A Tale Of Two Sundays - February

From 52 Sunday Dinners, on the first Sunday in February, 1927, the following menu was suggested: Cream of Pea Soup with Toasted Crackers, Cold Roast Leg of Lamb with Heated Gravy, Mashed Potatoes and Mashed Yellow Turnips, Tomato Sauce, Celery, Cucumber Pickles and Apple Tapioca Pudding with Whipped Cream.

Cream of Pea Soup

“Rinse a can of peas with cold water and keep out ¼ cup. Simmer the remainder of the can with a slice of onion, small bay leaf, a little parsley, teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon white pepper, 2 cups boiling water for 20 minutes, then put through strainer, mashing through as much of the pulp as possible. Bring a pint of milk to scald in double boiler, thicken with tablespoon butter blended with 1 ½ tablespoons flour, and when the milk is creamy add the peas, etc. Stir well, and just before serving add the whole peas.”

Apple Tapioca Pudding with Whipped Cream

“Pare, core and quarter 3 or 4 tart apples and put in a deep dish to bake. To a pint of milk allow 2 tablespoons tapioca that does not need soaking, and cook in double boiler until tapioca looks clear. Break 2 eggs into a bowl, add ½ cup sugar, a pinch of salt, and beat until foamy, then add a teaspoon of lemon extract, and stir into the cooked tapioca. When the apples are tender turn over them the tapioca mixture, and return to the oven for 20 minutes. Serve cold with the whipped cream, which may be slightly sweetened and flavored with ½ teaspoon vanilla extract.”

Mrs Berolzheimer's recommended menu for Sunday the 1st of February 1953 offers a Lincoln’s Birthday Dinner consisting of a Grapefruit, Pomegranate and Blueberry Appetizer Salad, Fried Chicken, Buttered Steamed Barley, Harvard Beets, Pumpkin Pie, Coffee and Milk. I think the appetizer was the closest thing to a red-white-and-blue salad she and her myrmidons could devise. They offer no recipe with that title in the accompanying 500 Salads book; perhaps the hostess was supposed to sprinkle this grapefruit salad with blueberries and pomegranate seeds?

Grapefruit Appetizer Salad

“Remove seeds from halves of grapefruit. Cut around inside edge as close to shell as possible. Separate grapefruit segments from membrane, cut out remaining membrane and arrange romaine, escarole or chicory around inside of shell. Cut grapefruit segments into pieces and heap up in shell. Serve with French dressing.”

Note: French dressing, at this time in American culinary history, referred not to the red ketchup-like stuff we know today, but rather a plain oil and vinegar dressing.

Of the two menus, I think I’d go with 1927 again, although my leg of lamb would be served hot and without the tomato sauce.

A Tale of Two Sundays - August

On the first Sunday of August, 1927, our homemaker prepared a Slice of Ham Baked in Milk, Glazed Sweet Potatoes, Escalloped Tomatoes, Canned Asparagus Tips in French Dressing, Salt Crackers with Cream Cheese, and a Charlotte Russe for dessert.

Baking a ham slice in milk is a way to draw out some of the saltiness and keep the ham moist; and the sweet potatoes were partially pre-cooked and then baked in the oven beside the ham, in a sugar-butter syrup (no marshmallows, a curious omission. 1920’s cooks were madly in love with marshmallows). Both of the side dishes called for canned vegetables, at a time of the year when the average home garden was bursting at the seams with fresh produce. And the dessert was served with something called Mock Cream.

“Mock Cream. Bring to scald in the double boiler a cup of milk. Beat the whites of 2 eggs with a tablespoon powdered sugar and a scant teaspoon butter, creamed until soft enough to beat. Mix a teaspoon cornstarch with ½ cup cold milk, add to the egg whites and stir all with the hot milk. Cook until mixture thickens, strain and cool. It should be of the thickness of real cream. If too thick, thin with a little real cream or milk. This can be used plain or can be flavored and is very useful when real cream is not on hand or has perhaps soured.”

Too much time in a hot kitchen, even for a Sunday. Cold sliced ham, with sweet potatoes made in the cool of the morning and re-heated, and a salad of fresh tomatoes and cucumbers, would be more to my liking. Let’s see what our 1953 cook is up to.

Planked Salmon with Glazed Beets, Buttered Spinach, Mashed Potatoes and Hardcooked Eggs; Hot Rolls, Apple and Nut Salad, and Peppermint Stick Ice Cream with Chocolate Sauce for Dessert.

Planked fish was a popular company dish because the presentation demonstrated the hostess’ skill not only at cooking, but garnishing. Are there any home cooks out there who still plank fish, I wonder? General directions are as follows.

“Planked Fish. Select any fish suitable for baking. Large fish may be split, boned, seasoned and planked flat, or small fish may be cleaned, seasoned and planked whole. Oil plank and preheat thoroughly in hot oven. Place fish in center of plank, brush lean fish with melted butter or French dressing*. Bake in a very hot oven (450° F) 10 to 15 minutes, reduce temperature to moderate (350° F) and bake until fish is nearly tender, allowing about 10 mintues per pound. About 15 minutes before fish is doen, remove plank from oven, garnish with mashed potatoes pressed through a pastry tube and other vegetables as desired. Return to oven to finish baking fish and to brown potatoes. Garnish.”

(*As I've mentioned before, at that time French dressing would be our old friend oil and vinegar).

I’m not thrilled by either menu. Anyone care to vote? Which meal would you rather prepare today?

A Tale of Two Sundays - June

On the third Sunday in June, 1927, our homemaker served the following dinner to her hungry brood; cream of potato soup, chicken salad, hot buttered rice, escalloped tomatoes, cucumber salad, spice cake and apple amber.

Lord have mercy.

I can’t imagine eating such a meal on a hot, muggy Sunday afternoon, let alone preparing it in a kitchen with (possibly) a coal-fired stove and no air-conditioning. Paring the menu down a bit – say, to chicken salad, escalloped tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, and apple amber—renders it a lot more appetizing. The chicken salad was simply diced, cooked chicken marinated in French dressing and then mixed with an equal amount of diced celery, served on lettuce and garnished with mayonnaise. The escalloped tomatoes, which were baked with green pepper and onion under a mantle of buttered breadcrumbs, could be prepared early in the morning and re-heated. And the apple amber makes good use of the last of the previous winter’s apples, by now a bit on the withered side no matter how carefully they were stored.

Apple Amber. Cover bottom of baking dish with ¼ inch water. Pare, core and slice thin tart apples. Lay slices in baking dish with sugar sprinkled between the layers. Fill dish to within an inch of the top and finish with a thick sprinkle of sugar and dots of butter. A little cinnamon or nutmeg may be sprinkled over. Bake until apples can be easily pierced with a toothpick. Leave in dish and serve plain or with whipped cream.

(The recipe doesn’t specify, but I hope this would have been served cold).

The menu from 1953 is even worse. Cream of pea soup, stuffed lamb roll, Brabant potatoes (which are a fancy name for hash browns), cauliflower with browned crumbs, watermelon balls and iced tea. I’m afraid the only menu items I could even face on a day like today would be the watermelon balls and the iced tea. 1927 wins again this month.

A Tale of Two Sundays - December

No fancy holiday dinner here, just homey Sunday fare for 1927 – Boiled Chicken with Egg and Parsley Sauce, Boiled Rice, Mashed Carrots, Escalloped Tomatoes, Waldorf Salad, Date Muffins, Orange Pudding, and Coffee.

Two desserts seemed to be the norm for Sundays in 1927; of course, the leftovers could have formed the basis of Monday’s breakfast, Monday always being the kind of day where things are rushed and time is short. The remains of the boiled chicken undoubtedly wound up in some kind of casserole on Monday night. The recipe for boiled rice is not as bad as some from that era, it only calls for 20 minutes of steady boiling. When did this country stop cooking starches to death, I wonder—my Detroit Times cookbook instructs me to boil macaroni for 40 minutes, for example.

The orange pudding looks tasty and cheap; a sort of orange-flavored bread pudding calling for breadcrumbs, one orange and one egg.

Orange Pudding. Cover 1 cup bread crumbs with 1 pint milk and let stand until milk is absorbed, then add ½ cup sugar, the yolk of 1 egg, and the grated rind of an orange. Turn into buttered baking dish and bake for 1 hour in moderate oven. Remove from oven, turn over pudding the strained juice of 1 orange, and a meringue made with the egg white beaten with 3 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar. Return to oven to brown the meringue.

The 1953 cook was more ambitious, serving her family Tomato Bouillon, Roast Ribs of Beef, Yorkshire Pudding, Lyonnaise Carrots, Celery Cabbage Salad, and a Jellied Plum Pudding. I can’t find the Jellied Plum Pudding in any of my Culinary Institute pamphlets, but here’s Plum Fluff, a simple dessert from a time when no one worried about eating uncooked egg whites.

Plum Fluff

1 #2 ½ can plums (about 16 oz)
1 T. lemon juice
2 egg whites
4 T. confectioner’s sugar
1 cup heavy cream, whipped

Drain plums, remove pits and mash plums with fork; add lemon juice. Beat egg whites until stiff; beat sugar in gradually. Fold whipped cream and plums into meringue. Chill about 1 hour.

A Tale of Two Sundays - September

Our Sunday bill of fare for 1927 includes Beefsteak Pie, Italian Spaghetti, Brussels Sprouts, Celery-Lettuce-Cheese Salad, Raisin Cake and Rice Pudding (two desserts are often on the menu for Sunday dinner in this book). The “Italian Spaghetti” is boiled for fifteen minutes and then baked for another forty, so let’s ignore that and take a look at Beefsteak Pie, a way to dress up the humble round steak.

Beefsteak Pie. “The following ingredients will make a pie sufficient to serve 6 or 7 persons. Have 3 pounds round steak cut in 2-inch lengths. Parboil for 30 minutes in water to cover. While the meat is cooking prepare a nice rich crust with 2 cups flour sifted twice with 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt; rub into this 1 cup lard or any preferred shortening. Some cooks think the crust of a beefsteak pie should always be made with clarified beef drippings. Line baking dish with this crust, rolled thin after being wet with a very little ice water or cold milk. Lay in some of the steak which has been allowed to cool, sprinkle with salt and pepper, repeat until all the meat is used. Slightly thicken the water in which the steak was boiled, with butter and flour and turn into dish. Cover with crust, bake 1 hour in moderate oven. This pie is even nicer for being reheated, so can be made on Saturday.”

In 1953 Mrs. Berolzheimer recommends a hearty meal, as well. On the 1953 menu are Vegetable Soup, Roast Tenderloin of Beef with Mushrooms, Stuffed Baked Potatoes, Baked Eggplant, Waldorf Salad and Pumpkin Chiffon Pie.

Waldorf Salad. ”6 tart red apples, 4 celery hearts, 2 ounces English walnut meats, Whipped Cream Dressing, lettuce. Pare apples, cut into long slender strips and dip into lemon water. Cut celery the same way. Shave walnuts into fine pieces. Combine walnuts, apples and celery with enough dressing to moisten. Heap on lettuce on salad plates. Serves 6.

Whipped Cream Dressing. 2/3 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, 2 eggs, beaten, 2 tablespoons salad oil, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, 4 tablespoons orange juice, 1 cup pineapple juice, ½ cup heavy cream, whipped. Combine sugar and flour in top of double boiler; add remaining ingredients except cream and cook until thickened, stirring constantly. When cool fold in whipped cream. Makes 2 cups.

Eliminate the Italian Spaghetti and the Brussels Sprouts, and I would take the 1927 menu. If I indulged in the 1953 meal I think I’d be asleep all afternoon.

A Tale of Two Sundays - January

On the second Sunday in January, 1927, the menu contained clam broth and crackers, baked ham, mashed potatoes, carrots and peas, nut bread, grapefruit salad, stuffed celery, caramel custard and fancy sweet crackers.

The grapefruit salad (lettuce, grapefruit, and olives – hmmmm…) is served with that old Southern standby, boiled dressing.

Boiled Dressing

Put in double boiler 2 tablespooons butter, 1 tablespoon flour, 2 teaspoons sugar, 2 beaten eggs, 1 teaspoon dry mustard, 2/3 teaspoon salt, 1/3 teaspoon pepper. Cook until mixture thickens, then add 1 cup vinegar and continue cooking 3 minutes longer. Chill, and when ready to serve, thin with plain or whipped cream to suit the taste.

Note to self: way too much vinegar. The rest of the menu looks like a good choice for a chilly winter Sunday.

In January, 1953, we are offered fruit cocktail, stuffed lamb shoulder, Franconia potatoes, broccoli with Hollandaise sauce, watercress salad, and peppermint mousse. No recipe is offered for the watercress salad (perhaps it’s assumed that everyone knows how to make watercress salad?). Peppermint mousse is a frozen dessert that takes advantage of that perennial boon to fifties cooks, marshmallows.

Peppermint Mousse

1 cup heavy cream
16 marshmallows
Green coloring
6 drops of oil of peppermint

Add 1/3 cup of the cream to marshmallows and heat until softened, fluffy and smooth. Color a light green and stir in oil of peppermint. Cool until thick. Whip cream and fold into marshmallow mixture. Freeze in refreigerator tray without stirring.

Note to self: way too much oil of peppermint. I’d start with 2 drops and keep upping the ante until I was satisfied.

I could go for either menu, substituting a plain green salad for the grapefruit one. And forget the clam broth, too, it not being high on my list of preferred comestibles.

A Tale of Two Sundays - January

Many vintage cookbooks offer menu suggestions, but I have two that specialize in them; one is from 1927 and the other from 1953.


The booklet from 1953 has only menus, in fact, the idea being that you were to buy the other cookbooks in the series--500 Salads, 500 Seafood Recipes, etc--and turn to them for the recipes after getting your marching orders from the menu booklet. Since I blogged about a Roaring Twenties first Sunday supper last year, I thought it might be interesting to contrast what the up-to-date Fifties housewife would be serving for dinner on the first Sunday in January.

The menu is an intriguing combination of the exotic and the comfortably familiar. We start with an Avocado Cocktail Salad, move on to Duck with Sauerkraut accompanied by a Carrot and Celery Soufflé. Dessert is Hot Mince Pie with Rum Sauce, and it’s all washed down with milk or hot coffee.

Here is the recipe from 500 Salads.

Avocado Cocktail Salad

1 avocado
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
Salt
Watercress, romaine or lettuce
2 cups avocado balls or cubes
1/2 cup Appetizer Mayonnaise

Cut avocado crosswise into halves and remove seed. Slice 2 rings from each half and peel. Sprinkle with lemon juice and salt, arrange on watercress, and fill rings with avocado balls. Serve with the mayonnaise. Serves 4.

Appetizer Mayonnaise is 2 1/2 cups of regular mayonnaise with 1 cup chili sauce, 1 teaspoon Worcester sauce, 1 teaspoon horseradish, 2 minced pickles, 1 minced stalk of celery, 1 tablespoon minced chives and 2 tablespoons chopped parsley stirred in.

Of the two menus, I think I would prefer the one from 1927 both as a cook and as a member of the dinner party.

A Tale of Two Sundays - Easter

From 1927; Chicken en Casserole, Mashed Potatoes, Buttered New Carrots, Hot Biscuits, Perfection Salad with Mayonnaise, Angel Sponge Cake, Strawberries and Cream, Coffee. Easter was on April 17th, that year. If you lived in the North or Midwest, your strawberries would have to be imported from warmer climates, and consequently rather dear. The rest of the menu is surprisingly subdued, without the ham or lamb that is traditionally part of American Easter feasts. The directions for Angel Sponge Cake are a little alarming.

“Beat 2 whole eggs so that they will hold sugar, then add 1 cup granulated sugar and beat for 20 minutes, adding the sugar a little at a time. Add with more beating ½ cup boiling water. Sift, then measure 1 cup fine cake flour, and sift 3 times more with 1 teaspoon baking powder and ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar; add to the egg mixture. Flavor to suit the taste, lemon is usually preferred, and bake for 40 minutes in an ungreased pan, an angel cake pan is good. Place cake in a very slow oven until it has raised, then increase the heat gradually until it has browned. Be sure to leave it in the oven for the time limit, for it must be turned upside down on 2 supports and the cake allowed to hang until it is cold. If batter is not properly baked at bottom cake will fall out.”

From 1953; Fruit Cup, Baked Ham, Potatoes and Peas in Cream, Cucumber Pinapple Aspic Salad, Frozen Apricot Shortcake, Coffee, Milk.

My copy of 250 Delectable Desserts is missing the Frozen Apricot Shortcake recipe, but here is one for Apricot Angel Cream.

1 cup cooked sieved dried apricots
2/3 cup sugar
Grated rind of ½ lemon
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
¼ cup water
1 cup heavy cream, whipped

“Combine apricots, sugar and lemon rind. Soften gelatin in water and dissolve over hot water. Add to apricot mixture and blend. Pour into refrigerator tray and chill until slightly thickened. Remove, beat until light and fold in whipped cream. Continue freezing until firm.”

I like both menus, except for the gelatin salads. It’s a little early for asparagus, but it would be worth looking for. Steamed asparagus, chilled, tossed with a vinaigrette dressing and chopped hard-boiled egg, would make a lovely salad.

(Free vintage ecards here).

A Tale of Two Sundays - March

On a cold, grey, blustery third Sunday in March, 1927, our homemaker would have prepared the following menu: Dried Split Pea Soup, Roast Duck with Apple and Horseradish Sauce, Baked Sweet Potatoes, Creamed Peas, Lettuce Salad with French Cheese Dressing, Peach Custard Pie, and Coffee.

A heavy meal, with peas offered twice, and a rich entrée served with equally rich sweet potatoes. I’d prefer rice or noodles, to soak up the duck juices, myself. That pie looks good, though.

Peach Custard Pie

“Make a rich biscuit dough of 2 cups sifted flour, 2 heaping teaspoons baking powder, 2 heaping teaspoons lard, or use half cream and half milk to moisten and no lard. Roll to fit square pan, prick, and cover with halves of canned peaches. Pour over this mixture 4 cups milk, 2 eggs, ¾ cup sugar, nutmeg or vanilla to flavor. Beat thoroughly before turning over peaches. Bake for 20 minutes in quick oven.”

At this point in American domestic history, there was at least a fifty-fifty chance those peaches were home-canned.

In 1953, our hungry family was offered Pot Roast of Beef, Browned Potatoes, Carrots and Onions, Cabbage Salad, Prune Whip Pie, Coffee and Milk.

A hearty meal for late winter/early spring, using cold weather vegetables, again a little on the heavy side, but the cabbage salad (which was coleslaw prettied up with shredded pimento and green pepper) would have offered a nice tang and crunch to the menu. The prize this month goes to 1953.

(But I’ll pass on the prune whip pie).

A Tale of Two Sundays - November

A very robust menu from 1927 – Scotch broth, pork chops in casserole, baked apples, turnips, potatoes and boiled onions, a lettuce salad, and Washington pie. And a nap afterwards, I should think.

Where “Washington Pie” gets its name is a mystery, since it is not a pie but rather a cream-filled white cake. It was at one time a very popular dessert. This recipe has unfortunately been modernized and is missing the layers and filling (there’s a shortcut on the King Arthur Flour website that’s closer to the traditional version).

Washington Pie. Beat 3 eggs for 1 minute, add 1 ½ cups sugar and beat 5 minutes. Add 1 cup flour measured after sifting and beat 5 minutes. Add ½ cup hot water, another cup of flour which has been sifted with 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and beat 1 minute. Bake slowly in a deep pan. Cut in squares and cover with whipped cream sweetened and flavored.

The 1953 menu is lighter but more elaborate. Quails baked in wine, duchesse potatoes, baked broccoli (why would one bake broccoli?), avocado fruit salad and pumpkin Alaska pie. The salad recipe is fussy fifties cooking at its finest.

Avocado Fruit Salad Bowl

2 grapefruit
2 oranges
French dressing (oil and vinegar, at this epoch)
Romaine
French endive
1 avocado
Cottage cheese mayonnaise
Peel grapefruit and oranges, removing segments whole. Marinate in dressing; chill. Line salad bown with romaine and endive. Pare and half avocado, removing seed. Cut one half into serving portions, and place in salad bowl. Fill cavity of remaining half with mayonnaise. Arrange orange and grapefruit sections around avocado. Serves 4.

A Tale Of Two Sundays - May

Menu for the first Sunday in May, 1927:

Iced Strawberry Cocktail
Breaded Veal Cutlet
Rice Croquettes with Tomato Sauce, String Beans
Simpson Lettuce with Thousand Island Dressing
Caramel Nut Pudding, Coffee

Hints of springtime here, with strawberries and Simpson lettuce. If you are not familiar with it, Black-Seeded Simpson is an heirloom variety of early leaf lettuce. We’ve grown it (not recently) and I remember that it is very tender. I’m not crazy about the idea of Thousand Island or any other mayonnaise-based dressing with it.

Thousand Island Dressing. Beat until light 2 raw egg yolks. Add teaspoon lemon juice and beat again. Add teaspoon salad oil and beat. Then continue to add, with beating, salad oil, teaspoon by teaspoon, until 1 ½ cups have been used. Then add more lemon juice slowly until altogether 2 tablespoons have been used. Beat in teaspoon salt, a tablespoon finely chopped sweet red or green pepper, a slice of onion, and 2 cups chili sauce. Let stand in ice box to thicken.

Menu for the first Sunday in May, 1953:

Lamb en Brochette with Grilled Tomato and Bacon
Buttered New Peas
Pineapple Celery Salad with Mint French dressing
Chocolate bread Pudding, Iced Coffee

The recipe for Pineapple Celery Salad is missing from the salad book, interestingly enough (although there is an entire page of “Spring Flower Salads,” with illustrations, that are pretty icky), so I will give the one for the dessert instead.

Chocolate Bread Pudding

2 ounces (squares) chocolate
3 cups milk
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup brown sugar
2 eggs, separated
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
6 sliced dry bread, cut into ½-inch cubes
4 tablespoons granulated sugar

Heat chocolate and milk in double boiler until chocolate is melted. Add salt. Combine brown sugar and egg yolks; add chocolate mixture gradually, stirring vigorously. Add vanilla. Combine bread and chocolate mixture; let stand 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn into buttered baking dish, place in pan of hot water and bake in moderate oven (350° F) 30 minutes, or until almost firm. Beat egg whites until foamy; add half of sugar, beating until blended; add remaining sugar and continue beating until mixture will stand in peaks. Pile meringue lightly into mounds in order around edge of pudding. Sprinkle meringue with shaved chocolate and continue baking 8 minutes longer, or until meringue is delicately browned. Serves 6.

Except for the salad dressing, my menu of choice this month would be 1927 (vintage greengrocer image from the ever-enchanting Patricia).

A Tale of Two Sundays – October

In 1927 our dinner menu consists of grape-fruit as an appetizer, roast young chicken, gravy, stuffing, duchesse potatoes, string beans, currant jelly and celery, with cinnamon apples and nut bread for desert. I’m not sure about the grapefruit but everything else looks delicious. The potatoes would have been a bit of extra work, but worth it.

Duchesse Potatoes. Mash freshly boiled potatoes with butter, hot milk, pepper and salt until like a thick cream. They must be beaten free from lumps. Put through the pastry tube, and carry the mixture around and around to make attractive little baskets. Brush these with the yolk of egg beaten with milk, and set in oven until browned.

The 1953 dinner is robust, but not quite as elegant. Clear tomato soup, beef a la mode, cabbage and potatoes, fruit salad in orange ice rings, and damson plum pudding. Hmmm…the dessert book for the series doesn’t list damson plum pudding, but there is an English Plum Pudding in the Steamed Desserts section.

English Plum Pudding

¾ cup sifted cake flour
1 t. salt
¾ t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
¼ t. nutmeg
½ t. mace
½ pound raisins, chopped
¼ pound citron, chopped
1/8 pound lemon peel, chopped
1/8 pound blanched almonds, chopped
½ cup fine bread crumbs
¾ cup hot milk
½ pound brown sugar
5 eggs, separated
½ pound suet, chopped
¼ cup fruit juice, any kind (I guess you could use damson juice, if you could find it)
½ glass currant jelly

Sift flour, salt, soda and spices together; stir in fruit and almonds. Soften crumbs in milk 10 minutes. Beat sugar into beaten egg yolks; add suet and crumbs; stir into flour-fruit mixture. Add fruit juice and jelly and mix well; fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. Pour into greased mold, cover tightly and steam for 3 ½ hours. Serves 12.

(All those chopped ingredients makes me think of Calvin Trillin’s snarky comment that the reason the British boil their food to death is in case a dinner guest should happen to arrive without his teeth).

I’ll vote for the 1927 dinner, even with the grapefruit.

A Tale of Two Sundays – July

The menu for the first Sunday in July, 1927, is certainly a more practical approach to summertime cooking than last month’s offering: jellied chicken broth, creamed chicken and potatoes, stuffed eggplant with cheese sauce, tomato-lettuce salad, rolls, layer cake and lemonade. Toss out the stuffed eggplant, and everything for dinner is either served cold, or made in advance and re-heated, although who wants to eat creamed chicken and potatoes with the thermometer at 86º in the shade?

The salad recipe calls for scalding the tomatoes, skinning them, and serving them on lettuce leaves with boiled dressing, that pre-war hot weather standby.

Boiled Dressing. Put in double boiler 2 tablespoons butter, 1 tablespoon flour, 2 teaspoons sugar, 2 beaten eggs, 1 teaspoon dry mustard, 2/3 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper. Cook until mixture thickens, then add 1 cup vinegar and continue cooking 3 minutes longer. Chill, and when read to serve, thin with plain or whipped cream to suit the taste.

The 1953 menu offers anchovy appetizer salad, broiled chicken with tomatoes, corn on the cob, steamed rice, peach banana sundae, and iced coffee. Omit the rice and we’ve got a nice summer dinner, particularly if you split and flattened the chicken, and broiled it outside on the grill. The salad is not to my taste but here is the recipe.

Anchovy Appetizer Salad. 1 small head lettuce or romaine, 2 cans rolled anchovy fillets, 8 ripe olives, sliced, ½ small can caviar, 2 hard-cooked eggs, Horse-radish French Dressing (which is oil and vinegar dressing with 1 teaspoon of horse-radish added). Arrange lettuce on four plates and in the center of each place two anchovies. Arrange olive slices around the anchovies and fill the center of each olive slice with caviar. Border with sieved hard-cooked egg yolks and arrange chopped egg whites in outer circle. Serve with dressing.

Prize this month to 1953.