn’t it? There is nothing like a homemade dessert, and that is one of the best.
Thanks for sharing recipes. My Mom and I shared a love for cookbooks and all things related to being in the kitchen together. I have loved teaching my daughter her recipes and look forward to teaching my grandchildren those same recipes.
Danielle, that is such a wonderful thing to be able to hand down. I fear since I was the baby of our family, I didn’t get that love for cooking that my sisters had with my mom. I can follow a recipe, but I don’t have that sense of adding “this or that” to things to make it taste like I want it to. (So that recipe better be right…) LOL
Thanks for sharing. The recipes sound great. I had never heard of the Mexican hat but I love fried bologna.
OH, Linda, I love it too! Sometimes I just get so hungry for a good old bologna sandwich and some Campbell’s vegetable soup, I HAVE TO DO IT. I’ve been known to go to the store to just buy those things I am craving and go home and fix them right THEN. LOL
Good afternoon, Wow, I had no idea that they were called Mexican hats! My ex sister in law introduced me to them about 42 years ago and I have made them for my 2 now grown adult children when they were very young and I also made them for my 3 grandchildren who are now 18 ,16 and 13 years old and they have all loved them! Now Thanks to you I know what to call them. 🙂 they are delicious and I love them, I havent had them for a very long time though. I bake rum cakes every New Years day or New Years Eve and I have also baked it for over 44 years. I have a recipe from Bacardi Rum. Thanks for sharing your recipes. Have a Great week.
Aren’t those Mexican hats wonderful? There are times when I just have to have one. Or two. LOL And as far as desserts, that rum cake cannot be beaten, in my opinion. There are very few people who don’t love it, and it’s pretty unusual, even now. I’m always so glad to share recipes with people. Makes me happy to think of them being able to make good things for their loved ones. I never understood people who were reluctant to share a recipe. I hope you have a wonderful week too, Alicia. Thanks so much for stopping by!
We do fry up balogna every so often. I will have to give Mexican hats a try.
The rum cake sounds delicious. I do pound cakes this way frequently and it works well. The glaze will add so much. I like the idea of adding the nuts, butter and brown sugar in the pan before adding the batter. Sounds a bit like sticky buns. Rum and sticky buns, what a good combination.
Thanks for the pancake recipe. I buy mix, but we don’t make pancakes that often and it usually goes stale. This is perfect and sounds good. I see pecan pancakes and bacon for a brunch coming up soon.
Thanks for the recipes. Enjoy what is left of April.
Hi Patricia! Oh, yes, try those Mexican hats. They are something different and though they were something I had as a kid, I still love them as an adult. I think you will love that rum cake and the glaze. You made me laugh about “rum and sticky buns–what a good combination!” YES! LOL
That pancake recipe is one my mom made while I was growing up. Mixes were so much fewer and farther between back then, and she grew up making everything from scratch, so she had some really great recipes and she was an excellent cook. I hope you enjoy it all!
Yes, thanks for the pancake recipe. I’ve got to try it. We don’t use many box mixes and avoid nightshades (white potatoes, tomatoes, bell/chili peppers are the main ones), so the Mexican hats won’t be part of our menu. Having the recipes our moms used is a blessing!
Mary, I hope you will enjoy that pancake recipe–I grew up with that and then made it for my stepkids and my kids later on. I still do make it sometimes for just the two of us, my husband and me. You are a stronger woman than I am–I have a HUGE weakness for tomatoes and ptatoes and all peppers! LOLLOL I eat tomatoes every single day of my life either for lunch or dinner. I’d rather have them than chocolate, if you can believe that. LOL Yes, I have so many good recipes that my mom passed down to the three of us girls. She was an excellent cook–much better than I have ever been.
The rum cake sounds delicious. The pancake recipe is the same as the one I make. Sometimes I will measure dry ingredients for two or three batches and place each batch in a zipper bag to have my own mix ready to use. I don’t make pancakes as often as I used to but it’s nice to have some ready when I want to. The fried bologna will be left to those of you who like it :). They do look cute.
Alice, wow, that is a very smart idea about batching it up ahead of time. What a time saver! I love that idea. I don’t make pancakes nearly as often as I used to either, but boy, there are times nothing else will do. When I was growing up, many times it was just my mom and I there together since my sisters were already grown and gone and Dad worked such odd hours in the oilfield. Very often, she’d make pancakes and bacon, and sometimes scrambled eggs, to have for dinner. When I was grown, I made a full breakfast for dinner sometimes, and I still do, for my husband and me, complete with fried potatoes, biscuits, eggs, and sausage. I always look forward to that.
Hi Cheryl – Love your recipes. My hubby loves bologna. Will try that recipe & see how he likes it.
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Hi Lois! I hope your hubby likes those Mexican Hats. They are so so easy to fix, and actually they’re pretty filling! My husband and I both love bologna but he doesn’t eat much of it anymore on the diet he’s on. And when I do buy it, I have to buy the deli bologna very thin sliced and that doesn’t work for this.