Easter Sunday is always a very special day for all Christians but the way that we celebrate it today has changed a lot since I was a child. Every so often I think it is a lot of fun to re-visit the days gone by—in fashion and custom and in food.
First of all Easter meant new spring outfits, especially for the ladies and the crowning glory was the new Easter bonnet. Many will remember the old song, The Easter Parade—
In your Easter bonnet,
With all the frills upon it,
You’ll be the grandest lady
In the Easter Parade.
I usually got to pick my new Easter dress from the Sears catalog. It was full of wonderful flowered and chiffon-y dresses meant for a little girl to love. Mom would take me shopping personally, however, for my “bonnet”. Even when I was a young teen (13) and we had moved from Minnesota to Southern California, Easter finery was in fashion. We shopped in the Bullock’s department store in Pasadena and I remember buying a navy blue sheath dress (newly in fashion) with a white sailor collar and tie and then finding the perfect straw sailor with a navy bow which hung down to the middle back. And I had my first pair of “heels” (1 ½ inches). It was a great outfit.
This is a food column and I am getting to that! Food has fashion, too, and the old-fashioned Easter dinner below was very typical of that era and it came from a 1953 copy of McCall’s magazine. The introduction says, “ At first glance our delicious menu may look formidable, but remember, with the appetizers, rolls and pie prepared the day before, you can sit down to dinner within an hour after you get back from church.
Egg Aspic Appetizers
First of all Easter meant new spring outfits, especially for the ladies and the crowning glory was the new Easter bonnet. Many will remember the old song, The Easter Parade—
In your Easter bonnet,
With all the frills upon it,
You’ll be the grandest lady
In the Easter Parade.
I usually got to pick my new Easter dress from the Sears catalog. It was full of wonderful flowered and chiffon-y dresses meant for a little girl to love. Mom would take me shopping personally, however, for my “bonnet”. Even when I was a young teen (13) and we had moved from Minnesota to Southern California, Easter finery was in fashion. We shopped in the Bullock’s department store in Pasadena and I remember buying a navy blue sheath dress (newly in fashion) with a white sailor collar and tie and then finding the perfect straw sailor with a navy bow which hung down to the middle back. And I had my first pair of “heels” (1 ½ inches). It was a great outfit.
This is a food column and I am getting to that! Food has fashion, too, and the old-fashioned Easter dinner below was very typical of that era and it came from a 1953 copy of McCall’s magazine. The introduction says, “ At first glance our delicious menu may look formidable, but remember, with the appetizers, rolls and pie prepared the day before, you can sit down to dinner within an hour after you get back from church.
Egg Aspic Appetizers
Baked Ham
Corn Soufflé
Asparagus with Crumb Sauce
Sparkle Salad
Easter Rolls
Strawberry Pie
Egg Aspic Appetizers
2 10 ½-oz. cans consommé
2 envelopes unflavored gelatine *
1 tsp. tarragon vinegar
½ tsp. salt
4 hard-cooked eggs
Olives, pimientos, green pepper, gherkin pickles
Rounds of bread
Heat 1 can of consommé until it comes to a boil.
Sprinkle gelatine over second can of consommé to soften. Now pour hot consommé over gelatine mixture and stir until dissolved. Add vinegar and salt. Pour about 1/3 of the liquid into a 9” x 13” oblong pan or two 8” square pans and chill in refrigerator until firm. Chill remaining liquid until thick as raw egg whites. Meanwhile cut hard-cooked eggs, olives, pimiento, green pepper and pickles into thin slices. Place the various relishes on the firm gelatine about 2 ½ inches apart. Then put a slice of egg over each little relish decoration. Pour over this the remaining, semi firm gelatine and set pan in refrigerator to chill and solidify. Cut circles of bread with cookie cutter and toast on both sides. Cut circles of aspic with same size cookie cutter (make sure egg slice is in center) and place on toast round. Makes 18 to 20 little appetite boosters.
*The magazine article spelled gelatin this way
Asparagus with Crumb Sauce
2 lbs fresh asparagus
¾ cup butter
½ cup dry bread crumbs
2 tsp. chopped chives or spring onion tops
Cook fresh asparagus in a small amount of boiling, salted water until thickest part of stalk is tender (about 12 minutes). While asparagus cooks, melt butter in a little saucepan, toss in bread crumbs, chives or spring onion tops and cook over a low heat until crumbs are rich with butter. Serve the hot crumb sauce over hot drained asparagus to 6 diners. This same sauce is perfect with almost any plain, cooked vegetable.
Sparkle Salad (from an ad in the same McCall’s magazine)
2 packages lemon-flavored gelatin
1 No. 2 ½ can DEL MONTE Fruit Cocktail
Prepare gelatin according to directions on the box using 1 cup of fruit cocktail syrup and 3 cups of water. Measure out 1 ½ cups of the prepared gelatin into a small bowl to chill and set. Measure out 1 cup of the fruit cocktail and set aside to chill. Pour remaining gelatin and fruit into an 8” square pan. Chill till firm. Put the plain gelatin through a potato ricer or beat vigorously with a fork. Make 6 oblong frames on top of the mold with the plain gelatin and fill each frame with the remaining chilled fruit cocktail. Serve on lettuce with a dollop of salad dressing (mayonnaise-type).
I have to admit that I don’t miss the over-use of gelatine (gelatin) or the fussiness of this menu—but it’s festive, good and a real trip to the past. Happy Easter.
Corn Soufflé
Asparagus with Crumb Sauce
Sparkle Salad
Easter Rolls
Strawberry Pie
Egg Aspic Appetizers
2 10 ½-oz. cans consommé
2 envelopes unflavored gelatine *
1 tsp. tarragon vinegar
½ tsp. salt
4 hard-cooked eggs
Olives, pimientos, green pepper, gherkin pickles
Rounds of bread
Heat 1 can of consommé until it comes to a boil.
Sprinkle gelatine over second can of consommé to soften. Now pour hot consommé over gelatine mixture and stir until dissolved. Add vinegar and salt. Pour about 1/3 of the liquid into a 9” x 13” oblong pan or two 8” square pans and chill in refrigerator until firm. Chill remaining liquid until thick as raw egg whites. Meanwhile cut hard-cooked eggs, olives, pimiento, green pepper and pickles into thin slices. Place the various relishes on the firm gelatine about 2 ½ inches apart. Then put a slice of egg over each little relish decoration. Pour over this the remaining, semi firm gelatine and set pan in refrigerator to chill and solidify. Cut circles of bread with cookie cutter and toast on both sides. Cut circles of aspic with same size cookie cutter (make sure egg slice is in center) and place on toast round. Makes 18 to 20 little appetite boosters.
*The magazine article spelled gelatin this way
Asparagus with Crumb Sauce
2 lbs fresh asparagus
¾ cup butter
½ cup dry bread crumbs
2 tsp. chopped chives or spring onion tops
Cook fresh asparagus in a small amount of boiling, salted water until thickest part of stalk is tender (about 12 minutes). While asparagus cooks, melt butter in a little saucepan, toss in bread crumbs, chives or spring onion tops and cook over a low heat until crumbs are rich with butter. Serve the hot crumb sauce over hot drained asparagus to 6 diners. This same sauce is perfect with almost any plain, cooked vegetable.
Sparkle Salad (from an ad in the same McCall’s magazine)
2 packages lemon-flavored gelatin
1 No. 2 ½ can DEL MONTE Fruit Cocktail
Prepare gelatin according to directions on the box using 1 cup of fruit cocktail syrup and 3 cups of water. Measure out 1 ½ cups of the prepared gelatin into a small bowl to chill and set. Measure out 1 cup of the fruit cocktail and set aside to chill. Pour remaining gelatin and fruit into an 8” square pan. Chill till firm. Put the plain gelatin through a potato ricer or beat vigorously with a fork. Make 6 oblong frames on top of the mold with the plain gelatin and fill each frame with the remaining chilled fruit cocktail. Serve on lettuce with a dollop of salad dressing (mayonnaise-type).
I have to admit that I don’t miss the over-use of gelatine (gelatin) or the fussiness of this menu—but it’s festive, good and a real trip to the past. Happy Easter.
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