As I talked about in yesterday’s post, I created a menu from 1931 and both recipes given below hail from The Silent Hostess by General Electric. Today I will be talking about the appetizers for this menu which were shrimp cocktail, stuffed celery, and ripe olives. Ok, well it was actually supposed to be just plain old celery until I looked down at the Christmas menu underneath the Thanksgiving menu and saw stuffed celery. My grandmother always served a version of stuffed celery at the holidays so a wave of that strong drug called Nostalgia hit me. The stuffed celery was easy to make by just mixing together some cream cheese and mayo with a few spices. My Grandmother’s was much simpler as all she did was mix together some cream cheese and green olives which I might have added to the 1930s version. If you don’t like olives just omit them and add a 1/4 teaspoon of salt instead.
I know I did a shrimp cocktail for last year’s 1958 menu but what can I say shrimp cocktail used to be a very popular appetizer for holidays. This version’s cocktail sauce is a little different as a 1/2 cup of finely chopped celery is added into the mix. All this was rounded out by a small bowl of ripe black olives but you can really use any olives that you want.
Tune in tomorrow when I talk about the rest of the meal!
Cocktail Sauce
A shrimp cocktail sauce from a 1930s cookbook
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup ketchup or chili sauce (or a combo of both)
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
- 2 teaspoons prepared horseradish (or more depending preference)
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- A few drops of hot sauce such as Tabasco
Directions
- In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients and chill well in the fridge.
- Serve with shrimp.
Note: You can cook the shrimp anyway you desire. The recommended way according to The Silent Hostess is to cook the fresh shrimp in boiling water until they turn pink. Then peel and devein them if that has not already been done to your shrimp. I would at least season the boiling water with the salt at least but other seasonings can be added such as peppercorns or Old Bay.
Stuffed Celery
An easy stuffed celery recipe
Ingredients
- 3 oz cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped green olives
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon paprika
- 2 to 3 drops Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoon mayonnaise
- 4 celery stalks that have cleaned
- Optional: extra paprika for sprinkling
Directions
- In a small bowl, mash cream cheese with fork and add the olives, pepper, paprika, Worcestershire sauce and mayonnaise. You may need to add more mayo to get a spreadable consistency.
- Fill celery stalks with mixture either with a knife or using a pastry bag with a large tip.
- Slice stuffed celery into thirds.
- Arrange on a platter and sprinkle with paprika if desired.
- Chill in fridge before serving.
Note: The size of your celery may mean you might need more stalks or less.
Quaint Cooking 
I could live on just appetizers! These would definitely be a good start!
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Thanks for sharing this, I hope you have a great holiday season.
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