I know that Valentine's Day is now in the rear view mirror. However, I thought I'd share some photos from my vintage 1959 Better Homes and Gardens Holiday Cookbook and my vintage 1963 Better Homes and Gardens Birthday and Family Celebrations Cookbook. Not all are Valentine's oriented. I included a couple of the recipes so you could get an idea of how those items would be made. Enjoy!
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| Six February desserts starting at top: Pink Meringue Hearts Washington Pie Chocolate Chiffon Pie Frozen Valentine Rounds topped with Gelatin Heart Cutouts Red Devil's Food Cake Red Cherry Pie |
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| large: Valentine Cake individuals: Strawberry Hearts (gelatin dessert) |
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| the recipe for Washington Pie (for Washington's birthday) |
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| a blurry close-up of the Washington Pie more of a cake and not a pie with a vanilla pudding filling, vanilla glaze, and chocolate drizzle |
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| another Washington birthday treat |
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For Lincoln's birthday -- no photo of the finished Lincoln Log cake. From reading the recipe, it's a chocolate jelly roll cake with peppermint ice cream filling and chocolate glaze over the rolled cake. |
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| Valentine Ring-around Salad gelatin salad with cottage cheese, cream cheese, gelatin, salt, seedless green grapes, pecan pieces, chopped chives, whipping cream, then topped with raspberry gelatin heart cutouts |
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| Salad Hearts made with fruit cocktail, lemon jello, maraschino cherry syrup, lemon juice, cream cheese, mayonnaise, mini marshmallows, cherries, whipping cream, red food coloring |
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| heart cutout sandwiches |
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| Cherry Meringue Torte large round meringue, baked then filled with a layer of whipping cream, then cherry pie filling, and finally a heart made of remaining whipping cream |
That would be a fun Valentine's Day if you made all of those desserts for it.
ReplyDeleteHi Live and Learn,
DeleteI could see myself making one of those for our family or if I had a few women friends over for a Galantine's in a future year, perhaps the pink meringue hearts -- those look especially good to me.
My mother used to make foods similar to these when she had friends over for bridge. It was always fun to watch and maybe help a little with these special foods.
It would be fun to attend an event with lots of Valentine's-themed food like this. I don't know if I have it in me to do it myself, though.
ReplyDeleteHi Kris,
DeleteYou know what these holiday cookbooks feel like to me? These 1950s to 1960s cookbooks, with all of the beautiful photographs of perfectly produced foods, must have felt to homemakers at the time like Pinterest does to our generation. Fun to admire and maybe try one or two recipes. But I doubt if very many women back then made all of these special menus just as the cookbook dictated. But I agree, it would be fun to go to someone's house where they had a selection like these set up.
One thing I have done before is the cut-out sandwiches using cookie cutters. That's an easy way to make regular lunch foods seem special. I especially made these when my kids were little, suing whatever cookie cutters fit the occasion. PBJ seemed like a special St. Patrick's Day food when in the shape of a shamrock.
I made cut-out sandwiches with cookie cutters, too. I also made pancakes with cookie cutters (metal ones sprayed with cooking spray--I had to be careful when removing the cookie cutter to avoid burning myself). It was a fun, free way to make lunches special.
DeleteThe pancakes in shapes using cookie cutters sound cute. If I ever have grandchildren, I may try that. Thanks for sharing, Kris.
DeleteI love these old recipes. I have some similar vintage cookbooks, which are so fun (and the photos so appetizing!) Desserts/molds like this remind me of the way dessert/side dishes were when I was growing up and learning to cook. So yummy. Have you ever had Mrs. Eisenhower's chicken gelatine salad? Very 50s, but very yummy. That's what I thought of looking at the heart salad above. Thanks so much for sharing these lovely recipes! Still praying for your family. Sara
ReplyDeleteHi Sara,
DeleteI've never even heard of Mrs. Eisenhower's chicken gelatin salad. Now I'll have to go look that one up. A gelatin salad with meat/chicken/seafood and vegetables sounds so 50s/60s. My mother made tomato-shrimp aspic for holiday dinners. I've tried to explain to my kids that tomato jello with shrimp and celery is actually pretty good. They don't believe me.
The heart ring mold sounds like something I've had before. I know I've had a creamy gelatin salad with nuts in it someplace. These cookbooks are so fun to look at.
I just can't do any of them. First, too much sugar. Second, there is too much. Third, some of them are just strange especially ingredients.
ReplyDeleteAlice
Hi Alice,
DeleteI agree on too much sugar. These days I try to bake with less sugar than I used to. I showed the photos to one daughter. Her comment was mayonnaise does not belong with jello salads. She thinks that is strange. I told her that more savory gelatin salads often came with a large dollop of mayonnaise. That was a big ewww from her.
I do like looking at these desserts and salads. I think the cookbook creators did a great job on presentation. They look beautifully made.
I would totally eat that gelatin Ring Around salad! Everything else is too sweet for me. On second thought, I might eat the filling from the cherry pie. ;)
ReplyDeleteHi Tina,
DeleteI would try either of the gelled salads, and I love cherry pie. I would definitely try either of the meringue desserts. I love meringues. But I'm not a cake fan, so I would pass on the cakes.
I actually did make a cherry pie for our Valentine's dinner dessert. It was delicious and used cherries from our own yard, picked last summer.