When I was younger Peach Melba was a dish that held such mystery to me. What was a melba and how did it connect to the peach? I was quite surprised when I found out as I got older that it was a pretty simple dessert! Who and where was the Peach Melba created? … Continue reading History of Peach Melba
Liza Minnelli is the daughter of famous movie actress and singer, Judy Garland and director of some of the best musicals, Vincent Minnelli. Liza is also in one of my favorite movies, Cabaret, and this is her recipe for the decadent Potato Shells. These are not your normal potato skins which is usually topped with … Continue reading Liza Minnelli’s Potato Shells
The day finally came..... Today is the day that I picked a savory gelatin salad out of the jar. Luckily (...sort of I guess) it was a simple salad that just mixes some raw veggies into the gelatin mixture that is flavored with vinegar and grated onion. So no crazy deviled egg or seafood gelatin … Continue reading The Gelatin Diaries: Vegetable Salad
Yesterday I talked about the 1956 musical High Society and today I am following up about the cocktail and canape that I made to go with it. I knew something champagne had to go with this movie which was a good call as that champagne was drunk quite a bit by the characters. I found a … Continue reading Champagne Fizz and Blue Cheese Balls
The next recipe I am making from my recipe box collection is Apple Pudding Pie. It hails from a Syndicate Manufacturing Company box that has bright blue and yellow flowers with accents of green. This particular recipe was cut out of a newspaper and glued onto an index card. Unfortunately, there is no indication of … Continue reading Recipe Box: Apple Pudding Pie
In Peg Bracken's Appendix to The I Hate To Cook Book, there is a dessert recipe simply titled "The Cake". No descriptors or cute names just The Cake. It sat there in the back of my mind wondering about this cake recipe. It uses a box cake mix that she doctors up with some instant … Continue reading Peg Bracken’s The Cake
Besides collecting old cookbooks, I also LOVE vintage metal recipe boxes. I now have fifteen in my collection. The best part is that I have been lucky to find all but one full of handwritten recipes or clipped snippets from magazines, newspapers and the back of boxes. My favorite thing to do is to flip … Continue reading Recipe Box: Ham and Broccoli Casserole
Chicken a la King was extremely popular in the 50s and 60s. So popular that you would think it was created during that time period but it was actually created in the late 19th century. It was such a prevalent dish during the mid-century that writer Calvin Trillin was wondering where its whereabouts were … Continue reading The History of Chicken A La King
I was trying to figure out a recipe to make from the Mystery Chef but none was really standing out more than any other. Dione Lucas was easy as almost every source mentioned that omelets was her specialty. Aunt Sammy I just flipped the book open and saw I had everything to make the raisin … Continue reading The Mystery Chef’s Eggless Orange Cake
Dione Lucas, who I wrote about here, had strong opinions on a lot of things. Her opinion on the ever comedic and lighthearted Galloping Gourmet was that "there is no need to introduce buffoonery into cooking". She once called commercial mayonnaise a "hi-jinx on the American public". Also, she stated that it is "better to … Continue reading Dione Lucas’ Omelets
Quaint Cooking 