1950's Menu Planning Monday 3/16/09

I have been under the weather this week so my friend Carol came by yesterday to keep me company, and while here, we baked bread (actually she did all the work). Since we were in the kitchen, we looked through one of my old cookbooks. This particular one, The Village Cook Book, I purchased at our local flea market several years ago. I love to find old cookbooks that are hand written, photocopied and put together by clubs. There is something great about using family favorite recipes - so unpretentious without a million ingredients. This cookbook was published in 1956 by The Village Improvement Society in Yarmouth, Maine. One of the interesting things about this cookbook is that at the end of each section there are local advertisements including providers of coal and even one by L.L. Bean. The phone numbers are only five digits. The recipes sounded so amusing yesterday that I am going to attempt them this week. Some of the recipes mention things that I have no clue what they are and some are vague on specifics as to amounts and temperatures. I suspect that these recipes were so well known by the cooks that these specifics were assumed to be known at the time. These are the main dishes - I'll add sides as I cook. See recipes below.

Monday: Six Layer Dinner
Tuesday: Smothered Ham and Sweet Potato Balls
Wednesday: Scarlet Sinners
Thursday: Seafood Casserole
Friday: Individual Hamburg Cups
Saturday: Shrimp Cream
Sunday: Meat Loaf - Russian Style

Six Layer Dinner
by Lee P. Bailey

2 cups sliced potatoes
1 cup rice
2 cups hamburger
1 large can tomatoes
1 large sliced green pepper
1 cup sliced onions

Place in layers in casserole. Salt and pepper each layer. Bake slowly 2 1/2 hours in covered casserole.

Smothered Ham
by Grace Haskell

1 sliced ham (smoked) 2 inches thick
milk to cover ham
4 T brown sugar
1 tsp prepared mustard

Soak ham 2 hours in milk. Sprinkle brown sugar and mustard over top. Bake covered 2 hours in mod oven (325 - 350). Remove cover 15 minutes before ham is done. Serve with slices of fried pineapple.

Sweet Potato Balls
by Grace Frank

Mash sweet potatoes. Add salt, pepper and plenty of better. Cool and shape around 1/2 marshmallow. Dip in beaten egg and roll in crushed corn flakes. Heat thoroughly in moderate oven about 10 minutes.

Scarlet Sinners
by Bernice Wentworth

1 cup flaked cooked fish
2 cups hot mashed potatoes
1tbs butter
1/8 tsp pepper
salt to taste
1 can cranberry sauce
1 egg

Beat fish and potato together. Add butter, pepper, salt and beaten egg. Shape misture into cakes and brown in hot fat. Mash branberry sauce. Heat to boiling and serve over cakes.

Seafood Casserole
by Rebecca T. Carr

1 can crabmeat or 1/2 lb lobster meat
2 cans shrimp
1 can minced clams
1 (4 oz) can sliced mushrooms
2 cans mushroom soup
cream
1/2 t Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper
butter crumbs
grated cheese
paprika

Mix all ingredients. Add liquid from clams and mushrooms to dilute soup if too thick. Add a little cream. Season with 1/2 t Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Put in casserole, top with buttered crumbs and sprinke with grated cheese and paprika. Bake 20 minutes at 350 oven. Serve with hot rice on toast points.

Individual Hamburg Cups
by Lessie S. O'Donnell

Press seasoned hamburg around to line muffin tin. Fill cavity with creamed vegetable left-overs. Top with crumbs or grated cheese. Bake 30 minutes in moderate oven or until meat is done.

Shrimp Cream
by Jane A. Shepard

1 stick butter
2 or 3 T flour
1 cup milk
1 can mushrooms
1 can chicken with rice soup
1 small jar pimentos
1 lb raw cleaned shrimp

Melt butter, add flour, milk, soup, mushrooms, and pimentos. Just bvefore you are ready to serve, add raw cleaned shrimp and cook only until shrimp turns pink. Serve on patty shells.

Meat Loaf - Russian Style
by Grace M. Frank

Meat Portion:
2 lbs ground beef
4 slices bread soaked in milk
2 eggs - well beaten
salt and pepper

Stuffing:
small onion
butter
1/2 lb mushrooms cut fine

Sauce:
small chopped onion
butter
1 T sugar
2 T tomato paste
1 1/2 c broth
2 T sour cream

Mix meat portion well. Pat out meat. For stuffing, fry onion and mushrooms in butter. When done, spread on beef mixture and roll like jelly roll. Work on waxed paper. Bake 30 to 40 minutes in moderate oven.

For sauce, brown onion in butter. Add sugar, tomato paste and broth. Cook of 20 minutes. Add sour cream at last minute, pour over loaf.