A delectable cucumber recipe from 1911
I rarely see recipes for cooking cucumbers, though every one I've tried has been delicious. I think this one was the most delicious of all! I tried it in joining in with the lovely cooks over at http://starbakes.blogspot.my/ . It's from the 1911 The International Cook Book by Filippini. I used sherry vinegar, but I think others would be good too...And I didn't have white pepper, but love "normal" black and don't mind seeing the pepper. I read that a saltspoon quantity is our 1/4 teaspoon, though I just did the pepper to taste. I served it with leftover steak stir-fried with some onion for taste and reviving (we have steak like once every two years so I'm a little clueless), and some jarred roasted red pepper (it's out of season now but I was craving some)...
Clues one might not like a recipe
Yikes. Are there more than there used to be of "recipe developers" who specialize in having things as tasteless as possible? I can understand if a recipe is meant to be totally therapeutic, made to deliver some medicinal ingredient, but none of the recipes about which I'm talking were that. I've never seen these problems in old cookbooks, though I've certainly read a lot of those.
Here are a few clues I need to keep in mind for deciding if a cookbook or other source is for me:
If they say they're going to do something to an ingredient so you can't taste it, I would skip that recipe. (I just saw this for a recipe for fennel that actually says to boil the taste out of it before adding it to a recipe, and I've seen it over and over for garlic and for fresh herbs, to boil out their taste first!)
If they say that if you actually want to taste an ingredient, you should double or triple etc that ingredient, I would skip that recipe. (I just saw this in a recipe that has one clove of garlic but says if you want to taste the garlic you would need at least four.)
If they say in a non-soup/curry/etc type recipe to add say a cup of water, especially near the end, I would skip that recipe. (I recently saw this in a recipe that seemed quite nice, and indeed was tasting nice when I tested it, and then suddenly they wanted me to pour in a quart of plain old water, simmer for four minutes, then serve! That would've totally ruined the recipe, so I skipped that step and didn't try any other recipes from that source -- like many recipes, they didn't list the water in the ingredients, and um I hadn't read it properly obviously! so didn't know.)
If they call for only about 1/8 to 1/4, or even 1/2, teaspoon of some dried herb, I would skip that recipe. That very rarely does anything for the taste, or at "best" can make a recipe taste weird. In fact, most dried herbs come so far short of fresh herbs that I extremely rarely try any recipe that calls for them. (I've seen this a lot in recipes in the last year.)
If they say it really doesn't matter what herb or spice you use, I would skip that recipe. It makes a huge difference -- if you're using enough to taste it at all (see the last point). (I've seen this a lot in recipes in the last year.)
If they say they just had fun with their spice/dried herb cabinet to develop this recipe, I would seriously consider skipping it. If you're using a spice/herb just to use it, you may not be using enough, or you may like combinations I don't like. (I saw this in a source that had most of the above problems.)
Also, if I've found a typo? in a source, like a sudden instruction to Add the Tomatoes when no tomatoes were mentioned up to that point, I skip that source in the future, for I've lost faith in anything's even working, let alone tasting good, from it.
Any other clues you've come to recognize? Hope you've not had this problem -- I think I've been too gullible! It's really helped that I'm finally following a newish rule for me -- if a source has had 3 dud recipes, I donate that source/don't revisit that site/etc.!
My thoughts on why I haven't see these problems in old cookbooks: Were ingredients more precious? especially spices when it was harder to import? And re typos, I know that when I was in publishing suddenly there was a push to proofread as little as possible -- which shocked me and which of course I refused to go along with in my line of books...
Here are a few clues I need to keep in mind for deciding if a cookbook or other source is for me:
If they say they're going to do something to an ingredient so you can't taste it, I would skip that recipe. (I just saw this for a recipe for fennel that actually says to boil the taste out of it before adding it to a recipe, and I've seen it over and over for garlic and for fresh herbs, to boil out their taste first!)
If they say that if you actually want to taste an ingredient, you should double or triple etc that ingredient, I would skip that recipe. (I just saw this in a recipe that has one clove of garlic but says if you want to taste the garlic you would need at least four.)
If they say in a non-soup/curry/etc type recipe to add say a cup of water, especially near the end, I would skip that recipe. (I recently saw this in a recipe that seemed quite nice, and indeed was tasting nice when I tested it, and then suddenly they wanted me to pour in a quart of plain old water, simmer for four minutes, then serve! That would've totally ruined the recipe, so I skipped that step and didn't try any other recipes from that source -- like many recipes, they didn't list the water in the ingredients, and um I hadn't read it properly obviously! so didn't know.)
If they call for only about 1/8 to 1/4, or even 1/2, teaspoon of some dried herb, I would skip that recipe. That very rarely does anything for the taste, or at "best" can make a recipe taste weird. In fact, most dried herbs come so far short of fresh herbs that I extremely rarely try any recipe that calls for them. (I've seen this a lot in recipes in the last year.)
If they say it really doesn't matter what herb or spice you use, I would skip that recipe. It makes a huge difference -- if you're using enough to taste it at all (see the last point). (I've seen this a lot in recipes in the last year.)
If they say they just had fun with their spice/dried herb cabinet to develop this recipe, I would seriously consider skipping it. If you're using a spice/herb just to use it, you may not be using enough, or you may like combinations I don't like. (I saw this in a source that had most of the above problems.)
Also, if I've found a typo? in a source, like a sudden instruction to Add the Tomatoes when no tomatoes were mentioned up to that point, I skip that source in the future, for I've lost faith in anything's even working, let alone tasting good, from it.
Any other clues you've come to recognize? Hope you've not had this problem -- I think I've been too gullible! It's really helped that I'm finally following a newish rule for me -- if a source has had 3 dud recipes, I donate that source/don't revisit that site/etc.!
My thoughts on why I haven't see these problems in old cookbooks: Were ingredients more precious? especially spices when it was harder to import? And re typos, I know that when I was in publishing suddenly there was a push to proofread as little as possible -- which shocked me and which of course I refused to go along with in my line of books...
Unique features of another chafing dish cookbook, 1908
From Chafing Dish and Casserole Cookery by C. Herman Senn (London: The Food and Cookery Publishing Company, 1908), my first encounter with a talking appliance in a cookbook:
And more details on the elegant chafing dish:
And more details on the elegant chafing dish:
My first stir-up day
I joined Great Britain and any other countries that do Stir-Up Sundays, though I was a week or so late....The fruitcake smells delicious -- very rum-y! -- and the recipe I found said we could sample it in a week or so from now, yum! I never made fruitcake before and am excited to try this....Two things I learned were to have huge amounts of dry fruits on hand, and it would be great if you had a big-enough cake tin to put your wrapped cake into -- I'm having to do with a covered huge skillet -- which is probably why I can smell the fruitcake and its rum! Um, you can see that I also used some Grand Marnier -- I couldn't find fruit peels without additives I can't have, and then couldn't find very good oranges and lemons with which to make my own candied peel even though I did locate a recipe for that. I was also relieved to find already-made marzipan, as so many recipes call for raw egg -- though I did locate a recipe without it at last.....Anyway, it's an experiment I highly recommend (though I believe it's going to end up being so full of rum I can't share it with children).
Speaking of tins, of course there are darling retro ones available, though one probably has to look carefully to find one suitable for food, even though the cake would be wrapped first. There's one today at Etsy, https://www.etsy.com/listing/467469689/vintage-londonderry-fruit-cake-tin-can?ref=market :
Speaking of London, my recipe is more the British fruitcake, less the American, which I never found as tasty...But speaking of American fruitcakes, I was intrigued to see that a brand of bread my grandparents used to buy all the time used to sell fruitcakes:
Speaking of London, my recipe is more the British fruitcake, less the American, which I never found as tasty...But speaking of American fruitcakes, I was intrigued to see that a brand of bread my grandparents used to buy all the time used to sell fruitcakes:
A fish recipe from 1911
As I mentioned in my last post, I'm joining the lovely people at http://starbakes.blogspot.my/
in using more of my cookbooks, in their Cookbook Countdown.
A couple days ago I tried a recipe from the 1911 The International Cook Book by Filippini. It turned out pretty tasty though not amazing -- but I would guess it would have tasted better in 1911 -- I have found and read that various ingredients, especially of produce, have gone down in flavor in the USA in the last 40 or 50 years at least. Also, the recipe specifically calls for strong cider, and I couldn't find any, and didn't even find a tasty apple juice to substitute -- surely that would have made a big difference. I also didn't find chervil -- I don't think I've ever seen it fresh here...I just used more parsley. And something else! I'm sure it would be better with real whole milk rather than the skim we often have in the house! I never would have thought of adding horseradish, but it's a great idea!
I was very pleasantly surprised by how quickly the recipe came together, given that it was from a famous New York City chef so long ago! I did simplify, though, doing everything on the stovetop and making the sauce in the same pan. I plan to try at least another recipe or two from this old book...
The book is organized by menu, and it repeats some recipes, which are all numbered so are easy to find from the clearly referenced menus.
I served it with potatoes and peas -- yes, a lot of green vegetables -- and then we had our first-ever sample of stollen, the German holiday sweet bread. It was okay, though the brand we found was rather dry -- I should try to find a recipe, I probably have one somewhere...
in using more of my cookbooks, in their Cookbook Countdown.
A couple days ago I tried a recipe from the 1911 The International Cook Book by Filippini. It turned out pretty tasty though not amazing -- but I would guess it would have tasted better in 1911 -- I have found and read that various ingredients, especially of produce, have gone down in flavor in the USA in the last 40 or 50 years at least. Also, the recipe specifically calls for strong cider, and I couldn't find any, and didn't even find a tasty apple juice to substitute -- surely that would have made a big difference. I also didn't find chervil -- I don't think I've ever seen it fresh here...I just used more parsley. And something else! I'm sure it would be better with real whole milk rather than the skim we often have in the house! I never would have thought of adding horseradish, but it's a great idea!
I was very pleasantly surprised by how quickly the recipe came together, given that it was from a famous New York City chef so long ago! I did simplify, though, doing everything on the stovetop and making the sauce in the same pan. I plan to try at least another recipe or two from this old book...
I served it with potatoes and peas -- yes, a lot of green vegetables -- and then we had our first-ever sample of stollen, the German holiday sweet bread. It was okay, though the brand we found was rather dry -- I should try to find a recipe, I probably have one somewhere...
Cookbook Countdown, December 2016
I'm joining again the lovely people at http://starbakes.blogspot.my/ in their use-your-cookbooks challenge.
This time I'm trying an even older cookbook than the not-really-successful recipes I tried last time -- but this time I'm using one by an actual chef whose recipes I keep seeing when I use his menus and have always thought sounded good. So we shall see if the ones I choose are to my taste this time! It's the 1911
You can get your own ecopy completely free over at https://ia902302.us.archive.org/22/items/internationalcoo00filirich/internationalcoo00filirich.pdf !
This time I'm trying an even older cookbook than the not-really-successful recipes I tried last time -- but this time I'm using one by an actual chef whose recipes I keep seeing when I use his menus and have always thought sounded good. So we shall see if the ones I choose are to my taste this time! It's the 1911
The International Cook Book by Filippini
who was chef at Delmonico's in New York 'way back when!! (By the way, there's also a 1920 cookbook associated with Delmonico's, but by Charles Ranhofer, The Epicurean.)
You can get your own ecopy completely free over at https://ia902302.us.archive.org/22/items/internationalcoo00filirich/internationalcoo00filirich.pdf !
A few more 1890s-early 1900s chafing dish thoughts
First, in case it wasn't clear in my last post what a chafing dish is! or was, more accurately. There were variations, of course, in the design...
Thoughts from the 1890 On the Chafing Dish, compliments of the Rogers Smith & Co. Silversmiths -- who apparently made these gorgeous Art Nouveau silverware pieces:
and, of course, chafing dishes. Some interesting thoughts from them that remind one of how different homes could be in 1890:
And a return to the wonderful 1905 Cult of the Chafing Dish for an interesting look at lifestyles of the time:
Thoughts from the 1890 On the Chafing Dish, compliments of the Rogers Smith & Co. Silversmiths -- who apparently made these gorgeous Art Nouveau silverware pieces:
In twenty minutes, or at the longest, half an hour, at a small table —set either in the pantry or in a corner of the dining room— upon which is placed the chafing-dish or the blazer, one can prepare any of the following receipts....The change from the cumbersome range in the kitchen to the petite silver Chafinor-Dish on the dining table illustrates forcibly the advance in civilization. The delectable dishes which can be prepared by host or hostess without trouble, discomfort, and with slight preparation are numerous....
And a return to the wonderful 1905 Cult of the Chafing Dish for an interesting look at lifestyles of the time:
The same wonderful writer gives a history:
To bachelors, male and female, in chambers, lodgings, diggings, and the like, in fact to all who "batch"; to young couples with a taste for theatres, concerts, and homely late suppers; to yachtsmen, shooting-parties, and picnickers; to inventive artists who yearn for fame in the evolution of a new entree; to invalids, night workers, actors and stockbrokers, the Chafing Dish is a welcome friend and companion....Our mitigated thanks are due to America for its comparatively recent reintroduction, for until quite lately, in Great Britain, its use was practically limited to the cooking of cheese on the table....[Even] if the Americans are vague in their French nomenclature, unorthodox in their sauces, eclectic in their flavourings, and over-lavish in their condiments, yet they have at any rate brought parlour cooking to a point where it may gracefully be accepted as an added pleasure to life.
Mrs. Rorer's 1896 (1898? it's hard to see) How to Use the Chafing Dish gives insights into meal planning -- and help! -- of the time:
It is quite erroneous to imagine that the Chafing Dish is an American invention. Nothing of the sort. The earliest trace of it is more than a quarter of a thousand years old. "Le Cuisinier Frangais," by Sieur Francois Pierre de la Varenne, Escuyer de Cuisine de Monsieur le Marquis d'Uxelles, published in Paris in 1652, contains a recipe for Champignons a l'Olivier, in which the use of a Rechaut is recommended. A translation of this work, termed " The French Cook," was published in London in 1653, and the selfsame recipe of Mushrooms after the Oliver contains the injunction to use a Chafing Dish; moreover, the frontispiece, a charmingly executed drawing, shows a man-cook in his kitchen, surrounded by the implements of his art; and on the table a Chafing Dish, much akin to our latter-day variety, is burning merrily. This was in 1653....
To the housewife who keeps but one maid, [the chafing dish] is indeed a helping hand. The Monday lunch or supper is quickly gotten without the use of stove or kitchen; and so again on maid's day out; [and] the Sunday night supper; and the still more fashionable 12:00 Sunday breakfast. This latter, by the way, is the most sensible of all the recent fads....
Chafing Dish thoughts, 1890s style vs today
I was always intrigued by cookbooks such as these from the 1890s, when chafing dishes were actually useful cooking tools, apparently often employed for fun right at the dining table:
Chafing Dish Possibilities... by Fannie Merritt Farmer herself! from 1898
The Chafing Dish Supper by Christine Terhune Herrick (with an interesting attempt to look retro even for its date -- 1894 -- since the endpapers go with this look, I believe it is original to the book)
You can find a lot of free ebooks on chafing dishes through a search at archive.org: https://archive.org/search.php?query=chafing%20dish , where there are others by some of my favorite retro cookbook writers such as Mrs. S.T. Roper and Janet M. Hill,
and books from manufacturers of chafing dishes (which show an interesting change in culture).
Some I've checked out are also from the early 1900s, including this delightfully written one, available at https://ia800305.us.archive.org/27/items/cu31924000677223/cu31924000677223.pdf :
Alas, chafing dish at least in the US today has seemingly changed its meaning. I wanted some simple warming appliances for this American Thanksgiving, after the poultry and potatoes were cold by the time I got some last Thanksgiving, and I was excited to find "chafing dishes" at a department store's website, because I thought that they would be like the 1890s versions that would both cook and keep warm. They don't. In fact, they don't even come with pans suitable for cooking in a separate oven, let alone the stovetop, though they are designed to look like old-fashioned chafing dishes except with a short electric cord. I of course found very serviceable warmers from Cuisinart that utilize tea candles, which come with useable pans for both stovetop and even broiler use. However, if I find myself in need of any other warmers, I'm interested in trying something that needs neither candles nor electricity -- I saw a line of them at http://www.frontgate.com/stainless-steel-hot-2fcold-serving-trays-26-accessories/kitchen-entertaining/serving-accessories/stainless-steel-serveware/457659 . Even better, not only can you warm them in an oven (though you can't cook in them) and they'll keep your food warm for 2 hours on your table, but you can also chill them to keep things cool, like in the summer! They're not inexpensive, but hmm they're 30% off just today...
Back to the original chafing dishes (which really are original, aren't they, in that they're like truly ancient people used except over larger fires??) -- last year I made a few notes about how to adapt old recipes to them, while I was waiting for my disappointing not-really-a-chafing-dish to arrive, though then I added the note about not-cooking:
Chafing Dish Possibilities... by Fannie Merritt Farmer herself! from 1898
The Chafing Dish Supper by Christine Terhune Herrick (with an interesting attempt to look retro even for its date -- 1894 -- since the endpapers go with this look, I believe it is original to the book)
You can find a lot of free ebooks on chafing dishes through a search at archive.org: https://archive.org/search.php?query=chafing%20dish , where there are others by some of my favorite retro cookbook writers such as Mrs. S.T. Roper and Janet M. Hill,
Some I've checked out are also from the early 1900s, including this delightfully written one, available at https://ia800305.us.archive.org/27/items/cu31924000677223/cu31924000677223.pdf :
Alas, chafing dish at least in the US today has seemingly changed its meaning. I wanted some simple warming appliances for this American Thanksgiving, after the poultry and potatoes were cold by the time I got some last Thanksgiving, and I was excited to find "chafing dishes" at a department store's website, because I thought that they would be like the 1890s versions that would both cook and keep warm. They don't. In fact, they don't even come with pans suitable for cooking in a separate oven, let alone the stovetop, though they are designed to look like old-fashioned chafing dishes except with a short electric cord. I of course found very serviceable warmers from Cuisinart that utilize tea candles, which come with useable pans for both stovetop and even broiler use. However, if I find myself in need of any other warmers, I'm interested in trying something that needs neither candles nor electricity -- I saw a line of them at http://www.frontgate.com/stainless-steel-hot-2fcold-serving-trays-26-accessories/kitchen-entertaining/serving-accessories/stainless-steel-serveware/457659 . Even better, not only can you warm them in an oven (though you can't cook in them) and they'll keep your food warm for 2 hours on your table, but you can also chill them to keep things cool, like in the summer! They're not inexpensive, but hmm they're 30% off just today...
Back to the original chafing dishes (which really are original, aren't they, in that they're like truly ancient people used except over larger fires??) -- last year I made a few notes about how to adapt old recipes to them, while I was waiting for my disappointing not-really-a-chafing-dish to arrive, though then I added the note about not-cooking:
chafing dish dishesThe chafing dish was designed to work as a main event, to be served with say toasts and a simple salad. Was especially used for an easy Sunday supper in the 1890s. If doing as part of the dinner's entertainment have your bowls etc of prepped ingredients lined up.There are recipes that sound more useable than the 1890s ones in books such as Culinary Arts Institute's Sunday Night Suppers pp7-19. NOTE modern ones do NOT cook though :-(Dishes in a sauce/creamed type (already cooked meats, vegetables can work well in this) (inc curries if yours is fine against odors) (to be served over eg rice)Stovetop casserole-y type eg New Orleans rice typeThick stew type (already cooked meats, vegetables can work well in this)Fondue and other dipping sauce/fancy dip typeScrambled egg type inc w vegetablesSmall-meatball type made with ground meatSmall appetizer-y meats etc eg livers with fruit and nutsWould also work for a beverage if yours is large enough:a fancy hot beverage eg spiced coffeeWould also work for dessert:a cornstarch pudding (served with fresh fruit in separate serving bowls)chocolate or other sweet dipping saucefancy fruit topping eg to put over ice cream
All-American Favorite Recipes with Mazola Corn Oil and Gold Medal Flour, 1960
I'm posting this on American Thanksgiving...
A couple 1939 recipes in my 2016 kitchen; or, thoughts on fresh herbs
As I explained at http://favoritefoodthisweek.blogspot.com/2016/11/cookbook-countdown-november-2016.html , I'm joining the wonderful cooks over at http://starbakes.blogspot.my/ to post about my use of one of my cookbooks, in my case the 1939 Modern Meal Maker by Martha Meade.
It's my opinion that I should stick to using her menu ideas, and not use her recipe ideas so much. The recipes were fine but not amazing, though definitely not difficult, but I'd rather find recipes that taste a bit better. I wonder if her readers had less access than we do to fresh herbs, for example, which could make the below vegetables better. Similarly, adding berries to another recipe really made it tastier. Anyway, here are the recipes I tried before I decided not to try any more...
There was a recipe for Rice Muffins, which cleverly used leftover rice. I was excited because for the first time in years I had muffin tins -- my old ones had been lost in an international move, and it took me a long time to find stainless steel ones rather than nonstick ones -- I like to use paper liners. Here are the ingredients -- I added blueberries to some of the muffins (which turned out the best, by the way), and also substituted olive oil for the butter for which she called (which would've been fabulous, I'm sure) (the pasteurized eggs are because we've had 'way too much salmonella on local farms this year)...
The end result:
...and when I had them for breakfast (the blueberry ones were gone by then -- I also served these for dinner -- so I added blueberry preserves -- hmm, and obviously enjoyed a magazine on kitchen design -- and fresh herbs on my accompanying omelet):
...and for lunch (with fresh herbs, surprise surprise):
The next time I make muffins, though, I'll probably return to my old favorite Beatrice Ojakangas's Light Muffins, which taste amazing.
The other recipe I tried was for Baked Shredded Vegetables. It was basically grated vegetables arranged in ribbons then topped with salt, pepper, and a bit of sugar, along with oil or butter, then in between them buttered breadcrumbs. I found that I needed to triple her time guess for cooking -- perhaps her vegetables were less fresh so less crisp/hard? All the vegetables were root vegetables, which she may have picked from her garden and kept in a cellar rather than a refrigerator. (I didn't have any problem with her muffin temperature and time, so I don't think it was her oven. Though, hmm, look at that temperature -- I usually roast vegetables at a hotter temperature.)
The beets were quite awful, but it wasn't the recipe's fault -- I used already-steamed ones from a brand I should avoid (the steaming is why I didn't shred them, as they were already tender).
Here is her suggested menu for with those vegetables, though I didn't use it:
Here's how I served those vegetables, for a lunch with some amazing eggs (with fresh parsley!) from Fern Green's Breakfast Morning Noon and Night, which so far is totally amazing:
But back to fresh herbs! I'd like to close with a quote from Pliny! which this cookbook has for this month! Pliny suggests that students wear a crown of mint while they are studying, because it "exhilarates the mind"!
May your time in the kitchen be exhilarating, dear friends!
It's my opinion that I should stick to using her menu ideas, and not use her recipe ideas so much. The recipes were fine but not amazing, though definitely not difficult, but I'd rather find recipes that taste a bit better. I wonder if her readers had less access than we do to fresh herbs, for example, which could make the below vegetables better. Similarly, adding berries to another recipe really made it tastier. Anyway, here are the recipes I tried before I decided not to try any more...
There was a recipe for Rice Muffins, which cleverly used leftover rice. I was excited because for the first time in years I had muffin tins -- my old ones had been lost in an international move, and it took me a long time to find stainless steel ones rather than nonstick ones -- I like to use paper liners. Here are the ingredients -- I added blueberries to some of the muffins (which turned out the best, by the way), and also substituted olive oil for the butter for which she called (which would've been fabulous, I'm sure) (the pasteurized eggs are because we've had 'way too much salmonella on local farms this year)...
The end result:
...and for lunch (with fresh herbs, surprise surprise):
The other recipe I tried was for Baked Shredded Vegetables. It was basically grated vegetables arranged in ribbons then topped with salt, pepper, and a bit of sugar, along with oil or butter, then in between them buttered breadcrumbs. I found that I needed to triple her time guess for cooking -- perhaps her vegetables were less fresh so less crisp/hard? All the vegetables were root vegetables, which she may have picked from her garden and kept in a cellar rather than a refrigerator. (I didn't have any problem with her muffin temperature and time, so I don't think it was her oven. Though, hmm, look at that temperature -- I usually roast vegetables at a hotter temperature.)
The beets were quite awful, but it wasn't the recipe's fault -- I used already-steamed ones from a brand I should avoid (the steaming is why I didn't shred them, as they were already tender).
Here is her suggested menu for with those vegetables, though I didn't use it:
But back to fresh herbs! I'd like to close with a quote from Pliny! which this cookbook has for this month! Pliny suggests that students wear a crown of mint while they are studying, because it "exhilarates the mind"!
May your time in the kitchen be exhilarating, dear friends!
My so-far by-far best meal planning sheet
I finally happened upon a planner that really works for me. It looks somewhat like the one I posted at http://favoritefoodthisweek.blogspot.com/2016/09/making-meal-planning-easier.html , including it's realistic for my time-for-cooking requirements, but this one has more specifics, and also has realistic time for grocery shopping and for cooking some foods ahead. I've always heard of the latter, and aspired to it, but I finally figured out that what I really wanted already-ready in the refrigerator was quite different from others' ideas. Anyway, in case there's another person or two who has similar tastes or needs, here's what I made up, in MS Word; feel free to adapt it for yourself. Hmm, Qk C refers to a healthy food doc on which I'm working; what I mean is if I would be helped by a particular food that day e.g. cherries for pain, there's a reminder about that..."Jamie" refers to Jamie Oliver's Save with Jamie. He's my favorite all-around recipe creator. This book has cook-a-big-piece-of-something recipes with leftovers...
A slowly evolving new site
...is over at http://perpetualcalendarhappydays.blogspot.com/ -- hope you enjoy it, though it has a long way to go! When it's farther along, I'll say more...
Mourning food
I am in the midst of mourning...and was wondering what foods, if any, are traditional comforts to mourners. I'm not talking about, say, the ancient Greek custom of giving the dead money to cross that river, nor about the kind casserole tradition in the American Midwest given to grieving families as a practical and kind provision...
I discovered a rich tradition for such times in Judaism: http://www.shiva.com/learning-center/what-to-bring-or-send/food-condolence-baskets/ . I recently saw Victorian funeral biscuits in New York's Merchant's House Museum, http://merchantshouse.org/ ; they are discussed at http://historiccamdencounty.com/ccnews153.shtml (not a read for the squeamish). I've not found a scholarly resource on other cultures' mourning foods, though someone has tried to compile such a book...
So how about foods recommended to help with sadness in general? Here's what I've seen listed over the years as comforting to most humans, though I wonder how much it's affected by one's culture:
I discovered a rich tradition for such times in Judaism: http://www.shiva.com/learning-center/what-to-bring-or-send/food-condolence-baskets/ . I recently saw Victorian funeral biscuits in New York's Merchant's House Museum, http://merchantshouse.org/ ; they are discussed at http://historiccamdencounty.com/ccnews153.shtml (not a read for the squeamish). I've not found a scholarly resource on other cultures' mourning foods, though someone has tried to compile such a book...
So how about foods recommended to help with sadness in general? Here's what I've seen listed over the years as comforting to most humans, though I wonder how much it's affected by one's culture:
- a hot beverage you like
- cardamom
- vanilla
- fatty fish
- olive oil
- foods rich in folate/folic acid (rich sources include beans, dairy, fruit, nuts, tea, vegetables)
- if the mourning is from a traumatic event such as the unleashing of a foul misogynist: coriander, thyme, ginger, sage, oats, oranges
Cookbook Countdown, November 2016
I'm joining the ever-so-talented-and-kind cooks over at
http://starbakes.blogspot.my/
in their use-your-cookbooks 2016 challenge -- for (I'm embarrassed to say) my first time. I'm planning to experiment with the retro
by Martha Meade, from 1939
http://starbakes.blogspot.my/
in their use-your-cookbooks 2016 challenge -- for (I'm embarrassed to say) my first time. I'm planning to experiment with the retro
Modern Meal Maker:
1115 Menus, 744 Recipes
by Martha Meade, from 1939
A Cook's Tour with Minute Tapioca, 1929
This states that its "majority of recipes...were selected by internationally famous food experts from the returns of a world-wide contest in which 121,619 housewives, here and abroad, competed"!
My favorite-so-far freezer organizing sheets
I finally came up with my own ideal of keeping track of what I have in the freezer -- the below document I did in MS Word, plus the complete meals list I showed at http://favoritefoodthisweek.blogspot.com/2016/09/meal-kits-vs-old-way.html . Over at http://favoritefoodthisweek.blogspot.com/2016/09/making-meal-planning-easier.html I mentioned my idea of placing the complete meals that are in more than one container into organic, unbleached cotton drawstring bags -- that's working out well; it makes it ever so easy just to grab a bag on crazy days!
A packed lunch, 1914
I thought you might like to see this picture from the
1914 The Pure Food
Cook Book by Harvey W. Wiley, M.D., and Mildred Maddocks of a proposed packed lunch -- look at those environmentally friendly containers! Well, except already they were using paraffin/non-natural-waxed paper, apparently.
Some retro but easy menus
To follow up on what I mentioned yesterday, that I had found that lots of retro menus actually were not super time-consuming, here are a few samples of interesting ideas that do not necessarily have to take a long time, from autumn in the specified cookbooks...
for breakfast
with
some ideas from the 1910 The Hotel St. Francis Cook Book by Victor Hirtzler
waffles
or rolls with honeycomb honey &
fresh fruit
coffee
for lunch
adapted
from the 1905 Mrs. Rorer's
Every Day Menu Book by Mrs. Sarah Tyson Rorer
macaroni
and cheese with tomatoes
green
salad
•
baked
bananas
for a snack
inspired by breakfast in the 1912
The Helping Hand
Cookbook by Marion Harland and Christine
Terhune Herrick
biscuit
fruit
tea
another snack possibility
inspired by a dessert with cider sauce I saw in a 1920s Australian cookbook
inspired by a dessert with cider sauce I saw in a 1920s Australian cookbook
sweet cider
cheese
Making meal planning easier
After using some meal plans from about 1900 through 1945 that were actually very realistic about how long it can take to make lots of meals and snacks every day so had a variety of easy meals and leftovers, I realized how easy it could be to have varied meals -- I didn't have to start from scratch at every meal, even if I (as I do) were avoiding almost every premade item in the grocery store. Once I settle into a place, like most people I make extra of various foods.
At the same time it's extremely helpful to me to write down what I'm having at pretty much every meal and snack (unless I'm using an already-typed-up plan like in those retro cookbooks). That's where I stumbled the other week -- I felt like I had to fill the little blanks with amazing dishes that truly took hours for at least me to make. (Which was especially silly given that my life has recently become even more crazy-busy.)
Of course there was no need to cook for hours; we all have very high standards for food taste and other quality, but we also appreciate the wonderful taste of pure, basically unadorned vegetables and fruits and such. So, I came up with a chart in MS Word that reminded me not to plan to do more than I really really wanted and could do in a day (you're very welcome to make your own based on this, and yes someday I need to figure out how to offer PDFs, though in this case you probably want to customize to fit your own tastes):
The "moi" kits are an experiment for me. I realized that say I had some interesting Malaysian chicken in the freezer I'd made the month before but nothing that would go with it, because even though I'd gotten some stir-fry-type vegetables to go with it I'd then forgotten about the future menu and used them in something else. So I just got some unbleached, organic cotton drawstring bags in a large size and plan to tuck in food for which I have plans so it's not accidentally used in something else. Depending on where the food is, for a meal like this Malaysian one I'd also tuck in brown rice....I'm planning, if it's in a drawstring bag it means it's a whole meal for our family size that I can just grab and quickly put together on our busiest nights.
At the same time it's extremely helpful to me to write down what I'm having at pretty much every meal and snack (unless I'm using an already-typed-up plan like in those retro cookbooks). That's where I stumbled the other week -- I felt like I had to fill the little blanks with amazing dishes that truly took hours for at least me to make. (Which was especially silly given that my life has recently become even more crazy-busy.)
Of course there was no need to cook for hours; we all have very high standards for food taste and other quality, but we also appreciate the wonderful taste of pure, basically unadorned vegetables and fruits and such. So, I came up with a chart in MS Word that reminded me not to plan to do more than I really really wanted and could do in a day (you're very welcome to make your own based on this, and yes someday I need to figure out how to offer PDFs, though in this case you probably want to customize to fit your own tastes):
The "moi" kits are an experiment for me. I realized that say I had some interesting Malaysian chicken in the freezer I'd made the month before but nothing that would go with it, because even though I'd gotten some stir-fry-type vegetables to go with it I'd then forgotten about the future menu and used them in something else. So I just got some unbleached, organic cotton drawstring bags in a large size and plan to tuck in food for which I have plans so it's not accidentally used in something else. Depending on where the food is, for a meal like this Malaysian one I'd also tuck in brown rice....I'm planning, if it's in a drawstring bag it means it's a whole meal for our family size that I can just grab and quickly put together on our busiest nights.
Ta-da! A new site: My Monster History Book!
You'll find a very different site, though also to do with history, over at...
http://associationoftimetravelers.blogspot.com/
It features my by-far longest work. Hope you enjoy!
http://associationoftimetravelers.blogspot.com/
It features my by-far longest work. Hope you enjoy!
Meal Kits vs The Old Way
Just FYI. We've tried an inordinate number of oh-so-popular meal kits. They sound so enticing. But the non-organic ones all made us terribly sick; I've found that non-"organic" seems to come with additives in addition to non-organic pesticides. In my area there's only one "organic" "meal kit" delivery service...and unfortunately we didn't really like the recipes. Looks like there are other options on the East and West coasts of the USA. (UPDATE: Woo-hoo, one of them arrived here, and we actually like it so far! It's the perfect balance for us of taste, ease, and variety -- it comes with 2 dinners from all sorts of cuisines that only take 10 to 45 minutes so far even for slowpoke moi and 2 breakfasts which I use for dinner sometimes if it's eggs, otherwise breakfast or lunch or snack like when it's a smoothie -- it's just enough to make my life easier right now.)
Anyway, most meal kits we've tried (not all) were more grocery delivery services -- it could take up to 2 hours before a meal was ready, and only like once was it worth the effort and time.
SO. I realized that for our tastes and health needs, Retro Is Better -- filling one's freezer with real food retro, being in charge of the recipe choices oneself retro. I've ordered a couple books from England that give promising-sounding menus that will organize me for say a week of dinners and even lunches -- and I definitely will use my long-beloved Kitchen Revolution cookbook more -- these experiences make me appreciate its always delicious recipes and consummate organization even more. Some of its plans take me up to 2 hours to make because I am slow -- but so did the god-awful meal kits! and Kitchen Revolution's plans always give me loads to keep in the freezer for future, effortless meals!
I made a document in MS Word to keep track of what we hopefully will soonish have on hand, again fitting our own health and taste (and budget) requirements:
Anyway, most meal kits we've tried (not all) were more grocery delivery services -- it could take up to 2 hours before a meal was ready, and only like once was it worth the effort and time.
SO. I realized that for our tastes and health needs, Retro Is Better -- filling one's freezer with real food retro, being in charge of the recipe choices oneself retro. I've ordered a couple books from England that give promising-sounding menus that will organize me for say a week of dinners and even lunches -- and I definitely will use my long-beloved Kitchen Revolution cookbook more -- these experiences make me appreciate its always delicious recipes and consummate organization even more. Some of its plans take me up to 2 hours to make because I am slow -- but so did the god-awful meal kits! and Kitchen Revolution's plans always give me loads to keep in the freezer for future, effortless meals!
I made a document in MS Word to keep track of what we hopefully will soonish have on hand, again fitting our own health and taste (and budget) requirements:
Pre-prep in 1930!
This suits me ever so much better than what seems to me like endless quesadillas, burgers, and chicken concoctions from too many freezer plans nowadays touted as easy and wonderful. I've even found it hard to source recipes for the refrigerator bread and cookie doughs it mentions, though I used to have such recipes at my fingertips -- hmm, if I re-find them and they're out of copyright, I'll post them for your cooking convenience. From the 1930 Silent Hostess Treasure Book (please note this actually looks to me like a modern-day "typesetting" of the book, and that there were editions at least in 1931 and 1932 as well):
Cherishing vegetables
Of Pamela née Mitford (1907-1994), by her sister Deborah Duchess of Devonshire in her memoirs Wait for Me!
The kitchen garden was Pam's heaven and the vegetables cherished....Her guests sat down to eat to tales of where the seeds were from, how they had been planted, and the rest of their life history.
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