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.