Home Ec, Bowmansville and Washington, D.C., 1953

Our CAMZ kept newspaper clippings for many years, in pursuit of recipe excellence.

The American Weekly of January 11, 1953 had so many nuggets that she just saved the whole issue.  It's hard to scan tabloid sheets on my little scanner, but you can get the gist:

Clara made cherry pie in cherry season, with criss-cross strips of dough on top.  For pies, though, the prize goes to Florence Cichon, affectionately called "Auntie Fo-Fo."  Lemon meringue pie, chocolate pudding pie, and Scotch whiskey with tonic and lime were her specialties.

 "Spry" must be some kind of lard product.  I don't recall it, but I do recall "Crisco."  Yes, family, my Mom used Crisco, apparently.  Well!

(Crisco is of all-vegetable origin, hence less productive of flakiness in pie crust.)

 

Often she would rewrite the recipe in her preferred format and illustrate it with a clipped photo, scrapbook-style.  Very professional.  Of course, that sort of fancy work went into abeyance once Marty started stumping around the house with bells on his shoes.

President Eisenhower served two terms, 1953-1961.

There's a book illustrating the post-WW2 design revolution, in architecture, interior design, and cars:  Populuxe/the Look and Life of America in the '50s and '60S, from Tailfins and TV.  It captures the spirit and tone pretty well, I think.

Julie

Cookbook and Home Ec, 1950

Cześć!

Clara Zdrojewski had a 1950 hardback ring-binder edition of Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook.  The placek recipe from the Placek post fell out of it here in Argyle.

The edition history of this book is interesting; for example, here is Betty Crocker, v.1936:

And here she is in v.1955.  From the way they look, I wonder if they are photos of oil paintings.  General Mills has a boardroom somewhere on the walls of which hang portraits of their Immortal.

The pancake and waffle recipes
from Argyle originate in this book.

Mom also acquired this beautiful zippered binder in very tough cowhide.  This was for her home accounts.

Those of a certain generation drool over high-end office supplies the way others do over the latest, most gleaming computer or mobile device.

This tabloid newspaper, an insert in a newspaper dated January 11, 1953, tells us a lot about the times.  This is the next-generation Shirley Temple ideal, right?  The dog has been to Norman Rockwell school. 

Mom tried hard to raise me to fit this ideal.  Sorry Mom, that I did not run with it.  But we did have some fun trying.

So about that Betty Crocker book - Deb, did your mother get her Swedish Meatball recipe from there?  Sharon, did your mother get her Russian Tea Cake recipe from there?  Venerable recipes their and all other family kitchens are eagerly sought for rebroadcast via this blog.

 Do zobaczenia!    Julia