Cooking in the Golden Era

[riccardo]

Hi to all,
I'm a GREAT chef...I love cooking!
Anyone here would like some old Sicilian recipes?
Just ask to me, I'll very proud to replace you!!
...and...if anyone have who could translate my recipes for you I could post it in italian...better than for me!!!!
Riccardo.

 

[Brad Bowers]

I'm a GREAT chef...I love cooking!

Hi Riccardo,

Same here. I do most of the cooking in my house. We long ago gave up on prepackaged meals, and now make almost all of our meals from scratch, and from fresh ingredients. We love Italian food, so would be glad to try some of your old Sicilian recipes!

Brad

 

[cneil]

1942 Cook Book.

My Dad Yesterday Gave Me a Cook Book from 1942.
He used it some times when trying to do recipt they just do not put in "Modern" Cook Books.
Like Fruit Glazed Goose, Yummmmm!
And " Spotted Dog" (Oh, you can fine that one in the Patrick O'Brian Cook Book (Master and commander and other sea faring books))(It is a Bread pudding with Brandy soaked Raisins or currents, goes back to the 1750's, probably much earlier).

It is "The Modern Family Cook Book" by Meta Given
I think it use to belong to my Grand Mother.

My Dad gave it to me because I have been Making Bread from Scratch. No Bread Machine, No Mixer.....
The Cook Books of Today all assume you are using Bread Machines and Powered Mixers and Such.
They give the ingredients, and then say, "Set at light bread setting on your Bread Machine for cooking"

I have been guessing at the cooking time, pretty accurately too, for my cooking time.
Now I have a book witch gives directions for how I cook.

 

[riccardo]

Hi Riccardo,

Same here. I do most of the cooking in my house. We long ago gave up on prepackaged meals, and now make almost all of our meals from scratch, and from fresh ingredients. We love Italian food, so would be glad to try some of your old Sicilian recipes!


Brad

Ok Brad,
I'm very proud to do it for you, take a look here in the future days.

Sincerely.
Riccardo.

 

[Michael Mallory]

My mom used to cook and can "chili sauce," which today might be called salsa, but it had a different flavor to it. She'd make it every couple of years and jar enough to last...a couple of years. My favorite obsolete artifact, though, has nothing to do with cooking. It's a gizmo that looks a bit like a shower head attached to a hollow cork, and you stick it into the top of a Pepsi bottle which is filled with water, and then you sprinkle the water on the clothes you're ironing. This is what people used before steam irons.

 

[magneto]

Obsolete artifacts

... My favorite obsolete artifact, though, has nothing to do with cooking. It's a gizmo that looks a bit like a shower head attached to a hollow cork, and you stick it into the top of a Pepsi bottle which is filled with water, and then you sprinkle the water on the clothes you're ironing. This is what people used before steam irons.

That is just marvelous. I have a great book, "Household Discoveries and Mrs Curtis' Cook Book" from 1908 which has all kinds of instructions for making your own household implementia. I think it has the reader make a "sprinkler" like that with a baking powder tin.

In penance for talking about non-cooking, here is the *perfect* biscuit recipe from "Ann Pillsbury's Baking Book", 1951. I make these near-daily:
Sift together:
2 cups regular flour,
2 tsp baking powder,
half-teaspoon baking soda,
half-teaspoon salt.
Cut up a quarter cup of unsalted butter straight from the icebox and rub into the flour, etc, mixture until it resembles coarse meal.
Lightly mix in three-quarters of a cup of buttermilk or sour milk, just until combined--do not overhandle.
Place dough on floured board and knead a little bit. Roll out dough, cut out biscuits with an empty soup can, bake on ungreased baking sheet at 450F for 12-15 minutes.
Grown men will cry, propose marriage, etc., after eating them.

 

[decodoll]

I can't believe I missed this thread til now! I love vintage recipe books and cookware. I need to venture out from the Powder Room more often!

I have my great-grandmother's Sunbeam stand mixer(with original manual) from the 30's, her recipe box and her jar opener thingy. If anyone needs a recipe for persimmons I'm the gal to come to! She had a big tree right by her front drive, and she had a ton of them! I love how a lot of the recipes say from Mrs. "______"!

I was at my gramma's at Christmas and she had out her pamphlets on "How to Shop" for various items from the 40's...my favourite was "How to Shop for Butter"! I also love her hot pads...I have a feeling she's been using the same ones for the past 60 years. I know at least the past 33. They had the kitchen completely renovated a few years ago (that actually made me quite sad), but she keeps the hot pads.

I recently picked up "The Lily Wallace New American Cook Book" from 1944 at an estate sale for $4. I haven't made anything out of it yet. I'd love to get some more.

The only recipe that's really been passed down through my family is from my other great-gramma (and most likely her mother before her and before her...it's a Danish staple) for a recipe called Frikadeller (Danish meatballs). It's yummy, and I make them all the time. I also recently learned how to make another old Danish traditional dish that my gramma says she remembers her mother making called Aebleskiver (ball shaped pancakes made on the stovetop in a special cast iron pan and turned with a knitting needle!)

 

[jonniangel]

What a great thread for me to make my debut!

I am the proud owner of my mother's "Woman's Home Companion Cook Book" from 1942. It was given to my mom as a wedding present and she swears she used it a lot but it certainly doesn't look it.

I have been making Applesauce Cookies from this cookbook since I was in jr. high and she finally gave me the book last year. My goal for 2006 is to make several of its recipes including trying out the canning, pickling and preserving ones. So fun!

 

[Tin Pan Sally]

We should compile a Fedora Lounge cookbook!

 

[Zepp]

Here's a family recipe that I'm told dates from the days of WWII rationing. It sounds like a variation of Welsh rarebit, and was probably a good way to conserve those precious ration coupons.

Rinkton Ditty
(Aunt Bertha Greiger)

Beat 4 eggs
1 quart milk
1/2 lb oleo
1 lb Old English cheese
1 quart tomato juice

Put oleo and cheese together in double-boiler and melt.
Stir in the eggs, then the milk and tomato juice.
Thicken with flour or cornstarch and add a pinch of salt.
Serve over rye toast.

 

[Decobelle]

Great thread! I'm crazy about cookbooks from the 30s & 40s. My favorites are the 1932 Modern Cookbook by Mabel Clair (for the Busy Woman), Dee-Licious Recipes compiled by the Women's City Club of Oakland & the East Bay (also 1932) and the Brown Derby Cookbook (1949).

My real treasure tho, is my grandma's 1956 Betty Crocker cookbook that she used daily, with all her margin notes and sticky pages.

I also can't resist those little recipe booklets that various companies produced as give-aways. The cover of the Happy Times booklet (from Calmut baking powder) has a quartet of women singing *Happy Times are here again; We'll never bake queer things again; Let's have cake the men will cheer again; Happy Times - are - here - again!* And Ginger Rogers says Royal Desserts are *A treat as thrilling as a burst of applause*

Here's the Derby's signature Cobb Salad (named for Bob Cobb who ran the Derby Co. for most of its heyday)

1/2 head lettuce
1/2 bunch watercress
1 small bunch chicory
1/2 head romaine
2 medium-sized tomatoes, peeled
2 breasts of boiled roasting chickens
6 strips crisp bacon
1 avocado
3 hard-cooked eggs
2 tbs chopped chives
1/2 cup fine grated imported Roquefort cheese
1 cup Brown Derby old fashioned French dressing

Cut finely lettuce, watercress, chicory, and romaine, and arrange in salad bowl. Cut tomatoes in half, remove seeds, dice finely, and arrange in a strip across the salad. Dice breasts of chicken and arrange over top of chopped greens. Chop bacon finely and sprinkle over the salad. Cut avocado in small pieces and arrange around the edge of the salad. Decorate the salad by sprinkling over the top the chopped eggs, chopped chives, and grated cheese. Just before serving mix the salad thoroughly with French dressing.

Serves 4-6

 

[beaucaillou]

Thankfully, I come from a family that takes their cooking and baking pretty seriously, and also values their gastronomic traditions.

My Mom gave both of her daugthers a Betty Crocker Cookbook early on. I still refer back to it.

In addition to a good amount of favorite family recipes, I have a good amount of vintage, hand-cut crystal, and serving pieces. I have two hand made ceramic jam jars my Mom made in Brownies in the '40's. They could be my favorite kitchen items. My sister has a set of 8 vintage custard dishes from Ireland. Also, I love my carnival wear bread bowl, my Great-Grandmother's milk pitcher and flour sifter, and the potato peeler that my Grandfather made.

Thanks for this thread!

 

[John in Covina]

The Pressure Cooker

My Mom got a Pressure cooker as one of the wedding gifts and used it for many tasty meals. I regret that she gave it away some time ago to the son of the couple that my parents received it from.

In particular the pork chops, pot roasts and smoked butt meals coming out of that pressure cooker were outstanding.

 

[Feng_Li]

I can't resist pointing out this gem...

 

[ShooShooBaby]

I can't resist pointing out this gem...

i love that site! no matter how many times i look at it, it still makes me cackle. ooh, it looks like new stuff has been posted since last i visited!

staying on topic, i use my grandmother's Guardian Service cookwear on a daily basis. other vintage mainstays in my house are a huge array of pyrex (the light turquoise with farmer pattern) mixing bowls, caserole dishes, and storage containers. also, a random assortment of vintage glasses. i have yet to find a set i'm willing to commit to!

when i cleaned out my grandma's house after she passed away, i found a coffee percolator from each decade from the 40s on up. i saved a couple, and the fancy 60s coffee urn went on display at a coffeehouse i worked at. i also found her WWII cookbook, and her stolen ashtray collection! lol

 

[Miss Sis]

Oooo, I *LOVE* old cookbooks, cookware and crockery.

A few weeks ago my boyfriend fond me a great 1935 English cookbook. It's at his place so I can't remember what it's called but it has everything in there, including a picture that shows you how to serve cocktails! (On a tray, shaker in the middle, glass either side and a small dish of nuts and one of olives, incase you were wondering)

In New Zealand where I'm from the cookbook everyone has is the Edmonds Cookbook. They are baking powder manufacturers and started out giving away free cookbooks in about 1890 to women who were about to get married. This was so popular that they eventually put it up for public sale and it has been in print ever since. I love comparing my Nana's copy to my Mum's to mine. The recipes have changed over time as to what is in there so you never want to get rid of an old one even when you buy a new one otherwise you'll lose some of the older recipes.

Another famous New Zealand cookbook was from a lady nicknamed 'Aunt Daisy'. She was a Radio cook and came on every weekday morning for half an hour with a recipe, chat and tips. My mother loved her as a child and used to ask my Nana to 'Turn on Aunt Daisy, Mummy'. Sadly that book is now out of print and it is almost impossible to get hold of a copy which is a great shame as it had the BEST household tips section in the back. Even now I ask my Mum to consult it and get back to me on various things.

My Mum has two cookbooks from her Great Aunt born C.1886 with handwritten recipes that always say where they came from such as 'Anne's Recipe' or 'Woman's Weekly Recipe'. She also rates them - sometimes harshly!

One thing I always remember about my Nana's baking was that she loved to put peppermint essence in the icing of the chocolate cake. Good news for me as I love peppermint but bad for my Mum who hates it! lol

When my Nana died I cleaned out her kitchen and kept all the neat old utensils, pots and pans, etc etc. I have also inherited lovely old Mason Cash mixing bowls from an elderly friend. They are famous in England for their mixing bowls and pudding basins.

I'll be moving into my own place soon so all my beauties can come out of storage and get used (loved) again.

Sorry to post such a long post and I hope it hasn't bored any of you but it has really stirred up such lovely memories!

 

[LizzieMaine]

One of the things I notice about vintage cookbooks is how much knowledge they take for granted, and how much leeway they give the cook -- compared to the more modern recipes that spell everything out like a military specification with exact measurements, exact temperatures, and all that. In a way, I think that approach to cooking can actually put people off from cooking, making them feel like they have to do it *exactly right every time* and that it has to come out looking *exactly like in the book* or else they've failed.

I inherited my grandmother's cookbooks, such as they were. She had only two, and they were both thin paper-covered affairs -- one, "The Ida Bailey Allen Service Cook Book" was a premium from a radio home-economics show from 1933, right around the time she got married, and the other was a tattered, coverless pamphlet from the forties put out as a fundraiser by the local Rebekah Lodge. The recipes are very forgiving -- measurements are often estimated, and you'll find terms like "Bake in a slow oven till batter doesn't stick to a broom bristle" rather than "Bake 35 minutes at 300 degrees." These were recipes prepared for a generation of cooks who were as likely to be cooking on a wood or coal-fired range as anything else, and they're much more forgiving than the militant-foodie recipes you run across nowadays.

The best part of these cookbooks, though, were the bits and pieces stored between the pages -- the torn-off can labels, the yellow newspaper clippings, the scraps of note paper with random pencil-scrawled recipes I'm still trying to decipher. The modern folks can have their celebrity chefs -- for me, *this* is cooking.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

I inherited my grandmother's cookbooks, such as they were. She had only two, and they were both thin paper-covered affairs -- one, "The Ida Bailey Allen Service Cook Book" was a premium from a radio home-economics show from 1933, right around the time she got married, and the other was a tattered, coverless pamphlet from the forties put out as a fundraiser by the local Rebekah Lodge.

OOh...I have a small book called "When you Entertain" by Ida Bailey Allen. She was the Martha Stewart of the time.

Its very funny, since the book costs were underwritten by the Coca Cola company, how often she serves that fine beverage with her recommended menu's in the book. But its still a great book and gives you an idea of what various event menus would have been like.

 

[ShooShooBaby]

"Bake in a slow oven till batter doesn't stick to a broom bristle"

lizzy, one would hope they wash the broom bristle first, huh!

on the topic of more leeway given to cooks, i have this amazing bride memory book from 1947 (yes, it's filled out!) and it has a section for the first meal the wife cooks for the husband, and how big of a disaster it was probably going to be (leeway + lack of experience?). this was true for the woman who owned the book!

 

[pretty faythe]

Spam

A wartime ration food, that now is rediculously expensive for a little can. But I love it. I guess my mom got tired of it growing up herself though, she hates it., and she is a fifties born gal...lol..lol..lol