Just found out my great aunt's 'secret' pie crust recipe is from a 1950s newspaper ad

Honestly, I was going through some old boxes in my mom's attic last weekend and found a clipping from the Chicago Tribune. It was a Crisco ad with a recipe for 'Perfect Flaky Pie Crust'. Ngl, it's word for word the same as the 'Murphy family secret' my great aunt swore she made up. She guarded that thing like gold for 40 years. I even have her handwritten card that says 'never share this outside the family'. Makes me wonder how many other 'secret' recipes out there are just old ads. Has anyone else had a family recipe mystery turn out to be something totally different?

3 comments

3 Comments

victorhill17d ago

It's just pie crust. The family secret was probably having someone who could actually make it work.

theac639d ago

Read an article once about how a lot of those "secret" recipes were just clipped from magazines or the backs of packages. Companies paid to have them printed as a way to sell more products. It makes those old family cards seem a lot less magical.

paul28617d ago

My grandma's famous meatloaf was just the back of a Lipton onion soup box. She had it on a stained index card and everything. I found the box in her pantry after she passed and the dates matched up. Makes you realize how much of family history is just clever marketing. Those companies knew what they were doing.