Category: Other

Electric Dishwashers a Hundred Years Ago

Old-fashioned dishwasher
Source: Ladies Home Journal (October, 1926)

A hundred years ago, as more and more homes got electricity, kitchens were rapidly modernizing. By 1926, many homes, especially in the more urban areas, had an electric (or gas) stove and a refrigerator. Some were also getting an electric dishwasher. This is what a magazine said:

The electric dishwasher has eliminated our dishwashing troubles until that happy millennium comes when we will eat our calories and carbohydrates out of pill boxes. Ours, as the picture shows, is a built-in type, connected to the hot water and drain — to my mind, the only efficient way to use a dishwashing machine.

When we are alone or have only one or two guests, the lunch and dinner dishes are scraped and stacked in the dishwasher and then washed with the next morning’s breakfast dishes. Housekeeping experts are in complete accord with this process, because it really is the logical thing to do, and when you are paying for your hot water, it is a matter of economy.

Many people have a mistaken idea of the electric dishwasher — they think the dishes move. The dishes remain stationary; it is the hot water swirling in and out among them which cleanses them. So you see there is no danger of breakage. By using very hot rinse water the dishes in the machine will be dry by the time you have dried the glasses and silver. Very little hot water is used — about two dish-pansful for the washing and rinsing.

The machine, of course, is automatically cleaned as the dishes are washed, so that it requires no extra care. We feel that a labor saver is a labor saver only when properly applied, so we arrange to wash whatever cooking utensils are not taken care of by the machine as the dishes are being washed. As the dishes stay in the machine five minutes, we have time to wash the pots and pans. Then the dishes are rinsed –and a few minutes later finds us leaving the kitchen shipshape.

Wow! The dishes are washed in just 5 minutes. I want one. My dishwasher runs for about two hours.

That said, I found this article difficult to follow. One place in the article, I think that it says that the dishes in the dishwasher are rinsed; another place it sounds like they may not be. It also was not clear whether the author was recommending that glasses and silverware be washed by hand or if they could be put in the dishwasher.

Cost operating kitchen appliances, 1926
Source: Ladies Home Journal (October, 1926)

The article also discusses the cost of operating an electric dishwasher. In 1926, it only cost about $2.50 a year to operate it. A dollar in 1926 is worth about $ 18.93 today. So, in today’s dollars, it would cost about $47.33 to operate it for a year. This compared favorably with current dishwasher operating costs.

According to the Appliance Running Cost website, today the cost of operating a dishwasher ranges from $47 to $152 a year depending upon which cycle is used. The use of an eco/air dry cycle is the least expensive and the heavy/heated cycle is the most expensive.

Baked Corn in Green Peppers

Baked Corn in Green Pepper on plate

The farmers’ market is chock full of wonderful, fresh ,local vegetables. Green peppers and corn are at their peak. So, when I came across a hundred-year-old recipe for Baked Corn in Green Peppers, I decided to give it a try.

I’ve made stuffed peppers numerous times over the years; but, until I saw this recipe, I never thought about stuffing the peppers with a creamy baked corn mixture. This recipe is a tasty stuffed pepper variation. The corn and green peppers work well together.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Baked Corn in Green Peppers
Source: Pennsylvania State Grange Cook Book (1926)

This is a nice recipe, but it needed some tweaking. I think that green peppers were generally much smaller a hundred years ago than they are today. When I made this recipe, I used some medium-sized green peppers which I found at the farmers’ market. They were much smaller than most green peppers sold in supermarkets. Even though the peppers that I used were smaller than most, the recipe only made enough of the corn mixture to fill three green peppers, not six. When I updated the recipe, I indicated that three green peppers should be used rather than six.

I think that this recipe may be missing an ingredient. Whenever I have made Baked Corn in the past, the recipe called for eggs. I don’t think that Baked Corn will properly set without eggs, so I added an egg when I made the recipe. Even with the added egg, it took more than an hour for the baked corn in the green peppers to set, so when I updated the recipe, I indicated that two eggs should be used.

I wasn’t sure how to baste the corn and pepper with water and butter while they baked. Until the baked corn was set and became firm, the top of the Baked Corn in Green Peppers was very wet and did not need any additional liquid. I ended up pouring hot water and melted butter around the green peppers in the baking dish, though I’m not sure that is what the recipe author intended (and I don’t think it was needed, so I didn’t include basting when I updated the recipe).

When I have previously made stuffed peppers, I cut the tops off them and removed the seeds and membranes prior to cooking. I then put them in boiling water, and simmered for 5 minutes or so. I’m not sure why this recipe calls for pouring boiling water over the green peppers before the top, membranes, and skin are removed. That said, it worked fine to scald the green peppers by putting boiling water on the entire peppers. After the stuffed peppers were baked, the peppers were more wrinkled that some other stuffed peppers I have made in the past, but they still had a nice texture. Perhaps this was due to the scalding process, but I’m not sure.

I’m not sure why the recipe author said to “rub off the skin” of the peppers. It sounds like a lot of work, and that it would be easy to tear the green peppers in the process. It is very important to very carefully remove the green peppers’ membranes and seeds, since the corn mixture is very juicy before it is baked, and it would be problematic if the liquid leaked from a tear in a pepper.

I used milk rather than light cream when I made this recipe.

The corn from two fairly large ears made approximately 2 cups of corn.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Baked Corn in Green Peppers

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

3 medium green peppers

water

2 cups fresh corn (the corn and pulp cut from 2 previously cooked large ears of corn) or use 1 16-ounce can of creamed corn

1 1/2 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk or light cream

2 eggs

Step 1. Preheat oven to 375° F.

Step 2. Put enough water in a saucepan to fill it about 2/3’s full. Heat water to a boil, then remove from heat and add the green peppers; cover pan, and let sit for 5 minutes.

Step 3. Remove peppers from the hot water, and dunk in cold water to cool enough to handle. Cut the tops off the scalded peppers, then carefully remove the seeds and membranes. Use care not to tear the skin of the peppers.

Step 4. In the meantime, melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour and salt. Gradually stir in milk or light cream. Heat to boiling, while stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

Step 5. Put eggs in a small bowl; stir until smooth. Place a small amount (approximately 1 – 2 tablespoons) of hot milk/cream  mixture into dish with egg; stir quickly. (The egg is first combined with a little of the hot mixture to prevent it from turning into scrambled eggs when introduced into the hot combination.)  Add egg mixture to the remaining hot mixture in the saucepan; stir. Add the corn and stir.

Step 6. Set the prepared green peppers in a baking dish, and spoon the corn mixture into the green pepper cavities to fill them

Step 7. Bake in oven uncovered until the corn mixture is firm and set (approximately 30 – 40 minutes.)

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

Green Bean Salad (with Nasturtiums)

Green Bean Nasturtium Salad

Cooking with edible flowers is a fun and playful way to change a mundane dish into a  really special, beautiful dish that is a work of art.

I planted nasturtiums this year for the first time in many years. The reason I planted them is because I saw a recipe in a hundred-year-old cookbook for a green bean salad that called for nasturtiums. I’ve been anxiously waiting for the nasturtiums to bloom,  and, finally, they are blooming and I was able to make the recipe.

The Green Bean Salad (with Nasturtiums) was easy to make and tasty, and made a lovely presentation. The green beans are arranged on top of nasturtium leaves. Green onion slices are then sprinkled on top of the green beans, and the salad is garnished with nasturtium flowers. The green beans were lightly coated with a lovely vinaigrette dressing, and the nasturtium leaves have a nuanced sweetness, and mild peppery kick.

I made this salad twice. The first time I snapped the beans into short pieces, which is how I think cooks a hundred years ago would have made the salad. It looked lovely, but then I thought about how green beans often are left whole today, and decided to also make it that way. The salad with the unsnapped beans also looked great, and had a more modern look. (As you can see, I was having fun with this recipe.)

String Bean Salad with nastartiums

Here is the original recipe:

String Bean Salad (with Nasturtiums)
Source: Methodist Ladies Aid Cook Book: 1926 (Culbertson, Nebraska)

The original recipe was called String Bean Salad. Today we often refer to string beans as green beans (and they generally don’t even have strings anymore), so when I updated the recipe, I called it Green Bean Salad. I also included “with nasturtiums” in the recipe title since that is a unique part of this recipe.

I individually plated each serving, but the salad could be put in a serving bowl.

The old recipe called for serving the salad with French Dressing. A hundred years ago, French Dressing was a vinaigrette dressing, and quite different from the commercial, orange-colored French dressing that is common today. There was no recipe for French Dressing in the cookbook that contained the salad recipe, so I used a French Dressing recipe that was  in another 1926 cookbook:

Recipe for French Dressing
Source: The New Winston Cook Book of Guaranteed Recipes (1926)

The French Dressing made more dressing than I needed so I halved the recipe.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Green Bean Salad (with Nasturtiums)

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

1 quart (about 1 pound) green beans

4 small green onions, thinly sliced

approximately 1 cup nasturtium leaves

nasturtium flowers (for garnish)

Step 1. Trim green beans. If desired, snap the beans (or they can be left whole). Lightly steam or boil the beans for about 5 minutes, then chill until cold.

Step 2. Pour French Dressing over the beans (see recipe below), and gently stir to coat beans with the dressing. (If desired, mix a few nasturtium leaves with the beans).  If there is excess dressing on the beans, drain the beans to remove it.

Step 3. Arrange nasturtium leaves on individual serving plates (or they can be arranged in a serving bowl). Top with the green beans that have been coated with French Dressing.

Step 4. Sprinkle the sliced green onions over the green beans.

Step 5. Garnish with nasturtium flowers.

French Dressing (Vinaigrette  Dressing)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon paprika

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon vinegar

Step 1. Put the salt and paprika in a small bowl.

Step 2. Gradually add the olive oil while stirring constantly.

Step 3. Then slowly add the vinegar, a small amount at a time, while continuing to stir.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

Old-Fashioned Macaroni Chicken Salad

Macaroni Chicken Salad in bowl

The season for picnics, reunions, grilling outside, and potlucks is upon us. It is also the season for old-fashioned pasta salads. A hundred-year-old issue of Ladies Home Journal contained a recipe of Macaroni Chicken Salad, and I decided to give it a try.

The Macaroni Chicken Salad differed from many modern pasta salads in that it contained no celery or onion. Instead, the recipe called for a cucumber, as well as for two chopped pimentos (which I interpreted to mean red peppers), in a mayonnaise dressing.

The salad was creamy, colorful, and flavorful. The chopped cucumber added a refreshing crunch, with the chicken providing a slightly savory protein. It would be a perfect side dish at a pot luck or other gathering. It is also lovely as a light lunch or dinner main dish.

Here is the original recipe:

Macaroni Chicken Salad Recipe
Source: Ladies Home Journal (April, 1926)

The original recipe called for one cup of mayonnaise. If this much mayonnaise was used, the salad components would be thickly coated. I wanted a lighter dressing, so used ½ cup of mayonnaise.

I used a boneless chicken breast when making this recipe – though other parts of the chicken (or left-over rotisserie chicken) would also work well. If the water was not salted when making the macaroni (or if the diced chicken did not contain salt), a little salt might enhance the flavor.

I chopped an unpeeled cucumber rather than slicing it.

My sense is that red peppers were smaller a hundred years ago than what they are today, so I used just one red pepper.

I ignored the serving suggestions. I ate this salad for lunch, and it was sufficiently substantive without the addition of brown bread sandwiches. The salad was colorful with just the chopped red pepper and cucumbers, so I did not garnish with julienne strips of red pepper.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Macaroni Chicken Salad

  • Servings: 6 - 8
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

2 cups cold, cooked macaroni (approximately ¾ cup uncooked macaroni)

2 cups cold cooked chicken, coarsely chopped or shredded

1 cucumber, chopped or thinly sliced (about 2 cups)

1 medium red pepper

½ cup mayonnaise

½ teaspoon salt (optional)

Put the macaroni, chicken, cucumber, and red pepper in a bowl; stir gently to mix. Add mayonnaise (and, if desired, salt); stir gently to coat the other ingredients.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

A Hundred Years Ago and Now: Should You Pick Up a Fork that Dropped?

A fork lying on the floor

When dining at a restaurant or a friend’s home, I have accidently dropped a fork onto the floor more times than I can count. Whenever that happens, I’m not quite sure what to do. Should I dive under the table to retrieve it? . . .  If so, should I wipe it off with my napkin and continue using it? . . . or maybe the 5-second rule applies, and I won’t need to wipe it off. (But would others think that is gross?) Or maybe I should ask for another one? . . . but would that call attention to my clumsiness?

I was surprised to discover that this seemingly minor (yet embarrassing issue) was addressed in a hundred-year-old magazine. Which then made me curious about whether the etiquette for dropped forks has changed over the years. Here is what I found.

1926: Dropped Fork Etiquette 

Here’s what the hundred-year-old magazine said:

Why Not Pick Up the Fork You Dropped?

Reasons why you should not pick up that fork are: (1) Because you surely would not use it to eat with, would you, after having fallen on the floor, which – no matter how clean – is not assumed to be so clean as the table? (2) Because, relaxed or repealed as many of the old rules are, it is not yet considered polite to clean off with your table napkin, the dirt which (though invisible) has been contacted by the fallen fork from the floor. Nor would it be correct to dip said fork into your water goblet to cleanse it. (3) Because, after picking up the fork, we are blest if we know what on earth you could do with it!

It should not go right from the floor to the table; it should not be washed in the water goblet nor wiped with the dinner napkin. Neither should it be slipped into the pocket of your dinner partner, nor surreptitiously placed on your own lap. Nor should you leave your seat to take it to the sideboard, nor call a maid to relieve you of its burden.

The worst of this repealing of old rules is that many people do not know which are repealable and which are not.

American Cookery (October, 1926)

2026: Dropped Fork Etiquette

According to the Style for Success: Business Image and Etiquette Training website:

Fallen utensils: Anything that falls on the floor should not go back on the table. Get the server’s attention and leave it for them to take care of. They need to get you a new utensil. (If they wipe it off with a napkin, and hand it back to you – they believe bacteria are weenies too and you’re going to the wrong class of restaurants.)

Etiquette for Dropped Forks Has Not Changed 

Some etiquette rules have changed over the last hundred years while others haven’t. One that has not changed is that, both then and now, you should not retrieve a dropped fork or other flatware when dining at a restaurant or other sit-down meal. Instead ask for a new utensil.

Old-Fashioned Delmonico Potatoes

Delmonico Potatoes in Baking Dish

Delmonico Potatoes have been around for a long time. They were first served in the 1800s at the Delmonico Restaurant in New York City. Rumor has it that Abraham Lincoln enjoyed eating them at that  restaurant.  The Delmonico Restaurant has a long history of developing recipes that have stood the test of time. Eggs Benedict, Chicken a la King, and Lobster Newberg were also purportedly first served there.

Delmonico Potatoes are a creamy, cheesy potato dish. As might be anticipated, given its long history, there are lots of variations. Some Delmonico Potato recipes call for shredded potatoes, others for cubed potatoes, and still other recipes call for sliced potatoes. I found a recipe in a hundred-year-old cookbook that called for cubed potatoes and a little onion in a rich cheesy sauce, and decided to give it a try. That recipe also called for topping the dish with buttered cracker crumbs.

The recipe was a winner. The cheesy sauce was the perfect consistency – not too juicy and not too thick – and it nicely complemented the potatoes. I had few multi-grain table crackers that that I crushed to make the topping  (though I recognize that basic round butter crackers or saltines probably were the type of crackers that were actually used a hundred years ago). I really liked the way they looked and tasted. They added a bit of crunchiness to the dish. I definitely plan on making it again – maybe as soon as next week when my daughter will be visiting.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Delmonica Potatoes
Source: Pennsylvania State Grange Cook Book (1926)

I think that the name of this recipe is misspelled in the 1926 cookbook, and that it should be “Delmonico Potatoes” rather than “Delmonica Potatoes,” so that is the spelling I used when updating the recipe.

Since I didn’t have 2 cups of left-over potatoes, I peeled and diced 4 medium potatoes. I then covered the potatoes with water and cooked them. After the diced potatoes had softened (about 10-12 minutes), I removed the potatoes from the heat and drained them. I then proceeded with assembling the recipe using the warm potatoes.

This recipe’s directions are a little difficult to understand. One place it calls for 1/4 cup melted butter (and the same sentence also refers to white sauce which would contain butter). Two sentences later, the recipe explains how to make the white sauce, indicating that 2 tablespoons butter should be used. Near the end of the recipe, it indicates that the cracker crumbs are “buttered crumbs.” I interpreted all of this to mean that the white sauce should be made using 2 tablespoons of butter, and that the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter should be melted and the cracker crumbs should then be stirred into the butter.

Over my years of doing this blog, I’ve seen many vague measurement terms (dash, pinch, etc.), but a “shaving” of onion was new for me. I decided to finely chop 3 tablespoons of onion and layer it with the potatoes and cheese – though that may not be exactly the intent of the recipe author.

I used cheddar cheese when I made this recipe.

Delmonico Potatoes in baking dish

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Delmonico Potatoes

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

2 cups potatoes (about 4 medium potatoes), peeled and diced into 1/2 inch pieces

1/3 cup grated cheddar cheese

3 tablespoons finely chopped onions

2 tablespoons butter + 2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 1/4 cups milk

paprika

1/2 cup cracker crumbs (I crushed 5 multi-grain table crackers. Classic round butter crackers would also work well.)

Step 1. Preheat oven to 400° F.

Step 2. Put the diced potatoes in a saucepan. Cover with water; bring to a boil using high heat, then reduce heat and simmer until the potatoes are soft (about 10-12 minutes). Remove from heat and drain.

Step 3. In the meantime, put 2 tablespoons of melted butter and the cracker crumbs in a small bowl. Stir to coat the cracker crumbs with the butter. Set aside.

Step 4. Additionally, in the meantime, make a white sauce. Using medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in another saucepan. Stir in the flour, salt, and pepper. Slowly add the milk while stirring continuously. Continue stirring until the liquid thickens.

Step 5. Assemble this dish by putting one-third of the cooked diced potatoes in a 1-quart baking dish. Put one-third of the chopped onions on top of the potatoes, then spread one-third of the grated cheese on top of the potatoes and onions. Repeat until all the potatoes, onions, and cheese are layered in the baking dish.

Step 6. Pour the white sauce over the layers in the baking dish, then sprinkle with paprika. Top by spreading the buttered crackers on top.

Step 7. Put in the oven and bake until the dish is hot and bubbly (about 25 – 30 minutes if warm diced potatoes were used; longer if they were cold.)

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

Old-Fashioned Pork Chops with Tomato Sauce

Pork Chops with Tomato Sauce in Skillet

Dishes made using condensed canned soups are stereotypical of mid-20th century cuisine. However, there were recipes that called for canned soups long before that. According to Wikipedia, condensed canned soups were first introduced in 1897. And, recipe authors began listing them as an ingredient in the early 20th century. I recently came across a 1926 recipe for Pork Chops with Tomato Sauce that called for condensed tomato soup.

The Pork Chops with Tomato Sauce were easy to make, made a lovely presentation, and were very tasty. The pork chops were seared on the top of the stove, and then slowly baked in the tomato soup.

I’m sure that I’ll make this recipe again. The pork chops were juicy and tender with a lovely, flavorful tomato sauce.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Pork Chops with Tomato Sauce
Source: Westminster Cook Book 1926 (Cherokee, Iowa)

This recipe is very flexible. The original recipe called for 6 to 8 pork chops, but I only made two pork chops. My skillet was large so I used the entire can of condensed tomato soup, but I could have easily just used half of the can of soup, and reserved the remainder to make a serving of soup. Similarly, if desired, as indicated in the original recipe, up to 6 to 8 pork chops could be made using one can of soup.

I seared the pork chops on top of the stove before pouring the tomato soup over them. I then placed them in the oven. The old recipe does not explicitly indicate that the pork chops should be seared, but I decided to do it to help seal in the meat juices.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Pork Chops with Tomato Sauce

  • Servings: 2
  • Difficulty: moderate
  • Print

2 pork chops*

2 tablespoons cooking oil (avocado oil, canola oil, olive oil)

1/2 can condensed tomato soup*

butter

salt and pepper

* If desired, more than two pork chops may be used, as long as they comfortably fit in the skillet. If additional pork chops are added, or if a large skillet is used, use the entire can of soup. 

Step 1. Preheat oven to 350° F.

Step 2. Put the cooking oil in a cast iron skillet (or other heavy oven-proof skillet). On the top of the stove, heat the skillet using medium to medium-high heat. Put the pork chops in the pan and sear for 3 minutes; flip and sear the other side for 3 minutes.

Step 3. Remove from heat and spoon the condensed soup over the pork chops; spread the soup to thickly cover the pork chops. Extra soup should be spooned into the pan.

Step 4. Dot the smothered pork chops with small pieces of butter, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Step 5. Cover skillet (the skillet may be covered with aluminum foil if there is no lid) and place in oven. Bake for 1-2 hours depending on the thickness of the pork chops. (Check pork chops after an hour to make sure that there is still sufficient liquid in the skillet.) (I baked medium thick pork chops for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.)

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com