[what's cookin'] A Picnic

Yesterday was the Homestead Museum's annual Ticket to the Twenties event.  It's a free two-day tribute to the Jazz Age complete with live music, dancing, films, games, and even fashion shows.  It's the perfect event in Southern California for a twenties-style picnic.

For this year's picnic, I thought I would try my hand at a couple of Jazz Age recipes thanks to VintageRecipes.net.  I wanted picnic foods that might have been served up at an outdoor luncheon in the 1920s, so decided on a couple of sandwiches and a potato salad.  But due to a few dietary limitations and allergies, I did decide to alter the recipes a bit.  So long as they kept to the style of the foods, I was okay.

The sandwiches came out well, I thought.  I chose a mock-chicken salad sandwich on white.  I looked up several chicken salad recipes on the site and used the information to guide my mock creation.  Honestly, it really was not that different from contemporary "chicken-salad."  Some "chicken" (in my case, I used chickpeas), some mustard, salt, pepper, vinegar, and--of course--mayonnaise.  Celery was often added, too.  Yep, pretty much what most folks call chicken-salad today.

The second sandwich that I chose was a cheese sandwich.  While not using camembert specifically, I used a similar soft, rind cheese that had a wonderful bite to it.  Quite tasty, albeit a touch messy to make.  I opted to thinly slice the cheese and place the slices on the sandwich, though I did consider cutting the cheese in half horizontally and then scooping and spreading the soft cheese sans rind onto the bread.

The potato salad recipe that I used as my inspiration include cayenne and Tabasco.  My husband is allergic to both, so I opted for black pepper and HP sauce instead.  (Sure, I could've chosen another recipe as there are plenty, but by the time I was getting around to making the salad, I had to chose one for which I had on-hand most of the ingredients and that would be nice at a picnic.)  The end result had a lovely tanginess and was quite tasty.  Yet by the next afternoon (I made the salad the day before the picnic), it was much more bland.  I here I thought the flavors would marry well.  Drat.

Otherwise the picnic was lovely.  We brought out some good china on which to dine.  We sat in the shade and sipped vintage sodas and lemonade.  My friend, Tricia, brought even more to eat: deviled eggs, sandwiches, fruit salad, and a heavenly apple pie and blueberry cake!  We were stuffed!

I certainly want to picnic again, but perhaps will wait a touch longer in the year as yesterday was just a bit too warm for my tastes.  Perhaps next time I will try a few other era recipes to share.

[what's cookin'] I think I can?

I have had moderate success with refrigerator pickling.  But I’ve yet to really dive into full on canning.  My new favorite blog, though, has me wanting to give it a try.  I’ve got a few glass jars. I’ve got a few canning tools. I can boil water.  So, what’s holding me back?

Well, for starters, I’m not a big jam-eater.  I confess, I have a mild repulsion to hot fruit.  Okay, more accurately to hot berries.  Apples, pears, peaches are all perfectly fine for pies, but for the love of all that is pure and good--berries should never be heated.  They become a slimy ichor of yuck.  I shudder just thinking about it.  Granted, I am touch more forgiving of jams are they are usually enjoyed fresh from the ‘fridge, but our haus seems to be quite fine without stocking any spreadable fruit.

Okay, so maybe I shouldn’t can jams.  But I’ve yet to encounter any other canned food that leaves me salivating.  (Not that I’ve been looking too hard, mind you.)

So, do you can?  What are some of your favorite recipes?  Are any of the beginner-friendly?

Made From Scratch

There is something truly special about enjoying a made-from-scratch meal.  In today's fast food nation, it's becoming something of a rarity, too.  I'm fortunate.  As a stay at home hausfrau, I'm able to treat my family to many goodies that are made from scratch.  Tortillas, pancakes, cookies, et cetera.

As I was making up a batch of my sourdough tortillas, I started to ask myself, "what foods are so easy to make from scratch, and much tastier than store-bought, that they should ALWAYS be made from scratch."  I decided to make a list.

Below are my top 3 foods that should ALWAYS be made from scratch.

1. Cake
If, like me, you grew up in a house where birthday cakes were frequently store-bought, and homemade cake was always from a box you should do yourself a huge favor and make a cake from scratch soon.  The difference is staggering.  Made-from-scratch cake is much tastier, and it really is not that much more difficult (recipe depending, of course).

Most made-from-scratch cakes follow the same formula.  Mix/sift all of the dry ingredients together in one bowl.  In another bowl, mix all the wet ingredients together.  Then, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.  It really is that simple.  And there are a crazy number of easy recipes to chose from.  Do everyone in your household a favor and never make another box cake again.

2. Salad Dressing
Have you ever really looked at the ingredient list on a bottle of conventional salad dressing?  Corn syrup, MSG, binders, fillers, dyes...  Some dressings have a frightful amount of questionable ingredients.

Salad dressing should really only have a handful of ingredients: an oil, an acid/vinegar, some seasonings.  Done.  Considering that those ingredients should be easily on hand in every kitchen, whipping up a tasty, fresh dressing is easy-peasy.  My personal favorite combination is below.

Happy Hausfrau Salad Dressing
To about one tablespoon of Bragg's Liquid Aminos (or Shoyu, or Soy Sauce), slowly drizzle in about two tablespoons of olive oil.  Use a whisk to blend the two ingredients together as you drizzle creating an emulsion.  OR/ Spray a bit of Liquid Aminos onto a personal-sized serving of salad, then spray/sprinkle a bit of oil.  Toss salad and eat.

Of course, you can get quite creative in putting together a salad dressing.  I love experimenting with flavored vinegars and seasoning combinations.  Since I usually only make just enough dressing to dress one salad, I can have a variety of flavors each week without sacrificing an entire fridge shelf to bottles of store-bought dressings.

3. Stock/broth
Here's one that seems to be daunting for a lot of folk, and it really need not be.  It doesn't get much easier, in fact.  Step 1, put a carcass in a pot.  Step 2, add water.  Step 3, simmer.  Step 4, strain.

If you eat a vegetarian diet like I do, it's still very simple.  Instead of a carcass, gather up your veggie straps.  Potato skins, carrot tops, celery bottoms, onion skins, et cetera.  Throw those into a pot instead.  Mushrooms are a good addition, too, but really any vegetables will work.

Grab some ice cube trays, pour in cooled stock, and freeze up some cubes of stock.


There are several other recipes that *I* make from scratch, but those three make a difference and are not terribly difficult.  Even the busiest of working stiffs could whip them up.

What would YOU add to your list?