Month: September 2024

Hundred-Year-Old Suggestions for a Friendly Dining Room

Dining Room
Source: Good Housekeeping (December, 1924)

Caption about dining rooms

Dining Room
Source: Good Housekeeping (December, 1924)

A 1924 issue of Good Housekeeping had the following suggestions for ensuring that a dining room is friendly and welcoming:

The dining room of all rooms in the house, should have a sprit of friendliness. It may be dignified or it may be gay, but it should be a room which is conducive to the brighter, more sparkling side of life. Here the family meets three times a day. A sunny room in the morning will do much to make breakfast a pleasanter meal. A room prettily lighted at night, with a colorful background, may make dinner a happy as well as a necessary function. Just as a living room should be a place of comfort – somewhere to write, somewhere to read – so the dining room should be a place of cheer. The happiest families are those who taboo all the serious, annoying topics and reserve meal times for the lighter, gayer sort of conversation.

By reason of its definitely prescribed use, the dining room and the arrangement of the furniture can be varied but little, but this does not limit the choice of interesting background, in floor covering or wall color. The dining room is in many homes, the “step-child” room of the house, where color and design have been forgotten in an altogether utilitarian arrangement, whereas in the rooms we show, everything has been chosen to give color, ease, and charm.

Source: Good Housekeeping (December, 1924)

Old-Fashioned Leeks (and Potatoes) au Gratin

Leeks au Gratin

It’s so much fun to go to the farmers’ market. The variety of produce available is at its peak, and it’s wonderful to support local farmers who sell incredibly fresh vegetables and fruits. When I go to the farmer’s market I always quickly walk through the entire area to see what looks particularly enticing, and then go around a second time to make my purchases. This past week several sellers had lovely leeks, so I decided that it was time to dig out my hundred-year-old cookbooks and find a leek recipe.

I found a lovely recipe for Leeks au Gratin. The title of the old recipe wasn’t totally accurate because it also called for potatoes. Regardless of whether this recipe is called Leeks au Gratin or Leeks and Potatoes au Gratin, it’s a winner. Sliced leeks and potatoes are smothered in a white sauce, and then topped with cheese and bread crumbs. The delicate, slightly sweet, mild onion-flavored leeks well paired with the earthy potatoes to create a rustic side dish.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Leeks au Gratin
Source: The New Butterick Cook Book (1924)

Twelve leeks and six potatoes seemed like a lot, so I halved the recipe when I made it. The halved recipes fit into a 1-quart baking dish.

I put a little salt and pepper in the white sauce rather than sprinkling it on top of the cheese and bread crumb topping.

The recipe calls for a relatively small amount of white sauce compared to many recipes for “creamed” or “au gratin” vegetables, but it worked fine, and I was pleased with how the recipe turned out.

I layered the leek and potato slices in the baking dish, and put half of the white sauce of top of them after doing the first layers.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Leeks (and Potatoes) au Gratin

  • Servings: 3 - 4
  • Difficulty: moderate
  • Print

6 leeks

3 medium potatoes

1/2 teaspoon salt + 1/2 teaspoon salt + 1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon flour

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/2  cup milk

1/4 cup grated cheese (I used cheddar.)

1/3 cup fine bread crumbs (I grated a slice of bread to get the bread crumbs.)

Preheat oven to 350° F. Clean and trim the leeks. Slice the white and light green parts of the leeks into 1/2-inch pieces.  Place in a saucepan and cover with water; add 1/2 teaspoon salt. Using high heat bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cook until the leeks are tender (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat and drain.

Peel and then slice the potatoes into 1/4-inch slices. (If the slices are large, cut each slice in half.) Place in another saucepan, and cover with water; add 1/2 teaspoon salt. Using high heat bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cook until the sliced potatoes are tender (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat and drain.

In the meantime, in another pan, using medium heat, melt  butter, then stir in the flour,  1/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Gradually, add the milk while stirring constantly. Continue stirring until the white sauce begins to thicken.

Put 1/2 of the cooked potatoes in a baking dish. (I used a 1-quart baking dish.). Add 1/2 of the cooked leeks. Spread 1/2 of the white sauce over the vegetables in the dish. Add the remainder of the potatoes, and then the remainder of the leeks. Spread the rest of the white sauce over the vegetables in the dish. Sprinkle the grated cheese, and then the bread crumbs, on top. Bake for 15 minutes or until hot and the bread crumbs are lightly browned.

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