From The Heinz Book of Meat Cookery (1930), HJ Heinz Company
I'm interrupting the semi-regularly scheduled Midnight Sausage series to share molded food images and recipes from my personal collection of early-to-mid 20th century cookbooks. There will be aspic. There will be mousse. There will be various gelatins. All will be semi-solid and of debatable degrees of edibility.
Please feel free to shimmy and shake your way to the comments section to share your very own magical, masticable molds of yore.
From Dainty Desserts for Dainty People (1915), Knox Gelatine
I'm interrupting the semi-regularly scheduled Midnight Sausage series to share molded food images and recipes from my personal collection of early-to-mid 20th century cookbooks. There will be aspic. There will be mousse. There will be various gelatins. All will be semi-solid and of debatable degrees of edibility.
Please feel free to shimmy and shake your way to the comments section to share your very own magical, masticable molds of yore.
From The Best of Taste: The Finest Food of Fifteen Nations (1957), The SACLANT-NATO Cookbook Committee
I'm interrupting the semi-regularly scheduled Midnight Sausage series to share molded food images and recipes from my personal collection of early-to-mid 20th century cookbooks. There will be aspic. There will be mousse. There will be various gelatins. All will be semi-solid and of debatable degrees of edibility.
Please feel free to shimmy and shake your way to the comments section to share your very own magical, masticable molds of yore.
From 500 Snacks: Bright Ideas for Entertaining (1941), Culinary Arts Institute
I'm interrupting the semi-regularly scheduled Midnight Sausage series to share molded food images and recipes from my personal collection of early-to-mid 20th century cookbooks. There will be aspic. There will be mousse. There will be various gelatins. All will be semi-solid and of debatable degrees of edibility.
Please feel free to shimmy and shake your way to the comments section to share your very own magical, masticable molds of yore.
From Dainty Desserts for Dainty People (1915), Knox Gelatine
I'm interrupting the semi-regularly scheduled Midnight Sausage series to share molded food images and recipes from my personal collection of early-to-mid 20th century cookbooks. There will be aspic. There will be mousse. There will be various gelatins. All will be semi-solid and of debatable degrees of edibility.
Please feel free to shimmy and shake your way to the comments section to share your very own magical, masticable molds of yore.
From The Silent Hostess Treasure Book (1930), General Electric Company Electric Refrigeration Department, Cleveland OH
I'm interrupting the semi-regularly scheduled Midnight Sausage series to share molded food images and recipes from my personal collection of early-to-mid 20th century cookbooks. There will be aspic. There will be mousse. There will be various gelatins. All will be semi-solid and of debatable degrees of edibility.
Please feel free to shimmy and shake your way to the comments section to share your very own magical, masticable molds of yore.
Want to see how far American cuisine has come in the past 40 years? Check out the Mid-Century Supper Club on Flickr, where members lovingly recreate heinous 50s and 60s dishes like hot dogs suspended in aspic and olive-studded sandwich loaf. Dishes are served in retro crockery; some are even posed in front of their inspirations, photos from vintage cookbooks and 1962 issues of Good Housekeeping.
I am particularly fond of the higher-concept items, such as the "Three Men in a Boat" - baked potato boats with button mushroom sailors and American cheese sails - or the banana "airplane" - a banana with chocolate wafer wings, flying through whipped cream clouds. Time to tie on an apron and bust out the Jello.
It looks like the good people at Reese's have been inspired by the King - Elvis Presley. The new limited edition Reese's have a two-layered filling of peanut butter and banana creme, in a candy rendition of Elvis's favoritepeanut butter sandwich. Even if you don't really think too much of Elvis, any combination of peanut butter, bananas and chocolate is bound to be a good one because the elements work well individually, as well as when put together. Junk Food Blog says that they are now available in the US, but gives no indication of where they might have been sold before. The Reese's website doesn't mention them at all. I have yet to see any in my local stores. Were they first released near Graceland? If anyone has had the chance to taste this creation, let us know how they turned out in the comments.
Circus Animal cookies were one of my favorite types of cookie when I was in school. Not only were they sweetly addictive, but they were covered in frosting, decorated with sprinkles and shaped like animals. When combined, those traits make up a combination that is irresistible to kids. The fact that the "animals" were next-to-impossible to identify was not an issue, since my primary objective when faced with the cookies was to find the white ones with the most sprinkles and eat them first.
Adults rarely seem to buy these cookies for themselves, which is unfortunate because they're still fun to eat. Instead of going out and buying a bag, try making them at home, as Peabody from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody did. They look just as good as the originals and, since they're homemade, they probably taste even better. They'd be a great thing to take to a party because they're something that no one would expect you to be able to make at home, not to mention that they're just hard to resist in general.
Alphabet soup is a favorite for many kids, despite the fact that it always seems to look much better than it tastes. And if you taste it after the age of 8? Well, let's just say that the pasta-and-sauce concoction is not meant for adult taste buds. With this alphabet soup cutting board, you can still enjoy the nostalgic look of the soup-like concoction, without having to taste it. It is made of glass, textured on top, and is both stain and odor resistant. It's dishwasher safe, so it is a multipurpose board that can be used for anything.
For a different way to enjoy alphabet spaghetti/soup, check out the giant version at Pimp That Snack!
These video-game inspired cakes from Glitter Pissing seemed to fit right in with the other strange (some have said "geeky") series of cakes we've featured recently on Slashfood. There were the Stargate cupcakes, the sysadmin cupcakes and then the meat cake. According to blogger r4kk4, these cakes, which include the Nintendo you see here, arcade versions of Centipede and Ms. Pacman and a Gameboy with Tetris pieces, were created for a cakewalk to benefit the nonprofit youth literacy group 826 Seattle. From the looks of the dozens of comments, there could definitely be a market for cakes like these.
After I made my Jello pie, I wanted to do more Jello desserts - by which I mean that I had an extra package of Jello left over. I decided that I would try my hand at making a layered dessert because some of them just look too interesting to pass up and I've never actually attempted one before.
As it turns out, they're very easy to make. Gelatin doesn't set up at room temperature, so the layers-to-be can sit out while you wait for things to set up. The initial time involved is about 2 minutes, after which you can do household things (or blog) while you wait to pour on the next layer.
With Father's Day only one week away, I'm going to aim to pick out cookbooks that would make good gifts for Dads - by which I mean that they will often have words such as "manly", "man" or "dad" in them. Case in point, today's cookbook is Patio Daddy-O: '50's recipes with a Modern Twist. "Daddy-o," if you're not familiar with the term, was a word that originated in about 1950 that hip guys (i.e. not "squares") used to refer to each other. The recipes in the book have adorable names that evoke truly retro cookbooks, but are updated in their ingredient lists and methodology to make dishes much more appealing than Perfection Salad. For example, how do "Slab o' Fun Barbecued Meat Loaf", "Uncle Bob's Peanut Butter Sandwiches with Texas Sweets" and "Rock 'n' Rollin BBQ Baby Back Ribs" sound? Nostalgic? Fun? Delicious? They are all the recipes that you wish your family made but never actually did. Pour a martini or an "Atomic Cocktail," fire up the Weber grill and enjoy.
I also want to point out that Amazon has a used price listed for the book of 1¢. It's hard to go wrong at that price, even if you still have to pay for shipping.
It's hard not to love a root beer float and even harder when it comes in an old fashioned soda fountain glass. These pastel-colored glasses will have you seeing the world through rose colored glasses as you sip a delicious, refreshing, old-fashioned treat in the comfort of your own home. A great way to show these off is to invite a few friends over and set up a grown-up ice cream sundae bar that will let you relive your childhood. The designer also offers banana split boats and appetizer plates in the same collection.
In case it's been a while since you had one, to make a root beer float all you need to do is scoop some of your favorite vanilla ice cream into a large glass and, carefully, pour over a can of root beer. If you pour down the side of the glass, instead of directly on top of the ice cream, you'll be able to reduce the amount of foam you create slightly. Drink it through a straw, but don't forget to keep a long-handled spoon nearby to scoop out all the ice cream!
Retro Desserts, by Wayne Harley Brachman, is one of my favorite cookbooks. I love Brachman's easy writing style and the illustrations of the desserts are fantastic. He dots the book with bits of trivia about the names and origins of dishes. I only wish that the book was even longer! This is not Brachman's newest cookbook, but it is an excellent one. The recipes are all his versions of favorites from the '40s, '50s, '60s and '70s, and include everything from Grasshopper Pie to Diner-Style Strawberry Shortcake.
We've featured one of the recipes from this book here at Slashfood recently, homemade Oreo cookies. It's hard for me to say what my favorite recipe is, though. Belgian waffles? Cream-filled chocolate cupcakes? Homemade graham crackers? The strawberry chiffon pie that is featured on the cover of the book is excellent, too. By and large, the recipes are easy to follow and clearly written. As with most baking books, it's important to be precise to ensure that you get the best result - and you probably won't be disappointed.
It's inevitable- a recipe calls for an herb you know you have in your pantry, or at least you thought so. Next time you're in a pickle, check out this herb substitution chart.