"vintage" news and stories

They say that fruitcakes improve with age, but that may just be an excuse that non-fruitcake lovers have come up with to avoid eating them. Lance Nesta, a man in Wisconsin, found a 44-year old fruitcake in his mother's attic while cleaning out the house. The cake was shipped to him as a taste of home by his mother and aunt in 1962 while he was in the military and stationed in Alaska. He didn't want the cake (and neither did his military buddies), so he brought it home with him.

It seems like he just should have thrown it away, rather than carrying it all the way back home, if he wasn't going to eat it. Waste not, want not, I guess.... but if you don't want the cake when it's fresh, are you really going to want it after 44 years?

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A distillery in Scotland is planning to produce the world's strongest whisky. The single-malt whisky will be distilled four times, while whisky is ordinarily distilled only twice. At 92 percent alcohol, the malt will have more than double the alcohol content of ordinary whiskies. The distillery is engaging in the project in an attempt to replicate the Scottish drink described in a 1695 travel book, The Western Isles of Scotland, which contains what is considered to be the world's oldest whisky-tasting note. The book also includes a warning that the drink takes effect immediately, so by imbibing any more than two spoonfuls, "it would presently stop his breath and endanger his life". Despite the warning, the distillery manager believes that the whisky will have a floral note to it. They expect to produce approximately 5000 bottles.

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Cheese-makers in England's West Country say that excellent grazing conditions last year are to thank for some of the great mature and vintage cheeses that are starting to appear in British markets. A cow's diet greatly affects the quality and flavor of the milk it produces and the characteristics of the milk are then amplified and concentrated in cheeses produced from it. A mild winter and a wet spring created New Zealand-like conditions, according to one Somerset cheese-maker quoted in Farmers Weekly. Another farmer from Devon said it was the best grazing year ever.

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Not only does Betty Crocker's New Dinners for Two contain a wealth of retro recipes, it also offers some rather unusual advice. Specifically, I am referring to the "Sunset Years Guide", a list of dietary tips found at the back of the book. It starts off well enough, advising people to keep protein as part of their diet, but it then begins to fly in the face of what is now the typical medical advice to people in their "sunset years". In addition to recommending that one avoid high fiber foods, the book suggests that "eating creamed foods, custards, cheeses and ice cream" are good ways to keep calcium intake high. It also selects liver and egg yolks as being excellent sources of nutrients, along with green leafy vegetables and citrus. In fairness, the "guide" concludes by making the recommendation that high fat foods should be substituted for lower fat ones, although it seems as though that might prove difficult with all the egg yolks and ice cream someone in their "sunset years" should be eating.

[Photo by Nicole Weston]

Having grown up with, learned to cook on and generally taken for granted the vintage gas stove in my family's kitchen, you can imagine my surprise when I saw a red one just like it on the Food Network, crouched behind Rachael Ray. Stoves like our 1952 Chambers Model 90C (above) have become all the rage and it's no surprise. They're beautiful, obviously durable and hey, what good cook doesn't like cooking with gas? When restored, these stoves can command upwards of $4,000.

We acquired ours in the mid-70s while our house was being restored. As you can imagine, the house has evolved around the stove, which hasn't really moved in a few decades. While it still cooks just fine, there's a bit of finesse involved. There's no pilot, so the oven and ranges must be lit by hand. This usually results in a fun "booof" sound that makes most guests back away from the stove.

[Photo: John Vagnoni]