Seasonal Ontario Food

There are only 64 recipes under the heading "Canning and Preserving". And yet they have had more page views than the rest of the blog put together. In fact, I think my most popular recipe from this section might have more page views just by itself than the rest of the blog put together. All that means, I suppose, is that people look for canning and preserving recipes more often than they do other recipes. That, and that one recipe was linked at a much more popular site than mine.

And there we are; the highlight of ten years of blogging. Now, having spent a week celebrating, I need a break. I'll probably post a few things - certainly a garden update - but mostly I am going to take the rest of the month off. (I thought these would be quick posts to put together, but no. It would have been much faster just to cook something.)

I would still love to hear from people - what have you made? What worked, what didn't work, what would you like to see in the future?

Oh goody! Desserts! Not really what I try to make this place about, but I love 'em and so do most people. I try to keep the fat and sugar down to a dull roar when I do make a dessert, and to put fruit (in season!) front and forward. They sure do break down to a lot of categories I'm afraid; but perhaps that isn't really a problem as I can choose more... I still can't quite count to ten but whatever.

I had this idea that I don't make a lot of pies but apparently not true.

I have a little expression, "The cook is never a fussy eater." Meaning the cook is just as fussy as anybody, but since they get to choose what gets cooked, it's always what they like. My desserts fall into that category. I think I make the best desserts ever, but I will have to concede that that is because they are so exactly tailored to my tastes, not through any extraordinary talent. I hope they suit some other people too. 

Here are the recipes that to me define the purpose of this blog. There is any amount of information out there about cooking meat based dishes, vegetarian cookbooks abound, and the making of desserts is an art and a science and yet a good dessert is easily had. But damn, it can be so hard to find a nice, simple vegetable side dish that isn't swimming in butter, cream, cheese, bacon etc, and yet has that special touch that makes it stand out. I get all excited when I come up with one. (But you'll also note that I'm don't exactly turn down the butter, cream, etc when it seems like a good idea.)

Ten recipes won't cover my enthusiasm for these, but ten recipes for each vegetable seems excessive, so I'll go with breaking them down by season. That's admittedly a very crude division. Some things are available for months, with others if you miss the week they are available they are gone. Still, here goes...

More main dishes, the meaty ones this time. In spite of how much I like vegetables I have to confess I could never be a vegetarian. I'm a little surprised to review things and see how much pork we eat, and I'm definitely shy on the fish recipes. I think that's because I am perfectly happy to eat it pretty plain. Judging by this list I also have a taste for the classic dishes, and braising is a favourite cooking technique. Sounds about right, I have to say.

And apparently meat dishes get put on my oval Chinese platters. Huh, okay.

Another day, another set of lists. Today I am celebrating the vegetarian main dishes; the ones that take centre stage and fill you up. I've broken them down into 3 groups but of course they are not as cooperative as all that and some could have gone in a couple of lists.

Ten years of blogging! There's been a whole lot of food under the bridge in that time. I thought I'd try to narrow down some of my favourites, and some of the most popular recipes from Seasonal Ontario Food. So, some LISTS, every day for the rest of the week. I'll start at the beginning with Appetizers and Hors d'oeuvres, Soups, and Salads. These are in order of publication, no other order intended or implied, although I am going to put in my most popular post of each category.

AND HEY! I want to know - what ones are YOUR favourites?

Today is Seasonal Ontario Food's 10th Blogaversary! Seasonal Ontario Food is 10 years old today!

It all started when repairs were being made to the stairs in our apartment building and I had to make a choice to go out all day, or to stay in all day. I opted to stay in, got bored, and the rest is history. Little did I know what I was getting into.

I went back and perused my earliest recipes in a fit of nostalgia; some of them were awfully simple. Simple is a theme of this blog but I posted things then I wouldn't post now. On the other hand, my very first recipe was a salad I really enjoyed then and still regard as very fine (and it's in season at the moment!) There are also some recipes from the early years that have not been noticed as much as they should have been, as I had next to no readers in those days. Today and tomorrow I am going to highlight some of my favourites from over the years, including some of those early ones.

In keeping with the idea of simplicity I have tried to avoid buying new dishes or gadgets just to have new props for the blog. Consequently people will recognize the dishes and table cloths that show up again and again. I also don't make food just to "pose" it. You see it; we ate it. Sometimes it's hard to get the light right and set things up nicely when everybody is already sitting at the table, forks in hand, waiting, waiting...  I also went with the plainest blog design and have kept photos a very similar size/proportion to keep a simple and unified look. Too plain? Maybe, but it's my style, and I was and remain an amateur in both senses of the word.

Still, right from the beginning I wanted to get out of my own kitchen and post about what other people were doing with Ontario food. The last few years I have struggled to be able to do that, as family obligations have kept me close to home. I still hope that I will be able to do more jaunting about and sticking my nose in other people's business in the future. So today I am going to revisit 10 of my favourite outings. I'm also going to link to a few of the rants I've gone on, which I think help illuminate my philosophy of food. As for the future... well, I hope there will be one. I admit that I don't find myself too wildly optimistic about much at the moment, including the future of local food.

Domestic Expenditure.

The mistress of a family should always remember, that the welfare and good management of the house depend on the eye of the superior; and consequently that nothing is too trifling for her notice, whereby waste may be avoided. If a lady has never been accustomed while single to think of family management, let her not on that account fear that she cannot attain it. She may consult others who are experienced, and acquaint herself with the necessary quantities of the several articles of family expenditure, in proportion to the number it consists of, together with the value of the articles it may be necessary to procure. A minute account of the annual income, and the times of payment, should be taken in writing; likewise an estimate of the supposed amount of each item of expense. Those who are early accustomed to calculations of this kind, will acquire so accurate a knowledge of what their establishment demands, as will suggest the happy medium between prodigality and parsimony, without in the least subjecting themselves to the charge of meanness.

Few branches of female education are so useful as great readiness at figures, though nothing is more commonly neglected. Accounts should be regularly kept, and not the smallest item be omitted to be entered. If balanced every week, or month at longest, the income and outgoings will easily be ascertained, and their proportions to each other be duly observed. Some people fix on stated sums to be appropriated to each different article, and keep the money separate for that purpose; as house, clothes, pocket, education of children, &c. Whichever way accounts be entered, a certain mode should be adopted, and strictly adhered to. Many women are unfortunately ignorant of the state of their husband's income; and others are only made acquainted with it when some speculative project, or profitable transaction, leads them to make a false estimate of what can be afforded. It too often happens also that both parties, far from consulting each other, squander money in ways that they would even wish to forget: whereas marriage should be a state of mutual and perfect confidence, with a similarity of pursuits, which would secure that happiness it was intended to bestow.

There are so many valuable women who excel as wives, that it is fair to infer there would be few extravagant ones, if they were consulted by their husbands on subjects that concern the mutual interest of both parties. Many families have been reduced to poverty by the want of openness in the man, on the subject of his affairs; and though on these occasions the women are generally blamed, it has afterwards appeared that they never were allowed to make particular enquiries, nor suffered to reason upon what sometimes appeared to them imprudent. Many families have fully as much been indebted to the propriety of female management, for the degree of prosperity they have enjoyed, as to the knowledge and activity of the husband and the father.

Ready money should be paid for all such things as come not into weekly bills, and even for them some sort of check is necessary. The best places for purchasing goods should also be attended to. On some articles a discount of five per cent is allowed in London and other large cities, and those who thus pay are usually best served. Under an idea of buying cheap, many go to new shops; but it is safest to deal with people of established credit, who do not dispose of goods by underselling. To make tradesmen wait for their money is very injurious, besides that a higher price must be paid: and in long bills, articles never bought are often charged. If goods are purchased at ready-money price, and regularly entered, the exact state of the expenditure will be known with ease; for it is delay of payment that occasions so much confusion. A common-place book should always be at hand, in which to enter such hints of useful knowledge, and other observations, as are given by sensible experienced people. Want of attention to what is advised, or supposing things to be too minute to be worth regarding, are the causes why so much ignorance prevails on necessary subjects, among those who are not backward in frivolous ones.

It is very necessary for the mistress of a family to be informed of the price and quality of all articles in common use, and of the best times and places for purchasing them. She should also be acquainted with the comparative prices of provisions, in order that she may be able to substitute those that are most reasonable, when they will answer as well, for others of the same kind, but which are more costly. A false notion of economy leads many to purchase as bargains, what is not wanted, and sometimes never is used. Were this error avoided, more money would remain of course for other purposes. It is not unusual among lower dealers to put off a larger quantity of goods, by assurances that they are advancing in price; and many who supply fancy articles are so successful in persuasion, that purchasers not unfrequently go beyond their original intention, and suffer inconvenience by it. Some things are certainly better for keeping, and should be laid in accordingly; but this applies only to articles in constant consumption. Unvarying rules cannot be given, for people ought to form their conduct on their circumstances. Some ladies charge their account with giving out to a superintending servant such quantities of household articles, as by observation and calculation they know to be sufficient, reserving for their own key the large stock of things usually laid in for extensive families in the country. Should there be more visitors than usual, they can easily account for an increased consumption, and vice versa. Such a degree of judgment will be respectable even in the eye of domestics, if not interested in the ignorance of their employers; and if they are, their services will not compensate the want of honesty.

A bill of parcels and receipt should be required, even if the money be paid at the time of purchase; and to avoid mistakes, let the goods be compared with these when brought home. Though it is very disagreeable to suspect any one's honesty, and perhaps mistakes are often unintentional; yet it is proper to weigh meat and grocery articles when brought in, and compare them with the charge. The butcher should be ordered to send the weight with the meat, and the checks regularly filed and examined. A ticket should be exchanged for every loaf of bread, which when returned will shew the number to be paid for, as tallies may be altered, unless one is kept by each party. Those who are served with brewer's beer, or any other articles not paid for weekly or on delivery, should keep a book for entering the dates: which will not only serve to prevent overcharges, but will show the whole year's consumption at one view. `Poole's complete Housekeeper's Account book,' is very well adapted to this purpose.

From The Cook and Housekeepers Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, In All Its Various Branches, Adapted to the Use of Private Families, Also a Variety of Original and Valuable Information. By Mary Eaton, and published in 1823. Actually, the title was longer than that, but I got tired of writing it out. I do love a good old-fashioned book title. No messing around in those days. I also love Project Gutenberg, which gives access to so many wonderful old books.

Personal finances are a topic that have been much in the news and in people's minds these last few years, and it's extremely interesting to see what changes have occurred and what things remain constant.

Our ideas about sex and money - what belongs to who between men and women, and how it is apportioned and managed - have changed drastically since the time this book was written. (And yet, Mary Eaton's expectations about it would not have been completely out-of-date as few as 30 years ago.) What has changed even more drastically is the way in which we relate to servants. What servants? Precisely.

On the other hand, I read her ideas about keeping track of household expenditures with recognition and approval. Of course I use Quickbooks, and not Poole's Complete Housekeepers Account Book, but presumably the intent and results are very similar. As for keeping track of all receipts properly - well, duh. One of the reasons I actually like to use debit and credit cards is that at the end of the month I can compare the receipts and the printed bills, and make sure they match. I'm always astonished to see the number of people at ATMs or check-out counters who leave their receipts behind. How on earth do they keep track of their expenditures? I have to assume they don't, really.

Seeing the "whole year's consumption at one view" is also highly instructive. People are often surprised when we (can!) tell them that we spent $5,573.26 last year on our car, not including depreciation (i.e, the car itself,) even though our car is old and long since paid for. That's because an awful lot of people think of their car expenses as the monthly payment, and fail to add up their gas, oil changes, maintenance and repairs, car washes, parking and insurance. If more people kept track of their real car expenses, we might be much less of a car-owning culture. I don't think it's unusual for people to spend one third or more of their working lives supporting their cars. How many of them even know it?

To pull this back to the subject of food, it really is instructive to see how much money we spend on food, and what proportion of that is spent on groceries, and what proportion is spent on restaurants. I feel like we eat out at restaurants a great deal less than many people, and yet when we compare the figures we are inevitably shocked and vow to eat out even less. And we are not at all prone to buying much in the way of drinks and snacks at coffee shops - how much money can evaporate there without people even realizing it?

I'm at a wedding today - the second one this month. I noticed that in both cases guests were offered a choice of chicken, beef or vegetarian entrees, with appetizers before and dessert after, followed by another round of dessert when the wedding cake is served.

I thought I would look up a wedding menu from an old cookbook of mine: Mrs. A.B. Marshall's Cookery Book. There is no date in this book, but judging from the illustrations it's from the late 1870's or early 1880's. Mrs Marshall was the Martha Stewart of her day, running a successful cooking school and mail-order business in London, as well as publishing a cookbook that went through many editions, right into the 1930's.

At any rate I didn't find a menu for a wedding, and so will have to leave you with a menu for a ball. Let us suppose it is a wedding-ball.



Goodness. That'll keep the scullery maid hopping.

It's interesting to see that some of it is, by modern standards, far too fancy to consider serving to "400 or 500" poeople; things like the Mayonnaise de Homard a la Gelée, or the Perdreau a la Souvaroff, while other things are perfectly possible, although possibly deemed not fancy enough; sandwiches, pickled herrings, anchovy straws and olives. The last two are probably festive enough, just not worth actually putting on the menu.

And what the heck are "Jumeaux Siamois"? Yes, I know they're Siamese (conjoined) twins, but presumably not actual Siamese twins. That would be... disconcerting, to say the least. I don't think even the Victorians were quite that decadent.

Well, I'm off for my apps-chicken-dessert-cake wedding dinner. I don't think I'll be coming away hungry, although I will spare a pang for the Bavarois aux Pistaches, which I'm sure was fab.

When you get to the end of the Canadian Farm Cook Book, there is a chapter of miscellaneous recipes. A number of them are for chocolate, tea and coffee, but there are also some non-food items, which could loosely be described as household hints. These were found in most old cook books, and they make for fascinating reading.

I'll start with the drinks though:

"COCOA. - Cocoa is a tasty drink when properly made, and one of the least injurious. For 1 cup take 2 level teaspoons of cocoa and the same quantity of sugar, stir together and add water drop by drop, stirring constantly until a smooth, even paste has been secured. The success of the drink depends largely on the care used in thus mixing the water and cocoa. Place 1/2 cup milk over fire and allow it to heat until it begins to simmer around the sides of the pan, add the cocoa and allow it to come to the boiling point. Then remove from the fire and beat vigorously for 2 or 3 minutes. This beats the air into it and removes the heaviness from the cocoa, making it a lighter and more refreshing drink. This makes 1 cup. - Miss Blanche Stone, 505 Brunswick Avenue, Toronto."

"COFFEE SECRETS. - The almost imperceptible flavour of vanilla is a great improvement to coffee; add a teaspoon of vanilla extract to coffee for 4 persons just before serving.

A pinch of salt in coffee helps to give a delicate flavor.

In France and Norway coffee is roasted fresh every morning on a covered shovel kept in constant motion over the fire; a piece of butter the size of a walnut and a dessertspoon of powdered sugar to three pounds of green coffee added while roasting is said to bring out both flavor and aroma and to give the caramel taste so enjoyed by tourists in those countries.

White of an egg (the yolk should never be used) clears the coffee, but too much spoils the flavour.

Coffee essence, very useful in travelling or camping, may be made as follows: 1/4 pound of ground coffee put in a percolator and simmer in 1 pint of boiling water; allow it to filter, not boil, for about 20 minutes; when cool, cork tightly in bottle or can.

2 tablespoons in a breakfast cup of hot milk makes a delicious and easily prepared drink. - H. A. T., Buffalo, N.Y. - By Courtesy of "Delineator."

Although Canadians used to be more known as tea drinkers than coffee drinkers - I'm not sure how true that was - there are several more recipes for coffee, and by comparison tea gets short shrift;

"TEA. - Allow 1 teaspoon of tea to each person. Have the teapot hot and then put in the tea; pour over the boiling water until steeper is a little more than half full; cover tightly and let it stand where it will keep hot but not boil. Let it steep thus for 10 or 15 minutes and then, if desired, pour into a separate tea urn, adding more boiling water, in proportion of 1 cup of water for every teaspoon of dry tea used. Have hot water kettle of copper, brass or ordinary pitcher, if it will keep water almost at boiling point, and weaken tea to suit taste. Do not use water for tea that has boiled long. Spring water is the best for tea, and filtered water the next best.

TEA A LA RUSSE is made in the same way and served with a slice of lemon either in cup and tea poured over it, or placed on saucer beside cup. Rind is always left on. No cream is used in this tea. - Mrs. Joseph Woodrow, Richmond Hill, Ont."

That's the entire section on tea. It's mostly very good advice, although I can't imagine steeping it for 15 MINUTES!!! then diluting. Still strong enough to trot a mouse. Steep it for 4 minutes exactly, that's what I say, then take the tea ball or tea bags out, and serve it diluted only by milk, sugar or lemon, if wanted.

Okay, now that you have a nice cup of the hot beverage of your choice, let's see what else they have.

"TO PREVENT RED ANTS. - Put 1 pint of tar in an earthen vessel, pour on it 2 quarts of boiling hot water and place it in your closet."

You know what the next recipe is going to be, don't you? Oh yes, you do:

"TO REMOVE TAR. - Rub well with clean lard, afterwards wash with soap and warm water. Apply this to either hands or clothing."

From there we jump to:

"TO TAKE INK OUT OF LINEN. - Dip the part in pure tallow melted, then wash out the tallow and the ink will disappear."

which seems like the same advice, really. But this is a new topic;

"CURE FOR RINGWORM. - Put a penny into a tablespoon of vinegar, let it remain until it becomes green. Wash the ringworm with this 2 or 3 times a day.

CURE FOR RHEUMATISM AND BILIOUS HEADACHE. - Finest turkey rhubarb 1/2 ounce, carbonate magnesia 1 ounce, mix alternately, keep well corked in glass bottle. Dose, 1 teaspoon in milk and sugar the first thing in the morning. Repeat until cured. Tried with success."

From medicine we move to household decorating;

"CHEAP PAINT FOR KITCHEN FLOOR. - And one that cleans off easily. - Apply paint with a cheap white-wash brush, and oil with a paint brush. 5 pounds bright yellow ochre, 2 pounds powdered white lead, 1/4 pound white glue, 1 gallon hard water. Boil altogether and be careful it does not boil over and apply to floor while still hot. When dry take 1 gallon boiled oil and go over it. This recipe will cover a floor 15 x 15 ft. Some like a little red ochre in it. - Mrs Edwin B. Kerns, Zimmerman P. O. Ont."

Well, that explains why they didn't worry about their methods for canning meat. Do you suppose they used the same pot? If they did, they could clean it with

"COSTICK SOAP. - 5 pounds costick (40 cents worth), 20 quarts soft water, 25 pounds grease or scraps; boil all together in kettle for 2 hours, then add 1 cup salt; let stand over night after covering it up well. Next day cut soap out, boil again, with 10 quarts soft water, 1/4 pound borax, 1/4 pound resin, 1 cup turpentine, 1 cup salt, 1 cup ammonia; boil 2 hours, let it stand a while; it is then finished."

I've got to say, that sounds caustic all right. Let's hop back in the book and end it on a sweeter note:

"MAPLE SUGAR COOKIES. - 2 large cups maple sugar, 2 eggs, 1 cup butter, 2 tablespoons sweet milk, 1 teaspoon cream of tartar, 1/2 teaspoon soda, flour enough to roll soft. - Mrs Walter Edwards, Cookshire, Que."

My Canadian Farm Cookbook, dated 1911, has 401 pages of recipes for food. (There is a small chapter of miscellaneous items after that.) On page 198, the section on canning fruits and jellies begins, and from there to the end of the book there are mighty few recipes that do not call for sugar or other sweeteners. From Canned Fruits and Jellies, it passes on to Pies and Pastry, Puddings and Desserts, Cakes (by far the longest chapter in the book) and Candy. This was clearly what it was all about.

Of course, then as now, people tended to use their body of knowledge about cooking to put together whatever they had on hand as the main part of their diets on a daily basis, without reference to a recipe. Desserts and sweets are made less often and require more precision to execute, and so recipes were and are more likely to be written down for them. However, this was also a new era of cheap refined sugar; cheap enough that even the poorest could afford it. Previously, white sugar had been available mainly in loaf form (cones of varying sizes actually) and it was not only expensive but also a labourious process to grate or pulverize it for use for baking. Not only did sugar become cheaper and easier to use towards the end of the 19th century, but so did chocolate, cocoa, vanilla, gelatine and many other such ingredients. At the turn of the century, cook books exploded with sweet dishes, many of them very sweet. I generally make it a rule to reduce the amount of sugar called for in these recipes by at least one-third and often half. Actually, I don't think it was until the 1970's that the idea occurred to people that it was possible to improve a dessert by putting less sugar in it.

Anyway, recipes:

"CARROT PIE. - Cook yellow carrots until soft, then sift and make as pumpkin pie with milk, sugar and eggs; season with ginger, cloves and cinnamon or allspice. This can hardly be distinguished from real pumpkin pie. - Mrs. C. M. Harvey, Box 144, Knowlton, Que."

No doubt handy when pumpkins had a limited shelf-life and canned pumpkin wasn't regularly available. I shall have to try it sometime; I don't see why it wouldn't be good. Although I admit I'm always a sucker for chocolate.

"CHOCOLATE PIE. - 1/2 teacup Cowan's Perfection Chocolate (grated), 1 1/2 teacups hot water, 1/2 teacup sugar, butter the size of an egg, 1 tablespoon vanilla, the beaten yolk of 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, mix well and cook on top of stove until thick; stir constantly, pour into the shell, let cool, beat the whites and spread on top, brown in oven. - Miss Jennie Bulding, Arthur, Ont."

And at this time of year I should be using up my stash of maple syrup (so I can replace it with new!) so how about

"MAPLE SYRUP PIE. - Put crust on tin, then beat together 1 1/4 cups maple syrup and 3 eggs, put in pie and bake in a moderate oven. - Mabel Begg, Payne's Mills, Ont.
2. - 1 cup maple syrup, 1 cup water, 2 eggs (whites for frosting) 2 small tablespoons flour, butter size of a walnut. Bake the crust and cook custard in double boiler. - Mrs. Milton Fennell, Kars, Ont."

It's interesting to see that the printer lumped these two recipes together, in spite of their being quite different from each other. Also, measurements are in some ways reasonably precise but definitely not standardized.

I should get on and post some puddings and cakes, but I can't resist this pie, even though I haven't even touched on any apple pies, of which there were numerous examples.

"SPRING MINCE PIE. - 1 1/2 cups chopped raisins, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup molasses, 1 cup warm water, 1/2 cup vinegar, 2 well-beaten eggs, 5 crackers pounded fine, stir all together, and season with spices as other mince pies; bake with rich crust. For the top crust roll, then cut in narrow strips and twist and lay across. This will make 2 pies. - Mrs. A. Scott, Acton's Corners, Ont."

Oh, but wait! There are no fewer than 6 versions of butter tarts, and they do indeed all hail from Ontario. This one looks interesting, if remarkably abbreviated.

"3/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup butter melted, 1 cup currants, and 1 egg. - Mrs. W. W. Beelby, Thornton, Ont."

Okay, some puddings:

"APPLE BIRD'S NEST PUDDING. - Apples, sugar, 1 tablespoon flour, 1/2 pint milk, 1 egg. Pare and core apples, fill cavity with sugar, pour over batter made with 1 tablespoon flour, 1/2 pint milk, 1 egg, and sugar to taste. Bake 1 hour. - Mrs. A. Christie, 88 Birge Street, Hamilton, Ont."

"BATTER PUDDING. - 1 tablespoon butter, 1/2 cup white sugar, 1 egg, 3/4 cup sweet milk, 2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons cream of tartar and 1 teaspoon soda; put any kind of fruit in bottom of dish and pour over it this batter and steam 1 1/2 hours. Add sugar on fruit as desired. Serve with cream or any sauce, as you please. - Mrs. T. H. Higgins, Maccan, N.S."

"BLACK PEPPER PUDDING - 1/2 pound suet, 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, a little salt and 1 teaspoon black pepper; mix stiff with cold water and tie in a floured cloth and boil 2 hours. To be eaten with all kinds of hot meat dinners. - Mrs John Archer, Newbury, Ont."

Okay, no sugar in that one! Is it in the right place? It might be; it is a pudding, after all. No sugar in this one either;

"CHEESE PUDDING. - Cut in inch squares stale bread and butter evenly, put 1 layer in pudding dish, then add a little salt and pepper and 1/3 cup grated cheese; repeat this, but for the top layer use 2/3 cup grated cheese. Beat 1 egg, add 1 pint sweet milk, pour over bread and bake 1/2 hour. Serve hot in place of potatoes. This is delicious and is a good way to use up stale bread and dry cheese. - Mrs. Menno S. Weber*, R.R. No. 1, Waterloo, Ont."

This one is kind of ominous sounding:

"CHILDREN PUDDING - 1 cup brown sugar, 1 egg, 2 tablespoons syrup, 3 tablespoons melted butter, 1/2 cup raisins, 1/2 cup currants, 1 teacup buttermilk, 1 small teaspoon soda, 4 cups flour; boil in a cloth for 2 hours, serve with sauce. - Mrs. Robt. Johnston, Carlyon P.O., Ont."

What kind of sauce? That's the question.

"RICE WITH DATES. - Wash 1/2 cup rice, cook in large quantity of salted water until nearly tender, drain thoroughly and put into double boiler with 1/2 cup pitted dates; cook until tender. Serve with cream. This is a very wholesome and palatable dish for dessert. - Mrs. Annie Rodd, Charlottetown, P.E.I."

You know; I can't help but feel desserts are like jokes. If you have to tell someone they're good, they're just not.

Okay, cakes at last, or at least some frostings.

"CHOCOLATE ICING. - 2 cups brown sugar, butter size of egg, 1/2 cup sweet milk, 1/2 cake chocolate. Let it boil until it begins to harden. - Mrs. Erwin Snyder, Box 135, Baden, Ont."

"MAPLE CREAM ICING. - 3 cups sugar, 6 tablespoons milk, 1 tablespoon butter; boil, stir until cold. - Mrs. M. C. Armstong, Mount Albert, Ont."

Mrs Armstrong didn't feel the need to point out that that there would be maple sugar which is, after all, cheap and easy to find. Right? Right? Pick yourself up off the floor. Bananas, on the other hand, are presumably a bit pricey:

"BANANA CAKE. - 1 cup sugar, whites of 3 eggs, 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup sweet milk, 1/2 cup cornstarch, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 cup flour. Cream butter and sugar, separate eggs, beat yolk, add to butter; sift flour, baking powder and corn starch, add to butter, mix and add milk; add whites of eggs well beaten. Just before serving put a layer of sliced bananas between layers. - Mrs. Ezra Snyder, Blair, Ont."

I can't help but think she's left out a step or two there. But I guess if you don't know what you are doing, you shouldn't be making cake.

"BELFASTS. - 1 egg, 1 cup white sugar, 1/2 cup butter, 1 cup buttermilk, 1/2 nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 cup seeded raisins or 1 cup currants, 1 teaspoon soda, 2 1/2 cups Graham flour. Bake in gem rings. - Annie M. Whalen, Kilsyth P.O., Ont."

They sound rather like a rich raisiny muffin. Note that "1/2 nutmeg" is not a typo. The next one has "try" written next to it, but alas no report on the results:

"BIRTHDAY CAKE. - 1 cup sugar, 1 cup sweet cream, 2 cups flour, whites of 3 eggs, 2 teaspoons paking powder, small teaspoon salt, a little nutmeg. Beat sugar and cream together first, add flour and baking powder next, the salt and nutmeg, last the whites of the eggs well beaten and mix quickly and bake in 3 layers. For the Filling. - 1 cup sweet milk, 1/2 cup sugar, 2/3 cup cocoanut; boil all together; when boiling, stir in 2 teaspoons cornstarch wet with cold milk. - Mrs. T. C. Sabin, Box 197, Newmarket, Ont."

Here's one that sounds a little odd, but interesting. A spice cake of the old school;

"BLACK PEPPER CAKE. - 1 cup currants, 1 cup blackstrap, 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup butter, 2/3 cup sour milk (sweet will do), 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon pepper, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon cloves, 1 teaspoon soda, 2 teaspoons cream of tartar, a little over 2 cups flour. Bake in layers. - Mrs. J. E. McKenney, Bishop's Mills, Ont."

This one too, although I'm pretty sure that as usual some steps have been omitted. (Like baking it maybe. You think?)

"BOILED CAKE. - 1 cup sugar, 1 cup raisins, 1 cup water, 1/2 cup lard. Boil it and then cool, add 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon cloves, salt, 1 teaspoon soda. - Mrs. Blake Sharp, Hay Bay, Lennox and Addington Cos., Ont."

For the next one, do you suppose they mean "George Brown"? They actually had 2 "Brown George" cakes listed. I can't decide but I think it most likely. And 1/2 teaspoon spice! Such extravagance!

"BROWN GEORGE CAKE. - 3 eggs, 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, 1/2 cup mixed butter and lard, 1/2 teaspoon spice, 1/2 cup molasses, 1/2 cup sour milk, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon soda dissolved in a few drops of water. - Elizabeth Sibbald, Leith P.O., Ont."

As for this one; small and plain but no doubt a good, cheap hit to the cake spot.

"GOOD CHEAP CAKE. - 2/3 cup white sugar, 1 small tablespoon butter and 1 egg beaten together, 2/3 cup milk or cream, 1/2 teaspoon soda, 1 teaspoon cream of tartar, 1/2 teaspoon salt; sift with flour enough to make cake stiff. Use any flavoring you wish or not at all. - Mrs. R. G. McLeod, Lansdowne Station, Pictou Co., N.S."

But most people, if they are going to have cake, are prepared to spring for some chocolate, eggs and butter and make it an even better one;

"CHOCOLATE CAKE. - 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1/2 cup butter, 3 eggs, 3/4 cup milk, 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon cream of tartar, 1/2 teaspoon soda, 1 ounce unsweetened Cowan's Perfection Chocolate**. Cream the butter and sugar and add the well beaten eggs, then the milk; sift the flour, cream of tartar and soda together twice and mix thoroughly with the above; warm the chocolate over teakettle and stir in the butter. Bake about 35 minutes in moderate oven. - Mrs. J. F. Nelles, Decewsville P. O., Ont.

Also contributed by Mrs D. Brown, Hagerman, Ont.; Mrs. Nelson Wagg, Claremont, Ont.; Mrs H. McPhee, Eady P. O. Ont.; Mrs L. H. Lipsit, Staffordville, Ont.; Mrs W. Anderson, Edgeley, Ont; Mrs. S. Steinmann, Brunner P.O., Ont."

I don't know that they all provided that exact cake necessarily; it might have been one of the three chocolate cake recipes that proceeded it, or perhaps some other chocolate cake that didn't make the cut. Chocolate cake was perhaps not as ubiquitous then as it is now, but it was plainly an extremely popular flavour nevertheless.

And you know what? I've only started in the "C's" but I'm running out of steam. You get the picture; there are a lot more cakes to come. And cookies and candy too. Haven't even looked at them. (If there's anything you would like to ask about other - or previously discussed - sections of this book, please do!)

One final story about the importance of desserts. My father has told me about going to stay with his aunt and uncle in Pictou County (home of the above Good Cheap Cake you may note) during the summer and eating, for an entire month or longer, boiled potatoes, boiled green beans and boiled salmon for every single supper. They were in season. That's the sort of thing that gave seasonal cooking a bad name. And Auntie wasn't much interested in cooking. But she made a mean blueberry pie, and if Dad would pick 'em, she would bake 'em. Needless to say, Dad was out there picking every chance he could get. He still doesn't care much for either salmon or green beans, strangely enough.

I suspect there were a lot of women out there cooking like my great-aunt. They did it not because they were all that interested, but because, by virtue of their sex, it was their job - one of their many, time-consuming jobs. Consequently, there was an awful lot of indifferent if not downright bad cooking out there. Throw in the fact that spices were few and far between, prepared foods pretty much unknown, and the general repertoire of foods much more limited than today and it's not surprising that people turned to desserts for satisfaction in eating. After all, if you can't make things like sugar, butter, eggs, cream, fruit and chocolate taste good, you really are a truly dreadful cook and there is no hope for you.




*What are the odds that there's a Mrs. Menno S. Martin living on R.R. No. 1, Waterloo, right this minute? Maybe no S. What are the odds that there's more than one?

**The contributors to this book call for Cowan's Perfection Chocolate with such consistency that I have to suspect that words are being put into their mouths by a commercial sponsor... hm, who could it be?

"Meat is the flesh of animals used for food. The flesh of more mature animals is more nutritious and more easily digested than that of the younger.

Beef is the most nutritious meat, mutton ranks next. Pork is difficult to digest. Lamb is tender, but less valuable than mutton. Veal is the least nutritious and is indigestible.

Good meat is firm and bright red when first cut. The fat is firm and light yellow. Lean meat is muscle. Much used muscle makes rich, juicy good-flavoured meat, but is not always tender.

Cooking of Meat. - Meat is cooked: 1. To improve the flavour and appearance. 2. To kill any germs which may be present. 3. To soften the fibre. 4. To retain the juice by boiling, pan boiling or roasting"

Thus spake Gladys Harris, 109 Park Street, Buffalo, N.Y., but I'd take that with a grain of salt, myself. She wasn't even in Canada; I don't know how she muscled in on this. But anyway, lets look at some actual recipes, now that we know everything we need to about meat:

"CANNING BEEF. - Cut the beef in pieces as you would to fry or stew, fill your sealer as full as you can, putting the fat and pieces that are not so nice on top. Put the lid on tight and put the sealers in the boiler in cold water and boil 3 hours. If the beef is old, boil longer. Don't let the water come over the top of the jars; when done take sealers out and tighten as tight as you can; when cold it should be jellied. Keep in a cool place. - Mrs John Raymer, Sunnidale Corners, Ont."

Oh, dear Lord! Saints preserve us! You are all most straightly forbidden to even think of attempting this so-called recipe, which breaks every rule of safe canning. Sunnidale Corners no longer really exists as a village, and this may very well be the explanation. Yeesh!

"JUGGED BEEF. - Into a brown stewing jar put 2 pounds thin beef, or stewing steak, cut into convenient sized pieces, add 2 onions cut in slices, 1 medium-sized carrot cut in cubes, 1 teaspoon mixed herbs, 1 small onion stuck with 1/2 dozen cloves, a little Yorkshire relish; dust all with 1 tablespoon of flour; pepper and salt to taste; do not quite cover with water or stock; put on the lid and set jar in the oven; let it cook for 2 hours. Boiled potatoes should be served with it.. - C.T. Ganong, "The Cedars," King's Co., N.B."

That looks distinctly possible; it might even be good. But then we're back in the realm of the somewhat scary:

"TO CORN BEEF. - 1 pound salt, 1 pound brown sugar, 1/4 ounce saltpetre to each gallon of water, boil and skin, and when cold pour over meat. First sprinkle and rub beef with coarse salt, and let stand 24 hours, then wash off and pack in tub or barrel and pour pickle over it. Will be ready to use in a week. Does not need to be soaked, simply washed off and put on to cook. - Mrs. G. H. Allen, Garden Creek, Fredericton, N.B."

And also:

"TO FRY DOWN PORK. - Take fresh pork, slice and fry as for table use, pack in crocks and cover with the hot dripping; be sure it gets well around the slices in each layer, cover and weight to keep the pork well under the dripping. Have kept it for summer use for years, and find it quite as nice as if freshly cooked. Mrs W. H. Warner, Forest Rd. West, Cobourg, Ont."

I'm speechless, so I guess I'd better just give another recipe:

"STEWED KIDNEYS. - Boil kidneys the night before, until very tender, turn meat and gravy into a dish and cover over next day, boil a few minutes, thicken with flour and water; add part of an onion chopped fine, pepper, salt and lump of butter."

That was submitted by Mrs L. Harvey, who was not prepared to divulge her whereabouts, and who shall blame her? Can you stand anymore? Sure you can:

"TO COOK SALT PORK. - Parboil in buttermilk and water, then dip in sweet cream and fry. This makes it like fresh meat. - Mrs. Ross Pollack, Keswich, Ont."

You think? Okay, lets finish up with something that actually sounds interesting or I will turn you all into vegetarians, if you aren't already:

"IRISH POT PIE. - 4 pounds fresh beef, 4 carrots, 1 turnip, 1 dozen potatoes, 2 onions, dough made as follows: 2 quarts flour, 2 teaspoons cream of tartar, 1 of soda; mix with milk or cold water, same as for biscuit, no lard in it; roll about 1 inch thick, cut into 4-inch squares, cut meat in small pieces, then put in a layer of beef in bottom of pot, then a layer each of carrots, turnip, potatoes and dough and meat in alternate layers; add salt, pepper and a little summer savory; add water until you see it through the vegetables; cook slowly 3 hours. - Mrs. Fred Smith, Upper Falmouth, Hants Co., N.S."

Enough there to feed an army. The result, I would think, would be a kind of beef stew with dumplings more than a pot-pie, but at least it sounds edible and even tasty. Next week I will peruse this book for a selection of desserts, which are likely to be the best things in it.

One tends to look back at the vegetable recipes in old cookbooks with mingled amusement, envy and horror - the envy being very slight, and consisting mainly of the fact that as you read, you realize how many people were pulling fresh vegetables out of their vegetable garden.

The amusement and horror come from the realization of just how few vegetables were generally available, and from the fact that people used to do things like boil asparagus for 20 minutes. This was actually from a chart in a different cookbook on cooking vegetables, and the next cooking time was over 30 minutes, and they went up from there. Grey stringy mush, anyone?

However, the Canadian Farm Cook Book has these wise words about salads:

"The fresh vegetables also include the salad greens or the green vegetables that are eaten raw; for example lettuce, celery, cucumbers, watercress, radishes, etc. These may be used alone for salads or in combination with fresh meat or cooked vegetables. The salad greens should be thoroughly washed and put in cold water to become crisp. After they are crisp they may be folded loosely in a clean, damp towel or put into a covered granite pail and kept in a cool place until needed. In this way they may be prepared some time before using, and with a salad dressing prepared beforehand, a salad for supper can be prepared in a very short time. The oil or cooked dressings may be served with the salad. The dressing adds to the nourishment and flavor of the salad. French dressing is largely used for vegetable salads, but none of the dressingss except the French dressing should be added to the salad until just before serving time. - If added too soon they tend to wilt the crisp vegetables and the dressing becomes watery."

Okay, now I want a granite* pail to keep my salad greens cool in. And an old-fashioned stone cold-room or dairy to keep my granite pail in. (And a maid to scrub it**)... No. Stop. Now.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to spring, and asparagus season. How about asparagus on toast?

"ASPARAGUS ON TOAST. - Cut the tough, hard end from the asparagus, wash carefully, tie in bunches, set the bunches on end in a saucepan of boiling, salted water, having the tender ends above the water; cover and boil gently for 1/2 hour..."

That only takes you 1/3 of the way through the recipe but suddenly I have lost interest for some inexplicable reason. Anyway, asparagus is not here yet, but I do have a cabbage in the fridge.

"CABBAGE, BOILED. - Take off outside leaves, cut in quarters, remove tough stalk, soak in cold salted water, cook in uncovered vessel in boiling water. Change water every 10 minutes; drain. - Mrs. Milton Savage, Elgin Mills, Ont."

Another perplexing one. Just how long did she think it should be boiled, anyway? Myself, I would "change" the water after 10 minutes, by taking the cabbage out and serving it.

"CREAMED CABBAGE. - Boil cabbage in salted water until tender, drain and pour milk enough to almost cover, have flour and cold milk mixed and add just as milk and cabbage boils; cook five minutes, adding butter and nutmeg to taste. An excellent substitute for cauliflower. - Mrs Richard Fleming, Kingston Mills, Ont."

Don't know about that, but it does sound reasonably edible, providing modern definitions of until tender apply. "Cold" Slaw, on the other hand, sounds kind of dull.

"COLD SLAW. - To a small cup vinegar add a well-beaten egg, 1 teaspoon mustard, 1 teaspoon sugar, a small lump butter, season with pepper and salt; let come to a boil and pour over nicely chopped cabbage while hot. - Mrs Ross Pollock, Keswick, Ont."

And of course, this was the start of the long heyday of the jellied salad (which now is so far "out" it's coming back "in").

"JELLIED CABBAGE. - Chop 1 head white cabbage, mix with juice of 1 lemon, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup vinegar and a little salt; dissolve 1 package gelatine in water, mix with cabbage, put in a mould when jellied serve with any salad dressing. - Mrs. C. J. Brodie, Claremont, Ont."

And just to prove that there were other vegetables besides cabbage, how about some baked parsnips?

"Boil parsnips until tender, drain and mash, add a generous lump of butter, pepper and salt to taste; butter a baking dish, cover the bottom with a layer of bread crumbs, put in parsnips, cover with a layer of crumbs and brown in oven. - Mrs. Revd. MacKay, Four Mile Brook, Pictou Co., N.S."

Well, I think that's about enough for this week. I find I am losing my will to live.








*Not actual granite, in case anyone wonders - speckled enamel.

**Who do I think I am kidding? If I had been around 100 years ago, I'd have been the maid, most likely.

Actually, I'm assuming it was 1911. That's the handwritten date in the front cover, along with the name of my great-aunt's mother-in-law; it was her book. The date of printing has been obscured by recipes clipped from newspapers and glued in over the years.

I've gotten hours of entertainment out of this book. It's a fascinating look at what Canadians were eating 100 years ago, and my interpretations of a couple recipes from it have already appeared on this blog. No doubt there will be a number more.

Right now though, I want to share some of the stuff I have abso-freaking-lutely no intention of ever trying.

For example, I am not going to make my own yeast:

"WET YEAST. - Boil 1 large handful of hops in a gallon of water for half an hour, grate 5 medium sized potatoes and strain the boiling liquid over it, stirring well; add a little salt, sugar and ginger; let cool then add 1 White Swan Yeast Cake and put in a warm place to rise; stir frequently. It is best made in a large dish and afterwards put into a jar and corked tight. - Mrs Harry Platts, Alma, Lot 3, P.E.I."

Huh? If you can get White Swan Yeast Cakes, why not just use White Swan Yeast Cakes? I don't get it.

You've got to love the organization of old-fashioned cook books, by the way. The way I figure it, word went out to the women of Canada that a cook book was to be published, they sent in their best recipes, and then they were sorted and organized. Sorted and organized by a man, plainly; and not just any man - certainly not one with any knowledge of cookery - I suspect the printer himself - and the resulting level of organization is approximate at best. I note, for example, the following mixed in amongst the yeasts and breads:

"SCOTCH BREADS. - 2 pounds flour, 1/2 pound brown sugar, 3/4 pound butter, 1/4 pound lard, roll, sprinkle with sugar, cut in squares. - Mrs. Will McKay, Altona, Ont."

Right, should be with the cookies. Should be baked, too, but that's just my opinion. These should have been with the cookies too:

"LEMON BISCUIT. - Take 2 1/2 cups sugar, 1 1/2 cups lard, 1 pint sweet milk, 2 eggs, five cents worth of baker's ammonia in sweet milk, and five cents worth of lemon oil; beat sugar, lard, and eggs together, pulverize and dissolve ammonia in sweet milk, put lemon oil in last, mix in flour until stiff, then roll about as thick as pasteboard, cut in squares or round shapes, and bake in a quick oven; add a little salt. - Mrs C. W. Macklin, Grafton, Ont.

Also sent by Miss Emma Reid, Reid's Corner, Ont.; Mrs. Jas. Symons, Box 26, Craik, Sask.; Mrs. R. Roe, Hawkstone, Ont.; Mrs. John Ferguson, Camlachie, Ont.; Mildred Gearns, Dalston, Simcoe Co., Ontario."

Obviously, this was a popular recipe at the time. But thus is seen the folly of calling for ingredients by their current price or package without reference to size. Future generations will have to guess: just how much baker's ammonia and lemon oil was that, anyway? Still, that was precision of a kind. I suspect this "recipe" was always just annoying:

"CEREAL AND VEGETABLE SOUPS. - Heaping tablespoon of barley, rice, wheat, oats, beans, peas, or whatever you desire; potato, carrot, tomato, cabbage, turnip, celery tops, parsley, onion, or whatever desired to suit taste; season with celery salt (table salt may be used). For bouillon, use excess of turnips and cabbage for flavouring and strain. If you desire to make richer by adding milk, omit cabbage and turnip. Select your vegetables as preferred. Any combination is good. Absolutely no stock or butter is required. - E. G. Harris, 109 Park Street, Buffalo, N.Y."

Well, wasn't that helpful? No? Well, maybe I'll try again next week with some different recipes.

Read it and weep... of course, remember you'd be buying it with 1962 wages as well...


"Ontario forced rhubarb, grown indoors in the dark at about 55° to make it long and pale pink. Best known brands (sic) are called Sutton Seedless and Victoria.They are widely grown but most Toronto crops come from Holland Marsh, Peel County and Burlington. Rhubarb used to be marketed in rolled-up newspapers but now comes handsomely put up in cartons and many stores divide it into pound packs neatly done in clear wrap. Prices vary around 21 to 29 cents a pound slightly up from last week."

"There are few economy priced items on the market this week.Turnips, carrots and parsnips are about the best for slim budgets. Ontario grown carrots are 25 cents for a three-pound bag."

"Broccoli is 29 cents a bunch and there is a fair supply of fresh. Asparagus on the market selling at about 39 cents for 1/2 pound."

"Salads always give a bright, fresh taste to winter dinners -- Here are some prices. Imported radishes and green onions are specially priced at three bunches for 25 cents but lettuce is at regular prices, about two heads for 39 cents."

"Tiny cherry tomatoes sell at 35 cents a pint and large vine ripe tomatoes are 35 cents a pound. Tomatoes from the Canary Islands (think tropics and forget the weather) sell at 39 cents a pound. Celery is up to 23 cents a bunch."

"In the fruit line you will find ruby red grapefruit selling at four for 39 cents and large size navel oranges at 69 cents a dozen."

"There's one special on those long Idaho-type potatoes -- Russet Burbank potatoes are selling at 39 cents for 10 pounds."

"Chicken is on again at an exceptionally low price -- 25 cents each for grade A birds up to 3 1/2 lbs dressed. Pre-dressed fresh grade A turkey broilers are selling at 39 cents a pound."

"This week one chain store has prime rib roasts of beek at 69 cents a pound, blade roasts at 49 cents a pound, short rib roasts at 57 cents a pound, cross rib roasts at 59 cents a pound and boneless and rolled beef brisket for pot roasts at 45 cents a pound. Lean minced beef is selling at 41 cents a pound."

"There is always some interesting fish news on the market and this week it's Lake Nipigon whitefish selling at 39 cents. There's frozen codfish at 33 cents a pound pack and halibut steaks at 55 cents for a 12-oz pack."

"Polish sausage is specially priced at 49 cents a pound."


You could get 2 11-ounce bottles of Heinz ketchup for .49¢, or for the same price you could get 4 tins of Heinz tomato soup, or 3 tins of Heinz vegetarian baked beans or Heinz spaghetti in tomato sauce. A 16-ounce jar of bread and butter pickles would set you back .27¢.

Jane Parker angel food cake was on sale for .39¢ down from the usual .55¢. Blueberry pie was.53¢ instead of .69¢. And Vienna bread was .19¢ a loaf instead of the regular .25¢.

Here's one of the few convenience food items listed: 2 1-pound packs of Sea Seald Fish 'n' Chips would cost you .89¢ on sale from .98¢.

Bananas were .29¢ for 2 pounds; Ontario Delicious (gag, shudder) apples were .39¢ for a 3 pound bag. Florida oranges were .59¢ for a 5 pound bag. All other fruit was frozen or tinned - there was plenty of tinned.

Texas spinach was .19¢ for a 10 ounce bag. It was the only fresh green vegetable mentioned in the ads I saw; everything else was tinned or frozen.

Most meats were in the range of .39¢ to .59¢ per pound, including imported lamb. Bacon was .59¢ per pound. Corned beef brisket was expensive, at .79¢ per pound.

Many of the specials, then as now, were brand name items. However, most of it was in tins or bottles, with a few frozen items and baked goods. Apart from that, there were none of what we would now consider convenience foods. I miss those days for that. It seems like nowadays practically the only things that go on sale are over-priced, over-advertised, over-processed brand name products that I would never buy anyway.

To compare these prices to modern ones, albeit fairly crudely, I suggest you just shift the decimal. That is, think of those meats as running from $3.90 to $5.90 per pound. That would make bread $1.90 for a loaf, and that blueberry pie $5.30. Hmm, these prices still seem a little low. This would have been correct just a few years ago, but inflation does march on. Still, using this method, I can see that bananas and apples are cheaper now than they used to be, relatively speaking, and oranges are much cheaper. Vegetables in general are also cheaper now - broccoli occasionally hits the $2.90 mark, but rarely. And $7.80 for a pound of asparagus! $2.30 is about right for winter celery, but $2.00 for a head of lettuce? Well, maybe, I suppose. Potatoes at $3.90 for a 10 pound bag seem fairly dear. No doubt they have come down in price as they have ceased to be such a universal staple.

Actually, when I think about it, I think prices when I was a teenager where probably more in the "shift the decimal" range. This was over ten years earlier, so these prices would have represented an even bigger chunk out of peoples' budgets. Food really is a lot cheaper than it used to be. Which sounds like it should be good news, but it's had some dismaying side-effects as well. But that's a whole 'nother post...

A few years back, we were renovating some townhouses. In one of them, when we removed the baseboards to allow for re-wiring, we discovered that a large number of newspaper sheets had been pushed underneath, presumably to stop the drafts. They were dated February, 1962. Must have been a cold and windy one!

One of the pages was from the Wednesday food section of the Toronto Telegram. I took some notes from it, although the paper itself was too brittle to be worth keeping. I thought I would share some of the tidbits from that date...

Louise Moore had an article which included the following menus for a week:


Well. Wow. Times have changed... mostly for the better it has to be said. Let me comment, one day at a time:

Sunday:

As far as I can tell from Googling, sweet pickled shoulder of pork would be a kind of brined but uncured ham. The shoulder is fattier and cheaper than the hind leg; presumably this is being suggested with an eye towards keeping to a budget.

Also, I remember those bloody 1960's winter tomatoes. Three little pinkish tennis balls in a plastic coffin covered in cellophane, generally imported from Florida. Mum would insist on buying them; I really don't know why. They were spectacularly horrible. Slop that dressing on, folks.

Monday:

What the hell - was Monday "pick on picky eaters day"? I would totally eat that menu, and enjoy it too, but really, what was she thinking? Liver, lima beans and rice pudding? Of course, it was considered good nutritional form to serve liver once a week at this time. I think there's an element of let's-get-this-over-with to this menu.

Tuesday:

Why look, it's leftovers. Cold leftovers even. Of course, any self-respecting home economist of this era must emphasize the thrifty use of time and money by planning for several meals at once. All I can say is I hope this pork shoulder was boneless, because she hasn't made any plans for soup. Somewhat token effort here. I give her a C-. But presumably that pineapple cake will will make people feel happier about it all. (It would me, I admit.)

Wednesday:

Not much to say about this, except to note that there are potatoes again, and not for the last time this week. My sweetie and I have a joke about the food of this era: it was meat and two veg; one of which was guaranteed to be potatoes, and the other one of which was not guaranteed not to be potatoes. Yep. But let's give Ms Moore some credit: she's kept it down to 4 meals out of the 7, unless there's potatoes in the Tuna Casserole.

Thursday:

I'd say things are running half-local, half imported on the vegetable front; not bad for the middle of February. The meat is pretty much all local except for the tuna. Yesterdays green beans almost certainly came out of a tin, but the broccoli is probably freshish from California. Raw vegetable fingers is pretty vague. I'm assuming celery and carrots, woo-hoo. And maybe a radish or so. Again, half local and half imported. (No local celery in February, more's the pity.)

Friday:

Fish, natch. Of sorts anyway. Nothing too actually fishy. It wasn't just for Catholics; or at any rate any public or semi-public meal would include fish on Friday and lots of people were happy to partake just to get a change from everlasting beef and pork.

There's a fifty-fifty chance, I imagine, that the housewife who followed this menu used frozen peas over tinned ones. In spite of the tomato thing, Mum was reasonably discriminating about food, so I got served frozen veg much more often than tinned (in the winter) when I was growing up, even though I'm pretty sure the tinned were noticably cheaper. Not everyone would have had a fridge with a freezer compartment, and if it did have one, it would have been one of those tiny little aluminum boxes that required frequent and regular defrosting.

FRESH RHUBARB PIE! This is a thrill. (It's a thrill I've already had this year, and look for more coming up too.) Forced rhubarb was pretty widely available in February. It would have been leaped upon as the first sign of the new growing season, and would have great, zingy appeal after a few months of stored vegetables eked out with expensive imports. You can still find a bit nowadays, if you hunt, but it's not the seasonal staple it used to be.

Saturday:

Saturday, on the other hand, loses that spring-is-coming feeling, and goes back to good, filling winter stodge. Realistically, it must be admitted.

Overall:

From the time home economics was invented around the turn of the previous century, papers and magazines ran sample menus all the time. Presumably the thought was that mere housewives couldn't be trusted to figure out what to eat themselves, or at least not to come up with menus that combined economy and nutrition (according to the lights of the day). Really though, I don't think I know anyone who actually paid any attention to these menus, even though they do give a pretty good general idea of what many people were eating back then. Both my parents had been brought up on the meat and two veg one-of-which-was guaranteed-to-be-potatoes principle, and were not much inclined to serve them all that often. I got a lot more rice and pasta than I did potatoes, with the result that I now regard potatoes as a bit of a treat. But I think that was unusual.

It's noticeable that there was no chicken or any other poultry in this menu, which is now eaten a lot more than beef or pork, I would think.

I also sure didn't get dessert every day, never mind three pies in one week! Actually, I notice this series of menus is artfully poised between the make-everything-from-scratch era, and the convenience food era. Baked goods were the first foods to become regularly bought ready-made instead of being made at home. This menu includes lots of things that could be made at home by the budget-conscious, or purchased if preferred: cookies, biscuits - the cake would probably be home-made since it's an easy recipe and I've rarely seen it for sale - rolls, and of course those three pies. You could buy your Swiss steak ready beaten and formed, instead of having to do it yourself, and maybe even the hamburger patties if you were really decadent.

The one thing that does get a sigh of nostalgia out of me is the apple whip. Mum used to make prune whip with custard once in while and I loved that stuff. I'll have to see if I can make some apple whip.

Tomorrow: A look at the ads, and a "Market Report".