The Spirit of Seventy-Six!

In honor of the 250th birthday of the Declaration of Independence, all recipes through August 16, 2026 are from Centennial and Bicentennial cookbooks and the 1796 first American cookbook. Enjoy this look at the (gastronomic) spirit of ’76 as we enjoy the sestercentennial!

I’ve also published a Sestercentennial Cookery with recipes and photos.

No Bake Pecan Pie: Pecan Pie, from Mrs. A. W. Brown in the 1975 Potter County Bicentennial Cook Book.; seventies; 1970s; maple; Thanksgiving; pie; pecans; recipe; sweetened condensed milk; America’s Bicentennial; Potter County, Texas

Pecan pies are always great; but running the oven in the summer isn’t. This is a simple stove-top pie, and can use any prepared pie crust—or even be used on a prepared cake or sheet cake. And it doesn’t need a baked pie crust. Any cookie crumb or cracker crumb crust will be fine.

While the filling does require cooking over heat, it doesn’t need to be cooked long to get the eggs and condensed milk thickened.

It’s also a great pie to make when you don’t have time to make a pie.

Thanks to Mrs. A. W. Brown in the Potter County Bicentennial Cook Book, of Potter County, Texas. I especially like the inclusion of maple syrup. Maple syrup and pecans are always a good combination.

Drop in again soon for another vintage recipe! I’ll have a different recipe every Sunday afternoon throughout the year. Keep an eye on this page or subscribe to the RSS feed for further details. You can also browse past featured Club recipes as well as some of the vintage promotional cookbooks I’ve used as sources. And I collect many of these recipes in A Traveling Man’s Cookery Book.

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When I feel sad, I need a bowl of leek and potato soup. — Jacques Pépin (Today's Gourmet: Garlic Soup)