Quickly fading from the kitchen

Retro Recipe Challenge #6 One-Egg Cake

Cupid at Home in the Kitchen, Michigan Stove Company, ca. 1910s, 32 p.

I found a really interesting project at the Duke University's Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library. It's called the Emergence of Advertising in America 1850-1920. It's basically a database of over 9,000 rare & historic advertising images. One part of the collection is called the Nicole Di Bona Peterson Collection of Advertising Cookbooks. This portion alone contains 1360+ images from 82 cookbooks published between 1878 - 1929. As technology advanced and women were cooking with things other than what they grew or made themselves cookbooks became huge forms of advertisements. You can read more about the history of advertising cookbooks here.

Since this is a Retro Valentine's challenge I chose a recipe from a book called Cupid in the Kitchen. It's an advertising cookbook put out by the Michigan Stove Company in the 1910's. The first few pages present a story of how Mrs. Potter (aka Cupid) uses her matchmaking skills with the lovely single Rose Bud and bachelor George Garland!

I made the recipe for a One-Egg Cake (click here for recipe). I chose this recipe for 2 reasons. If I were going to make a Valentine's Day cake I would want something special and a 2 layered cake just says "I took that extra step and used 2 pans to make this so I must really like you". Also I thought it would be fun to try out a recipe that has no directions. I used my best judgement and set the oven at 350 degrees, creamed the sugar and butter together and then alternately added the wet and dry ingredients. The only thing I didn't realize was that even though the recipe said that the cake "makes a good two layer cake" the batter was only enough for one layer. So I ended up with only one layer - but I still really like you! Being it was left in the oven a too long, the bottom and sides turned a dark crispy golden brown. The cake was very dense and almost gummy - it had a huge moist crumb and I thought it was too sweet. It was almost rustic - heavy like corn bread. I wonder if this is what a standard cake tasted like in the 1910s. Not bad, but far from what people expect a cake to taste like today. Check out the RRC #6 round up!

Cookbook images from:

Nicole Di Bona Peterson Collection of Advertising Cookbooks

Emergence of Advertising On-Line Project

John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History

Duke University Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library

http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/eaa/

This weekend

I have a lot of things planned for this weekend. Probably too many to actually get done, but we shall see.

Tonight : I'm going to see Matthew Barney : No Restraint at CMA. Some of my friends declined my invitation after reading the synopsis. Personally, I don't know how you could not be interested in seeing what Barney actually does with Bjork and 45,000 pounds of petroleum jelly. I viewed most of The Cremaster Cycle a few years back at the Cinematheque - they're movies that I still think about all the time and I'm sure this film will be something to remember as well.

Saturday: Work. Make my entry for the Retro Recipe Challenge #6 and head over the see the Dirty Bottom Boys play at the Beachaland Ballroom.

Sunday: IKEA ROAD TRIP!!! Looking for nightstand lamps and a short bookcase.

Also working on gathering materials for a little plant project. Mighty Girl has posted a set of photos and instructions here. I purchased one large glass jar from Target and don't know if I want to get 3 matching jars or go with an assortment. The idea is to place them on the window seat in our dining room - preventing me from using it as a catch all. Here's one of the photos from her flickr set...

Megabus

I made reservations on the Megabus to visit Chicago in March. If you've been on the bus I would love to hear about your experience.

My husband (then boyfriend) lived in Detroit for a year. Since my car was unreliable and I was in love I took the Dog every other weekend to visit him. For as bad as it was, I did come away with some interesting stories.

Braised Short Ribs

The Amateur Gourmet made these and posted the recipe with tons of photos (he attributes it to the Babbo Cookbook). I followed his lead and used a Chianti but made the full recipe that calls for 4 ribs. The only issue for me was the cooking time. After 2 hours in the oven the ribs were done, but they were not all falling off the bone. This may have been because the ribs were not all the same size - 2 were bigger and 2 were smaller. The first night I served the ribs with tomato gnocchi from Ohio City Pasta. The second night I skimmed off a lot of fat and used the leftovers (meat pulled off of the bones and added to pot) as a pasta sauce served over whole wheat bow ties.

flattered?

This past week I got emails from both of my blittle brothers, A & K, telling me they're going to be at the Beachland Ballroom tonight to see Uncle Scratch's Gospel Revival. K just called me to ask if we were going to be at the show. I found the communication very odd...my brothers don't really talk to me unless we happen to be at my parents' house at the same time. I sometimes think A took a vow of silence and K just has more interesting things to do than hang out with his weird sister...or so I thought!

I was not planning on going tonight but was interested to find out why they were extending the invitation.

h: Who else is going?
K: Me, A, a few other friends. A girl I'm supposedly seeing.
h: What!?! You have a new girlfriend?
K: Yeah, I guess. I'm sure you'll get along real well. You two are cut from the same cloth.
h: What the heck is that supposed to mean? That you're madley in love with her!!! lol

Retro Recipes

Laura Rebecca has her own blog full of recipes and in addition she hosts a Retro Recipe Challenge every month. This is the month for me to take on the challenge!

I like you, I love Crab Cakes and I can't stop staring at my new dutch oven!

My husband took our friends and I out to a fabulous dinner at Lolita for a birthday last Saturday night (my real b-day was the 22nd). We had oysters with "love" sauce and boards of seafood, cheese and meat for appetizers. A warm spinach salad with a fried egg on top also arrived. Honestly, I had a very difficult time choosing my entree because they all looked so delicious. I happily ended up ordering short ribs with roasted red peppers and polenta. My friend's gnocchi was outstanding....pasta covered in a pulled pork and veal sauce. Creme brulee and a candle ended the feast. I can not rave enough about Lolita's food, staff and service. It's really fantastic.

I was also treated to dinner, cake and ice cream Sunday night at my in-law's house. My mother-in-law made a very interesting salad out of mushrooms, spinach, quinoa and feta. That will be on my list of things to make soon but first I must make use of my birthday presents - a few cook book and this beauty....

it's january?

I see it's been almost a month since I posted anything. The time just flew by. My vacation became an enjoyable break away from computers and work. I still managed to read some blogs over the past few weeks, but there are still many unread posts left on my blog roll.
I was afraid it would be difficult to start posting again. Should I try to do a recap of the last month? Post some pictures from Christmas? Nah, that sounds boring. So what I would like to write is that I spent most of the time going places, lunching, shopping, reading (books!), visiting with friends and family, watching t.v and I even made it to the movies yesterday! It was a blast! But today (sadly) I am at work and and trying to get back into the routine of things. For a while at least.

Columbus Girls' Weekend

I had a really great time in Columbus. We stayed up past 2am talking both nights. By the time we rolled out of bed, (couch or air mattress), got dressed and drank coffee it was almost 3pm - it was great to be able to relax and do nothing. Most of the weekend we spent visiting but we did venture out to the North Market for Indian buffet and scoops of Jeni's, Easton, North Star Cafe, Adriatico's & La Bamba.

Our computer is "kinda" fixed. Not sure if I'm going to be able to get my pictures back. I still need to re-install my camera software and itunes.

short week

It's already Friday and I didn't get to post anything about last weekend in NJ or my Christmas tree and now I will be leaving tonight for Columbus! One reason for no posts is that the home computer has gone all wacky - like those technical terms? I'm hoping that the computer issues will be resolved by the time I get home on Sunday and all my photos will have been safely retrieved off of the hard drive. No, I didn't back any of them up like a responsible girl does because our cd drive died a long time ago :(

Another reason for not posting is that I have been spending a majority of my time at work and when I'm not at work I'm in my car driving to work or at home getting ready to go to work. It's a vicious, vicious cycle. But I am so happy that Christmas vacation is almost here and I have just about 4 weeks off of work. So I will stop complaining now and start thinking about what to do over break!

Oh, we made our Christmas Keilbasa last Tuesday night! I think we used some version of the last year's recipe but added more garlic.

What kind of food are you?

You Are Japanese Food

Strange yet delicious. Contrary to popular belief, you're not always eaten raw.

What Kind of Food Are You?

December

December is going fast, isn't it? I love how the weather changes throughout the day. One minute it's snowing so hard I can barely see Terminal Tower. I turn my head away for a few minutes and then the sun is shining and the salt is helping it turn the white flakes to dirty brown street slush. I need a new pair of boots, a hat and some gloves - asap.

Quick notes on what's going on...

• We put our tree up and I am in love with it. It spins and plays music and sparkles. I'm going to try to figure out how to make a youtube video of it.
• I made and sent out all my swap ornaments. Here's the flickr group.
• Did some online Christmas shopping.
• Had some friends over for dinner, then had my parents and brother over the next day. Cooked, ate, cleaned, slept, cooked, ate, cleaned, slept.
• Tonight is my niece's 7th birthday party. Lol....I got us tickets to see this.
• Tomorrow we're driving to NJ for an engagement party.
• Next weekend I'm going to Columbus for an all girls' weekend with my in-laws.

geoGreeting

This geoGreeting site is a fun way to send messages.

November Vacation - pt 2

Sunday we drove from St. Augustine 3 hours north to Savannah, Georgia - one of our favorite towns. Our friends KC and Gina drove down from Charleston to meet up with us. We went out to lunch and then for drinks and then dinner (are you seeing the pattern of our gluttony here?). We ended the night giving away our table keg to some other people at the bar because it was just too much...


Monday the sun came out so we decided to take advantage of it and go to Tybee Island. We walked from the lighthouse to the pier and back with our sweatshirt hoods up and tied around our chins. I picked up a few souvenir shells for my fish tank. No one at the pier seemed to know how or why this sail boat was beached.



The rest of the vacation we walked around downtown, River Street, City Market, visited some SCAD architecture buildings, and ate.

Forsyth Park - as always beautiful. I've heard that the city bought their fountain from a Sears catalog.


SCAD rendering computers - lots of them!


Soho South Cafe - very cute place that used to be more of a gallery and a quaint restaurant. Now the kitchen is huge and there are more tables and less art. Still very tasty food. They put fresh mint leaves in your iced tea.


Vinnie Van Go Go's - great pizza! The only things they serve are pizza, calzones and beer. I think they have other drinks but really - who needs them? These are the largest slices of pizza I have ever seen - and they're only $2.50 (+ 50 cents for toppings)...cash only!

November Vacation - pt 1

Our vacation was awesome. We had a great time at our cousin's wedding and visiting with friends. The weather wasn't the best, but at least it wasn't snowing. I happily ate my fill of crab, oysters and shrimp for 6 days!

St. Augustine...

Friday we arrived in St. Augustine. The beach front room is not really the bomb in November - VERY windy out there.


Saturday, before the wedding, the sun came out and we walked around the Old City (touristy historic downtown area) and fort Castillo de San Marcos.


I have no pictures from the wedding because I forgot my camera in the hotel room - very frustrating!

Tricks or Treats?

I just finished cleaning up the kitchen from all my Halloween cooking.

Tuesday night we all planned to meet over my sister-in-law's house to celebrate the holiday in addition to my father-in-law's birthday. The only thing I had to do when I got home was make 5 lbs of mashed potatoes. So of course I got stuck in a traffic jam and we ended up arriving to the party very late. But our family doesn't usually start eating dinner till about 9pm so the only thing we missed were the trick-or-treaters.

This is the Martha meatloaf birthday cake I made for my father-in-law. Didn't get any pictures at the end but I piped "Happy Birthday" on it with ketchup, put a few candles on it and everyone sang. This cake was a hit and not hard to make at all. The most annoying thing was that my lumpy mashed potatoes kept getting stuck in the piping tip!







And we can't seem to celebrate anything without deviled eggs, ideas from here and here



OK - We're leaving for vacation tomorrow morning. I'm supposed to be packing right now! Have a great week!

Ornament Swap

This international Holiday Ornament Swap has over 220 participants already. There's only one more week to sign up - send them an email by November 1st.

What's next?

Do you feel like once you get done with one thing you are immediately onto the next?

I'm done with the Pumpkin Carving Party. The next event on my list of things to think about every minute of every day is our upcoming vacation!

November 3rd we will be flying to St. Augustine for a wedding. Then heading up to Savannah (to relax) and Charleston (visit some friends) for a few days. Not exactly sure on the itinerary yet - that's what I'm obsessing about.

This morning I was checking rental car prices and figured I might as well try Priceline. I got our car for about half of what it was on Orbitz. Yes!

Our front porch project has slowed down tremendously. We didn't see any contractors for a few weeks but they showed up yesterday and put the floor down on the upstairs. They still have to stain all the shakes and finish off about a hundred other odd things around here.

Compliments

During the day I watch and listen to many people. Sometimes quite close and sometimes from across the room.

Today I heard a regular "patron" named Ricardo compliment a woman on her earrings. She absolutely lit up with a smile and said "Thank you, my mother made them for me." Then she actually sashayed out the door. He's made me smile many times - by enthusiastically telling me about his new job and by just saying hello. Now I'm sure your thinking that Ricardo is hitting on us women, but he's not. He is just always genuinely happy and kind to people. Imagine if more people commented on the good, like Ricardo, rather than complained about the bad. I'm sure I would see many more smiles during the day. His simple thoughtfulness probably made that woman's drive home a bit easier.