Cool as a Cucumber

Deviled Eggs
Summer-Timed Meals
Better Homes and Gardens
July 1950

Although we're not close to summer yet, we can always dream. Below is a Deviled Eggs recipe from Better Homes and Gardens that was part of a cool summer meals series. Other recipes in the series include Deep-Sea Salad Loaf, Gelatine Garden Salad, Frankfurters in Barbecue Sauce, and Quick Tomato Aspic.

Oddly, this recipe did not include instructions on how to hard boil the eggs--then again what kind of self-respecting housewife needs directions for such a simple task anyway? I brought the eggs to a boil with a teaspoon of salt; removed them from heat and added a tablespoon of vinegar; let them cool for 30 minutes and then placed them in an ice bath for another 20 and peeled them.


Another odd thing about this recipe is that the eggs were cut in half horizontally rather than vertically, which makes them difficult to stand. The salt could have been reduced by about a 1/4 of a teaspoon but otherwise they came out perfectly spicy.

1950s Cookbook Images!

"Enjoy Springtime with Dole"

Fruit Cocktail Cooler
Dole Fruit Cocktail
McCall's
April 1951

I don't think Fruit Cocktail has changed since the time it was first created. Overly syrupy and slightly mushy, it remains a classic. This advertisement for Dole Fruit Cocktail includes new ideas for serving it.
I tried recreating the Fruit Cocktail Cooler except I didn't have the strength to slice open a coconut so I used a pineapple instead. The colors don't pop as much but it still goes with the "tropical" theme.

New Reader Images and Soon to Come...

Check out images sent in by Katherine D of Brooklyn making a delicious Devil's Food Layer Cake in the Readers Images page.

Also, I recently realized that I have so many retro food images that I would love to share that I can't wait until I have made a recipe to post them. So, soon enough I will be posting a nice selection of random food images. Come back to check it out!!

Sea Foam Juice

Lime Cooler
Hot-Day Drinks
Better Homes and Gardens
July 1950

This recipe doesn't have the usual colorful image to go with it but it's so quintessentially 50s I just had to try it.

At what other time would a home cook think it necessary to add green food coloring to a simple lime drink?

Why is it easier to grate lime zest than it is to do lemon?

Not the neon green I was expecting, more like sea foam.

Ultimately, I found this drink to be a little too sweet for my taste. That could be fixed by reducing the amount of sugar to water but in the end it ended up tasting a lot like Sprite--except pastel green. Spiking it with Vodka and stirring in some ice might also improve it.

Appeals to Menfolks!

Lemon Cheese Cake Pie
Sunkist Lemons
Woman's Home Companion
October 1951

This recipe came from a Sunkist Lemon advertisement and claims to be a new discovery--an easier way to make a cheese cake.

The graham cracker crust is easy to make, just combine the sugar, butter and crumbs and press into the pie dish along the bottoms and sides.

Creating the lattice design with the crumbs was easier than I expected--I just used a teaspoon and free-handed it.

Voila! Just bake it for 35 minutes and let it cool in the refrigerator. It's probably the easiest and tastiest cheese cake recipe I have come across.

Lemon Cheese Cake Pie

-3 3-oz. packages of cream cheese (or one 8-oz package)

-2 tbsp. butter

-1/2 cup sugar

-1 whole egg

-2 tbsp. flour

-2/3 cup milk

-1/4 cup fresh Sunkist lemon juice

-2 tbsp. grated lemon peel

-1 graham cracker crust (8 inch)

Cream the cheese and butter; add sugar and whole egg. Mix well. Add flour, then milk. Stir in lemon juice and peel. Pour into unbaked graham cracker pie shell. Sprinkle with crumbs. Bake 35 minutes in moderate oven at 350 F. Chill and serve. (Extra good topped with sour cream.) Serves 6-8.

Graham Cracker Crust

Crush graham crackers to make 1 1/4 cup fine crumbs. Add 1/3 cup sugar and 1/3 cup melted butter. Mix well. Reserve 1/4 cup of mixture for topping. Press remainder on bottom and sides of 8-inch pie plate. Chill until set.

Welcome!

This is my attempt at bringing to life simple but beautiful recipes that were developed in the 1950s.

These recipes are easy, economical, and beautiful to look at...so bring out the maraschino cherries and the mini marshmallows and start cooking!

Send in photos of your own completed recipes to athena.danalakis@gmail.com
and I'll post them in the Readers Food Images section.

Image courtesy clotho98 (flickr commons)