Tuesday, January 29, 2008

99 Ways With Campbell's

The Campbell Soup Company has been the main provider in the comfort food industry for over one hundred years. Over a decade before Andy Warhol elevated its iconic packaging into art, Campbell's soothed the souls of many a cook with the strong yet tender advice to 'look for the red-and-white label.' But Campbell's was so much more than just soup! From Cream Of Celery to Pepper Pot, Campbell's Condensed Soups were necessities in the arsenal of any good cook. 1951's Easy Ways To Good Meals: 99 Delicious Dishes Made With Campbell's Soups taught cooks everywhere that the wholesome goodness of Campbell's Soups were made to grace your table as cheese and egg dishes, jellied dishes, and even desserts!

I wonder if Campbell's is as welcoming today as they were in 1951. From the introduction penned by Anne Marshall (Home Economist): 'if you're ever in Camden, New Jersey or New Toronto, Ontario, we shall be delighted to have you visit us and see our kitchens -- and see how we make our Soups.' That sounds like the natural sort of dream vacation for many young housewives!


Beef Stew with Vegetables and Dumplings or Beef Stew with Vegetables and Cotton Balls?


Newlyweds, looking for the perfect way to inform your husband that the honeymoon is over? Try Campbell's own Bride's Chicken Loaf! It's perfect for loaf enthusiasts and women who have never seen real poultry! Another beigy classic, Creamed Dried Beef with Green Peas!


It's just never good when dinner reminds you of Mad Magazine's Spy vs. Spy. Hopefully, I'm the only one who can see the resemblance.


Stuffed Meat Roll: Fascinating and.. kind of infected looking.


Lamb and condensed soup go together like peanut butter and jelly or bacon and eggs. If you've got a little Scotch Broth on hand, you can whip up a Cottage Lamb Pie. Otherwise, you're stuck with Lamb Cutlets.


A shiny Salmon Loaf on what looks like Fiestaware.


Stuffed Tomato Slices with Creamy Chicken Sauce, M'm! M'm! Good!


I think there's one fact on which we can all agree: Campbell's Tomato Soup makes a tomato sauce to 'do you proud.' Whether as an accompaniment to your Gloucester Codfish Balls or your Grilled Cheese and Bacon Sandwich, it really hits the spot.


Obligatory Jellied Salad: Chicken Mousse


If only it could be in full-color: Jellied Shrimp and Vegetable Salad.


And people are impressed with latte art?!


In case you can't make it to Camden..

Thursday, January 10, 2008

A Dream Come True



Here's a delightful find over at Cary Grant.net! The May 1941 issue of Screen Life Magazine included a beautifully lifelike paper doll set of Mr. Cary Grant. The costumes are from Gunga Din (1939), Only Angels Have Wings (1939), The Philadelphia Story (1940), The Howards Of Virginia (1940), and Penny Serenade (1941). So, get out your cardstock, and start printing out your Star Doll!

C'mon Get Happy..

Published just a few years before she became an actress on the hit television show, The Partridge Family, Susan Dey contributed her personal recipes to Good Housekeeping's Cooking With Susan. At least, I'm assuming this 1967 collection is referring to Susan Dey. It's never explicitly confirmed, but I have my suspicions.


Front cover - Apparently this is our first glimpse into Susan's 'culinary wonderland.'


Now available at your local fast food joint, the Pinwheel Sandwich Loaf. Ingredients include a pound of frankfurters, canned pork n' beans, and catchup!


Step-by-step photos make it easy for you to visualize making these Hot Corned-Beef Barbecues.


Shirley Jones' Mexicali Meat Pie with the Mexican-style whole kernal corn on top!


Another Hamburger Stroganoff. This one's in a corral made of tomatoes and rice.


Tuna Pie in Rice Crust.


Petal Cake - Unlike anything found in nature.


It's worth the messy fingers when you're making Banana Split Pancakes!

Monday, January 07, 2008

Dinner For Two, part 2

The illustrated portion of the last book is here!

These gelatin salad illustrations are almost as thrilling as a full-color photo!









Protein juggling carbs


This children's book-worthy duck illustration sadly accompanies the Brittany Duck en Casserole recipe.


What, you never seen a chicken singing opera before!? This explosive image is a companion to the Chicken Caruso recipe.


Watch out! A beautiful yet suspenseful undersea scene.


Don't hen peck! This Carmen Miranda looks lovely!


Every well-stocked kitchen needs these items, especially the pot holder with the disapproving face!

Dinner For Two

Perhaps the food itself is not the highlight of Betty Crocker's New (1964) Dinner For Two Cookbook (other than to marvel at the definition of 'dinner for two'). The artistic arrangements, from the decor (wallpaper, artwork, and bouquets) to the dining, serving, and drinkware, is arguably the best part of the book. There would be no complaints if the imagery stopped there, but no! Dinner For Two is filled with simple yet effective line drawings. These illustrations are some of the most delightful sections of the book, and I'll devote the next post solely to them.


Long thought to be extinct, the ten-legged Baked Ham has been spotted on some dining room tables as recently as the 1970s. Leading experts now believe that they became endangered as their main prey, the out-moded gelatin salad (like this Molded Lime-Pineapple Salad), was forced to extinction.


Yum! Hamburger Stroganoff!


Ham loaves are good; Individual Ham Loaves are better!


TV dinners unlike anything Swanson ever manufactured! The television adds to the charm!


Here's a well-dressed fellow! The meatloaf is clearly meant to be his body (with the olives as buttons). The baked potatoes are his face, and he's wearing a scarf made of lettuce.


All I need to say is: Mmm, Full O' Boloney!


Just when you think Betty couldn't top the Full O' Boloney, she gives us the Jellied Chicken (important note: Cooked veal, beef, or lamb may be used in place of the chicken)! Oddly enough, I think I've seen this at the bottom of containers of roasted or rotisserie chicken, but I never considered eating it.

Friday, January 04, 2008

Lunches and Brunches

To round our our Better Homes & Gardens series, we'll end with the bright and bold Lunches And Brunches of 1963. Like Meals In Minutes, this is an earlier volume full of, I think, some of most brilliant and color coordinated images Better Homes ever conceptualized.


Front cover


Straight From Denmark - A nice spread, including spiced porridge at the bottom. I'm most impressed, though, by the spiky butter balls in the top left corner. Fact: In Denmark, this table would have a live, clucking chicken rather than its ceramic counterpart.


July Jubilee - I like that all the cut fruits and vegetables are reassembled using a cream cheese-based adhesive.


Bing Cherry Mold - And it even looks like it's wearing a tiny hat, just like der Bingle.


Tomato Aspic - Before and After


Vegetable bouquets and Spring Sandwich Puffs! Get your vegetable bouquets and Spring Sandwich Puffs here!


My favorite, Chicken Croquettes! 'You may have forgotten just how good they are.' I haven't!


Lunch-box Favorites


Easter Morning - An Easter bonnet posing as an omelet and more spiky butter balls! Just be thankful you don't have to see the Creamed Sweetbreads in Patty Shells nor read the sentence, 'Remove membrane from cooked sweetbreads'! Well, just be thankful you don't have to see it.


Recipe Roundup! Molded Tuna Ring that actually has a built-in holder for the mustard. I like the cut of the rye bread.


Could it be that these salads are really show offs? I mean, the Tuna Ring, for instance makes an impression, but is it the right impression? Also, I'm not sure why the two Tuna Rings are two different colors!


Eggs Goldenrod - 'Hard-cooked egg whites are chunked into creamy white sauce, spooned over hot toast. Atop go sieved yolks!' That seems like a waste, but I guess it might be palatable.


The editors of Better Homes & Gardens see 'a touch of glamour' in this Eggs Benedict. I see the new face of terror, appearing soon at your local theater in the full-length feature, Haunted Hollandaise.


Back cover! A medley of delicious delights! Feel free to make this the wallpaper on your desktop!

And, to all my readers, have a happy and healthy 1964 1976 2008!