#cooked some vanilla pudding for the dessert glass and tried out that tiny jelly pudding pack with the form

[laitoslittlemacaron]

i just made dessert for myself 👀💛✨ 🐶

[joey-gatorman]

“Take It Easy Before Dinner”

Fini-Mun’s posted some terrific, informative retro food posts on his tumblr lately, so in honor of this I would like to post excerpts from a 1945 cookbook by Ruth Langland Holberg entitled Take It Easy Before Dinner. No pictures, but the written goodies within tell tales of mid-1940s America. As an example I would like to start off by posting her introduction in full, written mostly with the housewife in mind:

INTRODUCTION

HUSBAND

I believe that the hour before dinner should be gracious and peaceful with no creaking of domestic machinery, or frequent and frantic trips to the kitchen. This is the time when menfolks are home from work and the time when the best meal of the day should be planned for their pleasure. Men enjoy a cocktail or a quiet chat with an unhurried companion. They like to listen to the radio and make informative remarks on the news to the lady of their choice. If you don’t agree with his views, save your comments for after dinner. A man’s disposition after a good meal is enormously improved.

GUESTS

If you are having a party and the guests are present, you can be as calm and relaxed as though a battery of efficient maids were in charge of the kitchen. The well-known panic of wondering whether the dinner will be successful and whether the guests will enjoy the evening will be eased off if you are not scrambling around the kitchen with one eye on the clock and the other on the food you are preparing. To be cook, hostess and waitress and to preserve tranquility is not impossible if you know that nothing in the kitchen needs your attention this last hour. You can receive your guests and stay with them until cocktails are over.

EVERYDAY

For everyday living these recipes will suit the clubwoman or give a free afternoon for a matinee, shopping or charity work. They will suit the career woman or the woman who has a maid mornings only. A part-time maid can prepare things ahead of time if you have her use this book. If you are an author, painter, musician or teacher, this is the book for you. It sounds like a sales talk, you say. Well, it is. You will find these recipes really work.

BABIES

If you have babies, it is possible for this hour to be given to putting the infants to bed. Small children in the family can be given this time for reading and repeating their prayers, with your undivided attention.

WORKING GIRL

Are you a working girl or a busy executive wondering how you can find time to entertain guests at dinner? These recipes are designed for you. Many of these dishes can be made the night before, kept in the refrigerator and baker or reheated with no bothersome watching. Long, slow cooking develops and blends flavors. All dishes that need high heat and fast cooking are left out of this book. There will be no smoke from the broiler and no smell of chops permeating the small apartment the night you are having guests. This is the complaint of one of my friends. That’s why she says she is all agog waiting for this book.

METHOD

The secret of leisure simply is careful planning. My method of giving a dinner party is this. Several days beforehand I write down a menu suitable to the time of the year, my finances (usually low) and what the markets have to offer. I look over my collection of recipes and, after selecting a main dish, I check over my supplies at hand and make a list of what to buy. If I am increasing the recipe to serve eight or more instead of four, I multiply carefully because I am an idiot at figures.

It has been a hobby of mine to collect recipes from the magazines, newspapers and my friends. They are filed in stout envelopes that once brought me a monthly poetry magazine. The women’s magazines print delectable streamlined recipes that you should clip for your files. The food ads are worth reading and all their free booklets are an addition to the cook’s library. Experts on the radio give you all sorts of good ideas.

HERE’S HOW

I make out a menu that can be prepared a day before or during the morning of the day. I have never been able to give an entire day to party preparations. I have too many other irons in the fire. I set the table during the afternoon for a sit-down or a buffet meal. Dishes to be used in serving are laid out on the kitchen table. The dessert dishes and silver are ready, the tray of coffee cups, the tray of cocktail glasses and a bowl for cocktail crackers are arranged. Coffee is measured into the drip pot. Water for it will be set boiling when the dessert is being taken in from the kitchen. Everything that should be chilled—tomato juice, fruit juice, butter, the salad etc.—is in the refrigerator.

GREENS

When greens arrive from the store they should be washed, drained and patted partly dry with a dish towel. A head of lettuce soaked in ice water, the core removed, then kept in a covered dish, will stay fresh and crisp for an amazingly long time. The same goes for celery. Other greens are stored in a covered pan in the refrigerator. Keep parsley and watercress in covered jars after they have been washed. The salad for dinner can be mixed and kept in a covered bowl. But for goodness’ sake, don’t add the dressing until time to serve it, or the greens will wilt.

FRENCH DRESSING

Make a large jar of French dressing and keep it in the refrigerator. A clove of garlic should repose in its depths. Shake well before using. A refrigerator can do a lot of work for you. Be sure to let it.

ODDS AND ENDS

Vegetables can be prepared during odd moments. The main dish has been made ready and is either waiting to be baked, reheated or assembled. Rolls are in a paper bag to be heated a few minutes in the oven. Look around and check up on everything.

Now, this is important for your peace of mind and an uncluttered kitchen. There should not be an unwashed dish or pan in the kitchen. Clean up as you go along. Now you can put on your party dress and relax.

INCREASING RECIPES

This is a very personal and informal cook book. The recipes have been tried many times. They are designed for four or six people as a rule, but they can be increased to serve twelve or sixteen people with very little more work than is needed to prepare for four.

GUEST HELP

When you are having guests for dinner, delegate one of the men to help you. Let your husband remain at the table chatting with the guests. It causes less flurry and your helper is flattered. He can carry the plates and silver to the kitchen where you scrape, rinse and stack neatly.

DESSERT AND COFFEE

Get the dessert ready for him to carry in to the table. Pour boiling water in the drip coffee pot and join your guests, bringing in the coffee tray at the same time. Perhaps you missed some good jokes and witty remarks, but your guests are having a good time. It looks as in the party were a success.

Finally, you say when the last drop of coffee has been sipped, “Let’s find more comfortable chairs.” Men get restless if kept too long in the same chair. Or else, serve coffee in another room from a low table. Someone takes the last dishes to the kitchen. You scrape, rinse and stack them and put away leftovers. I hope you have a little mirror in the kitchen with a lipstick and some face powder. Make a few repairs if your face needs it. Turn out the light and proceed to enjoy the rest of the evening as much as you did the first.

DISH WASHING

Those stacked dishes can be washed in a jiffy when the party is over. It is fun to talk over the evening with your husband and to hear the stories you missed while you were out of the room. Your husband will hardly know he is drying the dishes, especially after a jolly evening.

KEEP ON HAND

ADD IMAGINATION TO THESE

Biscuit mixes, muffin mixes, cake and pie mixes.

Pudding and gelatines in packages.

Cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, cloves, allspice, ginger, mustard.

Vanilla, lemon, orange, mint and almond extracts.

Celery salt, celery seeds, onion and garlic salts, curry powder, chili powder, parsley flakes.

Dehydrated sauces, such as mushroom, spaghetti, white and brown.

A SUGGESTION

Examine the grocer’s shelves for new products and try all short cuts.

Do a lot of canning and preserving or else buy relishes, jams, jellies, chutney and chili sauce.

There are many sets of herbs with directions for use. The most valuable to me are tarragon, basil, thyme, dill, parsley and chives. There are some mixtures suitable for meat dishes or cheese dishes and there are soup bags for different kinds of soups.

Doughnuts, cakes, cookies and pies bought from a fine bakery will save baking. Ice cream and sherbet are perfect desserts. I have included a few of my favorite desserts.

Buy good coffee and serve it hot or iced with every dinner.

Every now and then have an old-fashioned baking day and turn out a batch of cookies or a fat layer cake with a delicate filling and frosted to perfection. Make a pie and keep some pastry in the refrigerator for another day.

How about a special coffee cake or fancy bread or tiny rolls? And by all means, bake bread. The delectable aroma of bread baking is wonderful in a house and homemade bread is wonderful to eat, too.