29 January 1957 “Chicks, Chicken livers, and Mayonnaise…Oh My!”

The other day my first chicks began to hatch. If you may recall, I had ordered a dozen French Maran Eggs to hatch. I want to have a small flock of these hens as their eggs are much sought after by chefs and can command a higher price at our local Farmer’s markets and stores.
One of my hens had gone broody, so I gave her 4 of the eggs and put 8 in the incubator. I am no regretting that decision. As she has hatched out all four while only one in the incubator made it to a full chick.
To keep my hen broody while the eggs arrived by the post, I let her sit on eggs from my own hens. They were, most likely fertilized, as I have a wonderful Rooster (named Roostie).
Therefore the first picture you see is one of our eggs from my hens and rooster hatching. It hatched earlier, as the hen hat sat on them for three days before my Maran eggs arrived. So, I took those eggs and put them in the incubator. This allowed me to hold back the chicks until the eggs under my hen hatched.
A hen will often sit on her nest for three days while the eggs hatch. All eggs will not hatch at the same time, presumably as they would not all have been laid at the same time. So Mother Nature has put it into the Hen’s mind to ‘stay put’ for about three days. So, on the day her eggs were to hatch, I simply slipped the two chicks I had in the house under her. She clucked, felt them move and then accepted they had hatched under her.
Before they went to their new mother, they had two days with my little dog in the house. He LOVES anything tinyand living. He is the most gentle dog I have ever had. I have seen him sit completely still and walk very slow and cautiously around chicks ,so as not to disturb or hurt them.
Here he is with the first little guy. I am hoping she is a SHE as then she will join the ranks of my egg laying hens and not have to end up in the roasting pan.
I have to say, since my voyage back to the 1950’s, my animal husbandry skills  have greatly improved. Though the 1950’s middle class homemaker was often the first to take on the modern plastic world of grocery at the big Super market and to leave the ‘farm’ back in the 1940’s, I don’t think I would have.
As I have said, being an older wife, and certainly a war bride, the thrift and make do of the war years would be such a part of me that I don’t think I would want to let it all go, as I rather enjoy it.
One advantage to having fresh eggs, literally still warm from the hen, is the ability to make my own mayonnaise. Now, really, if you buy your eggs fresh enough, this is still a safe procedure, I would just try to get them as fresh as possible.
The more I have learned to make my own not only do I see how cheaper it can be, but the taste and quality is amazing. I also think Mayonnaise today gets a rather bad rap. It is often portrayed as the ‘poor mans’ condiment, slathered on white Wonder bread and adorned with Spam. But, we must remember that egg mayonnaise is an old condiment/dressing. Well before the 1950’s saw it packaged and in the lunchbox of every working man and child, it was often a staple both in the farmers diet as well as on the tables of the well to do. Many think it is of Spanish origin and brought to France. Other’s also believe that wherever oil and eggs existed their mixture was inevitable.
The mass marketed mayo in the USA started in NYC at Richard Hellmann's delicatessen. It was bottled and sold in 1912 as “Hellmann’s Blue Ribbon Mayonnaise”.
Here is an interesting Mayonnaise recipe from 1916.
Yet, despite it being on grocery store shelves here in the 1950’s, many recipes existed as a normal part of cookbooks. Here is the page from Betty Crocker’s Picture cookbook. And it is of interest to note that mayo is being used in sweet as well as savory, as the ‘dainty pink dressing’ recipe shows us. Simply adding the juice of maraschino/glace’ cherries and whipping cream makes it suitable dressing for fruit.
   These are some of the recipes from my early 1950’s Cordon Bleu cook book by Dione Lucas, who was said to have influenced Julia child in her French Cookery.
The ingredients in any mayonnaise are easy enough: egg and oil with seasonings, usually mustard and an acid either or both lemon juice/vinegar. I have used combinations of all these and used various oils, as well.
The trick to mayonnaise is to emulsify. Emulsification is basically forcing two things that don’t want to blend, oil and water, to create a sort of bond. Certainly a mayonnaise can be made by hand with a whisk, but for me, I find it easy to use my blender. Many modern people would most likely use a food processor, but our version of ‘food processors’ here in 1957 are not the electrical versions of the modern kitchen. The blender, however, does a wonderful jobs at many things from dressings to soups.
This is my 1955 Osterizer. It is a beast. A heavy glass caraffe. Sturdy stainless steel base, this thing has lasted for years before I purchased it. To get a comparable version today would be hundreds of dollars, yet the vintage are easy enough to come by. As an aside, this little darling is wonderful to use at the bar and has seen many Grasshoppers blended in it!
For me the emulsification is easiest with the blender. Simply crack two eggs and put in one TBS lemon juice. I use fresh squeezed or sometimes in lieu of or in addition to I will also use vinegar. Turn it on low for about 3o seconds, just to blend.
Next take one cup of oil (Your choice, olive, sunflower, grape seed experiment with what you like) and this is the trick. While the blender is on low, very SLOWLY pour the liquid into the blender. I set the timer for 3 minutes and begin pouring the thinnest possible stream. If you do that and finish at about 3 minutes, you will have the PERFECT consistency. Then you can add the mustard, seasonings, garlic, what have you, and give a good mix.
Then I simply decant it in a canning jar and it is good for up to a week in the icebox. I usually make this once a week, so you can see we use it fairly often. It is great on salads, as the base for dressings, I even brush it with other seasonings on chicken when I bake them. This is NOT Miracle whip. AND it has no preservatives, dies or what have you. Look how wonderful that sheen and swirl is, you really need to try it. You will never buy mayonnaise again. Or, if you think you hate mayonnaise, make this and mix a bit with cold fish or last nights chicken and toss in salad greens, mmmmm wonderful!
Now, for me making my own dressings and condiments is both frugal and good for you. I think this frugality and ‘coin-purse wisdom’ can carry over to everything we eat.
For example, the chicken. We eat a lot of chicken in this country. It is, currently, very cheap mainly due to its horrid mass productions. But, I won’t get into that right now. My point will simply be that here in 1957 what we pay for a chicken, even at the Super Market, would be very similar to what a modern person would pay for a ‘free range’ bird, around 8-10 dollars. So, we do not simply have them in everything and waste as we do in the 21st century. That roast chicken for Sunday’s big meal is not simply tossed away. The bones are made into stock for soup. The leftover meat gets mixed with mayonnaise for father and children’s lunch.
But, there is another element of that bird that many modern people are often not aware of: The Offal. The guts of the bird, the heart, liver and gizzard and even the neck. These are simply seen as garbage and tossed either by the family, or else the big stores as they sell pre cut meat and all the ‘guts’ are garbage. This to me seems so wasteful. And, when we realize how we can use so much of the bird, then the choice to try and support a better bird, (better treated as well as not pumped full of hormones and antibiotics) will be more realistic. An 8 dollar chicken suddenly doesn’t seem so expensive when it becomes a dinner, a soup and lunches.
Now, ever so often I am able, when I don’t have a full chicken with the giblets/offal, to buy chicken hearts or livers. The other day, at my local grocery store, they had little containers of chicken livers VERY cheap. I snatched it up.
I adore chicken livers. They are much milder than a cow or pig liver. They have a wonderful mellow taste as well as being full of iron and vitamins. They are very high in protein and for a very low fat calorie count give you a lot of vitamins. In the below serving of 1 oz, you get the following: Vitamin A 96%,Vitamin C 1%, and Iron 8 %

Chicken Liver:
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 oz
Calories % Daily Values
33 *
Calories from Fat 12
Total Fat 1.37g 2%
Saturated Fat 0.443g 2%
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.232g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.354g
Cholesterol 98mg 33%
Sodium 20mg 1%
Potassium 65mg
Total Carbohydrate 0g 0%
Dietary Fiber 0g 0%
Sugars 0g
Protein 4.8g

My lunch the other day was chicken livers on toast, when of my favorite savories.To me, this looks lovely. But, even if you don’t like the look of it, they taste wonderful. Look at that wonderful texture.
I simply heated onions and garlic in oil and then lightly pan fried these with salt and pepper. Then tossed in salad greens and serve on toast. It is wonderful tasting. You can also add cream to a mixture such as this while it is in the pan, getting all the wonderful butter and onion drippings and it goes great on a large salad or as a Savory or appetizer before a larger meal.
You really should consider the ‘throwaway’ bits of the chicken and see how much good nutrition and good money value there is. My 1.50 container of livers gave me three lunches!
Happy Homemaking.

17 November 1956 “Thanksgiving Dinner Preparations”

It seems the tradition of football and Thanksgiving has been around a bit, as this 1949 New Yorker attests. We don’t, in my family at least, partake in this tradition. Which, honestly is fine with me. My hubby knows football likes he knows how to cook a turkey…nil. But, for many American families the sound of the game is a part of the day. When I was younger and had to be at various family members, sometimes this was a part of the day.
Now what Thanksgiving prep would be complete without Butter? it really is a great way to roast a turkey, as is shown in this little video. One can also lift the skin a bit at the back and neck and put butter under, careful to lay it back down again. Olive oil also works nice for this and adds a different flavor.

Let us hope no one in the 1950’s or even today for that matter, found this sad little meal on their table.

Last year I roasted my Turkey for the first hour with only butter on, to seal in the juices, then the rest of the time with the lid on. I only took the lid off for the last 30 minutes or so, to nicely brown the skin. This seemed to really make it juicy.
Here are roasting instructions from one of my vintage magazines. I shall share more of it with you this week. This is the roasting. There is carving as well.

Here are some stuffing recipes. The first is for a roast duck, an alternative offered in this issue for Thanksgiving. But, I think it would be lovely in a turkey as well. 
I am making oyster stuffing this year and might try this recipe: Oyster stuffing is often a tradition here in New England. Last year I made a cornbread maple syrup stuffing, that was so lovely. Though, I don’t necessarily follow recipes to a tee, any longer. I know the gist of stuffing, as I make it more often than just at Thanksgiving, so it will most likely be a pinch of this a dash of that. Sometimes make your bread into an almost crouton is a good way to do it as well. The day before or even two days before, cut up your bread into cubes and season as you like then lightly bake to harden. Then you can taste the seasoning before you make it into a stuffing. It is rather like a homemade version of ‘box stuffing’.
For my American readers, are you doing anything special this year for Thanksgiving? Or any good recipes to share?

28 June 1956 “Cream Cheese and a Bagel, what’s that?”

Though Bagel baking was happening in our country since the Jewish immigrants brought them over to New York, to most of America they were not a normal part of their life. This quote shows the seriousness of bagels early on to the Jewish culture.
The American bagel industry established formal roots in New York between 1910 and 1915 with the formation of Bagel Bakers Local #338. This exclusive group of 300 craftsmen with "bagels in their blood" limited its members to sons of its members. At the time, it was probably easier to get into medical school than to get an apprenticeship in one of the 36 union bagel shops in New York City and New Jersey.
And even though prepackaged bagels first became available in grocery stores in the 1950's (With the introduction of frozen bagels in the 1960's) most consumers did not have a reason to eat a bagel.
This quote from a landlord to a new Bagel shop owner in 1966 says it all about average Middle class America and Bagels, One bagel maker  who opened a bagel bakery in a suburb of Washington, D.C., in 1966, remembers his skeptical landlord nervously questioning, "Who's gonna spend seven cents for one of those things?"
In the early 60’s in New York, Bagels were becoming ‘hip’ to the point that a restaurant called the Hip Bagel was opened by a local prominent restaurateur.
The Hip Bagel was started in the early 60s by a man who became a very prominent New York restaurateur, Shelly Fireman. Mr. Fireman later went on to open Café Fiorello at Lincoln Center, as well as Trattoria Dell’Arte across from Carnegie Hall as well as the Brooklyn Diner and Redeye Grill, Shelly’s New York and Bond 45. Today his restaurants employ more than a thousand people.
This is a sketch from a Hip Bagel Patron by an artist called Schulenberg. He kept sketch diaries for many years and there is an interesting bit of him and the Hip Bagel HERE.
So, what did all we non-Jewish and or non-New York or New Jersy American’s do with all the Philadelphia cream cheese we were buying? Well, here you can see the beginnings of the ‘ad as an article’ in my 54 issue of Better Homes and Gardens. This appears as an article and the recipes are even fold outs that you can cut and fit into your recipe box. Though this is obvious product placement there is still an innocence about this form of advertising compared to what we have today. For, though the recipes clearly say to use Philly brand, you could certainly use whichever you like.
So, get your own favorite brand of Cream cheese and add some vintage spice to your party or your life in general. (click to enlarge images)
And, as always, Happy Homemaking!

28 July 1955 “Gardening, Cooking Leftovers, and the Home Business”

I haven’t talked about gardening lately, so I thought I would share with you a great article on tomatoes from one of my 1940’s war time House Beautiful magazines.
We all know how many wonderful things can be done with tomatoes. We gardeners today often find we are giving away a surplus come late summer, there always seem to be more than you know what to do with. Now, however, with canning and such, I believe I will keep most of mine, perhaps giving some away only to be neighborly or as a hostess gift to a non-gardening friend.
This article has some things I did not know about growing and storing these lovely mainstay of the garden. Here is the article.
  Although it is too late for me this year to train my tomatoes in the manner they discuss in number 4 of this article, I may try it next year. It is almost like an espaliered system, only  instead of training a fruit tree along a wall or fence for years, you diligently train it on a roof-like structure. It obviously gives you more tomato on less plant and it appears you can have them planted closer together. This would also aid in any windy days, which can blow up here along the ocean quite unexpectedly. As this is an article during WWII, the victory garden was not just a fun past time but a serious provider for your family. I am finding many war time garden tips to be great if you want to maximize the space you have.
My entire concept of how I eat, shop, cook, and save has changed with this project and I am now always on the lookout for ways to get as much out of as small a space as possible. This allows you to harvest a greater amount, which in turn means more set aside and stored and thus easier on the food budget, the environment and the very health of your family, as you can control what if any pesticides and fertilizers you will use.
Number 9 in this article about storing was an eye opener for me. I did not know, though I am sure more of you seasoned gardeners did, that an entire plant lifted from the ground and hung upside down before frost will keep for  six weeks! I also did not know that you could wrap the green fruit in paper and store and it would ripen that way, I only knew of the ole’ put it on the window sill. I also love that this part of the article on storing starts out with “you know all about canning them of course) which of course you would have, but I do not. I mean I have been reading up on it and I will be doing it this year, but I have never canned a tomato in my life. So, if there are any of you out there just learning, don’t be intimidated, come along for the ride with me!
I thought I would also share some more garden pictures with you.
I have become mad about berries. I planted only a four blackberry, one raspberry bush, a few grape vines and some strawberries and blueberries, but I am hooked now! It, of course, turned out to be divine providence that I did not overplant, as now these little darlings are going to have to be dug up and moved with me in Sept.
Here are my blackberries ripening up nicely. I have not had any trouble with birds yet and they are not netted. Perhaps once they are ripe that will be a different story. Do any of you grow blackberries/raspberries? This is a nice specimen, as well, because it is thorn-less!
Here are some of my white grapes. Not all the vines I planted have flowered this year and honestly I didn’t expect any of them to do so. A grape vine needs to be at least three years old before it will fruit, so I believe I was lucky enough to get an older one thrown in with my batch. I have lofty plans for a mini (very mini) vineyard at the ‘new’ house. I want my own wine as well as lovely jams and for the table.Here is a close-up of some strawberry blossoms. These, however, seem to disappear with the birds. At the new house next spring they will be grown in a special frame I have been planning that will allow them space and air but not birds to get at them!
Here is a shot of some of my Queen Elizabeth rose and some bee balm in my ‘tea garden’. I am hoping that this variety of bee balm is actually bergamont that I love in tea (such as earl grey). I do know that the butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds love this variety of bee balm. Each of those little red petals are little tubes perfect for the hummingbirds to feed upon.  My Echinacea is doing quite well, and the bees LOVE this plant. At the new house next spring I am getting bees again and I am going to plant this in heaps around their hive, though bees travel as far as two miles to get nectar, but why not give them something they love in their own little back yard? I wonder if it will make the honey have a soothing affect on one’s nerves, as the plant is said to do. This, as well, makes wonderful tea. Here is another shot of my tea garden with my ‘crow’ standing guard. And of course, my hydrangea, which are so beautiful. The color is so amazing on the cape due to our unique PH in our soil. I adore how each big cluster is made up of so many little flowers.  
Now, onto food:
We talked a little bit last time about using left overs in the form of bread. The information was from my 1908 homemakers manual. Though, I am always looking and getting ideas and learning, part of being a homemaker is using one’s mind and imagination. So, the other morning for breakfast I opened the ice box and looked at my darling little Pyrex covered dish with last night’s meatloaf and thought, “Today I make Meatloaf Benedict”.
I adore hollandaise sauce. I believe I have given the recipe I use in a previous blog, but this time I tried the ‘mock hollandaise’ in my 1950’s Boston Cooking School book. It starts with the basic white sauce recipe. I have given this before, but here it is again.Don’t you love what it says about why you should learn to make a white sauce? Good advice, indeed.
Then, with this base you can make any of these variations of sauce. I did the hollandaise. It makes a good amount and I usually double it, as then I just store the rest in a jar ( a saved glass peanut butter jar this time, waste not want not!) and you can even, as I do for even my homemade cleaning products, make a little label with your own graphics to put on it. It lasts up to a week in the fridge, though I usually use it up in about 4 days.
Don’t be frightened by ‘double boiler’ if you are new to cooking. I still don’t have one, though one day will get a nice vintage one, but rather just take one of my little copper pots and put it into a larger pot that has heating water in it. Though it might seem involved, this recipe is really rather easy and once you make it and jar it, you have it. So, the next day it is easy to just grab it and scoop out what you need and heat it up. Those of you who are lucky enough to live in the ‘modern world’ with microwaves, could probably just stick the whole jar in the micro and heat it and use what you need.
I also add to my hollandaise a little bit of freshly grated sharp Vermont cheddar. Again, I am a New Englander so any chance to use a good sharp cheese or maple syrup, I am taking it!
So, yes, Meatloaf benedict. This would be good with bread, too, perhaps, but I felt it didn’t need it. I merely sliced the cold meatloaf and plated it and let it sit in a warm oven while I made my sauce and poached my eggs. I love my poached eggs. Don’t be intimidated by these either. I do not have an egg poacher. I merely heat water in a sauce pan until it just starts to stem drop in the eggs turning off the heat and in about 3-4 minutes they are perfect.
It was yummy and hubby loved it. The sauce could have been a bit thicker, but it didn’t affect the taste.Try it and you will adore it. Really, any leftover meat would make a great Bene in the morning.
Now, I have really begun to consider the Home more like a Business. Since I have begun thinking of my ledger and lining up my purchases and expenditures of the house in neat little penned rows, I have begun to think of the house as a business more and more. I was talking about this at breakfast this morning and hubby said, “Well, that is why they called it ‘Home Economics’” and it just really dawned on me. Of course! I know it is called Home Economics, not that I ever took it, but I again found myself coming to a ‘discovery’ here later in life in something that would normally have been taught in the past.
The idea of treating your household like a business is so very important for EVERYONE. If you are not a homemaker, merely a single person who works, still your household should be thought of in that way. For, we want to make a profit in: a clean home, good food, clean clothes, and money left over for rainy days and ‘fun’.
I am sure this realization seems silly to most of my readers. Those who may be long time homemakers certainly already know this, but I really do feel, in this project , I am a good test case. I truly am coming to it without much fore knowledge and skill. Therefore it is, to me,  an “Oh, now I get it” moment when I come to such a conclusion as “Ah, yes, HOME ECONOMICS”
So, Home Economics, where will I start. I mean, certainly I have already started and have changed to the good in many ways since 1 January 1955, but there is always room for improvement, right? Now, when I find a good pot roast for 5 dollars and get three meals out of it, I know I have done good and stretched the dollar. But, with my ledger and more meticulous records of my home, I can calculate down to the penny the cost of flour and meat and seasonings milk etc in a particular meal and see the cost. Once I have ‘general’ meals figured out for cost based on my average for what I pay for particulars, then I can plan my budget even more efficiently.
Certainly if I were running a restaurant, this would be the norm. My home, among other businesses, is a restaurant. It is also a fine hotel (or trying to get to as close to that as possible, even though my pillow cases get ironed, the sheets don’t always get ironed before putting away, but a gal has to learn doesn’t she?) a laundry, a bed and breakfast and the list goes on.
So, quite honestly, with my upcoming move, I am even more excited to get down to running my ‘new business’ of the home. What sort of things do any of you do know to make your home run more efficiently and effectively? What things do you want to try but have not? I am sure we are going to give some good advice here, so let’s get to it, fire away!