Minute Miracles

While I may get Thanksgiving catered, cleaning the house up is another matter! I am clearing up cookbooks and piles of papers and projects all over the house.

I came across this gem this morning. It is from that stash my lovely coworker gave me from her mother's collection.

It is from 1948 and begins with this paragraph:

Now, how could any smart cook think of keeping house without Minute Tapioca at her finger tips...for desserts, of course and to guarantee success with many a difficult dish!

I was torn between two recipes to post, either the Prune Sponge Torte or this one:

Flaked Fish Casserole

2 egg yolks

2 cups milk

2 tablespoons Minute Tapioca

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Dash of pepper

1/2 cup finely cut celery

1 1/2 teaspoons scraped onion (scraped?)

2 cups flaked cooked fish (um, any fish? Would Lobster work, for example?)

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

2 egg whites, stiffly beaten

1/2 cup bread crumbs, buttered

Mix egg yolks with a small amount of the milk in saucepan. Add remaining milk, Tapioca, salt, pepper, celery, and onion and mix well. Place over medium heat and cook until mixture comes to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add fish and parsley. Add very gradually to beaten egg whites, folding in thoroughly. Turn into greased 2 quart baking dish. Cover with crumbs. Bake in moderate oven 50 minutes, or until browned. Makes 6 - 8 servings.

Gross.

I read in the Chicago Tribune food section yesterday that retro recipes are all the rage. When I start seeing prune recipes in Good Housekeeping or Family Circle, I'll believe it. In the meantime, someone compiled an encyclopedia of retro recipes. I have to get my hands on that, though of course I probably have all the original ones in my house!