Thirty-fourth Sunday: The Original Menu
Grape juice
Meat loaf, peas and carrots sauce
Mashed potatoes
Cheesed cauliflower
Parker House rolls
Lettuce and cucumbers with thousand island dressing
Raspberry short cake with meringue
Sand cookies
Coffee
The meatloaf is served surrounded by the peas and carrots sauce, which is made from fresh carrots and peas that are cooked until soft, then seasoned and mashed. I just can't imagine that it has a very pleasing color or wouldn't remind people of baby food, but perhaps this recipe was created before Gerber released its strained peas?
Thirty-fourth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Stuffed peppers
Peas and carrots
Mashed potatoes
Cucumbers and radishes
Angel food cake
As usual, the original menu is too much food for only two people, especially on a warm summer day like today! Both Brian and I love meat loaf, but I associate it more with the fall and winter than summer, so I substituted stuffed peppers, which is more of a summer dish. I use lean ground turkey instead of beef. The mashed potatoes were made from leftover red skins that a friend couldn't finish during dinner at the Big Rock Chop House and the angel food cake is leftover from last weekend's seafood party my friend hosted.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Thirty-third Sunday
Thirty-third Sunday: The Original Menu
Tomato bouillon
Graham rolls
Fricasseed chicken
Corn on the cob
Flaked potatoes
Sweet pickles
Head lettuce with cheese dressing
August apple pudding
Coffee
The sweet pickles are homemade: 4 cups cider vinegar with 1 pound (!) of sugar and several spices. The mixture is boiled then poured over 7 pounds of cucumbers. When cool it is boiled again then placed in jars and sealed. Interestingly, I recently learned that this old method of canning is no longer considered safe, as the temperature cannot get high enough to kill all possible bacteria. Additionally, ingredient amounts should not be adjusted (something I do all the time) as it could affect the acids and also cause sickness. So don't use a 1928 recipe for home pickling/canning – use a modern one instead!
Thirty-third Sunday: The Modern Menu
Another missed chicken meal! This time we were vacationing on Mackinac Island.
Tomato bouillon
Graham rolls
Fricasseed chicken
Corn on the cob
Flaked potatoes
Sweet pickles
Head lettuce with cheese dressing
August apple pudding
Coffee
The sweet pickles are homemade: 4 cups cider vinegar with 1 pound (!) of sugar and several spices. The mixture is boiled then poured over 7 pounds of cucumbers. When cool it is boiled again then placed in jars and sealed. Interestingly, I recently learned that this old method of canning is no longer considered safe, as the temperature cannot get high enough to kill all possible bacteria. Additionally, ingredient amounts should not be adjusted (something I do all the time) as it could affect the acids and also cause sickness. So don't use a 1928 recipe for home pickling/canning – use a modern one instead!
Thirty-third Sunday: The Modern Menu
Another missed chicken meal! This time we were vacationing on Mackinac Island.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Thirty-second Sunday
Thirty-second Sunday: The Original Menu
Iced cantaloupe
American chop suey
Creamed corn
Stuffed baked potatoes
Celery and cole slaw, sour cream dressing
Blackberry pie and cheese
Coffee
Today is the hottest day of the year, yet all of the August recipes are hot foods served with coffee. Granted the book says coffee can mean either hot coffee or iced coffee, but why are all the cold dishes and iced tea menus set for June?
American chop suey really is "American" chop suey as there is no rice, but instead, macaroni. "Put through the food chopper 1-1/4 lbs. round steak, ¼ lb. pork. Chop separately 1 medium sized onion, 1 quart cooked macaroni, and use either 1 pint canned tomatoes, or 1 pint freshly stewed tomatoes which have been skinned before serving." The ingredients are then alternately layered in a casserole dish for 1-1/4 hours, although, "longer and slower baking will not injure this dish, so it can be arranged to cook slowly while the housewife and her family are at church."
I don't cook dinner for the mid-day meal, but the late-day meal, and it's way too hot to turn on the oven, but in keeping with the spirit of the original menu, I made a similar beef-macaroni-tomato dish.
Thirty-second Sunday: The Modern Menu
Macaroni-beef sauté
Corn
Celery and spinach with sour cream dressing
Blackberries and cantaloupe
Iced tea
Corn was leftover from the night before, I just cut the kernels off from the cob and reheated it. The sour cream dressing was straight from the cookbook, only in a smaller quantity and I added some fresh-snipped chives from the garden. Brian and I both enjoyed it and I plan to make it again. In the meantime, I'll be taking the leftover dressing to work for a salad-lunch one day this week.
Buying an entire head of cabbage for only one meal didn't seem very economical (our schedule is so hectic this week that we won't be having many meals at home). So I substituted spinach so I could use the rest of it for lunch-salads. In an effort to eat a bit more healthy I skipped the pie and just had fruit for dessert – very tasty!
Iced cantaloupe
American chop suey
Creamed corn
Stuffed baked potatoes
Celery and cole slaw, sour cream dressing
Blackberry pie and cheese
Coffee
Today is the hottest day of the year, yet all of the August recipes are hot foods served with coffee. Granted the book says coffee can mean either hot coffee or iced coffee, but why are all the cold dishes and iced tea menus set for June?
American chop suey really is "American" chop suey as there is no rice, but instead, macaroni. "Put through the food chopper 1-1/4 lbs. round steak, ¼ lb. pork. Chop separately 1 medium sized onion, 1 quart cooked macaroni, and use either 1 pint canned tomatoes, or 1 pint freshly stewed tomatoes which have been skinned before serving." The ingredients are then alternately layered in a casserole dish for 1-1/4 hours, although, "longer and slower baking will not injure this dish, so it can be arranged to cook slowly while the housewife and her family are at church."
I don't cook dinner for the mid-day meal, but the late-day meal, and it's way too hot to turn on the oven, but in keeping with the spirit of the original menu, I made a similar beef-macaroni-tomato dish.
Thirty-second Sunday: The Modern Menu
Macaroni-beef sauté
Corn
Celery and spinach with sour cream dressing
Blackberries and cantaloupe
Iced tea
Corn was leftover from the night before, I just cut the kernels off from the cob and reheated it. The sour cream dressing was straight from the cookbook, only in a smaller quantity and I added some fresh-snipped chives from the garden. Brian and I both enjoyed it and I plan to make it again. In the meantime, I'll be taking the leftover dressing to work for a salad-lunch one day this week.
Buying an entire head of cabbage for only one meal didn't seem very economical (our schedule is so hectic this week that we won't be having many meals at home). So I substituted spinach so I could use the rest of it for lunch-salads. In an effort to eat a bit more healthy I skipped the pie and just had fruit for dessert – very tasty!
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Thirty-first Sunday
Thirty-first Sunday: The Original Menu
Slice of ham baked in milk
Glazed sweet potatoes
Escalloped tomatoes
Canned asparagus tips, French dressing
Salt crackers
Cream cheese
Charlotte Russe
Coffee
In the 1920s, fresh fruits and veggies weren't available out-of-season, so I'm not surprised to see canned asparagus on the menu. Fortunately, modern grocers ship in food from all over these days, so I've never tasted canned asparagus.
I've also never had a Charlotte Russe, which is another gelatine dish. There's quite a bit of sugar, whipped cream and raspberries. In keeping with the original spirit, I decided to retain the raspberries, but skip the sugar.
Thirty-first Sunday: The Modern Menu
Ham with ginger glaze
Baked sweet potato
Baked tomatoes
Multigrain bread
Raspberries
Iced tea
I love ham! Instead of baking it in milk, I tried a new recipe that helped me use up some ingredients in danger of spoiling. The ginger glaze is made by combing Vernors with orange juice. Since the weather was nice, Brian cooked the ham on the grill. It was very tasty.
Slice of ham baked in milk
Glazed sweet potatoes
Escalloped tomatoes
Canned asparagus tips, French dressing
Salt crackers
Cream cheese
Charlotte Russe
Coffee
In the 1920s, fresh fruits and veggies weren't available out-of-season, so I'm not surprised to see canned asparagus on the menu. Fortunately, modern grocers ship in food from all over these days, so I've never tasted canned asparagus.
I've also never had a Charlotte Russe, which is another gelatine dish. There's quite a bit of sugar, whipped cream and raspberries. In keeping with the original spirit, I decided to retain the raspberries, but skip the sugar.
Thirty-first Sunday: The Modern Menu
Ham with ginger glaze
Baked sweet potato
Baked tomatoes
Multigrain bread
Raspberries
Iced tea
I love ham! Instead of baking it in milk, I tried a new recipe that helped me use up some ingredients in danger of spoiling. The ginger glaze is made by combing Vernors with orange juice. Since the weather was nice, Brian cooked the ham on the grill. It was very tasty.
Thirtieth Sunday
Thirtieth Sunday: The Original Menu
Cheese and olive canapés
Cold boiled tongue
Scalloped potatoes
Green peas, buttered
Home made pickles
Pepper and cabbage salad
Nut dressing
Fruit jelly with whipped cream
Coffee
Ah, tongue! A dish that almost never graces the dinner table anymore. It seems to be a bit trendy for celebrity chefs to serve it, either for the gross-factor or because it is truly delicious and we just don't know what we're missing. I saw a Top Chef episode a few weeks ago and it was turned into street food – the tasters claimed to enjoy it.
I've never eaten tongue, that I know of, even though my grandparents owned a cattle farm when I was a girl. It's always possible my mother tried to slip it to me by calling it something else – I know she did that with liver. Even if I could find a butcher that sold it, I have no desire to try it, nor does Brian, and since this is an effort to bring the Sunday dinners into the 21st century, we've completely modernized this menu: PIZZA!!!
Thirtieth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Homemade pizza
Cherries
Iced tea
Brian is the pizza chef in our house. He made the bread from scratch, then rolled out two pies: one for him, one me. His was topped with pepperoni, onion, green peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, pineapple and cheese. I made a Greek pizza, topping mine with feta cheese, onion, tomato, spinach and garlic. I also created a flavored crust by brushing a small amount of olive oil along the outside and then sprinkling Italian seasoning on it. Yum!
Since we live in Michigan and it's cherry season, I also picked up some fresh cherries for dessert.
Cheese and olive canapés
Cold boiled tongue
Scalloped potatoes
Green peas, buttered
Home made pickles
Pepper and cabbage salad
Nut dressing
Fruit jelly with whipped cream
Coffee
Ah, tongue! A dish that almost never graces the dinner table anymore. It seems to be a bit trendy for celebrity chefs to serve it, either for the gross-factor or because it is truly delicious and we just don't know what we're missing. I saw a Top Chef episode a few weeks ago and it was turned into street food – the tasters claimed to enjoy it.
I've never eaten tongue, that I know of, even though my grandparents owned a cattle farm when I was a girl. It's always possible my mother tried to slip it to me by calling it something else – I know she did that with liver. Even if I could find a butcher that sold it, I have no desire to try it, nor does Brian, and since this is an effort to bring the Sunday dinners into the 21st century, we've completely modernized this menu: PIZZA!!!
Thirtieth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Homemade pizza
Cherries
Iced tea
Brian is the pizza chef in our house. He made the bread from scratch, then rolled out two pies: one for him, one me. His was topped with pepperoni, onion, green peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, pineapple and cheese. I made a Greek pizza, topping mine with feta cheese, onion, tomato, spinach and garlic. I also created a flavored crust by brushing a small amount of olive oil along the outside and then sprinkling Italian seasoning on it. Yum!
Since we live in Michigan and it's cherry season, I also picked up some fresh cherries for dessert.
Twenty-ninth Sunday
Twenty-ninth Sunday: The Original Menu
Fruit cocktail
Fried chicken, cream gravy
Potatoes au gratin
Buttered beets
Stuffed tomato salad
Hot biscuit
Fresh peach ice cream
Angel food
Coffee
The fruit cocktail is equal parts of cherries, bananas, pineapple and peaches, cubed and sprinkled with powdered sugar. I love fried chicken! But it's not that good for me, so I've decided to make baked chicken instead and to skip the cream gravy. According to the recipe, potatoes au gratin is also called potatoes with cheese.
Twenty-ninth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Baked chicken legs
Potatoes with cheese
Pickles
Tomato salad
Sliced peaches
Lemon cakes
Iced tea
Since we are a family of two, I chose chicken legs instead of a whole chicken. The potatoes are leftover red skins that needed to be eaten: I boiled them, sprinkled them with some seasoning, then topped with cheddar cheese. Since Brian doesn't like beets I substituted pickles. The stuffed tomato salad seemed a bit too "fussy" so I chopped the ingredients and mixed in dressing instead. The lemon cakes were leftover from a meeting Brian attended (and tasty!).
Fruit cocktail
Fried chicken, cream gravy
Potatoes au gratin
Buttered beets
Stuffed tomato salad
Hot biscuit
Fresh peach ice cream
Angel food
Coffee
The fruit cocktail is equal parts of cherries, bananas, pineapple and peaches, cubed and sprinkled with powdered sugar. I love fried chicken! But it's not that good for me, so I've decided to make baked chicken instead and to skip the cream gravy. According to the recipe, potatoes au gratin is also called potatoes with cheese.
Twenty-ninth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Baked chicken legs
Potatoes with cheese
Pickles
Tomato salad
Sliced peaches
Lemon cakes
Iced tea
Since we are a family of two, I chose chicken legs instead of a whole chicken. The potatoes are leftover red skins that needed to be eaten: I boiled them, sprinkled them with some seasoning, then topped with cheddar cheese. Since Brian doesn't like beets I substituted pickles. The stuffed tomato salad seemed a bit too "fussy" so I chopped the ingredients and mixed in dressing instead. The lemon cakes were leftover from a meeting Brian attended (and tasty!).
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Twenty-eighth Sunday
Twenty-eighth Sunday: The Original Menu
Sardine appetizer
Spanish pot roast
Ripe cucumber pickles
Spiced currants
Succotash
Lettuce with young onions
Raspberry pie
Iced tea
You know I'm skipping the sardine appetizer, right? I don't even know what currants are, but the 3 pounds of sugar in the recipe doesn't sound very appealing. Succotash is lima beans or string beans with corn. We've been growing green beans in our garden, not lima beans, and if we don't eat them now they make not make it much longer, so I plan to make some substitutions.
Twenty-eighth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Spanish stew
Green beans
Salad with green onions
German soft pretzels
Raspberries and blueberries with whipped cream
Iced tea
Whenever I read an older cookbook, "Spanish" style always means with green peppers and tomatoes, and this recipe is no different. Brian's parents gave us some meat from a butcher, so rather than buy a roast I thought it more economical to use what we already have. I coated the stew meat in seasoned flour, than cooked it slowly in olive oil with chopped onion, chopped green pepper and some garlic. I added tomato paste, basil from the garden, red wine and a whole tomato.
The green beans and lettuce from the salad came from our garden as well.
This weekend is Farmington's "Founder's Festival." I missed the farmer's market portion, but did manage to visit the local bakery, which normally isn't open on Sunday, but was for the festival. I picked up two German soft pretzels for tonight's meal.
Although we're growing raspberries, we don't have enough for a proper dessert (I suspect that's because the dog eats them right off the bush), so these came from the grocery.
Sardine appetizer
Spanish pot roast
Ripe cucumber pickles
Spiced currants
Succotash
Lettuce with young onions
Raspberry pie
Iced tea
You know I'm skipping the sardine appetizer, right? I don't even know what currants are, but the 3 pounds of sugar in the recipe doesn't sound very appealing. Succotash is lima beans or string beans with corn. We've been growing green beans in our garden, not lima beans, and if we don't eat them now they make not make it much longer, so I plan to make some substitutions.
Twenty-eighth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Spanish stew
Green beans
Salad with green onions
German soft pretzels
Raspberries and blueberries with whipped cream
Iced tea
Whenever I read an older cookbook, "Spanish" style always means with green peppers and tomatoes, and this recipe is no different. Brian's parents gave us some meat from a butcher, so rather than buy a roast I thought it more economical to use what we already have. I coated the stew meat in seasoned flour, than cooked it slowly in olive oil with chopped onion, chopped green pepper and some garlic. I added tomato paste, basil from the garden, red wine and a whole tomato.
The green beans and lettuce from the salad came from our garden as well.
This weekend is Farmington's "Founder's Festival." I missed the farmer's market portion, but did manage to visit the local bakery, which normally isn't open on Sunday, but was for the festival. I picked up two German soft pretzels for tonight's meal.
Although we're growing raspberries, we don't have enough for a proper dessert (I suspect that's because the dog eats them right off the bush), so these came from the grocery.
Twenty-seventh Sunday
Twenty-seventh Sunday: The Original Menu
Jellied chicken broth
Crackers
Creamed chicken
Cream mashed potatoes
Stuffed eggplant, cheese sauce
Tomato-lettuce salad
Dinner rolls
White layer cake
Lemon water ice
Coffee
Jellied chicken broth is made from the bones and "less meaty parts" of cold chicken stock – and of course gelatine! The eggplant is stuffed with "cold meat of any kind, but preferably ham." Although the eggplant didn't make it on the modern menu today, I would still like to try it someday, but as a main course, not a side.
Twenty-seventh Sunday: The Modern Menu
Creamed chicken
Leftovers:
Raw veggies with onion dip
Green bean salad
Potato salad
Corn bread
Pickles
Blueberries and raspberries
Angel food cake
The day before the 27th Sunday was July 4 and Brian and I hosted an evening picnic for a few friends. I served baked chicken, potato salad, and all sorts of fixins! When I went to Holiday to buy the chicken, the butcher recommended three chickens, each cut into 8 pieces. Perhaps I served too many fixins, but there was way too much chicken leftover! So rather than make a whole separate feast the next day, we ate creamed chicken and leftovers.
Jellied chicken broth
Crackers
Creamed chicken
Cream mashed potatoes
Stuffed eggplant, cheese sauce
Tomato-lettuce salad
Dinner rolls
White layer cake
Lemon water ice
Coffee
Jellied chicken broth is made from the bones and "less meaty parts" of cold chicken stock – and of course gelatine! The eggplant is stuffed with "cold meat of any kind, but preferably ham." Although the eggplant didn't make it on the modern menu today, I would still like to try it someday, but as a main course, not a side.
Twenty-seventh Sunday: The Modern Menu
Creamed chicken
Leftovers:
Raw veggies with onion dip
Green bean salad
Potato salad
Corn bread
Pickles
Blueberries and raspberries
Angel food cake
The day before the 27th Sunday was July 4 and Brian and I hosted an evening picnic for a few friends. I served baked chicken, potato salad, and all sorts of fixins! When I went to Holiday to buy the chicken, the butcher recommended three chickens, each cut into 8 pieces. Perhaps I served too many fixins, but there was way too much chicken leftover! So rather than make a whole separate feast the next day, we ate creamed chicken and leftovers.
Twenty-sixth Sunday
Twenty-sixth Sunday: The Original Menu
Broiled chicken
Butter and parsley gravy
Little beets on lettuce leaves
Little June peas
Little new potatoes
Strawberry ice cream
Sponge cake
Coffee
Everything in June is little! It's a trend I've noticed in quite a few of the 1920s cookbooks I own.
The strawberry ice cream is made from scratch and the recipe takes up half a page! It's the real deal: old-fashioned ice cream cooled in a can by ice and salt. "Strawberry ice cream made with fresh fruit requires to be quite sweet." Wimp that I am, I bought a carton of Breyer's.
Twenty-sixth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Shredded BBQ chicken
Toasted onion rolls
Sliced beets
Peas
Boiled red skin potatoes
Strawberry ice cream
Silver and Gold
As usual, a whole chicken is too large for the two of us, so I made shredded BBQ chicken to help use up leftover chicken and leftover onion rolls.
Twenty-fifth Sunday
Twenty-fifth Sunday: The Original Menu
Cream of potato soup
Chicken salad
Boiled buttered rice
Escalloped tomatoes
Cucumber salad
Spice cake
Apple amber
Iced tea
Twenty-fifth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Another missed Sunday dinner. This time it was Father's Day. I'll try to get back to this one another time, too.
Cream of potato soup
Chicken salad
Boiled buttered rice
Escalloped tomatoes
Cucumber salad
Spice cake
Apple amber
Iced tea
Twenty-fifth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Another missed Sunday dinner. This time it was Father's Day. I'll try to get back to this one another time, too.
Twenty-fourth Sunday
Twenty-fourth Sunday: The Original Menu
Chilled grape juice and pineapple
Cold boiled ham
New potatoes
Scalloped new cabbage
Stuffed tomato salad with mayonnaise
Chocolate potato cake
Strawberry tapioca
Iced coffee
Twenty-fourth Sunday: The Modern Menu
And this is when "real life" enters. Sometimes, we just aren't at home in time for Sunday dinner. This Sunday Brian and I, along with my good friend, Sofia, were working a booth at an antique show to raise money for our community theatre group.
I'll get back to this menu on another day before the end of the year.
Chilled grape juice and pineapple
Cold boiled ham
New potatoes
Scalloped new cabbage
Stuffed tomato salad with mayonnaise
Chocolate potato cake
Strawberry tapioca
Iced coffee
Twenty-fourth Sunday: The Modern Menu
And this is when "real life" enters. Sometimes, we just aren't at home in time for Sunday dinner. This Sunday Brian and I, along with my good friend, Sofia, were working a booth at an antique show to raise money for our community theatre group.
I'll get back to this menu on another day before the end of the year.
Twenty-second Sunday
Twenty-second Sunday: The Original Menu
Cream of veal soup with rice
Radishes and olives
Spring lamb chops, broiled
Candied sweet potatoes
Stuffed tomatoes
Shredded lettuce with French dressing
Little individual strawberry shortcakes
Coffee
The recipe for "radishes and olives" is over a paragraph long and includes such helpful hints as, "Open olive bottle."
Twenty-second Sunday: The Modern Menu
Radishes, olives, green pepper strips and celery with dip
Broiled lamb chops
Candied sweet potatoes
Stuffed tomatoes with cheese and friend onions
Lettuce with Italian dressing and herbs
Strawberry shortcakes
Red wine
Cream of veal soup with rice
Radishes and olives
Spring lamb chops, broiled
Candied sweet potatoes
Stuffed tomatoes
Shredded lettuce with French dressing
Little individual strawberry shortcakes
Coffee
The recipe for "radishes and olives" is over a paragraph long and includes such helpful hints as, "Open olive bottle."
Twenty-second Sunday: The Modern Menu
Radishes, olives, green pepper strips and celery with dip
Broiled lamb chops
Candied sweet potatoes
Stuffed tomatoes with cheese and friend onions
Lettuce with Italian dressing and herbs
Strawberry shortcakes
Red wine
Twenty-third Sunday
Twenty-third Sunday: The Original Menu
Cold tomato soup
Pressed chicken
Country fried potatoes
String beans with bacon
Sliced tomatoes and cucumbers
Vinegarette dressing
Chocolate pie
Cocoanut puff
Lemonade
Twenty-third Sunday: The Modern Menu
Corn beef
Boiled veggies
Tomato horseradish sauce
Sliced tomatoes and cucumbers
Italian dressing
Bread
Chocolate pudding
Lemonade
Remember what I said about liking chicken? It's true – I do. But earlier this year we had a "Winter Feast" dinner party and served corned beef. The beef is sold in such a large size that I only cooked half. The other half sat in the freezer, waiting patiently to be eaten. But after a few weeks its patience ran out and it threatened, "if you don't eat me soon I'll go bad! And then you will have wasted your money." So I called its bluff and served it on the twenty-third Sunday.
Cold tomato soup
Pressed chicken
Country fried potatoes
String beans with bacon
Sliced tomatoes and cucumbers
Vinegarette dressing
Chocolate pie
Cocoanut puff
Lemonade
Twenty-third Sunday: The Modern Menu
Corn beef
Boiled veggies
Tomato horseradish sauce
Sliced tomatoes and cucumbers
Italian dressing
Bread
Chocolate pudding
Lemonade
Remember what I said about liking chicken? It's true – I do. But earlier this year we had a "Winter Feast" dinner party and served corned beef. The beef is sold in such a large size that I only cooked half. The other half sat in the freezer, waiting patiently to be eaten. But after a few weeks its patience ran out and it threatened, "if you don't eat me soon I'll go bad! And then you will have wasted your money." So I called its bluff and served it on the twenty-third Sunday.
Twenty-first Sunday
Twenty-first Sunday: The Original Menu
Salmon loaf with egg sauce
Melted potatoes
Spinach
Pickled beets and celery salad
Strawberry mousse
Feather cake
Coffee
I like salmon. In fact, I like all fish, even shellfish. Fish is so tasty, so healthy, and since I live in the "Great Lake State" it's quite abundant! Yet, somehow, I married a man who – doesn't. How could that be? And although Brian is a fan of most loafs – meatloaf, loaf burgers, turkey loaf – alas, salmon loaf is not to be. It will have to wait for a day when he is out of town…
Twenty-first Sunday: The Modern Menu
Chicken shortcake
Chocolate pudding
Coffee and Gold
On the same page as the salmon loaf menu is a recipe for chicken shortcake. I'm not sure why, as it's not referenced anywhere else in the book. I suspect it was just added as a space filler. But since it's listed under twenty-first Sunday I decided to make it instead of salmon loaf.
Salmon loaf with egg sauce
Melted potatoes
Spinach
Pickled beets and celery salad
Strawberry mousse
Feather cake
Coffee
I like salmon. In fact, I like all fish, even shellfish. Fish is so tasty, so healthy, and since I live in the "Great Lake State" it's quite abundant! Yet, somehow, I married a man who – doesn't. How could that be? And although Brian is a fan of most loafs – meatloaf, loaf burgers, turkey loaf – alas, salmon loaf is not to be. It will have to wait for a day when he is out of town…
Twenty-first Sunday: The Modern Menu
Chicken shortcake
Chocolate pudding
Coffee and Gold
On the same page as the salmon loaf menu is a recipe for chicken shortcake. I'm not sure why, as it's not referenced anywhere else in the book. I suspect it was just added as a space filler. But since it's listed under twenty-first Sunday I decided to make it instead of salmon loaf.
Twentieth Sunday
Twentieth Sunday: The Original Menu
Green pea soup
Cold sliced pot roast with hot gravy
Potatoes a la crème
Fried cauliflower
Horseradish
Sliced tomatoes and mayo
Strawberry shortcake
Cocoanut macaroons
Coffee
Green pea soup: "Hull and rinse well developed green peas. Put on to cook in cold water sufficient to stand 1 inch about the peas. After boiling let cook for 3 minutes. Put peas and water in which they were cooked through a sieve. It should measure 2 cups, if not add sufficient hot water to make that amount. Bring 3 cups milk to the scald, thicken with 3 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons flour, strain this into the pea puree, season with salt and pepper, and serve with croutons."
Twentieth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Yankee pot roast
Horseradish
Rolls
Strawberry shortcake
Coffee and Gold
Brian bought me a jar of "Yankee pot roast sauce" for Christmas last year. He loves "exotic" sauce and experimenting with new blends. This menu was a good time to break it open! Instead of serving all the veggies on the side, I cooked them with the roast.
Green pea soup
Cold sliced pot roast with hot gravy
Potatoes a la crème
Fried cauliflower
Horseradish
Sliced tomatoes and mayo
Strawberry shortcake
Cocoanut macaroons
Coffee
Green pea soup: "Hull and rinse well developed green peas. Put on to cook in cold water sufficient to stand 1 inch about the peas. After boiling let cook for 3 minutes. Put peas and water in which they were cooked through a sieve. It should measure 2 cups, if not add sufficient hot water to make that amount. Bring 3 cups milk to the scald, thicken with 3 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons flour, strain this into the pea puree, season with salt and pepper, and serve with croutons."
Twentieth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Yankee pot roast
Horseradish
Rolls
Strawberry shortcake
Coffee and Gold
Brian bought me a jar of "Yankee pot roast sauce" for Christmas last year. He loves "exotic" sauce and experimenting with new blends. This menu was a good time to break it open! Instead of serving all the veggies on the side, I cooked them with the roast.
Nineteenth Sunday
Nineteenth Sunday: The Original Menu
Fried chicken
Cream gravy
Creamed new potatoes
New peas
Hot raised rolls
Lettuce salad
Sour cream dressing
Poinsettia white cake
Strawberries and cream
Coffee
Nineteenth Sunday: The Modern Menu
More chicken. I like chicken, really I do. And I'd love to have made this menu, but we were out of town for the weekend and then things got busy with work, etc, so it's on hold for now.
Fried chicken
Cream gravy
Creamed new potatoes
New peas
Hot raised rolls
Lettuce salad
Sour cream dressing
Poinsettia white cake
Strawberries and cream
Coffee
Nineteenth Sunday: The Modern Menu
More chicken. I like chicken, really I do. And I'd love to have made this menu, but we were out of town for the weekend and then things got busy with work, etc, so it's on hold for now.
Eighteenth Sunday
Eighteenth Sunday: The Original Menu
Iced strawberry cocktail
Breaded veal cutlet
Rice croquettes
String beans
Simpson lettuce with Thousand Islands dressing
Caramel nut pudding
Coffee
Another fruit appetizer! This time it's strawberries mixed with orange pulp (in case there was any leftover from last Sunday?). Croquettes are rarely seen on the table today. They're a great leftover dish, although this one is made with fresh rice.
Unfortunately, I don't like rice or veal, so this week's menu will need a bit of adjusting.
Eighteenth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Cheese and strawberry appetizer
Breaded chicken
Green beans
Lettuce with 1000 Island dressing
Butterscotch pudding
Coffee and Gold
Fruit appetizer: I did it this week!!!
The pudding was from a box! I know, I should be ashamed, and I am, but I'm also a "working girl" and sometimes I just don't have the energy. I tired looking for caramel but all I could find was butterscotch.
I did, however, make the 1000 Island dressing from scratch. Maybe it's not that I'm busy, but that I just don't care much for making sweets?
Iced strawberry cocktail
Breaded veal cutlet
Rice croquettes
String beans
Simpson lettuce with Thousand Islands dressing
Caramel nut pudding
Coffee
Another fruit appetizer! This time it's strawberries mixed with orange pulp (in case there was any leftover from last Sunday?). Croquettes are rarely seen on the table today. They're a great leftover dish, although this one is made with fresh rice.
Unfortunately, I don't like rice or veal, so this week's menu will need a bit of adjusting.
Eighteenth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Cheese and strawberry appetizer
Breaded chicken
Green beans
Lettuce with 1000 Island dressing
Butterscotch pudding
Coffee and Gold
Fruit appetizer: I did it this week!!!
The pudding was from a box! I know, I should be ashamed, and I am, but I'm also a "working girl" and sometimes I just don't have the energy. I tired looking for caramel but all I could find was butterscotch.
I did, however, make the 1000 Island dressing from scratch. Maybe it's not that I'm busy, but that I just don't care much for making sweets?
Seventeenth Sunday
Seventeenth Sunday: The Original Menu
Orange appetizer
Roast leg of lamb with mint sauce
Mashed potatoes
Creamed peas with carrots
Cucumber-onion salad
Custard rice pudding
Coffee
The orange appetizer is oranges with the pulp scooped out and replaced with strawberries and bananas. It's interesting how appetizers have evolved since then: now they're almost always fried bits of veggie or meat. I can't ever recall being at a restaurant and seeing fresh fruit on the appetizer menu!
Seventeenth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Cheese and crackers
Broiled lamb chops
Potatoes Anna
Peas and carrots
Cucumber and onion salad
Strawberries
Coffee and Gold
I need to eat more fruit, I should have made the orange appetizer, but chose to use up leftover cheese instead. For some reason I didn't feel like mashed potatoes so I made "Potatoes Anna" (fancy recipe for hash browns) instead. Strawberries are reasonably priced and less sugar the rice pudding (which Brian doesn't like anyway).
Orange appetizer
Roast leg of lamb with mint sauce
Mashed potatoes
Creamed peas with carrots
Cucumber-onion salad
Custard rice pudding
Coffee
The orange appetizer is oranges with the pulp scooped out and replaced with strawberries and bananas. It's interesting how appetizers have evolved since then: now they're almost always fried bits of veggie or meat. I can't ever recall being at a restaurant and seeing fresh fruit on the appetizer menu!
Seventeenth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Cheese and crackers
Broiled lamb chops
Potatoes Anna
Peas and carrots
Cucumber and onion salad
Strawberries
Coffee and Gold
I need to eat more fruit, I should have made the orange appetizer, but chose to use up leftover cheese instead. For some reason I didn't feel like mashed potatoes so I made "Potatoes Anna" (fancy recipe for hash browns) instead. Strawberries are reasonably priced and less sugar the rice pudding (which Brian doesn't like anyway).
Sixteenth Sunday
Sixteenth Sunday: The Original Menu
Chicken en casserole
Mashed potatoes
New carrots, buttered
Hot biscuits
Perfection salad with mayonnaise
Angel sponge cake
Strawberries and cream
Coffee
Perfection salad: "This is not the very elaborate salad that bears the same name…" 80 years later and I've never heard of Perfection salad. It's another gelatine dish, this time with cabbage and pimentos, topped with mayonnaise, of course!
Sixteenth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Baked chicken with tomato sauce
Pasta with cheese and garlic
Marsala carrots
Strawberries
Coffee and Gold
Chicken is a popular dish for feeding a crowd, but it can lead to a lot of waste for a family of two. I chose an Italian influence and baked chicken breasts, then topped them with homemade marinara sauce. The pasta and Marsala carrots round out the Italian theme.
Chicken en casserole
Mashed potatoes
New carrots, buttered
Hot biscuits
Perfection salad with mayonnaise
Angel sponge cake
Strawberries and cream
Coffee
Perfection salad: "This is not the very elaborate salad that bears the same name…" 80 years later and I've never heard of Perfection salad. It's another gelatine dish, this time with cabbage and pimentos, topped with mayonnaise, of course!
Sixteenth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Baked chicken with tomato sauce
Pasta with cheese and garlic
Marsala carrots
Strawberries
Coffee and Gold
Chicken is a popular dish for feeding a crowd, but it can lead to a lot of waste for a family of two. I chose an Italian influence and baked chicken breasts, then topped them with homemade marinara sauce. The pasta and Marsala carrots round out the Italian theme.
Fifteenth Sunday
Fifteenth Sunday: The Original Menu
Baked stuffed shad, parsley lemon
Boiled new potatoes
Asparagus with cream sauce
Dandelion salad, French dressing
Rhubarb pie
Coffee
The Dandelion salad is interesting, and certainly a recipe I've never seen in a modern cookbook! According to the 52 Sunday Dinners, Dandelion salad is "one of the most delicious salads of early spring, and is only good while the leaves are very young and tender, and before the blossom buds appear." The recipe cautions, "be sure to get out all blades of grass which cook to most unpleasant strings." With today's pesticides and fertilizers, I can't see this recipe coming back into vogue anytime soon.
Fifteenth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Easter Sunday
Appetizers
Salmon
Chicken salad
Asparagus
Salad with radishes
Crescent
Angel food cake with strawberries
Appetizers:
Veggies & dip
Cheese & crackers
Deviled eggs
Olives
Nuts
The Fifteenth Sunday happens to be Easter this year, so the modern menu is quite substantial. Originally I planned to only serve salmon, however, a few last minute guests joined us so I added chicken salad as well.
Here's how I make Easter salmon:
Buy one large filet of salmon and marinate for 24 hours in:
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup sugar (I use Splenda)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sherry flavoring
1 heaping tablespoon of chopped garlic
Broil until fish flakes easily with fork.
Baked stuffed shad, parsley lemon
Boiled new potatoes
Asparagus with cream sauce
Dandelion salad, French dressing
Rhubarb pie
Coffee
The Dandelion salad is interesting, and certainly a recipe I've never seen in a modern cookbook! According to the 52 Sunday Dinners, Dandelion salad is "one of the most delicious salads of early spring, and is only good while the leaves are very young and tender, and before the blossom buds appear." The recipe cautions, "be sure to get out all blades of grass which cook to most unpleasant strings." With today's pesticides and fertilizers, I can't see this recipe coming back into vogue anytime soon.
Fifteenth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Easter Sunday
Appetizers
Salmon
Chicken salad
Asparagus
Salad with radishes
Crescent
Angel food cake with strawberries
Appetizers:
Veggies & dip
Cheese & crackers
Deviled eggs
Olives
Nuts
The Fifteenth Sunday happens to be Easter this year, so the modern menu is quite substantial. Originally I planned to only serve salmon, however, a few last minute guests joined us so I added chicken salad as well.
Here's how I make Easter salmon:
Buy one large filet of salmon and marinate for 24 hours in:
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup sugar (I use Splenda)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sherry flavoring
1 heaping tablespoon of chopped garlic
Broil until fish flakes easily with fork.
Fourteenth Sunday
Fourteenth Sunday: The Original Menu
Cream of asparagus soup
Veal birds
Celery, olives
Riced potatoes
String beans
Easter salad
April fool eggs
Sweet bunnies
Coffee
I suspect this is the Easter menu (the Easter salad and sweet bunnies give it away!).
Recipe for Easter salad:
Mix with a cup of flour 1-1/2 cups grated cheese, 1/2 teaspoon salt, dash of cayenne and the beaten whites of 2 eggs. Form into small balls size of English walnuts and fry light brown in deep fat. Make on individual plates nests of shredded lettuce, put a spoonful of mayonnaise or boiled dressing in the center and arrange 2 eggs on top for a portion.
Since the Fourteenth Sunday is not Easter for us, nor do I eat veal, I substituted the menu quite substantially.
Fourteenth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Chicken cordon blue
Salad
Rolls
Strawberries
Coffee and Gold
Cream of asparagus soup
Veal birds
Celery, olives
Riced potatoes
String beans
Easter salad
April fool eggs
Sweet bunnies
Coffee
I suspect this is the Easter menu (the Easter salad and sweet bunnies give it away!).
Recipe for Easter salad:
Mix with a cup of flour 1-1/2 cups grated cheese, 1/2 teaspoon salt, dash of cayenne and the beaten whites of 2 eggs. Form into small balls size of English walnuts and fry light brown in deep fat. Make on individual plates nests of shredded lettuce, put a spoonful of mayonnaise or boiled dressing in the center and arrange 2 eggs on top for a portion.
Since the Fourteenth Sunday is not Easter for us, nor do I eat veal, I substituted the menu quite substantially.
Fourteenth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Chicken cordon blue
Salad
Rolls
Strawberries
Coffee and Gold
Thirteenth Sunday
Thirteenth Sunday: The Original Menu
Bakes fish with Spanish sauce
Creamed macaroni
Olives
Stuffed peppers
Asparagus tips with mayonnaise
Cottage pudding
Lemon sauce
Coffee
The stuffed peppers are green peppers filled with deviled ham or tongue, bread crumbs, chopped hard boiled eggs, onion, mustard and a few drops of vinegar. I really like ham, and if this was the main dish I'd give it a try, but as a side it just seems way too much food! Since we're a family of 2, and not 6 as the original menu guide was written for, I decided to skip the stuffed peppers.
I also substituted Spanish sauce with "Italian sauce" (my homemade marinara) and served the asparagus with sautéed peppers instead of mayonnaise.
Thirteenth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Baked fish with Italian sauce
Creamed macaroni
Asparagus with peppers
Olives
Pudding
Coffee and Gold
Bakes fish with Spanish sauce
Creamed macaroni
Olives
Stuffed peppers
Asparagus tips with mayonnaise
Cottage pudding
Lemon sauce
Coffee
The stuffed peppers are green peppers filled with deviled ham or tongue, bread crumbs, chopped hard boiled eggs, onion, mustard and a few drops of vinegar. I really like ham, and if this was the main dish I'd give it a try, but as a side it just seems way too much food! Since we're a family of 2, and not 6 as the original menu guide was written for, I decided to skip the stuffed peppers.
I also substituted Spanish sauce with "Italian sauce" (my homemade marinara) and served the asparagus with sautéed peppers instead of mayonnaise.
Thirteenth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Baked fish with Italian sauce
Creamed macaroni
Asparagus with peppers
Olives
Pudding
Coffee and Gold
Twelfth Sunday
Twelfth Sunday: The Original Menu
Roast beef
Brown gravy
Browned potatoes
Creamed onions
Cole Slaw with nuts
Boston brown bread
Orange marmalade
Prune whip with custard sauce
Coffee
Ah, roast beef! Some things really haven't changed in 80 years, although we're not eating as much prune whip as we used to!
Recipe for prune whip:
Wash a pound prunes, soak overnight. In the morning cook until tender, remove stones and chop fine. Sweeten to taste. Beat stiff the whites of 2 eggs, add slowly tablespoon powdered sugar, and beat 5 minutes after it is all beaten in, then beat in the chopped prunes. Put in bowl on ice to chill. Either serve in sherbet glasses with whipped cream on top, or pile on glass dish, and serve with custard sauce.
Twelfth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Roast beef
Browned potatoes
Asparagus
Blue cheese slaw
Bread with jam
Coffee and Gold
Roast beef
Brown gravy
Browned potatoes
Creamed onions
Cole Slaw with nuts
Boston brown bread
Orange marmalade
Prune whip with custard sauce
Coffee
Ah, roast beef! Some things really haven't changed in 80 years, although we're not eating as much prune whip as we used to!
Recipe for prune whip:
Wash a pound prunes, soak overnight. In the morning cook until tender, remove stones and chop fine. Sweeten to taste. Beat stiff the whites of 2 eggs, add slowly tablespoon powdered sugar, and beat 5 minutes after it is all beaten in, then beat in the chopped prunes. Put in bowl on ice to chill. Either serve in sherbet glasses with whipped cream on top, or pile on glass dish, and serve with custard sauce.
Twelfth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Roast beef
Browned potatoes
Asparagus
Blue cheese slaw
Bread with jam
Coffee and Gold
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Eleventh Sunday
Eleventh Sunday: The Original Menu
Dried split pea soup
Roast duck
Apple and horseradish sauce
Baked sweet potatoes
Creamed peas
Lettuce salad with French cheese dressing
Peach custard pie
Coffee
The split pea soup recipe is completely from scratch, starting with soaking the peas overnight. The roast duck is a whole duck with six cups of stuffing to be served with apple and horseradish sauce.
With one exception this is a VERY tasty menu and something I would normally serve. The exception being the duck. Not only is a whole duck too much food for two people, but neither of us like duck. In the past I have substituted side dishes or smaller portions of the same meat, but this is the first time I have not liked the main dish. After a bit of discussion with Brian, we settle on sausage, which should go well with apple and horseradish sauce.
Eleventh Sunday: The Modern Menu
Pan-broiled sausage
Apple and horseradish sauce
Baked sweet potatoes
Peas
Lettuce salad with French cheese dressing
Peaches with cinammon and whipped cream
Coffee and Gold
I followed the recipe as-is for the apple and horseradish sauce, which starts with making homemade applesauce to which two teaspoons of horseradish are added. I also made the salad dressing exactly as is: olive oil, cayenne, salt and vinegar. It was very tasty. I would definitely make this entire meal again.
Dried split pea soup
Roast duck
Apple and horseradish sauce
Baked sweet potatoes
Creamed peas
Lettuce salad with French cheese dressing
Peach custard pie
Coffee
The split pea soup recipe is completely from scratch, starting with soaking the peas overnight. The roast duck is a whole duck with six cups of stuffing to be served with apple and horseradish sauce.
With one exception this is a VERY tasty menu and something I would normally serve. The exception being the duck. Not only is a whole duck too much food for two people, but neither of us like duck. In the past I have substituted side dishes or smaller portions of the same meat, but this is the first time I have not liked the main dish. After a bit of discussion with Brian, we settle on sausage, which should go well with apple and horseradish sauce.
Eleventh Sunday: The Modern Menu
Pan-broiled sausage
Apple and horseradish sauce
Baked sweet potatoes
Peas
Lettuce salad with French cheese dressing
Peaches with cinammon and whipped cream
Coffee and Gold
I followed the recipe as-is for the apple and horseradish sauce, which starts with making homemade applesauce to which two teaspoons of horseradish are added. I also made the salad dressing exactly as is: olive oil, cayenne, salt and vinegar. It was very tasty. I would definitely make this entire meal again.
Tenth Sunday
Tenth Sunday: The Original Menu
Winter fruit cup
Pan-broiled steak with oyster sauce
Creamed potatoes
Spinach
Finger rolls and butter
Salted peanuts
Apple-celery salad
Olives
Pineapple delight
Coffee
The meal begins with an appetizer cup of diced apples, bananas and oranges mixed in lemon juice, orange juice and powdered sugar. The apple theme is continued later in the meal with apple-celery salad: diced apples and celery mixed with mayonnaise. The mayonnaise is REAL mayo: raw eggs, dry mustard, cayenne, salt, salad oil and vinegar. I wish I was brave enough to try real mayo someday, but for now, I have neither the time nor the guts to eat raw eggs.
I thought creamed potatoes would be potatoes in white sauce, but it's actually mashed potatoes made with cream instead of milk.
And another fun dessert! Pineapple delight is shredded canned pineapple and lady fingers layered in an "attractive glass dish" and soaked in the juice of a jar of Maraschino cherries, all topped with a thick cream.
Tenth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Stuffed celery
Filet mignon tips with mushrooms
Deluxe mashed potatoes
Bread
Spinach-apple-celery salad with mango dressing
Pineapple rings
Coffee and Gold
Another meal NOT made on Sunday, this time because I've been suffering from a horrible cold.
Deluxe mashed potatoes are mashed potatoes with Alouette garlic and herb cheese. Since I've been sick I did not have the energy to make a dressing but picked up a bottle of mango dressing at the store.
Brian and I both loved this meal! Who doesn't like a meal starring filet mignon?
Winter fruit cup
Pan-broiled steak with oyster sauce
Creamed potatoes
Spinach
Finger rolls and butter
Salted peanuts
Apple-celery salad
Olives
Pineapple delight
Coffee
The meal begins with an appetizer cup of diced apples, bananas and oranges mixed in lemon juice, orange juice and powdered sugar. The apple theme is continued later in the meal with apple-celery salad: diced apples and celery mixed with mayonnaise. The mayonnaise is REAL mayo: raw eggs, dry mustard, cayenne, salt, salad oil and vinegar. I wish I was brave enough to try real mayo someday, but for now, I have neither the time nor the guts to eat raw eggs.
I thought creamed potatoes would be potatoes in white sauce, but it's actually mashed potatoes made with cream instead of milk.
And another fun dessert! Pineapple delight is shredded canned pineapple and lady fingers layered in an "attractive glass dish" and soaked in the juice of a jar of Maraschino cherries, all topped with a thick cream.
Tenth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Stuffed celery
Filet mignon tips with mushrooms
Deluxe mashed potatoes
Bread
Spinach-apple-celery salad with mango dressing
Pineapple rings
Coffee and Gold
Another meal NOT made on Sunday, this time because I've been suffering from a horrible cold.
Deluxe mashed potatoes are mashed potatoes with Alouette garlic and herb cheese. Since I've been sick I did not have the energy to make a dressing but picked up a bottle of mango dressing at the store.
Brian and I both loved this meal! Who doesn't like a meal starring filet mignon?
Ninth Sunday
"March – Five delicious salads are among the good things for this first spring month."
Ninth Sunday: The Original Menu
Chicken noodle soup
Celery
Fried chicken a la Hazelton
Brown gravy
Sweet potato fluff
Green peas
Olive nut salad with French dressing
Floating island
Coffee
This meal uses the whole chicken – what isn't fried is used in the soup. Although "sweet potato fluff" brings to mind sweet potatoes with marshmallows (what's more fluffy than marshmallows?), this recipe is just mashed sweet potatoes. The salad is interesting: cream cheese mixed with chopped olives, rolled into balls and coated with chopped walnuts. French dressing is not the tomato-based dressing we're familiar with today, but the standard oil and vinegar.
The floating island is rather complex: milk scalded in the double boiler with egg yolks and sugar. The egg whites are beaten until stiff and placed on top, becoming the "island." I don't mind eating raw cake mix, but stiff raw eggs just don't sound appealing.
Ninth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Fried chicken legs
Mashed sweet potatoes
Peas
Blue cheese cole slaw
Bread
Pickles
Pineapple rings
Coffee and Gold
Since there are only two of us I substituted a whole chicken with fried chicken legs. I'd love to try the olive nut salad, but Brian does not care for olives, so I made blue cheese cole slaw instead (from leftover cabbage from a dinner party featuring corned beef). Instead of raw eggs I played it safe with pineapple rings with marshmallows in the center – fluff and island all in one!
Ninth Sunday: The Original Menu
Chicken noodle soup
Celery
Fried chicken a la Hazelton
Brown gravy
Sweet potato fluff
Green peas
Olive nut salad with French dressing
Floating island
Coffee
This meal uses the whole chicken – what isn't fried is used in the soup. Although "sweet potato fluff" brings to mind sweet potatoes with marshmallows (what's more fluffy than marshmallows?), this recipe is just mashed sweet potatoes. The salad is interesting: cream cheese mixed with chopped olives, rolled into balls and coated with chopped walnuts. French dressing is not the tomato-based dressing we're familiar with today, but the standard oil and vinegar.
The floating island is rather complex: milk scalded in the double boiler with egg yolks and sugar. The egg whites are beaten until stiff and placed on top, becoming the "island." I don't mind eating raw cake mix, but stiff raw eggs just don't sound appealing.
Ninth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Fried chicken legs
Mashed sweet potatoes
Peas
Blue cheese cole slaw
Bread
Pickles
Pineapple rings
Coffee and Gold
Since there are only two of us I substituted a whole chicken with fried chicken legs. I'd love to try the olive nut salad, but Brian does not care for olives, so I made blue cheese cole slaw instead (from leftover cabbage from a dinner party featuring corned beef). Instead of raw eggs I played it safe with pineapple rings with marshmallows in the center – fluff and island all in one!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Eighth Sunday
Eighth Sunday: The Original Menu
Cream of carrot soup
Breaded pork chops and fried apples
Boiled potatoes
Pickles
Corn pudding
Cole slaw salad
German coffee cake
Coca whipped cream dessert
Coffee
With the exception of the desserts (I can't bake anyway!) the eighth Sunday menu is quite simple. I've actually made this menu before, a few years ago (sans dessert of course), and even the carrot soup was easy. Tastewise, however, the corn pudding was a disappointment: eggs, milk and corn, seasoned and baked in the oven, may sound good, but the end result was not what I was expecting - it was more like a "baked corn omelet.". Perhaps I've been spoiled by my mother-in-law's "corn, corn and more corn" (corn, creamed corn and corn muffin mix all mixed together and baked to a nice bread-like consistency).
Despite the lackluster corn pudding, the real disappointment with the original menu is the lack of color: white soup, white pork, white apples, white potatoes, white corn, white salad – I'm surprised the author's didn't recommend a sprig of parsley to punch up the color palette, instead, relying on a lone pickle to provide interest.
Eighth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Breaded pork chops and fried apples
Boiled potatoes
Creamed corn
Blue cheese slaw
Pickles
Tomato horseradish sauce (leftover)
Bread (leftover)
Pineapple rings (leftover)
Tea and Gold
I actually made this dinner on Thursday, not Sunday, as we had a prior engagement on Sunday. It was my first full week at my new, full-time job. I arrived home at 5:30 completely exhausted, and by 6:30 I was enjoying a delicious meal. Given the complexity of some of the other meals, I was amazed at the ease of this one! Disclaimer: I did use canned creamed corn.
Cream of carrot soup
Breaded pork chops and fried apples
Boiled potatoes
Pickles
Corn pudding
Cole slaw salad
German coffee cake
Coca whipped cream dessert
Coffee
With the exception of the desserts (I can't bake anyway!) the eighth Sunday menu is quite simple. I've actually made this menu before, a few years ago (sans dessert of course), and even the carrot soup was easy. Tastewise, however, the corn pudding was a disappointment: eggs, milk and corn, seasoned and baked in the oven, may sound good, but the end result was not what I was expecting - it was more like a "baked corn omelet.". Perhaps I've been spoiled by my mother-in-law's "corn, corn and more corn" (corn, creamed corn and corn muffin mix all mixed together and baked to a nice bread-like consistency).
Despite the lackluster corn pudding, the real disappointment with the original menu is the lack of color: white soup, white pork, white apples, white potatoes, white corn, white salad – I'm surprised the author's didn't recommend a sprig of parsley to punch up the color palette, instead, relying on a lone pickle to provide interest.
Eighth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Breaded pork chops and fried apples
Boiled potatoes
Creamed corn
Blue cheese slaw
Pickles
Tomato horseradish sauce (leftover)
Bread (leftover)
Pineapple rings (leftover)
Tea and Gold
I actually made this dinner on Thursday, not Sunday, as we had a prior engagement on Sunday. It was my first full week at my new, full-time job. I arrived home at 5:30 completely exhausted, and by 6:30 I was enjoying a delicious meal. Given the complexity of some of the other meals, I was amazed at the ease of this one! Disclaimer: I did use canned creamed corn.
Seventh Sunday
Seventh Sunday: The Original Menu
Rice and tomato soup
Roast chicken
Creamed carrots
Baked potatoes
Brown gravy
Tomato aspic salad
Pineapple ice
Prune cake
Coffee
"For economy's sake it is always well to have a soup precede a poultry dinner, then less of the chicken or duck, whichever it is, will be eaten, leaving sufficient for a serving on the second day." This is generally not a problem for a family of two. So we turned to the family of two's chicken of choice: Cornish hen. Even with a 22 ounce hen to split and no soup, there were still enough sides to yield some leftover chicken meat.
The salad is another gelatine dish, this time, one of the famous aspics. Every time I think of aspic I remember Billie Burke in "Dinner at Eight," saying in her Glenda-the-good-witch-of-the-North voice, "but we MUST have an aspic, we must!" I never heard a gelatine described as elegant before, but Billie Burke was convinced that her party would not be a success without it. I'm convinced that my dinner would not be a success with it. The economy may be regressing to that of 1933, but fortunately, our taste buds are not.
Having said that, I think everyone understands why I won't even comment on prune cake.
Seventh Sunday: The Modern Menu
Pepper dip with pretzels
Roast Cornish hen
Steamed carrots
Baked potatoes
Tomatoes vinaigrette
Pineapple rings
Coffee and Gold
Rice and tomato soup
Roast chicken
Creamed carrots
Baked potatoes
Brown gravy
Tomato aspic salad
Pineapple ice
Prune cake
Coffee
"For economy's sake it is always well to have a soup precede a poultry dinner, then less of the chicken or duck, whichever it is, will be eaten, leaving sufficient for a serving on the second day." This is generally not a problem for a family of two. So we turned to the family of two's chicken of choice: Cornish hen. Even with a 22 ounce hen to split and no soup, there were still enough sides to yield some leftover chicken meat.
The salad is another gelatine dish, this time, one of the famous aspics. Every time I think of aspic I remember Billie Burke in "Dinner at Eight," saying in her Glenda-the-good-witch-of-the-North voice, "but we MUST have an aspic, we must!" I never heard a gelatine described as elegant before, but Billie Burke was convinced that her party would not be a success without it. I'm convinced that my dinner would not be a success with it. The economy may be regressing to that of 1933, but fortunately, our taste buds are not.
Having said that, I think everyone understands why I won't even comment on prune cake.
Seventh Sunday: The Modern Menu
Pepper dip with pretzels
Roast Cornish hen
Steamed carrots
Baked potatoes
Tomatoes vinaigrette
Pineapple rings
Coffee and Gold
Friday, February 13, 2009
Sixth Sunday
Sixth Sunday: The Original Menu
Roast pork
Browned potatoes
Gravy
Creamed squash
Parker House rolls
Currant jelly
Apple sauce
Pineapple fruit salad
Salted wafers
Pumpkin pie with whipped cream
Coffee
More potatoes! And no soup, despite February being the month of soups of excellence.
The roast can be any cut that is "solid and not too fat." Most of the recipes are similar to our modern ones – browned potatoes, gravy, etc. However, the pineapple fruit salad is interesting: a ring of pineapple on a lettuce leaf topped with a cube of pimento and equal amounts of diced apple, celery, banana, nuts and more pineapple, all moistened with whipped cream or boiled dressing – and don't forget a candied cherry on top!
Sixth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Pork chops in orange sauce
Sweet potatoes
Asparagus
Crescents
Pineapple rings with whipped cream
Coffee and Gold
Individual chops are a better fit for a small family. Instead of roasting, I seasoned them with salt and pepper, then cooked them in a mixture of orange juice, lemon juice and brown sugar. The sweet potatoes cooked with the meat. Asparagus and Pillsbury crescents (no freshly baked bakery bread this time!) were leftover from previous meals. Instead of the fussy pineapple salad, I served pineapple rings with fresh whipped cream. Delicious!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Fifth Sunday
"February - Several soups of excellence appear in this month's menu."
Fifth Sunday: The Original Menu
Cream of pea soup with toasted crackers
Cold roast leg of lamb with heated gravy
Mashed potatoes
Mashed yellow turnips
Tomato sauce
Celery
Cucumber pickles
Apple tapioca pudding with whipped cream
Coffee
In 2009, the fifth Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday, a day that didn't exist in 1927. I just can't imagine a group of friends getting together around cream of pea soup and tearing into a cold roast leg of lamb while watching the big game. So instead, we ate hot wings and artichoke-jalapeno dip and saved the Sunday dinner for Saturday.
For a book that emphasizes eating to the seasons, with hot foods in the winter and cool foods in the summer, it's a bit odd that it recommends cold lamb in February. The recipe calls for the lamb to be made the day before, so it may be that the editors were trying to save time on Sunday. The lamb is completely unseasoned, just roasted 25 minutes to the pound.
The tomato sauce is canned tomatoes with seasoning added, "a delicious hot sauce for lamb."
The most complex recipe is the cream of pea soup. Starting with a can of peas (no indication as to what size can) simmered with onion, bay leaf and other seasonings, it is then strained and mashed before the milk is added. As usual, I'll be skipping soup in my "modern menu."
Fifth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Stuffed celery
Broiled lamb chops with bruschetta sauce
Mashed potatoes
Hot rolls
Pickles
Apples with hot caramel sauce
Coffee and Gold
The celery in the original menu appears as a starter in mine, stuffed with crunchy peanut butter. Since leg of lamb is a bit much for two people, I broiled two small lamb chops and topped them with bruschetta sauce for an extra zing. Instead of apple tapioca pudding, I sliced an apple and served it with a small amount of Saunder's hot caramel sauce – YUM!
Monday, February 2, 2009
Fourth Sunday
Fourth Sunday: The Original Menu
Tomato bisque with homemade croutons
Swiss steak with sauce
Mashed potatoes
Creamed peas
Hot rolls and butter
Waldorf salad
Bavarian cream with Lady fingers
Coffee
I like tomato bisque, but as its own meal, not a side. The menu is so extensive, and for only two of us, it won't be missed.
The Swiss steak is round steak pounded down to break the fibers, seasoned, browned, then cooked in a sauce of half water, half milk. I've never made this before and Brian and I are feeling particularly adventurous today, so I plan to follow the recipe as is (with the exception of browning the meat in drippings – I'll use Pam instead).
Mashed potatoes. This is the third week in a row the menu has called for mashed potatoes, and a peek at future menus reveals they appear in the Fifth Sunday as well. Could Woman's World have a partnership with a potato manufacturer? Or is it simply that potatoes are easily available during the winter months?
Creamed peas – as I mentioned on the First Sunday, creamed dishes are great, but they're too rich and filling as a side dish. I'll substitute peas with a little butter and nutmeg instead.
The hot rolls are homemade with 1/3 cup of lard – not something I want to introduce into my diet. I recently bought a bag of bakery-made dinner rolls that will go to waste if we don't eat them soon, so I'll skip the lard and serve those instead. Unless of course the Kitten manages to hunt them down….
The Waldorf salad is the traditional chopped apple, celery and nut meats mixed with mayonnaise, except this recipe has it served in an apple cup. I'm sure it makes for beautiful presentation, but I can't help but think this is a tad old-fashioned (not surprising since the cookbook is from 1927). To keep it simple, I'll skip the hand-carved apple cup and homemade mayo.
Gelatin appears again! This time in the Bavarian cream. Along with sugar and heavy cream it's just too fussy and too complicated for me. But we missed not having some type of fruit for dessert on the Second Sunday (Brian even asked, "what's for dessert?") so I'll serve our usual winter weekday dessert: sliced bananas drizzled with a little hot fudge and topped with homemade whipped cream.
Fourth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Swiss steak with sauce
Mashed potatoes
Peas sprinkled with nutmeg
Rolls
Waldorf salad
Bananas with whipped cream
Coffee and fruit juice
The sauce for the steak is a mix of water and milk. I decided to turn it into a mushroom sauce, as there were leftover mushrooms from earlier this week. I'll also be using leftover peas. I can't imagine Woman's World would object, as not using leftovers is simply "not economical."
I also bought two small round steaks as opposed to one large one, which once again, is "more economical" for a family of two.
Looks like country fried steak – and it's good! We decided to add it to our regular menu.
Tomato bisque with homemade croutons
Swiss steak with sauce
Mashed potatoes
Creamed peas
Hot rolls and butter
Waldorf salad
Bavarian cream with Lady fingers
Coffee
I like tomato bisque, but as its own meal, not a side. The menu is so extensive, and for only two of us, it won't be missed.
The Swiss steak is round steak pounded down to break the fibers, seasoned, browned, then cooked in a sauce of half water, half milk. I've never made this before and Brian and I are feeling particularly adventurous today, so I plan to follow the recipe as is (with the exception of browning the meat in drippings – I'll use Pam instead).
Mashed potatoes. This is the third week in a row the menu has called for mashed potatoes, and a peek at future menus reveals they appear in the Fifth Sunday as well. Could Woman's World have a partnership with a potato manufacturer? Or is it simply that potatoes are easily available during the winter months?
Creamed peas – as I mentioned on the First Sunday, creamed dishes are great, but they're too rich and filling as a side dish. I'll substitute peas with a little butter and nutmeg instead.
The hot rolls are homemade with 1/3 cup of lard – not something I want to introduce into my diet. I recently bought a bag of bakery-made dinner rolls that will go to waste if we don't eat them soon, so I'll skip the lard and serve those instead. Unless of course the Kitten manages to hunt them down….
The Waldorf salad is the traditional chopped apple, celery and nut meats mixed with mayonnaise, except this recipe has it served in an apple cup. I'm sure it makes for beautiful presentation, but I can't help but think this is a tad old-fashioned (not surprising since the cookbook is from 1927). To keep it simple, I'll skip the hand-carved apple cup and homemade mayo.
Gelatin appears again! This time in the Bavarian cream. Along with sugar and heavy cream it's just too fussy and too complicated for me. But we missed not having some type of fruit for dessert on the Second Sunday (Brian even asked, "what's for dessert?") so I'll serve our usual winter weekday dessert: sliced bananas drizzled with a little hot fudge and topped with homemade whipped cream.
Fourth Sunday: The Modern Menu
Swiss steak with sauce
Mashed potatoes
Peas sprinkled with nutmeg
Rolls
Waldorf salad
Bananas with whipped cream
Coffee and fruit juice
The sauce for the steak is a mix of water and milk. I decided to turn it into a mushroom sauce, as there were leftover mushrooms from earlier this week. I'll also be using leftover peas. I can't imagine Woman's World would object, as not using leftovers is simply "not economical."
I also bought two small round steaks as opposed to one large one, which once again, is "more economical" for a family of two.
Looks like country fried steak – and it's good! We decided to add it to our regular menu.
Third Sunday
Third Sunday: The Original Menu
Chicken pie
Tea rolls
Mashed potatoes
Mashed turnips
Cucumber pickles
Fruit salad with strawberry jell
Cherry pie
Coffee
Brian and I LOVE chicken pie! It's such a great way to use up leftover cooked chicken. But this chicken pie recipe is different: "Boil a fat fowl until tender…" No leftover chicken. "… strain off the gravy, chill and use the fat for making the crust of the pie." There are no instructions on how to make the pie crust, only that the fat should be used in it. "Put chicken, which should be cut in pieces for serving, in baking pan… " Bone and all?
Although I enjoy learning new recipes, this one, with boned chicken in a pie crust made from scratch, is a bit much for two people and a cook who can't bake. Since I already have an excellent chicken pie recipe, I'll make that instead.
Karly's chicken pie for two:
Make mushroom sauce (1 cup medium white sauce with sautéed mushrooms and onions)
Add one or two heaping tablespoon of Alouette garlic & herb cheese spread
Add leftover peas and cubed or shredded leftover cooked chicken
Pour into a glass pie pan
Cover with pre-made pie crust*
*Or if you are a good baker, you can make your own
Tea rolls – See my poor baking skills mentioned earlier. We'll skip this one.
Mashed potatoes – The sauce in the pie would go well with mashed potatoes.
Mashed turnips – Since I added a vegetable to my pie, I'll skip this one.
Cucumber pickles – Although I'll be substituting my favorite baby Kosher dills, the original recipe calls for homemade pickles. The instructions begin, "This is a good recipe. Try it when cucumbers are here again." I can't imagine cucumbers being in season in January, certainly not where I live in Michigan, nor in Chicago, where the publishers resided. Obviously the cook would need to consult the recipe book in advance in order to have pickles on hand for the Third Sunday.
I've never made homemade pickles, but Brian's mother and aunt have (their pickles are tasty!). He asked to look at the recipe and noticed it calls for two tablespoons alum. "My mom uses that – she has a heck of a time finding it," he said.
The fruit salad is another molded dish. Pineapple, bananas, oranges and walnuts in a strawberry gelatin topped with whipped cream. Those fruits are so tasty! They would be terrific without the gelatin.
Cherry pie – I find it odd that chicken pie should be eaten with rolls and followed by cherry pie. It seems so starch-filled. I wonder if it was the norm to typically eat two pies in one meal? I don't need the extra sugar – we'll skip the pie all together.
Third Sunday: The Modern Menu
Chicken pie
Mashed potatoes
Pickles
Fruit salad
Coffee and Gold
The only dish that is new to me is the fruit salad, which is just cut fruit topped with homemade whipped cream. Next time I make this I'll switch out the orange with a Clementine, which has no seeds and is easier to peel.
Overall, the meal was easy and tasty.
Chicken pie
Tea rolls
Mashed potatoes
Mashed turnips
Cucumber pickles
Fruit salad with strawberry jell
Cherry pie
Coffee
Brian and I LOVE chicken pie! It's such a great way to use up leftover cooked chicken. But this chicken pie recipe is different: "Boil a fat fowl until tender…" No leftover chicken. "… strain off the gravy, chill and use the fat for making the crust of the pie." There are no instructions on how to make the pie crust, only that the fat should be used in it. "Put chicken, which should be cut in pieces for serving, in baking pan… " Bone and all?
Although I enjoy learning new recipes, this one, with boned chicken in a pie crust made from scratch, is a bit much for two people and a cook who can't bake. Since I already have an excellent chicken pie recipe, I'll make that instead.
Karly's chicken pie for two:
Make mushroom sauce (1 cup medium white sauce with sautéed mushrooms and onions)
Add one or two heaping tablespoon of Alouette garlic & herb cheese spread
Add leftover peas and cubed or shredded leftover cooked chicken
Pour into a glass pie pan
Cover with pre-made pie crust*
*Or if you are a good baker, you can make your own
Tea rolls – See my poor baking skills mentioned earlier. We'll skip this one.
Mashed potatoes – The sauce in the pie would go well with mashed potatoes.
Mashed turnips – Since I added a vegetable to my pie, I'll skip this one.
Cucumber pickles – Although I'll be substituting my favorite baby Kosher dills, the original recipe calls for homemade pickles. The instructions begin, "This is a good recipe. Try it when cucumbers are here again." I can't imagine cucumbers being in season in January, certainly not where I live in Michigan, nor in Chicago, where the publishers resided. Obviously the cook would need to consult the recipe book in advance in order to have pickles on hand for the Third Sunday.
I've never made homemade pickles, but Brian's mother and aunt have (their pickles are tasty!). He asked to look at the recipe and noticed it calls for two tablespoons alum. "My mom uses that – she has a heck of a time finding it," he said.
The fruit salad is another molded dish. Pineapple, bananas, oranges and walnuts in a strawberry gelatin topped with whipped cream. Those fruits are so tasty! They would be terrific without the gelatin.
Cherry pie – I find it odd that chicken pie should be eaten with rolls and followed by cherry pie. It seems so starch-filled. I wonder if it was the norm to typically eat two pies in one meal? I don't need the extra sugar – we'll skip the pie all together.
Third Sunday: The Modern Menu
Chicken pie
Mashed potatoes
Pickles
Fruit salad
Coffee and Gold
The only dish that is new to me is the fruit salad, which is just cut fruit topped with homemade whipped cream. Next time I make this I'll switch out the orange with a Clementine, which has no seeds and is easier to peel.
Overall, the meal was easy and tasty.
Second Sunday
Second Sunday: The Original Menu
Clam broth with toasted crackers
Baked ham
Mashed potatoes
Carrots and peas
Nut bread
Grapefruit salad
Stuffed celery
Caramel custard
Fancy sweet crackers
Coffee
Clam broth… milk with clams, seasoning and butter. I like soup, but I tend to have it as a main dish for lunch. Since Brian doesn't like clams I decided to skip the soup.
The baked ham is simple but the original recipe calls for prep work the night before. Since we're only a family of two, a whole or half ham is just not practical. I looked at the ham options at the Market and chose ham steak instead. I plan to sprinkle it with curry powder than bake it in a marinade of orange juice, honey and Dijon mustard.
Mashed potatoes are good, but mashed sweet potatoes are a much better compliment to ham.
The original recipe for carrots and peas calls for fresh carrots but canned peas, possibly due to all the work that must be put into fresh peas or because they are not in season. Fortunately, the Market sells pre-shelled and soaked peas, so I plan to use fresh instead.
Nut bread… see my entry for beaten biscuit in the First Sunday. I don't bake very well. I decided to substitute French baguette, whose leftovers can be turned into garlic bread and croutons for future meals.
The grapefruit salad is NOT a gelatin, but it is still a little odd: grapefruit sections mixed with green olives, served on lettuce leaves with boiled dressing. I love grapefruit, I love olives and I love boiled dressing, but I don't love them all mixed together! So I'll be making my own version of grapefruit salad: grapefruit sections on a bed of spinach served with Italian dressing. It sounds strange, but Italian dressing somehow neutralizes the acidity in the fruit and gives it a mild, delicious flavor.
Stuffed celery is celery stuffed with cream cheese mixed with red pimentos. I love all of those ingredients (even mixed together), but alas, Brian does not, so I'll substitute celery stuffed with crunchy peanut butter (I love that, too!) – a staple appetizer in our house.
That seems like more than enough food! We'll skip the caramel custard and fancy sweet crackers.
Second Sunday: The Modern Menu
Stuffed celery
Baked ham steak
Mashed sweet potatoes
Carrots and peas
Grapefruit salad
French baguette
Coffee and Gold
This is actually an easy menu as I've made all of these food items before, except for the ham (although I've often made the marinade for chicken). The only challenge is convincing The Kitten that he'd be happier sitting on Brian's lap than hunting the ham.
The meal was tasty. Brian even enjoyed the ham (he's not normally a ham-eater) and said we could have it again. Although I liked it, I don't foresee adding it to the house menu.
The leftover ham and veggies were turned into a casserole with leftover cubed potatoes. I didn't care for that much either.
Clam broth with toasted crackers
Baked ham
Mashed potatoes
Carrots and peas
Nut bread
Grapefruit salad
Stuffed celery
Caramel custard
Fancy sweet crackers
Coffee
Clam broth… milk with clams, seasoning and butter. I like soup, but I tend to have it as a main dish for lunch. Since Brian doesn't like clams I decided to skip the soup.
The baked ham is simple but the original recipe calls for prep work the night before. Since we're only a family of two, a whole or half ham is just not practical. I looked at the ham options at the Market and chose ham steak instead. I plan to sprinkle it with curry powder than bake it in a marinade of orange juice, honey and Dijon mustard.
Mashed potatoes are good, but mashed sweet potatoes are a much better compliment to ham.
The original recipe for carrots and peas calls for fresh carrots but canned peas, possibly due to all the work that must be put into fresh peas or because they are not in season. Fortunately, the Market sells pre-shelled and soaked peas, so I plan to use fresh instead.
Nut bread… see my entry for beaten biscuit in the First Sunday. I don't bake very well. I decided to substitute French baguette, whose leftovers can be turned into garlic bread and croutons for future meals.
The grapefruit salad is NOT a gelatin, but it is still a little odd: grapefruit sections mixed with green olives, served on lettuce leaves with boiled dressing. I love grapefruit, I love olives and I love boiled dressing, but I don't love them all mixed together! So I'll be making my own version of grapefruit salad: grapefruit sections on a bed of spinach served with Italian dressing. It sounds strange, but Italian dressing somehow neutralizes the acidity in the fruit and gives it a mild, delicious flavor.
Stuffed celery is celery stuffed with cream cheese mixed with red pimentos. I love all of those ingredients (even mixed together), but alas, Brian does not, so I'll substitute celery stuffed with crunchy peanut butter (I love that, too!) – a staple appetizer in our house.
That seems like more than enough food! We'll skip the caramel custard and fancy sweet crackers.
Second Sunday: The Modern Menu
Stuffed celery
Baked ham steak
Mashed sweet potatoes
Carrots and peas
Grapefruit salad
French baguette
Coffee and Gold
This is actually an easy menu as I've made all of these food items before, except for the ham (although I've often made the marinade for chicken). The only challenge is convincing The Kitten that he'd be happier sitting on Brian's lap than hunting the ham.
The meal was tasty. Brian even enjoyed the ham (he's not normally a ham-eater) and said we could have it again. Although I liked it, I don't foresee adding it to the house menu.
The leftover ham and veggies were turned into a casserole with leftover cubed potatoes. I didn't care for that much either.
First Sunday
"January – Here are four good dinners to start the New Year right."
First Sunday: The Original Menu
Stuffed steak
Browned potatoes
Creamed cauliflower
Evaporated peaches
Beaten biscuit
Fruit salad
Plum pudding with sauce or lemon pie
Coffee
The original stuffed steak calls for two pounds of round steak and a stuffing of bread crumbs, onions, herbs, and an egg. It is browned in meat drippings, then placed in a casserole with water and baked slowly.
Although I appreciate the economical nature of this dish, I chose to punch it up a bit: my stuffed steak would be flank steak stuffed with spinach, tomato bruschetta mixture and blue cheese, as all but the tomato mix are leftover ingredients from previous meals (and I hate throwing food away!).
I substituted the browned potatoes with sweet potatoes, as I thought it would make a better color combination than white potatoes with a side of white cauliflower. Originally I intended to brown the potatoes with the meat, until I realized I was cooking the meat with a tomato/water base, and sweet potatoes just didn't seem to go well with Italian tomatoes. So I chose candied sweet potatoes instead (baked medallions sprinkled with butter and brown sugar).
I LOVE creamed dishes! And I can quickly and easily make white sauce. However, I usually have a creamed dish as the MAIN dish – creamed cauliflower as a side just seems too rich and heavy. However, I still wanted to preserve the original intent of the meal, which called for some sort of cauliflower, so I chose mashed cauliflower instead. I have never made the dish before but I always wanted to, so why not?
Evaporated peaches are cooked peaches served cold as a relish. Since the menu also includes fruit salad, it seemed a bit much. Since the intent was to have a cold relish, I substituted dill pickles (for me – I'll only eat Vlasic baby kosher dills) and Italian-style jalapenos (for Brian).
Beaten biscuit is flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and lard made into a dough. I'm not a very good baker, so I chose to skip the biscuit and substitute garlic bread, as we already have a half baguette that would otherwise go to waste.
The fruit salad is one of the infamous gelatins! I remember gelatins from my childhood – and some of them were very good (others, not so good). I've even seen modern-day recipes for molded salads, so it's not completely a lost art, but it's also not an art I'm interested in learning. The original recipe calls for canned cherries and canned pineapple mixed with whipped cream and mayonnaise, molded and served over lettuce leaves. It's very old-fashioned – nothing modern about it. So instead I will use fresh pineapple and fresh cherries topped with real whipped cream and served as dessert. More modern, fresh, and no mayo!
As for the suggested desserts – I love both plum pudding and lemon pie! But baked goods and sugar are indulgences I can't partake on a weekly basis. That's just too much. So we'll skip them.
First Sunday: The Modern Menu
Stuffed steak
Candied sweet potatoes
Mashed cauliflower
Garlic bread
Pickles & Italian jalapenos
Fruit salad
Coffee and Gold
The Details
Unwrapped flank steak and immediately realized that "the Kitten" believes it's still live game that he must hunt. Silly Kitten! Hunting is best done in the bathroom with the door closed where no one can disturb you. Quick, get the evil catnip mousie before he gets you!
Preheated oven to 350, drizzled some olive oil in a frying pan and heated it to medium.
Put 2 tablespoons of tomato bruschetta in the center of the steak and topped it with blue cheese then a few handfuls of spinach. Now the hard part: "rolling" the steak. It's not like biscuit dough and didn't roll very well or tightly. Instead it left a large hole in the center, which conveniently had stuffing mixture in it.
Since I didn't have any twine I just used my hands to place the whole thing in the hot pan to sear the meat (note to self: buy cooking twine!). Using a spatula I gently turned the meat to sear all sides, then placed it in a large, white casserole dish. Some of the stuffing mixture loosened so I tucked it back in, then sprinkled the top of the meat with Tuscan seasoning. Next I added ½ cup of tomato juice and water, covered the dish and placed it in the pre-heated oven. It should be done in about 1-1/2 hours.
Now that the meat is safely in the oven and the Kitten has caught the evil mousie he is released, only to discover a new threat to our household: the fry pan with meat drippings, perched menacingly in the kitchen sink. He courageously attacked the threat, which was placed in the dishwasher to protect all of us (the Dog got in a few licks while it was in the dishwasher, just in case it was still dangerous).
Next I peeled the sweet potato and cut it into reasonable medallions, placing them in a pot of water.
Aroma from the oven smells good…
Onto mashed cauliflower. I've never made this before but it sounds tasty and will hopefully be less heavy than the creamed cauliflower called for in the original menu. Since there is only two of us I used only half the head of cauliflower.
Now things start to move more quickly: Brian comes upstairs to begin making garlic bread. Of course, the bread might be evil so the Dog and the Kitten must sample it first. The bread's a tad hard, so Kitten's is softened in a bit of milk. Fortunately the bread is not evil so it's safe for us to eat (now that I think of it, it never is evil, but it doesn't hurt to check I guess).
The sweet potato medallions are in the oven, sprinkled with brown sugar and the cauliflower is boiling, so it's time to make whipped cream. The whipper and bowl have been in the freezer for about 15 minutes so hopefully it's cold enough. Since Brian does not like whipped cream I only need to make enough for me.
I poured ¼ cup of heavy whipping cream in the bowl and six exhausting minutes later – whipped cream! Actually, over-whipped cream, but it still tastes good.
I cut the pineapple into two rings, placed one ring on each dessert plate, then topped it with the pitted cherries. I live in Michigan, which prides itself on its cherry trees, and yet all I could find at the store were maraschino cherries and pitted cherries in rum. I bought the cherries in rum, thinking they would be less sweet. They are, and I like the rum liquor, but Brian may not care for it. Fortunately there's some chocolate in the fridge (chocolate is also prey and must be kept stored away or else it will be ravaged by the Kitten and the Dog – a big no-no as chocolate can make animals very, very ill).
Make coffee (just for me, Brian will drink caffeine-free Diet Coke, or "Gold" as we call it).
Brian mashed the cauliflower while I took out the meat and arranged it on the platter. Sadly, I prepped a bit too much butter and milk for the cauliflower so it came out a bit runny.
We took a picture and sat down to eat. Brian LOVES the meat with its sauce. I like the mashed cauliflower. We both agree that stuffed steak should be added to the "house menu."
First Sunday: Successful!
The Day After
Beef hash supreme
Lemon butter broccoli
Garlic bread
Grapefruit
Beef hash supreme – Heat in a skillet equal amounts of cubed cooked potatoes and cubed cooked meat. Add sautéed onion and mushrooms, then top with tomatoes, sour cream and cheese.
The Fifty Two Sunday Dinners
I bought this cookbook on eBay when I was going through my "art deco phase" (fortunately my friend Brandy is the only one who really remembers this phase!). At first I was captivated only by the illustrations: a different seasonal picture for each month and shadow-figures in the margins of almost every page. But soon I began reading the book, with its recipes designed "according to the month for which they are most appropriate and during which the ingredients used may be obtained at the lowest possible cost," and became aware of seasonal cooking, an intriguing and new concept to me.
This was about the same time I began to really cook, as opposed to preparing specialty entrees, such as Caesar salad and chicken Parmesan, to augment my steady diet of restaurant food. I realized that I enjoyed cooking; it was significantly cheaper than eating out and it enabled me to tailor my meals to my specific tastes. The concept of cooking foods according to their season was an epiphany: Foods at their freshest, cheapest and tastiest! Who knew?
I began buying more cookbooks, more modern ones, which featured menus for an entire meal, using seasonal foods. It was fun, I learned a lot, and I loved it! All the while "The Fifty Two Sunday Dinners" sat on a shelf with the other Woman's World, art deco-design cookbooks. Every once in a while I would take it down and flip through the meal suggestions, intrigued by the rampant use of lard and gelatin salads, and the occasional call for cooked tongue. But the 1927 book represented more than just a mockery of cooking from years past: it introduced me to seasonal cooking and helped me better understand the role of cooking, and the housewife, in the early twentieth century.
For years I toyed with the idea of cooking the recipes in the book, one for each Sunday of the year. But the recipes are designed for a family of six (we're a family of two), the techniques are cumbersome compared to today's more modern techniques, some of the ingredients are no longer used (or rather, I won't be using, such as the previously mentioned tongue), the suggested menus contain quite a bit more food than Brian and I need, and some of the foods we just don't like.
But I still liked the concept of seasonal cooking and using menus that housewives from generations past used in their meal planning. I wanted more than just planning a seasonal meal – I wanted that "sense of history" that only "The Fifty Two Sunday Dinners" could provide.
As I leafed through the pages of the book I thought about the woman who owned it before me, a woman who enjoyed gelatin salads and cooked tongue, who followed the recipes exactly as written and prepared each meal to identically match the one outlined for that particular Sunday. She was a woman who ate leg of lamb for Easter and roast goose for Thanksgiving, who could bake pies, and who had a family that would eat whatever a woman's magazine decreed they would eat. And they would like it!
Was there such a woman? What if she was invited to someone else's home for Easter dinner? What would happen to the leg of lamb? What if she couldn't find a goose at the local market? (Never mind the fact that not even in 1927 did Thanksgiving fall on a Sunday). What if her family didn't like cherry pies or cooked tongue?
That's when I realized there is no such woman and no such family, that would eat exactly what a woman's magazine dictated every Sunday for an entire year. Real life, even real life in the 1920s, doesn't work that way. People had, and still have, food preferences: not everyone likes tongue! Not everyone can eat the amount of food dictated in the book or find all the ingredients while disregarding food allergies and doctor's recommendations on proper diet.
"The Fifty Two Sunday Dinners," like all cookbooks before and after it, is merely a guide. It offers suggestions. It is not a sacred text that must be followed literally or the cook risks eternal damnation (is not eating tongue worth one's soul?). Therefore, I decided to take this guide to the 1920's modern woman and re-write it for the 21st century modern woman (specifically, me).
This blog will document my modernization experiment.
The Rules
In the spirit of keeping with the original intent of the book, I will use the recommended meals as guidelines for my own Sunday dinner planning. The meals will be adjusted to my budget, taste and cooking style (simple and fresh). I will make substitutions within these "rules" – a cut of beef may be switched for a similar, more economical cut for two, but it won't be switched in favor of fish. I may also cut back on the quantity of side dishes, as I just can't eat that much!
I buy all my food from Holiday Market in Royal Oak as they have an excellent butcher counter, including natural and organic meats, and will cut meat to size. I always try to buy fresh ingredients, instead of frozen, an option not always available in 1927. I also use "healthy" food items (skim milk, Splenda, etc.) whenever possible.
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