Showing posts with label 1940s. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1940s. Show all posts

Saturday, February 11, 2017

Valentine's Day Countdown! Heart Shaped Fish Croquettes

It's only a few weeks from Valentines Day, so there's no time like RIGHT NOW to start thinking about VD goodies! Especially all you wives out there.

Wilma said it best.


Apparently Pet Milk agreed that the fastest way to a man's heart was through his stomach, and so they published this booklet in the 1940s.


It was FREE if you can believe such a thing, and apparently contained recipes like this one:


"Love it? Of course he will! It's a man's idea of really good eating."

Check back soon for more Valentines Day meal ideas!

Sunday, October 16, 2016

Hot Gazpacho à la Alice B. Toklas

I've been reading The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book which I bought a few months ago at an estate sale. I thought the title sounded familiar, but had no idea what I was actually buying.


The book is a fascinating memoir about Alice's life as friend, lover, and aide-de-camp to Gertrude Stein. Each chapter centers around a set of their adventures, transporting medical supplies during war time, wrangling persnickety vehicles named Aunt Pauline and Godiva, and traveling here and there around the Continent and elsewhere. All the stories conclude with a description of a meal they ate on these travels, along with a recipe or two.

There are many interesting things about the book. Alice always refers to her companion as "Gertrude Stein", never as merely Gertrude. Use of punctuation is spotty. Questions are often ended with periods rather than question marks. Recipes are introduced in the middle of sentences. Names like Picasso are dropped in the midst of stories about friends and acquaintances.

I'm not sure how many of the recipes I'll include in this blog. It tends not to be my style of cooking. Most of it is very French, both literally and by my own use of the term, meaning: multi-stepped and fussy. But I did want to include this passage on gazpacho. It concludes a chapter on variations of this cold soup, and was added as a sort of epilogue. She writes:
Senora Marta Brunet, a distinguished Chilean writer, is of Spanish or rather Catalan descent and she describes gazpacho as a meal of the Spanish muleteers. And meal it seems, in this version, rather than soup. These muleteers, she says, carry with them on their journeyings a flat earthenware dish--and garlic, olive, oil, tomatoes and cucumbers, also dry bread which they crumble. Between two stones by the wayside they grind the garlic with a little salt and then add the oil. This mixture is rubbed all round the inside of the earthenware vessel. Then they slice the tomatoes and cucumbers and put alternating layers of each in the dish, interspersing the layers with layers of breadcrumbs and topping off the four tiers with more breadcrubms and more oil. This done and prepared, they take a wet cloth, wrap it round the dish and leave it in a sunny place. The evaporation cooks the contents and when the cloth is dry the meal is ready. Too simple, my dear Watson.
Now I don't claim to be a scientist of any kind. Brain or otherwise. But my understanding of the evaporation process is that it cools, rather than heats. A quick googling confirmed that, and led me to an interesting link about a self-cooling Spanish clay water vessel called a Botijo.

So that leaves me wondering if the word "cooks" in the passage was a typo inflicted during the publishing process, or if Alice simply got the story wrong.

Interesting, no?

This little book is a priceless window into a particular era, social milieu, and personality. Definitely worth the read.




Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Subliminal Bananas for a Better Finale


"Nothing is smarter, nothing more pleasing, than a fruit finale to a meal."
Clearly he agrees.

She, however, cannot bring herself to meet his gaze:

This disquiets me, and makes me wonder if an even more pleasing finale might be needed.

Might the downturned bananas be a subliminal message for hubby?

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Aunt Jenny Gems: on boys and cookies

Just look at the face on this innocent little darling!


Monday, October 17, 2011

Aunt Jenny Gems: on boys and spoons

This little book is so full of gems that I think I'll just post a few pictures and let your mind do the rest.

Here's the first, wherein Jenny comments about her husband's love of spoon licking.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Pork Cake. Let Mikey Try It.

In case the Sea Moss Pudding didn't cut it for you, perhaps you'll be a bigger fan of this recipe.

Just look at all the prettily decorated petit fours on the adjacent picture! Don't they look yummy?

Surely the recipes must be delicious. Surely.

Where the heck is Mikey when we need him???

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Potency Pudding: the Sea Moss Advantage

I know that I've been advocating for homemade puddings, but I think I might have to draw the line at this one:

I like the part about removing discolored pieces. No one wants wrongfully colored moss bits in their parfait dish.

Sea moss must have a gelatinous quality, given that their are no eggs, corn starch, or other thickeners in the pudding.

Here's a delicious looking picture. It does look pretty gelatinous to me.

I wanted to know more about sea moss desserts, and so I Googled it. (Viva la Google!)

This provider's page includes a puzzling comment. It says that when rinsing the moss you shouldn't leave it in water too long or it will lose nutrients. Think about it. The stuff GROWS in water. How could rinsing it remove nutrients?

Another online article says "Most Caribbean men are not afraid to admit that sea moss is one of their secrets to sexual potency and virility."

Apparently there's more to this recipe than meets the eye...

Friday, July 22, 2011

Tricky Stuffing

I'll be honest with you. I don't know why this stuffing is tricky.

Granted, it doesn't include cooking directions. Maybe that's the tricky part: figuring out what it goes well with, and how to cook it.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Got Milk?

Since we are on the topic of beverages, let's talk milk.

Turns out it's not just for mustaches anymore.

Here's what The New American Cook Book had to say:
In spending the food money, milk should be considered first, as it is necessary for every one and is the best building food for children. It also supplies the body with fuel, minerals, and Vitamins A, B, and G.

Pasteurized milk is safer than raw milk, because complete pasteurization kills germs that might be present, such as those that cause tuberculosis, infantile diarrhea, septic sore throat, typhoid fever, diphtheria, and scarlet fever. If raw milk is used or advised, it should, of course, be certified.

Milk should be covered and kept cold; that will keep it clean, sweet, and free from strange flavors and odors.

If there is no ice in the home, it may be necessary in hot weather to buy milk twice a day, letting the dealer keep it cold. A temperature between 45-50 degrees F. keeps milk from spoiling.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Thirsty yet?

Summertime, and the living is thirsty.

In case you've been sweating and need a bevvie, here are some options you may not have noodled through on your own.


My personal favorites?
  • Albumen Beverages
  • Toast Water
  • Raw Beef Tea

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Rollmops I say

Today's recipe may also leave you feeling ripped off. I'm sorry about that, but if your Mama hasn't broken it to you yet, let me do her dirty work:

Life isn't fair.

The "recipe" comes from the Appetizer section. Not sure why the editors thought a recipe was called for, but who am I to judge?

Rollmops


What is a rollmop you may well ask?

Here's a pic:

Roly Poly fish mops, eat them up, yum!

Monday, July 18, 2011

Switched at Birth. Or at Least at Editing.

It's BOGO Monday, though you may feel a bit gypped by this set.

Orange Date Dumplings


Orange Date Rolls


Near as I can figure, there are only two differences between these recipes:

1) The first uses homemade Bisquick rather than listing the biscuit ingredients.
2) The second produces a much more substantial amount of syrup.

Item 2 leads me to believe that the recipes were switched at birth. The "Orange Date Rolls" which include about a cup of syrup must actually be the dumplings.

And vice versa.

Can't pull a sweater over MY face. Oh no you can't.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Mechanically Frozen Fruit Salad

The evolution of salads over the last century is interesting to study. Jellied salads were common, both sweet and savory, containing fruit, vegetables, and meats. Some of these concoctions sound delicious, others faintly (or even overtly) disgusting.

The New American Cook Book contains many of these recipes, such as the one below, titled Frozen Fruit Salad:

The caption for this photo reads "A loaf salad to feature your finest dinner."


Here's the recipe. I love that it refers to a "mechanical refrigerator." Similar recipes in the book refer to the "automatic refrigerator". Obviously refrigerators were still relatively newfangled even in the early 1940s.

Frozen Fruit Salad

6 ounces cream cheese
1/3 cup mayonnaise (recipe No. 701)
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 1/2 cups canned fruit cocktail
1/2 cup chopped nuts
Few grains salt

Mash cheese. Add mayonnaise. Whip cream. Fold into cheese mixture. Drain fruit cocktail. Fold fruit, nuts, and salt into first mixture. Pack into freezing tray of mechanical refrigerator. Freeze firm. Serve on lettuce. Serves 8.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Cream of Cucumber Soup

I typically think of cucumbers as cool, crisp, and refreshing. Very summery.

But this rich preparation speaks more to cold weather, with it's white sauce, egg yolks, and butter.

Not my cup of soup, but interesting.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Mock Turtle Soup

At first I thought one might make mock turtle soup to protect the poor little guys. That's what we do in 2011; we think about protecting species such as green turtles. But of course this was a different day and age. Turtle soup was prestigious; turtles were expensive. The thrifty cook did what she could to imitate the upper crust without having to dip into her pin money.

So I started out thinking that making this soup verged on saving the ecosystem, or was at the very least a random act of turtle kindness. But then I actually read the recipe.


Here's what Wikipedia has to say about mock turtle soup:
Mock turtle soup is an English soup that was created in the mid-18th century as a cheaper imitation of green turtle soup. It often uses brains and organ meats such as calf's head or a calf's foot to duplicate the texture and flavour of the original's turtle meat.

Mrs. Fowle's Mock Turtle Soup: "Take a large calf's head. Scald off the hair. Boil it until the horn is tender, then cut it into slices about the size of your finger, with as little lean as possible. Have ready three pints of good mutton or veal broth, put in it half a pint of Madeira wine, half a teaspoonful of thyme, pepper, a large onion, and the peel of a lemon chop't very small. A ¼ of a pint of oysters chop't very small, and their liquor; a little salt, the juice of two large onions, some sweet herbs, and the brains chop't. Stand all these together for about an hour, and send it up to the table with the forcemeat balls made small and the yolks of hard eggs."
Now I'm no vegetarian. Beef is good food. I love steak, and burgers, and roast beef, and shepherd's pie. But there is something about taking the head of a poor little cow tyke and boiling it until the meat falls off that makes me feel worse for it than I might for a turtle.

I think I'll have a veggie burger for lunch...

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Always Peptonize Before You Enema-ize

So many mysterious things can be found in old cook books. Take this "recipe" for example:

What the heck is peptonizing powder? you might well ask.

Or Why might one wish to drink milk once it has been added?

Good questions.

Here's what I discovered after a bit of judicious Googling:
"Peptonized milk is used in many conditions in which it is thought that the gastric digestion is too feeble to digest ordinary milk, or in which it is desired, as sometimes, in typhoid fever, for instance, to avoid the curdling of milk in the stomach. Milk should always be peptonized before being introduced into an enema."
(From "Materia Medica Pharmacy, Pharmacology And Therapeutics", by W. Hale White, 1911)

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Silencing Solution for Critical Guests: Gaily Colored Ice Cubes


One of the interesting things in this introduction is the mention of people flocking to soda fountains. If it were written today I suppose it would talk about coffee shops, and the resurgence in popularity of tea.

The other thing that strikes me is how worried the author is about critics. Personally I don't believe in inviting critical people for dinner and drinks. But that's just me. If you like the kind of sniping criticism that these people bring to the table, be my guest. Just consider your ice cubes, as advised below:
Beverages probably furnish more pleasure at meals or between meals than any other single course. The early morning aroma of fine coffee makes a day start right. Beautifully colored and delightfully flavored cold drinks bring joy and happiness to meals served in hot weather. It is the punch bowl that forms one of the chief attractions at parties. The large numbers of men and women--old and young--who swarm into the soda bars in every part of the world provide ample testimony to the craving of everyone for fine drinks. The clever homemaker can serve in her home as delicious and refreshing drinks as can be found at the best-equipped fountains.
A good general rule to follow in serving beverages is, "Serve hot drinks hot and cold drinks cold." Never serve lukewarm hot drinks nor slightly cool cold drinks.

Make all beverages as lovely and colorful as possible. Select garnishes and ingredients in beverages for color as well as taste. Your critical guests will remember the beauty of your punch bowl long after the flavor of the punch is forgotten. Particularly study the possibilities of gaily-colored and garnished ice cubes as an accompaniment of cold drinks.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Bread-free Banana French Toast

Apparently it's banana week here at Cookbook Love, so here's your second banana post in as many days.


I'm not sure what to think about this recipe. I'm used to omelets that are savory rather than sweet, though apparently sweet versions are not unusual in this era. The opposite page contains a recipe for a jelly omelet, in which 1/2 cup of jelly is spread on top of a cooked omelet prior to folding.

Maybe if I think of it as a flour-less crepe it will sound better.

Or a fried torte.

Or a bread-less banana french toast.

Hey, that almost sounds good! Let me know if you try it.