A Menu for the Last Sunday in November

This is from Fifty-Two Sunday Dinners, published by the Woman’s World Magazine Company of Chicago, Illinois in 1927 and subtitled Being a selection of tested and balanced menus, easily and economically prepared, for every Sunday in the year. I don’t know about the easily, even if Mama had a new-fangled gas stove and a cook, but here is the recommended bill of fare for the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

Fruit Cocktail
Roast Goose with Apple-Prune Sauce
Stuffed Olives
Glace Sweet Potatoes, Duchesse Potatoes, and Creamed Celery
Buttered Parker House Rolls
Head Lettuce Salad, Cheese Straws
Brick Ice Cream and Lady Baltimore Cake
Coffee, Salted Almonds, After-Dinner-Mints

And here are some of the recipes.

Fruit Cocktail

Use ½ grapefruit for each portion, take out pulp, remove seeds and pith. Add for every 2 grapefruit (4 portions) the pulp of 1 orange and a dozen skinned and seeded white grapes. Put fruit in a mold which has a close cover. Sprinkle with lemon juice—1 lemon to 4 grapefruit—powdered sugar and a shake of cayenne or paprika. Put mold in ice compartment of refrigerator until ready to serve. Keep grapefruit skins in ice water. When ready, drain and dry skins, fill with the ice-cold fruit, and put in a little of the juice, beating well before adding.

(21st century comment – wait…skin and seed the grapes? Seriously?)

Roast Goose

Select a young goose, weighing 8 or 10 lbs. Scrub well with hot water to which a little washing soda has been added, then rinse well and dry outside and in. Make a stuffing of freshly boiled and mashed potatoes, seasoning with salt, pepper, powdered sage and a very little onion. Stuff but do not pack. Sew up, truss, then put in a steamer and steam for an hour to sweat off the excess fat and make the meat more tender. Some cooks parboil a goose for half an hour before wiping dry and stuffing. Then rub all over with flour seasoned with pepper and salt and roast, putting 1-½ cups boiling water in the pan. Roast 20 minutes to the pound for a young goose, and 30 minutes to the pound if doubtful of its tenderness. Remove from pan to platter when done, turn off all the grease and after stirring in the flour for thickening let it fry a minute or so to get brown before adding the water.

(The pre-steaming sounds like a good idea but I was under the impression that washing soda was poisonous).

Creamed Celery

Clean outside stalks and white leaves of a head of celery, cut in small pieces and cook until tender in 3 cups water. Scald a slice of onion in 2 cups milk in a double boiler. Rub celery when soft through a sieve. Blend 3 tablespoons cornstarch with 3 tablespoons butter, cook for a few minutes until well blended, gradually add the milk, strained, and the celery, season with celery salt and pepper.

(This doesn’t sound too bad except for the cornstarch. Flour yes, but cornstarch?).

Vintage kitchen image from Patricia at Agence Eureka.