Happy 4th of July

Readers of this blog know my favorite series of cookbooks is the Southern Heritage Southern Living from the early 80's. Each has lots of old pictures and anecdotes. I pulled out this one because the 4th of July menu is on the cover. All the old favorites are here - fried chicken, corn on the dob, pickles, melon, chocolate chip cookies, pickled peaches...?
Pickled Peaches
3 cups sugar
2 cups vinegar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
31/2 pounds firm, ripe peaches, peeled
This is messy, and takes a ton of time. Now if we lived on the prairie and had no freezer, that would be one thing. But we don't and I don' t know anyone would want to do this, or eat this!

A menu for a 'Kentucky Style Barbecue' is also included. Kentucky Burgoo is the main food. Again, this takes enough time to fill your entire holiday:
1 pound pork shank
1 pound veal shank
1 pound beef shank
1 pound breast of lamb
1 (5 - 5.5 pound) baking hen (as opposed to?)
4 quarts water
3 cups peeled, cubed potatoes
2 cups onion
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup diced celery
2 medium-size green peppers, chopped
2 28 oz. can whole tomatoes, drained and chopped
2 cups fresh or frozen corn
2 cups fresh or frozen butterbeans
1 dried red pepper pod, crushed
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (What is it with Worcestershire? Only prunes are more prevalent than this in my old cookbooks.)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt (plus 1 defibrillator)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Ok - just typing those in makes me tired. I can't even imagine finding those things at my Target grocery store. Did I mention I'm having the Baptism catered this weekend?

I'm reading the fiction stories for the anthology I'm editing. And no - my story still isn't done! Enjoy your 4th. I hope nothing is pickled on your table that shouldn't be.

Casserole Cookbook

Still with the McCall's series - this one is Casserole Cookbook and even includes desserts. I am particularly fond of this picture, with the puffy ring of squash put on top. Odd in the extreme.



Savory Beef Stew with Squash
3 lb chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes. (Yes, that's pounds, and would cutting that up take all day?)
1/4 cup flour
3 tablespoons salad oil
1 clove crushed garlic (an entire clove?)
1/2 pound small white onions
4 celery stalks, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1 beef-bouillon cube
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup Burgundy
1 pkg frozen peas, partially thawed (?)
2 1/2 lb. butternut squash
salt (?)
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
I'm not even going to type in the 11 steps to this one - it takes forever and is very labor intensive. (and I'm not talking about the typing)

I'm supposed to be reading for my next Crimespree article and writing a story for an anthology. I'm not doing either (I will though, don't worry). I am addicted to playfirst.com games and have discovered that Sally's Spa is almost as good as going to a spa!

Practically Cookless Cookbook

Another fine volume in the McCall's cookbook series: Practically Cookless Cookbook. This is a picture of 'Lima-Sausage Pie'. I don't know about you, but I'm not all that eager to eat this in a very cooked version, let alone a 'practically cookless' version. However, it still does seem to have lots of cooking involved. It's in the section on Cooking with Frozen Vegetables.

1 pkg (8 oz.) brown and serve sausages

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 1/2 cups sliced onion (oh boy)

1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen lima beans

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons flour

1 pkg (1 7/8 oz.) dried cream of leek soup mix (Really? Does such a thing still exist? Why?)

9-inch unbaked pie shell

Preheat oven to 400 F. Cut sausages into 1/2 inch pieces. In skillet, met butter, add sausages and 1 cup onion. (turn on fan) Cook, until onions are golden. Add lima beans and salt, cook covered about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Add flour and soup mix; stir until well mixed. Add 1 cup water; bring to boiling, stirring. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Bake 25 to 30 minutes. Garnish top with rest of onion rings. Serve hot.

I don't think this one needs further commentary.

While of course I'm thrilled to have a new baby, it is a bit odd to be home while many friends and colleagues are at ALA in Anaheim (DISNEYLAND!!!). Several are contacting me so I won't feel left out, and while I don't miss some of the meetings, it's odd to think that instead of changing diapers and dealing with a very colicky little guy today, many of them are either at Disneyland, or enjoying relaxed, lovely meals and author events. Of course if I was there I'd be wishing I was at home.

Prunetastic

Hello:
Yes, there's more. Actually, there are about 10 more in the Nursery Food section of Square Meals, but I found another in the "Rosie the Riveter's Lunch Pail' section: Depth-Charged Prune Sandwich Filling. Now, I understand that during war times, folks had to get creative. But who sat around and thought peanut butter and prunes would work together?

1/2 cup peanut butter
1/3 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
6 pitted prunes, cut into small pieces (do people really need to be told to pit these?)
1 cup seedless raisins, chopped
Mix well, spread on 6 sandwiches

I finished Twenty Wishes last night by Debbie Macomber. Readers here my remember that I gave her up for a long while because she did one of my author pet peeves: she had a character who adopted a child then miraculously get pregnant (and then was 'radiantly happy'). This actually only happens in 8% of cases, and that result in fiction often diminishes the adoption.

Debbie always before was accurate about the pain of infertility and realistic. I am happy to say that she is back to her sensitive self with Twenty Wishes, championing adoption. Also it's interesting to think about Twenty Wishes for one's life. Right now I'm at a bit of a crossroads; getting back to work from family leave, finishing a term for YALSA, waiting to hear about a possible book sale, working on a few new projects. Some days I wish only for 15 minutes to myself, or more energy!

That said, the baby is now sleeping through the night.

Nursery Food

I've mentioned on here before that my Mother's copy of Square Meals by Jane and Michael Stern started my love of vintage cookbooks. That cookbook, now vintage itself from 1984, is a written collection of great recipes from the 1920-s - 1950's. The Bridesmaid luncheons, teen foods, and more are a fabulous trip into Donna Reedsville. It's not unlike what I try to do here. Only of course, way better in the book! I have ordered this from eBay for gifts for my mother-in-law and others. It is delightful reading.

There is a section on recipes for children, called 'Nursery Food'. I was thinking of this while feeding my two month old baby today.

As with any collection of vintage recipes, there are way too many prune recipes. I wanted to reprint so many here, from Baked Prune Whip, Waffle-ized Prune Sandwich or Escalloped Noodles and Prunes. Instead, I chose Prune Nog:
As the Sterns put it on page 174: "Milke and prunes - two old friends who never let you down."
1/2 cup prune juice
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Sugar to taste
1/2 cup Pet milk, diluted with 1/4 cup water
Mix prune juice, lemon juice, and sugar. Slowly add diluted milk. Shake thoroughly or mix in a blender; pour over ice to serve.

The step that is missing of course is - lead child to bathroom and wait for drink to take effect.

I'm reading Chris Grabenstein's Crossroads for a review. I heard Chris speak at Bouchercon a few years ago, and thought - he's so funny, I wonder why he's not writing YA instead of adult mysteries. This is a page turner. Very dark yet funny. I also enjoyed Robert Parker's Boxer and the Spy this week. Usually I have no use for adult writers who think they can do YA, as we know they so often cannot. But these two certainly can.