Veggie Valentines and Sauteed Tomatoes

Valentine cards were made in all sorts of themes, including fruits and vegetables. Here are some samples for you, followed by a simple recipe appropriate for a St. Valentines Day themed meal.

Sauteed Cherry or Grape Tomatoes

1 pt grape or cherry tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil or garlic herb basting oil
1 tsp. dried basil
Salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a skillet, and add rinsed tomatoes. Saute over medium heat, turning often. Tomatoes will split as they cook, some sides browning and caramelizing into sweet goodness.  Pierce with the tip of a knife any stubborn tomatoes that refuse to pop on their own. When tomatoes are uniformly softened and popped, add basil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Saute for another few minutes to blend flavors. If using fresh basil, add just before serving.

Serve as a side dish for red meats or roast chicken. Crusty bread is wonderful for scooping up the warm, salty, sweet tomato flesh.

Valentine Countdown: for Adult Eyes Only

I found these Valentines and thought they should be passed along immediately.

But first, kick all the little ones out of the room. I mean it.

.

.

.

Are they gone?

If the coast is clear, just look at this:

What sort of insane person creates cards for kids to pass out, which show other kids inside of refrigerators???

Believe it or not, that card isn't the only one.

Not quite so scary, you might think. But wait.

Look what happens when you open the ice box door:

GET LITTLE JIMMY OUT OF THERE, PRONTO!!!

I want you to run out and find some children right now, and tell them to never, ever climb in a refrigerator. Not for love, nor money, nor even cake.

After I recovered from the initial outrage, I figured I should see how widespread a phenomenon fridge-related Valentines had become. Turns out it wasn't much of a movement. Thank goodness.

What I did find were some interesting refrigerator advertisements, many of which did involve children. Some are more innocent than others.

(For some reason this last one makes me want to cry a little bit.)

Not all ads were focused on the family however. Some companies decided to go glamorous. Check these beauties out.

And eventually, along came Space Glamor!

I blame Star Trek for this. Or thank them. Depending on my mood.

Regardless, I'm grateful to see that kids and refrigerators are no longer popular images for Valentines. Today's are so much saner; with little monsters, vampires, zombies, and undersea pineapple houses.

Ah, progress.

Valentines to Relish!

Four our second day of the valentine countdown, I figured we might as well not waste time, and jump right into the hot dog cards.

No commentary. Just lots of weiners, wurst, and relish.

Culture and the Kitchen: A Taste of Cooking Past

 

Sunday August 10 at 2:00pm - 4:00pm

Please join Suzanne DeWitt at the opening reception for her exhibit at the Buttonwoods Museum. As the museum's first guest curator, Suzanne has created a nostalgic collection inspired by gastronomic ephemera from the 1920s to the 1960.

Cookbooks are time capsules and anthropological windows into life and culture. The making of a Sunday dinner in 1895 was very different from it's making in 1954, and another thing entirely in 2014. The procurement process for a chicken alone is vastly different, as are the styles of meal taking, our calorie requirements, and many other things. Suzanne's personal collection of cookbooks inspired this exhibit, featuring things like the "new mechanical iceboxes", war-time meals which accommodate rationing, entertaining without servants, psychedelic Jell-O preparations, and how to achieve better living through the use of the best brand of shortening. Each book is a snapshot into an era and a way of life that we have left behind. Each one illustrates the concerns and limitations of the day, while focusing on the vast improvements in ease of preparation and quality which arrive with each new generation.

Suzanne's exhibit presents a pivotal shift for each decade from the 1920s through the 1960s to highlight how the culture impacted the American kitchen.

Materials presented include period recipe collections, cookware, product advertisements, aprons, and many other items.

Come prepared to reminisce and maybe even giggle a little.

Buttonwoods Museum / Haverhill Historical Society
240 Water St,
Haverhill, Massachusetts 01830