Cooking Vintage Series - Menu Plan #3

In my article, "Why Should You Cook Vintage?," I covered some of the reasons my family has gone from eating processed convenience foods and fast food to adopting vintage cooking like our grandmas used to make. Our benefits have ranged from saving money, supporting our local economy, and most importantly (in my family's opinion), better-tasting meals.

If you'd like to try out a day of vintage cooking, just follow the menu below to get a taste of old-fashioned goodness. This menu and recipes came from my favorite vintage cookbook, Meta Given's Modern Family Cookbook, originally printed in 1942. This meal plan includes a suggested breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as recipes, and has been taste-tested and heartily approved of by my family.

~ Cooking Vintage - Menu 3 ~
from the Modern Family Cookbook, by Meta Given

Breakfast
Orange Juice
Rolled Oats (1) with Thin Cream
Toast with Butter, Jelly
Coffee for Adults, Milk for Children

Luncheon
Cream of Navy Bean Soup (2)
Hot Corn Bread (3) and Butter
Raw Apples
Tea for Adults, Milk for Children

Dinner
Poached Eggs (4) and Beef Hash (5)
Baked Acorn Squash (6)
Head Lettuce, French Dressing (7)
Bread and Butter
Whipped Strawberry Gelatine (8)
Vanilla Crisps (9)
Coffee for Adults, Milk for Children

~ Recipes ~

1 - How to Cook Breakfast Cereal (Rolled Oats and Rolled Wheat)
3 cups boiling water
1 1/2 cups rolled cereal
3/4 teaspoon salt

To the measured amount of rapidly boiling salted water, slowly but steadily sprinkle in the measured cereal, stirring constantly. Now reduce heat and cook over direct heat, with frequent stirring from 15 to 20 minutes. Serves 4.

Note: I added cinnamon, golden raisins, and a bit of brown sugar, and the oatmeal met with the enthusiastic approval of my kids.

2 - Cream of Navy Bean Soup
1 cup dried navy beans
4 cups cold water
2 tablespoons diced onion
1 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
Dash pepper
2 tablespoons grated carrot, optional

Wash beans, cover with water and let stand overnight. Next morning drain, cover with the cold water, add onion, cover and simmer about 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until beans are soft. Remove from heat and put through ricer or food mill into a saucepan. Add milk, seasonings, and carrot and reheat. Serve hot. 5 servings.

3 - Southern Corn Bread
1 1/2 cups yellow corn meal
3/4 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups buttermilk
2 eggs, separated
1/4 cup melted shortening

Sift corn meal, soda and salt together. Add buttermilk to well-beaten egg yolks and add to corn meal mixture; beat well. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. Turn immediately into a piping hot, greased, heavy 10 inch skillet. Bake in a hot oven (450 degrees) 25 to 30 minutes. Serve at once with butter. 5 servings.

4 - Poached Eggs
Grease the bottom of a shallow pan, add water to a depth of at least 2 inches and heat to simmering. Break eggs one at a time into a saucer and slip into the hot water, reducing heat as low as possible, so water does not even simmer. Do not crowd the eggs. Cook very slowly until the white is firm and the yolk filmed over. Then lift the eggs out carefully, one at a time, with a slotted spoon or pancake turner, permitting them to drain thoroughly. Place each egg on a slice of hot buttered toast to serve. Regular egg poachers or muffin rings give the cooked eggs a rounder shape.

5 - Baked Acorn Squash
Scrub squash thoroughly; cut in half and scrape out the seeds and the fibers, using a spoon. Butter cut surfaces, place cut side down on a baking sheet and bake in a moderately hot oven (400 degrees) for 30 to 45 minutes, or until inside is very soft. Turn cut side up, place butter in the cavity of each half and on the rim, sprinkle with a little salt and brown sugar and replace in the oven until the sugar is melted and the rim of the squash is toasted to an appetizing brown. Serve in the shells with additional butter. One good-sized squash serves 2.

6 - Beef Hash
1 cup beef broth or 1 bouillon cube in boiling water
2 cups grated raw potato
1 medium onion, grated
2 1/2 cups diced cooked beef
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoons bacon fat

Use 1 cup broth made from bones left from beef roast or substitute bouillon. Combine broth, potato, onion, beef and salt, and put into hot fat in a heavy skillet. Cover and simmer 25 to 30 minutes or until potato and onion are well cooked and hash is slightly browned on underside. Add more water if hash becomes dry. Uncover skillet and place in a moderate oven (350 degrees) 15 to 20 minutes longer. Remove from oven and fold hash over omelet-fashion. Place on a hot platter, using a wide spatula or turner. 5 servings.

7 - French Dressing
2/3 cup salad oil
1/3 cup cider vinegar
4 teaspoons sugar, or to taste
1/16 teaspoon dried mustard
1/16 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion juice

Combine all ingredients by beating thoroughly with rotary beater. Beat or shake well just before serving. About 1 cup.

8 - Fruit-Flavored Gelatin
The first part of this recipe is identical to making regular, modern Jello. I'll just include the whipping instructions:
To whip the gelatin: Allow the gelatin to chill until it is thick and syrupy, just on the verge of setting. Then whip with an egg beater until smooth, fluffy and light colored. Return to the refrigerator until firm.

9 - Vanilla Crisps
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening (half butter)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Sift flour, measure and resift with baking powder and salt. Cream shortenings and blend in sugar well. Add eggs and beat until thoroughly combined. Stir in vanilla. Stir dry ingredients into creamed mixture. Drop small rounds on a cookie sheet dusted with flour. Bake in a moderately hot oven (400 degrees) about 8 minutes, or until delicately browned. Makes 5 dozen 2-inch cookies.

Note: These cookies made it into my regular recipe collection. They're simple and sweet, delicately flavored with vanilla and just a bit of a crunch. Yum.