Finis 1923

Poem about end of year — Source: General Welfare Guild Cook Book (Beaver Valley General Hospital, New Brighton, PA, 1923)

The last page of a hospital auxiliary cookbook published in 1923 had this poem. It fits my mood as 2023 comes to an end. I’ve really enjoyed exploring 1923 cookbooks this year to find foods to make for this blog.

I always do recipes on my Sunday post, so there actually will be one more post on December 31 that contains a 1923 recipe. As I browsed through my 1923 cookbooks one last time to select that recipe, it felt a bit bittersweet. There are so many wonderful 1923 recipes that I never had a chance to make – and that I now will never make as I retire my 1923 cookbooks to the bookshelves in the basement family room; but, at the same time, I can hardly wait to start looking through a whole new (actually old) group of 1924 cookbooks.

Have a happy new year! And, thank you to all the readers that I’ve gotten to know over the past 12 years. You’re awesome. You have made this journey so much fun, and I’ve learned so much from you and your comments. I look forward to exploring 1924 foods with you next year.

Old-Fashioned Turkey Tetrazzini

Turkey Tetrazzini

Merry Christmas!

It’s always so exciting preparing foods for the holidays (I’m currently in that mode), but I also know that I need to plan for the inevitable left-overs, so I’m sharing a lovely hundred-year-old recipe for Turkey Tetrazzini that I found. It is a great way to use some of that left-over turkey.

Here’s the original recipe:

Turkey Tetrazzini Recipe — Source: The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book (1923)

The recipe calls for a lot of salt – one teaspoon salt plus 1/2 teaspoon celery salt, so I reduced the amount of salt to 1/2 teaspoon when I updated the recipe. I used a 4-ounce can of mushroom (stems and pieces) instead of fresh mushrooms.

The original recipe calls for putting the Turkey Tetrazzini in individual-serving ramekins (which would look very elegant), but I just put it all in one casserole dish. I used a 750-ml casserole dish and it was very full. A 1-quart dish would work well.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Turkey Tetrazzini

Servings: 3-4
Time: 40 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
Print

2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoons celery salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup cooked spaghetti, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (about 1 ounce of uncooked spaghetti)

1 cup cold turkey, cut into thin strips

1 8-ounce can stems and pieces mushrooms

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3/4 cup cracker crumbs (Use saltine crackers or other similar plain cracker; put in a plastic bag and roll with a rolling pin to get the crumbs)

butter

Preheat oven to 375° F. Put butter in a skillet or saucepan. Melt using medium heat, then stir in the flour, salt, celery salt, and pepper. Gradually, add the cream while stirring constantly. Continue stirring until the white sauce begins to thicken. Stir in the cooked spaghetti pieces, then gently stir in the turkey strips and mushrooms. Put in a 750 ml or 1-quart casserole dish. Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese and cracker crumbs on top. Dot with small pieces of butter. Bake in oven until the top is lightly browned (about 20 minutes).

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

1923 Baker’s Chocolate Advertisement

Advertisement for Baker's Chocolate — Source: Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, 1923 editon

Wow! Based on the information in this hundred-year-old advertisement in the 1923 edition of the Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, Baker’s Chocolate has been around for 243 holiday baking seasons.

I’m intrigued by this advertisement because, I posted a very similar advertisement in 2021 from the 1921 edition of the Boston Cooking-School Cook Book. Here’s the image I used from the 1921 cookbook:

It’s fascinating how there are many tiny formatting differences there are across the two years. For example, “Registered U.S. Pat. Office” is two lines in the 1921 advertisement but has morphed into one line that says, “Reg. U.S. Pat. Off.” by 1923. The border frame is also slightly different on the two ads, and, most intriguing of all, the woman’s face and hair have been tweaked. Why did a graphic designer decide that these changes were needed?

Old-Fashioned Mulled Cider

mug of mulled cider Hot mulled cider makes a delightful holiday drink. I found an easy and tasty mulled cider recipe in a hundred-year-old cookbook.

Here’s the original recipe:

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Mulled Cider

Servings: 3 - 4
Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Print

1 quart cider

4 tablespoons sugar

1 cinnamon stick

1 tablespoon whole cloves

Put cider and sugar in a large saucepan. Add cinnamon stick and cloves tied into a cheesecloth bag. Bring to a boil using medium heat; reduce heat to low. Remove cinnamon and cloves before serving. Serve hot.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

1923 Advice on How Much to Spend on Gifts

wrapped package It’s always hard to know how much to spend on gifts. Here’s what it says in a hundred-year-old home economics textbook:

Gifts

At the end of the year many persons who do not keep accounts would be very much surprised if they could see the total sum of money that has been devoted to gifts. Some would be impressed by the smallness of the total sum, and others would be astonished at the disproportionately large amount used. This represents money used for others, but it cannot be taken as a very valuable index of generosity toward others. The money devoted to church and benevolence is a better indication of generosity.

Gifts are given very frequently to persons from whom gifts are received and it very often happens that they are chosen with the idea of equaling in value a gift received. Very frequently gifts represent a money value entirely out of proportion to the income. This class of expenditures may well receive a more careful consideration by many persons. One’s real regard and generosity to friends never can be measured in money and it is unfortunate to put such emphasis upon gifts.

Economics of the Family by C.W. Taber and Ruth A Wardall (1923)

Smith College Fudge Recipe

fudge on plate

I make a “new” hundred-year-old candy recipe each December. This year I flipped through several 1923 cookbooks trying to decide which sweet confection to make – and ended up going with a recipe called Smith College Fudge that I found in a hospital auxiliary cookbook from western Pennsylvania.

The name intrigued me. Was this fudge commonly made by Smith College students? And, how did a fudge named after a college in Massachusetts end up in a western Pennsylvania cookbook?

This recipe was a winner. This classic fudge was rich and melted in my mouth. It contained a small amount of molasses which is not typically included in modern fudge recipes. The molasses made the fudge more flavorful in a delightful, nuanced way.

Here’s the original recipe:

Recipe for Smith College Fudge — Source: General Welfare Guild Cook Book (Beaver Valley General Hospital, New Brighton, PA, 1923)

Chocolate squares are smaller now than they used to be. A square once was 1 ounce; today the squares for many brands are only 1/2 ounce. When I made this recipe, I assumed that the author was referring to the larger chocolate squares of yesteryear, so used 4 squares (2 ounces) instead of the two that the recipe called for. I melted the chocolate prior to mixing with the other ingredients rather than grating it. I also added walnuts when I made this recipe.

Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:

Smith College Fudge

Servings: About 45 pieces
Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: moderate
Print

1/4 cup butter

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate (4 squares of many brands), melted

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup walnuts (optional)

Put white sugar, brown sugar, molasses, and cream in a bowl; stir to combine. Set aside.

In the meantime, melt butter in a saucepan. Stir in the sugar and cream mixture. Using medium heat, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, but continue to boil while stirring rapidly for three minutes. Then add the melted chocolate and boil gently for an additional five minutes; stir rapidly at first, and then stir less towards the end. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Continue stirring until the mixture thickens. If desired, stir in walnuts. Pour into an 8″ X 8″ buttered pan and set in the refrigerator until cool. Then cut into pieces.

http://www.ahundredyearsago.com

1923 Skinner’s Macaroni Advertisement

Advertisement for Skinner's Macaroni — Source: American Cookery (June/July, 1923)

Until I saw this hundred-year-old advertisement, I had never heard of Skinner’s Macaroni – though it may be a regional food that still exists. When I googled “Skinner’s Macaroni,” I came across an Albertson’s webpage for Skinner Macaroni Twirls. I also came across an “Our Story” page for J. Skinner Baking in Omaha, Nebraska which said that “The Skinner family has been in the food business since the late 1800s, so there’s a good chance your grandparents grew up on Skinner Macaroni and other Skinner family products.” It looked like the company now makes pastries.