April 1921 Needlecraft Magazine recipes

I always have loved to read cooking books. I do not cook much but I like to read recipes as if they were short stories. Now, that I have a good selection of old magazines, I love to see what women used to prepare for their families. It surprises me how simple many of these recipes are. Here are a couple of them.
Egg-and-tomato Entree
Heat to the boiling point one cupful of canned tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, and add a teaspoonful of Worcestershire sauce, a saltspoonful of bicarbonate of soda (cooking-soda). Two cupfuls of grated cheese and three-fourths of a cupful of milk and cream. Stir until the cheese is melted, take from the fire, add two well beaten eggs, pour into individual casseroles or into one large baking dish. cover the top with bread-crumbs and brown in a hot oven.
Celeried Oysters
Cook one pint of oysters in their own liquor until their are plump. Drain and then strain the oyster-liquor and to it add enough cream to make one and a half cupfuls. Melt six tablespoonfuls of butter, add five tablespoonfuls of flour and stir to a paste. Pour in the liquor gradually and beat until creamy. Season with salt, pepper and celery-salt. Add the parboiled oysters and cook until just at the boiling-point. Season with salt and pepper. Pour this over slices of hot buttered toast and sprinkle with finely chopped celery.

Old time recipe

Last year I bought about 50 Needlecraft magazines ranging from the 1920s and 30s. I love them they are full of crochet, tatting, embroidery and old time recipes. My only frustration is that many of the sewing and embroidering patterns are only advertised and not explained. Still they are pretty to look at.
Here are a couple of recipes from the March 1920 issue.

On Cooking for the Sick.



Ordinary Beef-Tea



Take one pound of rump-steak and remove all fat and gristle, cut into strips and shred it by scraping on a board with a knife until all the pulp is removed, and there is only a stringy white mass left in the hand. Put the pulp into a bowl and pour on it one pint of cold water and allow it to soak for twenty minutes or half an hour; then pour it into a jar and cover it securely, first with the lid, then with strong paper. If there is no lid to the jar, then with strong, greased paper. Stand this in a saucepan of boiling water for three hours (by cooking in this way it never boils). When done, stir it once or twice, then pour it off against the lid, not strain it, which would remove the brown particles. Remove the fat by drawing soft paper over the surface, or if it is left until cold it will come off in a cake. Serve in a cup with toast on a side.

My grandmother would make us chicken soup when we were sick but I had never heard of beef tea until now. I found very similar recipes called English beef-tea, no wonder I never heard about it growing up. I think I would love it on those days after a stomach flu. Or even now when I get bad nausea, I will add my Mexican taste to it and squeeze a few drops of lemon and maybe a slice of jalapeno, just for a bit of fresh spiciness.



Peach-Foam

Peel and cut in small pieces three or four choice and very ripe peaches; or you can substitute canned ones of the best grade. Put one cupful of this into a bowl, with a half cupful of powdered sugar, and the white of one egg. Beat with a fork for half an hour, when it will be a thick, perfectly smooth, velvety cream, with a delightful peach flavor.

I am not sure I would like this if sick. But I know I will not like to prepare it if it takes half an hour of beating.

Happy Valentines Day!

What a great excuse to show your love to the people around you.
I hate giving in into the marketing maddness but I must confess I bought some cards for my 4 year old to send to her classmates. I have been so tired lately that I am not up to crafting at all. This pregnancy has been hard on me but so the last one so I should not be surprised. I must admit I knew what was comming.

Also, I really wanted to make something special for my honey but I have been so busy surviving every day that I just couldn't think of anything else but keeping my food down if I was lucky to manage to eat.

Oh but I will use the pregnancy for forgiving. Oh, yeaaaah. "What a better Valentine present than a baby, honey?" lol.

Well, have a wonderful day full of love!!

Que gran excusa para demostrar amor a la gente que nos rodea.

Odio dejarme envolver en la gran mercadotecnia del dia de San Valentin pero debo confesar que le compre tarjetas a mi hija de 4 anos para que le mandara a sus companeritos. Simplemente, no me siento con ganas de hacer ninguna manualidad. Este embarazo no me ha sentado nada bien pero tampoco el ultimo asi que debo admitir que sabia lo que me esperaba.
Tambien, queria preparar algo especial para mi esposo pero he estado tan ocupada sobreviviendo dia con dia que no pude pensar en nada mas que el mantener mi comida en el estomago.
Ah, pero voy a usar el embarazo como excusa. Oh , siiiii. " Que mejor valentin que un bebe, corazon?"

Feliz Dia de San Valentin!

Mixed Media

I am taking a mixed media class at the Southwest School of Arts and Crafts. The school is located downtown San Antonio and it used to be an Ursuline School during the 1800s. Now, it operates a great selection of art departments and complete with its original kitchen where they prepare a delicious chicken salad sandwich (well, that is my favorite and I stick to it). You may go here for more information.
You have to love a school that offers free classes for children with access to great facilities and instructors. I can't wait for my little ones to get a bit older so they can start their programs.

Estoy tomando una clase the tecnicas variadas en la escuela de arte en San Antonio. La escuela esta localizada en el centro de San Antonio en donde solia ser una escuela de las Ursulinas por los 1800s. Ahora, opera una gran seleccion de tecnicas del arte y junto con su cocina original donde preparan un delicioso emparedado de ensalada de pollo (mi favorito). Puedes ir aqui para mas informacion.

Happy New Year!

A bit late on the wishes but hearfelt. I have been pretty busy with the kids being sick during November and part of December and then I had to get sick with a bad bronchitis and ear infection.
I am fine now and healthy but a bit pregnant so I do not feel that healthy. I do not know why they call it morning sickness since in all my pregnancies it has been pretty much all day and night sickness. Yes, I even wake up during the night with terrible nausea.
Oh, but I may confess I am so excited to see my tummy get bigger every month. Nothing like pregnacy to make a woman feel so close to divinity. To be such a direct extention of The Creator.
For me the problem starts after the pregnancy, then I do not feel so divine. More like the bottom of the barrel.


I was also busy all December getting myself a few things on ebay, mainly magazines. I found Needlecraft magazine issues from the early 1900s till the 1930s and I am sure I own at lest half of what they put out there. I just loved them. They are full of embroidery, tatting and crochet patterns. They have hundreds of pictures of clothing and house designs that I feel very tempted to design women and children's aprons as well as other articles inspired by all what I see. And I can even imagine a few vintage style bibs.