Spice Dish

Woman's Work

What I’ve come to realize is that my favorite cookbooks are more than collections of glossy recipes but recollections of memories and values and the wishes and wants of the past.

One such book is “The Complete Family Cook Book” from 1969. This three ring binder of a book is a how-to bonanza. There are charts, tips and recipes for everything. I love the late 60’s illustrations but truthfully the book itself isn’t all that remarkable. What is remarkable about this is what I found inside.

 

This book was given to me by my grandmother. She no longer cooks, and truthfully I think she’s glad for that. I don’t know if she realized what she passed on to me, but it is a treasure trove of my grandmother’s history.  From what I have gathered, my grandmother never really loved to cook. She was very, very good at it, but I think she did it because it was expected of her. She was a 1940’s, war-time bride and navy wife. It was her job.

The Blushing Bride

When I received this book, I understood how my grandmother saw it, as a users manual, instructions for work. Underneath the pile of cut out magazine recipes, hand typed recipe cards and box top recipes there were a few unexpected finds: recipe notes scribbled by my grandfather (who really did love to bake), navy air-mail notepaper that has recipes written on it for sweets that travel overseas well (with notes from a friend named Don who put dibs on the first bite of fudge), a poison antidote chart (my grandma had all boys), and then there was The Home Maker’s Guide, a small booklet given to new San Jose brides by the courthouse where they were married. In it are menu planning tips, home ‘domestication’ tips, recipes, the do’s and don’ts of ‘charm’, and dieting tips.

Underneath that? The pamphlet and receipts from my grandparent's blood tests from August 4^th 1942, Two weeks after they meet and one week before he shipped out.

I know this is an all too familiar story. But, it's not just an old woman's story. It's my story too.

EB

The Most For Your Money

I picked up “The Most For Your Money Cookbook” one day while waiting for a dentist appt. I went to The Great Overland Book Co. on Judah and poked through the stacks. I didn’t have anything special I was looking for, just 30 minutes to kill. Their cookbook section is really small and has mostly newer books, but I dug through until I found this little charmer from 1938.

 

As I paid for my purchase, the clerk chided me “You understand this is in 1930’s money right?” Apparently he thought I was trying to use this book for current day money savers. Not that it isn’t a great resource. This kind of info never becomes obsolete really. I assured him that yes I understood and absconded with my purchase.

 

On the dentist’s couch I flipped through my new find. The inside has the name of it’s previous owner: Annie J Mc Crohan (I found a few possible matches on Google, all of whom were born in the late 1880’s which would fit). The name is written in the script of women of my grandmother’s generation.

 

The Foreword is all about “Stretching the Food Dollar” which includes really practical advice like advocating whole grain cereals at breakfast because they “stretch the dollar like rubber”. The reason I so quickly fell in love with this book though was not only the authors’ sense of humor, apparently new tomatoes “bred to convenient size to suit the shipper, not the consumer” are “only good for kids to throw at cops”, but also their candor. They warn against “the siren call of radio experts who sell us foodless food,” offering a much needed reminder that the concern over food industrialization is nothing new.

 

The recipe I went to was one I remember from my childhood, when my mom was trying to stretch our family’s food dollar, Beef Stroganoff. The recipe is exactly the one I grew up with. It’s uncanny. The taste brought me right back to my family dinner table where I would be scolded for rocking back in my chair, my brother would stuff his cheeks like a chipmunk and my dad would try to make us laugh until the milk spilled. It’s simple, comforting and yes, economical… in the very best way.

Boeuf a la Stroganoff

 

1 lb tender beef

2 tbs butter

1 small onion minced

¼ pound fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tbs flour

1 parsley sprig

Salt and pepper

1 cup sour cream

 

Cut meat into narrow strips. Slowly fry onion and garlic in butter, add steak and brown. Add parsley and the mushrooms. Cover and let cook for 20 minutes. Add flour, simmer until thick. Add sour cream and heat through.

 

That’s it. Total. It’s best, and most nostalgic, on top of wide egg noodles.

Enjoy!

EB

Reagan vs. the Apricot

It's officially summertime. People are out later, the hangovers last longer, the air is warmer and I start making ice creams. Especially now that my csa box is overflowing with fresh stone fruit, I'm all about fruit flavors. This recipe came to me after a discussion with Bethany about President Reagan's penchant for blueberry jelly beans (a weird fact that I'm not sure why I know!) Republican president's aside... this sorbet is super summery, incredibly fresh tasting and perfect for post-meat bacchanalia at a BBQ.

Blueberry Apricot Sorbet

1 lb fresh apricots

1 pkg blueberries

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

1 tsp Amaretto

 

Cut the apricots into small pieces. Cook the apricots, blueberries and water over medium heat until they have the texture of mush. Kind of like this:

Stir frequently. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Let the mixture cool to room temperature. Add the Amaretto and puree the mixture in a blender until smooth. Chill the mixture until completely cold. Freeze in your ice cream maker.

Enjoy!
EB

Share Your Table

My new favorite thing? The print by artist Nikki McClure titled "Share Your Table" that I picked up at Little Otsu on Valencia. It really embodies everything I believe about food.

Enjoy

EB

Ms. Toklas is Guilty

“Cook Books have always intrigued and seduced me” says Alice B. Toklas in her famous cookbook of 1954. She likens the way they held her attention to the way murder mysteries held Gertrude’s. It was in those novels that she encountered murder most foul…. until it was found in her own kitchen. She notes that it was France and it was wartime, time and prepared food were at a minimum. The fishmonger had no time to prep the fish for her. If she wanted carp… she would have to kill, scale and filet it herself. And so she does.

She struggles with just how to go about ‘dispatching’ the animal in her market basket. She decides to just whack it at the neck with a knife until it is “dead, killed, assassinated, murdered in the first, second and third degree” after which she falls “limp” into a chair and waits for the police to come and take her away.

I know exactly how Alice felt. Meet Inky and Blinky:

I found myself recently having more than one conversation with meat eaters who really, really want to believe that animals come wrapped in cellophane. I readily admit I put on my animal blinders while being carnivorous at times, but I am also one to face my fears so… off to the live fish market I went.

My father used to take me to do this when I was a kid. He’d let me pick out our rubber band wrapped, pincher adorned dinner.  I would, without fail, ask to keep them as pets. I would never watch him plunge them into the pot. I just couldn’t.

This was on my mind as I stood in front of the crab tank and chose two. It really did feel strange walking down Mission street with live animals in a bag… but that’s how it should be. Right? I mean we should know, not just where our food comes from, but we should know our food.

I had a talk with Inky and Blinky before I too committed murder. And yes, it really felt like murder. I thanked them for giving up their little crabby lives and I promised to do them justice.

Once cooked, I laid them out on the counter. Their ‘fur’ was silky soft and just called to be petted. After I made peace with what I had just done, I set to cleaning and cracking them. As soon as I thought I was dealing with ‘dinner’ and not ‘animal’ there were the insides. The brain, the melted fat, the gooey, gooey matter had to be scraped out and washed down.

  

Once the act was completed…. dinner was served. It was the most deliciously sweet crab I have ever eaten. Designated Eater Mimi, not a big crab fan, adored it. It was so rich, and there was so much meat that we could not eat our way through both the crabs. Mimi was going to toss the remaining legs. I would not hear of it. Inky and Blinky gave their lives! I was not about to waste a single piece. I would not allow them to die in vain. This may sound a bit melodramatic… but I truly felt this way. And I guess that was the whole point of the thing right? Alice, I feel you girl. As for Inky and Blinky? R.I.P. Thank you.

EB

Loyal "Natives"

I have the distinct feeling that like me, many of you received cookbooks as gifts for the holiday season. My project for the next few weeks is going to be sharing with you the tomes I ripped open with glee. 

 

The first installment was a gift from my aunt Dana. She knows how much I love ‘vintage’ cookbooks so she dug through the family archives and gifted me with the “Loyalty CookBook of the Native Daughters of the Golden West” Huh? What the?

 I had no idea either. A quick Google and apparently The Native Daughters of the Golden West, was and still is, a “fraternal organization dedicated to preserving California's history, improving its present, and ensuring a brighter future for all its residents.” 

 

This smallish, brown leather bound “Loyalty” cookbook looks like it could have been used for fundraising. My aunt didn’t know too much about it except that one of my relatives (a great aunt I think) had a recipe in it. On pg 108 you can find Mary E. Wright’s (of the Bahia Vista Parlor) recipe for Scrambled Eggs with Cheese. Creative? Original? Not necessarily. But with a ½ pound of cheese and cream… I’m sure they are pretty darn tasty.

Scrambled Eggs with Cheese

½ lb American cheese, rub through grater

½ cup cream

8 eggs

1 tbs minced parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Beat eggs slightly and add ingredients given. Pour into a well-buttered skillet, cook slowly, stirring constantly so the cheese will melt by the time the eggs are cooked. Serve on toast.

 

I love this little book. There are recipes like “Ethel’s Candy Suggestion” and “Goop.” This being a California cookbook there are also Chinese, Portuguese and Mexican recipes. (Hardly authentic, but at least they gave it a shot eh?) And there is an entire chapter devoted to Tamale Pie. An entire chapter. Apparently in 1948 Tamale Pie was where it was at!

Did you get any fascinating reads for the holidays?

EB

The One That Started It...

This is the box that started it all. It was this box, dug out of a dollar bin at the flea market, that got me into collecting recipe boxes. It’s a very simple box and it’s different from all my others. It’s wooden, homemade and self painted and decorated with decoupage.Cut out pictures of bell peppers, salad, radishes, pears? Why not?

It was this bright yellow box that got me to thinking about the recipes that might have been in it at one point. Where were they now? How old was the woman who owned this? Did she make it for herself? Did one of her kids make it for her in woodshop? Was it a mother’s day gift? Did she cook for fun, or just for the family? I have no idea.

It’s not necessarily my favorite recipe box. I've since come to cherish the ones stuffed with recipes… but there’s just something so homey about this box. Its DIYness spoke to me that day at the flea market that day and it still does.

Happy Friday!

EB

Chrismukkah

It's getting all Chrismukkah-y around the apartment.

There's peppermint ice cream in the works and latke recipes being perfected. There are menorah candles being unpacked and egg nog to make...

There are dreidels about and dragons lording over the tree...  It's officially Chrismukkah season people! Time to mix, bake, light, fry, roast, freeze, fry, fry & fry.

Here's to the mulit-culti whirlwind of a San Francisco Holiday Season!

Erin

Recipe Box Chronicles Pt. 3

It’s Friday! I love Friday’s for sooo many reasons, but today I love Friday because it’s the day I get to share this great recipe box with you. I really like this box for it’s fantastic mid century design and the fact that I happen to have the matching tea kettle!

This box is jammed pack with lots and lots of cookie recipes. Many of these fantastically retro recipes are clipped from Better Homes and Gardens magazine, some from June 1948.

 

There are no clues as to the name of the owner of the box, the only card with a name on it is a handwritten recipe for White Cake from an Edith Hanson. This woman definitely was a smoker though… that I can tell. She was apparently a smoker who lived in South Dakota and read The Argus Leader Newspaper, out of Sioux Falls. There are some fun recipes clipped from the paper. One of my favorite clippings has to be for a Tuna Gelatin Salad in the shape of a star!

A few other recipes that caught my eye were Appetizer Ham Logs, PartyTime Sandwich Loaf (which is composed of Egg Salad, Crab Meat, Ham Salad and Blue Cheese) and a typed recipe for Cinnamon Rolls that ends with “Then eat-eat-eat-eat-eat-with gobs of butter.” Can do!

It was a bit of a challenge trying to pick a recipe to share with you so I went for something I’ve never made (no, not the tuna loaf) but a random sweet sauce to put on well… whatever you want!

Hot Butter Sauce

1/2 cup butter

1/8 tsp cinnamon

Dash of Salt

3/4 cup honey

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 tsp grated orange peel

“Combine butter, cinnamon and salt in saucepan; heat until butter melts. Blend in honey. Stir in cream and orange peel. Serve warm over ice cream or fresh fruit.”

 

This had an unexpected richness and surprising flavor. Perfect for the holidays. It would make an amazing pancake topping! Once it cooled I also used it as a spread for an English muffin and had a very happy morning due to it.

Enjoy!

Erin

Cocoa-tastic!

I really like this next recipe box. It’s a little yellowed box with pink and blue flowers. The recipes, mostly written on index cards, are themselves are a bit yellowed. Besides the index cards, there is a large collection of recipes clipped from newspapers, butter boxes, cracker boxes and advertisements.

There are no clues in this box as to the identity of its owner. There is only one recipe with a name on it. It’s a recipe for Fresh Corn Fritters given by a Zhanela Griffith. Whoever the owner of the box was, she was a pretty confident cook. A large number of the cards only list ingredients, not measurements or directions! Her writing is small and neat and she took care to make her own tabs for sections like “Seafood.” 

 

A few of my favorite recipes are for Ugly Duckling Cake, Mock Apple Pie and a candy called Sea Foam. There is a recipe for doughnuts made with potato and one for Emergency Cake (is this for a cake emergency? Or cake during an emergency? No clue.) There were lots of fun-looking recipes to try but as I’ve been sick as a dog this week, the one recipe that jumped out at me was one for Chocolate Drink. It’s basically the richest hot cocoa ever.

 

Chocolate Drink

 “This is the way: take three squares of chocolate, the unsweetened kind, and add one-half cup of cold water. Put in a saucepan over a low flame, stir until the chocolate is melted all nice and smooth. Then ass one-half cup of sugar and just a dash of salt. Blend and stir and boil about five minutes. Cool. When cool fold in one-half cup of cream, whipped fairly stiff. Flavor with one teaspoon of vanilla.

 To serve, put a small ladle or a good tablespoon of the mixture in each cup and fill the cup with hot milk. If you like a sweeter chocolate, use a little more sugar in the chocolate mixture. And this same recipe makes a perfect chocolate sauce; only when you use it this way leave out the cream.”

 

 I can’t even begin to tell you how decadent and rich this is. I mean it was so amazing, but I could only drink about ½ cup. I made very few changes… I used Dove dark chocolate instead of baking chocolate and granted… I did put Kahlua in the whipped cream because I’m sick and I felt like it damnit, but the basic recipe as written is still very rich. I recommend making this as a dessert and serving it in espresso cups. Trust me… it’s all you need of this yummy winter warmer.

Enjoy!

Erin