Besides collecting old cookbooks, I also LOVE vintage metal recipe boxes. I now have fifteen in my collection. The best part is that I have been lucky to find all but one full of handwritten recipes or clipped snippets from magazines, newspapers and the back of boxes. My favorite thing to do is to flip through the curated recipes of someone’s time in the kitchen. Each card sparked some sort of interest or inspiration to be placed in these boxes. Though I am sort of embarrassed to admit that I have never made any recipe from these little culinary treasure chests. Today that changes.

Each month I am going to select a couple recipes from these recipe boxes and make them. I am making them as is with very little changes. Then I am going to document the whole shebang right here with what I liked and what I might change. I know I am going to find some great recipes to add to my own recipe box! Though also be prepared for a few duds along the way.

So the first recipe I chose is from the first box I ever acquired. It is an Ohio Art Company recipe box with folk art style blue and pink flowers. I usually refer to it as the “Blue Bells” box. It is a handwritten recipe for Broccoli and Ham Casserole. I liked it because I had everything on hand and also had TONS of leftover ham which means it was fate! It is a simple strata like casserole that consists of bread layered with broccoli, ham and cheese with a mixture of eggs and milk poured on top.

What I liked:
It was super easy to put together with items you have around the house. The ham could easy be substituted for chicken or sausage. It baked up exactly as expected and was rather tasty for minimal effort. I would be prefect for a brunch.

What I disliked:
Pouring on the egg and milk mixture got a little messy because the second bread layer was right at the top of the 9×13 pan. I had to ladle slowly the mixture on the six top bread pieces to make sure they were moistened but still that created some spilling.

What I would change for next time:
I would toast the bottom six sliced of bread next time as it was a little mushy on the bottom. Also I would probably bump up the dry mustard a bit because I didn’t taste it at all and maybe add some paprika to make the egg mixture more flavorful. Actually next time I would cube all the bread and toast them in the oven. Then put the bread cubs in the bottom of the 9×13 pan and layer on the ham, broccoli and cheese before pouring on the egg mixture. I think that would combat the messiness and spillage I had to deal with over the top bread layer.

Let me know if you try this recipe and what you liked and what you would do to change it!