Apetizers- Will Old School Recipes Make Sense to a Younger Generation?

The game was heartwrenching! The quarterback, injured in the first drive of the game, was replaced with a very young freshman. The team played valiantly, making a comeback in the 3rd quarter, but ultimately lost the much sought after national title. Well maybe next year.

So, how did the new/old recipes fare? Well, that depends on your taste and point of view of course…

The starting lineup included: Braunschweiger Apetizers, Lou Gmitro’s Cheese Spread, Oyster Snack Crackers, and Chicken Wings. Could they stand up to the criticism of two college kids and a highly sensitive 14 year old feeling the pains of her hero quarterback? Would the EC (Eternal companion) slam the unfamiliar tastes down before they were even room temperature? What of the Boise local food critic a.k.a. BFF? Here’s the rundown:

Braunschweiger Apetizers (Page 2)

I was feeling all domestic while making this lovely paté and aspic creation until the reveal when my 21 year old daughter shamelessly and loudly (in ear shot of the sensitive 14 year-old with the undeveloped palate) proclaimed it as “meat jello” and vowed never to let such a thing touch her lips. Luckily, I anticipated such a reception. I actually like Braunschweiger since a child but decided to make a half recipe. Whew! Good call! The middle child did recant later to inform me that although this was very beneath her discriminating palate, it was artfully done. A backhanded compliment, but I’ll take it. Aspic creations are apparently passé to most 20-something and younger individuals.

I am not averse to aspic however, and I thought it quite good on freshly sliced, warmed French bread. If you like Braunschweiger, essentially pork liver pate, give it a spin, but beware of aspic where neophytes are concerned. This might be great for a 50’s or 60’s themed party. Here are a few hints: I used Campbell’s Beef consommé bringing it back to normal concentration with a can of water. Since cream cheese doesn’t come in 6 oz packages, you can increase to 8 oz if you don’t have a bagel to schmear the leftovers. One tablespoon of gelatin is a little less than two packets of Knox gelatin and you can probably through the rest in without any harm. Finally, an immersion blender or food processor makes blending the pate ingredients quick business.

Chicken Wings (Page 4)

This was a clear winner among the young and old. Easily made and appealing on a plate. Make sure to have lots of napkins around. Michael believes that all chicken wings should be deep-fried after consuming hundreds at Wingman while serving his LDS mission in the Denver area. Be that as it may, this disappeared quickly.

Lu Gmitro’s Cheese Spread (Page 8)

This measurement absent recipe is tasty if you enjoy a mild curry taste. Here are the adjustments: ¾ cup mayonnaise, ½ to 1 teaspoon curry powder, 2 scallions, 1 or 2 six-oz cans of tiny shrimp. I went with two cans because I like shrimp in every bite. Turn up the heat with a spicier curry.

Oyster Snack Crackers (Page 9)

These heavily dilled crackers were tasty, but making them was a revelation. Plain oyster crackers require oil to carry and keep the seasoning on them without causing them to go mushy. But one cup??!! I couldn’t quite buy off on so much oil so I used two packages of Oyster crackers. This worked well for the seasonings, but I still think you could use the two packages of crackers and cut back to ½ cup of oil. Hidden Valley doesn’t make Italian dressing mix any longer so I substituted Good Seasons Zesty Italian dry mix. You could probably use the ranch dressing mix satisfactorily as well. Cut out or down the amount dill weed if you aren’t a fan.

Grandma Helen's Cookbook

Grandma Helen Burton (Coon) Thomas left a cooking legacy contained in 161 pages of a cookbook she typed herself originally in 1960 and gave to her three children.  By the time a few decades went by, more recipes were included, some of which were contributed by children and grandchildren who also inherited Grandma’s knack for cooking. The new edition was distributed to the cousins and is a standby in their kitchens.

Helen was an amazing person: raised in the hometown of Uncle Sam (Troy, NY), real estate agent  extraordinaire in the Twin Cities, and world traveler among her many talents and pastimes. She loved to entertain, and collected cultural know-how, skills and recipes that have been blessing her progeny ever since.

 Because two of my siblings were born after the second edition was distributed and other books were misplaced, I scanned the cookbook onto a CD for them. As I did so, I realized there were many recipes that I’d never tried before. Many of the recipes are reminiscent of the war years when certain foodstuffs were rationed.  Others are celebrations of 50’s postwar culinary inventions. Some recipes have ingredients which are no longer available or are substantially different than they were originally created.

So friends and family, I have decided to begin a one year adventure in the spirit of the movie “Julie and Julia”.  Two or three times a week I will make recipes contained in the book until they’ve all been checked off, blogging my results afterward.  Many recipes will require some modernization and possibly substitution where ingredients are no longer available.  I pledge to be as faithful to the originals as possible with one caveat.  Where recipes contain coffee, tea or uncooked alcohol, I will be making substitutions or eliminate altogether due to my religious and personal health beliefs. I do keep a limited amount of wine for cooking, but the recipe will require heat or burning off such that the amount alcohol will be reduced to no more than vanilla extract.

 

The perfect event to kick off this journey begins tonight. The National Championship Bowl game will be running and friends and family will be coming to munch. A great opportunity to play with those Appetizer and Drinks recipes.

Grandma Helen was not as well known as Julia Child for her cooking prowess, but among her family, friends and acquaintances, she was an Iron Chef. Get your immersion blenders running, crack those books open and let’s get cooking!