I’ve decided to make this a monthly series. At the beginning of each month I’ll share a collection of vintage menu plans from one of my cookbooks. At the end of the year we’ll have an interesting collection of seasonal meal plans. Enjoy!
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VINTAGE MENU PLANS
FEBRUARY
Do you usually serve dessert with your meals? David’s mom usually did but mine did not. He is the youngest child in his family – his oldest brother is almost 10 years older – so his mom was more of a 50s-era mother. I am the oldest in my family so my mom was definitely more 60s-era. I think his mom enjoyed cooking more than mine did, too. Or perhaps it was more expected.
All of these vintage menus include dessert which seems like a lot of extra work. And honestly? Most don’t even sound all that appealing to me. What are your thoughts?
This is the cookbook where I found these menus (mine is the 1976 edition):
DINNERS:
Chicken Fricassee with Dumplings *
Buttered Cauliflower
Pickled Beets
Cranberry Molded Salad
Baked Custard
Chicken Soup
Meatloaf with Tomato Sauce *
Buttered Shoestring Carrots
Creamed Broccoli
Celery
Cherry Cottage Pudding
Grapefruit Juice
Sausage and Corn Casserole *
Lyonnaise Potatoes
Endive with French Dressing
Baked Apples with Ginger Whipped Cream
Black Bean Soup
Roast Beef *
Franconia Potatoes
Buttered Green Beans
Lettuce with Horse-radish Mayonnaise
Peppermint Ice Cream with Chocolate Sauce
Egg Canapés
Crown of Frankfurters *
Hot Potato Salad
Braised Celery
Piccalilli
Plum Pie
Roast Pork and Sage Stuffing *
Spinach Ring
Apple Frappé
Celery
Frosted Gingerbread
Sunday Dinner
Consommé à la Royale
Candle Roast of Pork *
Baked Potatoes
Cauliflower with Browned Crumbs
Cranberry Orange Relish
Orange Chiffon Pie
LUNCHEONS:
Split Pea Soup *
Toasted Soup Rings
Orange Bavarian Cream
Vegetable Chowder *
Toasted Cheese Sticks
Frosted Jelly Roll with Cherries
Individual Ham and Egg Soufflés *
Oatmeal Muffins
Pineapple and Banana Salad
Barbecued Beef Patties *
Buttered Spinach
Green Onions
Orange Charlotte Russe
Baked Stuffed Onions *
Spiced Beets
Peanut Butter Bread
Corn and Cheese Soufflé with Tomato Sauce *
Whole-wheat Toast Sticks
Banbury Tarts
Bridge Luncheon
Broiled Lamb Chops *
Buttered Peas in French-Fried Potato Baskets
Olives and Pickles
Bran Muffins
Orange Shortcake
Would you like me to make any of the starred recipes? If so, leave me a comment and tell me which one(s) you are interested in. As long as they don’t include mushrooms or nuts (I’m allergic to these) and I can find the ingredients I’ll give it a whirl.
*These recipes are included in the cookbook.
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Previous Vintage Menu Plans:
I’m both curious and slightly horrified about the Crown of Frankfurters. What *is* it?
Ha! Only two ingredients – frankfurters and sauerkraut. But the presentation! It involves SEWING the frankfurters together in such a way as to create a “crown”. You then fill the center with sauerkraut and bake.
I’m not sure I like the sound of most of them.
Yeah, not exactly my top choices, either.
I was also very curious about this topic on what people ate before the 1960s.
Everyone around the world ate food in season.
No eating strawberries year round every day from the grocery store. The cookbooks discussed the importance of haveing Vitamin A, D, E and K plus Cod liver oil.
They had no fear of butter, eggs , tallow, lard and bacon fat. They sat at the table giving thanks
before eating.
The US gov. changed the Food Pyramid to a High Carb / Low Fat Diet
and the Rockefellers a the the US gov. changed the US Wheat( watch Sue Becker on YT explain)
They did not have the inflammatory seed oils like Soybean and canola. Bread was perishable where ae today it last artificially due to these highly inflammatory oils ! Also dating back to the 1900’s farmers where battleing Liver fluke in cows dut to contaminated water supply and chickens suffer from Intestional worms. Sotaking extra steps for food safety and dutch oven cooking was highlighted in cookbooks.The best cookbooks ate published prior to 1960. The older cookbooks recommend each meal 3 – 4 oz serving size of protein and the rest of the plate was cooked veggies.Everything including dressings or gravy was homemade. The French forbid our artificial ingredients in packaged foods and they protect their wheat supply! Thanks for the inspiration.