Reminiscing: The Presto Cooker Recipe Book

After the delicious sounding recipes from Gebhardt's, I thought that I would follow up with some from the Presto Cooker Recipe Book, which was published in 1947.

Clicking on the pictures will enlarge them if you want a closer look.

This book begins with a photo of the ultra modern National Pressure Cooker Company kitchen:

The illustrations in this book are what really sells it for me. Doesn't this look like a tasty dinner? Also, you can read about the "scientific saucepan" on this page.

One of my favorite features of this book is the table decor in the color photos. Often, they match the food (as you will see), but sometimes it is completely random. Here is a giraffe sitting next to a bowl of hot cereal. What exactly is the connection here?



How about a tasty bowl of soup? I love the salt and pepper shakers in the bottom right corner:

Here we are. Everyone knows that when you eat meat, the most appropriate table decoration is a miniature ceramic figurine of the animal from which the meat came. Ham? Roast? Stew? Pig. Cow. Cow. This reminds me of Mary and Larry's wedding reception when another member of the wedding party came back from the buffet and said "Pork, chicken, beef--three dead animals on one plate!"

I chose a few recipes from this section of the book to include here. How about some stuffed beef heart? What kind of table decoration goes with that? A cow figurine and one of those heart-shaped stress relievers from the American Heart Association?

This book not only offers a recipe for fresh tongue, but it also offers a recipe for smoked tongue! I noticed that there were no pictures to go with these recipes.

As for table decor, perhaps some of these would be appropriate?





Here again, the table decorations are so thoughtful and creative. A fishing net-like table cloth and a ceramic figurine of some guy with a cart, which is filled with fresh shrimp.

If you're having chicken, you have to have a set of chicken salt and pepper shakers.

And this one is for Larry--I thought he'd like to have this as a special Father's Day treat:

Just...ick...

What a festive holiday table! A couple of candles and a sprig of obviously fake greenery. Don't go too crazy Presto people...

I can't even tell what some of this is supposed to be:

Just in case you haven't learned enough from the Presto people about table setting and decoration, they have provided two more pages of invaluable advice at the end of the book.

I think my favorite part is the sage advice at the bottom of the second page: "The secret of good service is serving foods appetizingly, thoughtfully, and cheerfully." Really? I'm not sure they succeeded based on the photos they included in the cookbook.

The end. Next up: Prize Dairy Dishes.

Reminiscing: Mexican Cookery for American Homes

Hola, gentle readers! Courtesy of Aunt and Uncle of Ken, I have been gifted with an array of old cookbooks that are nothing short of hilarious to read. I do not know how they obtained these gems, but I am grateful for the joy they have brought to my life.

Today's offering is Mexican Cookery for American Homes from Gebhardt's in San Antonio, Texas. There is no exact publication date, but one of the advertisements has a copyright date of 1943.

This cookbook has a few fantastic color illustrations. Keep an eye out for the salt and pepper shakers that appear on the "tablescapes." Above, you will see small cacti, I think.

As for recipes, I scanned a few that I thought you would especially enjoy. On page seven of this book, right at the top, there is a recipe for "Mexican Style Tongue." Mmmmm...

For those of you who prefer lighter fare, perhaps you would be interested in this recipe for "Gebhardt's Bean Salad:"

The picture really sells it for me.

Those of you with more adventurous palettes might be interested in this recipe for "Deviled Eggs in Aspic:"

Doesn't it look tasty? Father of Ken has been an aficionado of tomato aspic since Grandmother of Ken (she of the Ranch Jell-O fame) made some for him in the seventies.




I just can't tell you how good this looks.

Here's the rest of the tomato aspic recipe and a recipe for "Sombrero Salad"--isn't it cute? I also love the table decorations:





That's not all, gentle readers. The next section of the book covers main dishes such as "Boiled Spaghetti" (top photo) and "Chili with Eggs" (bottom photo):





I think this might be my absolute favorite part of the whole book. There is just something so appetizing about this photograph of appetizers. It reminds me of the part of Bridget Jones where Mark Darcy remarks, "If you ask me, there's not enough blue food."



Seriously, what is up with the blue stuff on the edge? And the presentation of the whole thing is just...there are no words.

That's it for Mexican Cookery--I hope you enjoyed it. Next up: the cookbook that came with the Presto Pressure Cooker in the 1950s.

Here I Go Again

Today is the one year anniversary of The Adventures of Ken and McKenna!

As a special treat for all of my loyal gentle readers, I present to you two gelatin recipes.

As Mother of Ken would say, "I just can't tell you how good these sound."

Mother of Ken sent these recipes to me a while ago from my hometown newspaper, The Parsons Sun, and I have been waiting for just the right moment to post them on the blog.

First, Pearl's "Mystery Salad," which I mistakenly referred to as "Jell-O Surprise" in my previous post. My apologies to Pearl.

I scanned the recipe as printed in the paper to prove that this is real, because I know it is difficult to believe that someone would be proud enough of this recipe to submit it for publication. It is a little hard to read in the scan, though, so here it is in larger font:

2 3 oz. pkgs. lemon gelatin
1 c. boiling water
2 10 3/4 oz. cans chicken noodle soup (undiluted)
1 c. mayonnaise
4 tablespoons finely chopped green pepper
1 can water chestnuts

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Stir till dissolved. Add the chicken soup.

Let cool but before it sets add remaining items. Cool till set in refrigerator. Serve one lettuce leaf if desired.

I haven't changed a single word--clearly Pearl is an economical writer, if not the world's best proofreader.

That said, I wish that she had shared how she came upon this recipe or if she made it up herself. I cannot imagine how one would come to the conclusion that lemon gelatin, chicken noodle soup, mayonnaise, green pepper, and water chestnuts would a) taste good together and b) have a texture that would not induce vomiting. Please, Pearl, we are dying to know!

Never fear, gentle readers, I have yet another gelatin recipe for you--anyone think that these ladies could have been inspired by Sandra "You-can-use-anything-at-all-that-you-have-in-your-pantry" Lee of Food Network fame?



Again, for your convenience, I have retyped the recipe below.

1 can crushed pineapple opened and pour in pan.
2 pkgs. of 3 oz. jello or 6 oz., pour in jello and bring to a boil, let cool, add 2 cups buttermilk and stir; fold in 1-9 oz. cool-whip.

Refrigerate; let set; cut and serve. Pour in 13x9 inch pan.

Once, again, I have not changed a thing. Regina, like Pearl, is a woman of few words and few proofreading skills. She also demonstrates a healthy appreciation for the semicolon, which; is an; underused punctuation; mark; as far as; I am concerned.

Reading these recipes reminded me of the time that Brother of Ken and I were at Grandmother of Ken's house (Mother of Ken's mother) when she made one of her gelatin creations. Grandmother of Ken hopped on the Jell-O bandwagon from day one and never looked back. She was always experimenting with Jell-O, sometimes with good results (cherry Jell-O with bananas) and sometimes with unfortunate results. At the tender ages of approximately 10 and seven, Brother of Ken and I were summoned to Grandmother of Ken's kitchen, where she wanted us to sample a new dish that she had made. Eyeing the suspicious pan of jiggly white stuff with lumps in it, we politely asked what it was. She hadn't thought of a name since it was experimental, but I'll call it Ranch Jell-O That Made us Retch. It was plain Jell-O with ranch dressing, shredded carrots, and chopped celery. Suffice it to say that Grandmother of Ken, by her own admission, is not much of a cook. The woman can sew circles around me, skip circles around me at the age of 91, and make the best freaking divinity and fudge that you have ever had, but everyday cooking is just not her thing.

I hope that you have enjoyed these gelatin recipes--at first, I wished that I had photos of the finished dishes for you, but then I decided that it is safer for everyone's stomach that the newspaper only published the written recipes.

Here's to another year of The Adventures of Ken and McKenna--thanks for reading!

I'm Alright

I apologize for not posting anything for a while, but I assure you that I'm alright. I am currently slogging through roughly 3,762 interlibrary loan books for my dissertation, but I thought I'd show you what I did this week besides read.

Last Sunday, I cooked a pork shoulder in my Crock Pot for about nine hours--here's what it looked like when it went in. This one was just under seven pounds:

Nine hours later, I started shredding the meat, which was falling off the bone.

I will be eating pork shoulder for the next year, I think. This is my bowl of shredded pork, which I froze in small packages. I also had a container of scraps for McKenna, but I found out quickly that pork shoulder does not agree with her. It was like living with a skunk.

With my shredded pork, I made several barbecued pork sandwiches this week--here is one dinner with a barbecued pork sandwich, steamed fingerling potatoes (purchased at the Farmer's Market) and aioli and fresh corn on the cob:

I also made The World's Largest Loaf of Brioche this week, which I clearly should have divided into two bread pans. I was using Ina Garten's recipe for mini brioche rolls, but making a loaf. Obviously, the complete recipe makes about two loaves.





It was so good...





A huge breakfast to get me ready for a day of reading--brioche toast, bacon, cantaloupe, and homemade strawberry jam.

Also this week, Kenna did a lot of running around in the yard...

...and a lot of sleeping.



She attacked another one of her toys:

I went to the Farmer's Market yesterday morning and got a giant loaf of Bavarian country bread (what is it with me and the bread this week?), some local wildflower honey, and my first batch of local strawberries of the season from the Amish:

Saturday's lunch was slices of Bavarian country bread with herb butter (chives and parsley from my garden), Welsh cheddar cheese, carrots, and fresh strawberries.

And that, gentle readers, was my exciting week. I've got some good stuff coming up, though--great recipes for deviled egg tomato aspic and "Jell-O Surprise." You won't want to miss this.

We're sitting there like idiots drinking coffee without a piece of cake!

Yesterday morning, I was asked to help with a reception in honor of Pastor Bruce Davenport, Pastor Darby, and their wives, who are visiting our community from New Orleans. Their church, St. John's Faith Church #5, was severely damaged during Hurricane Katrina and they have several associated buildings that were damaged as well. My church joined several other local organizations to help provide what they needed to rebuild and continue their important work in support of their community. They have several ministries, which you can read about here and here, and it is an honor and joy for all of us to do what we can to support them.

While they are visiting us this week, we are hosting a reception at the church to welcome them, hear about the work that they are doing and the progress that they have made, and, of course, what more we can do to help them. We are having coffee and dessert and somehow I ended up being in charge of decor in addition to bringing food. So, I picked up these pretty roses:

I'm also taking pretty napkins and tablecloths and some candles and I hope we can make it all look like something.

As for food, I decided to make Paula Deen's Double Chocolate Gooey Butter Cake, which is one of the few recipes of hers that I make. If you've never made this before, you should--so good. I made it once with my own homemade cake mix since I don't keep cake mix in my pantry and it was better, but then I lost the recipe for homemade cake mix, so I had to use the store bought kind this time.

I also made Ina Garten's Chocolate Dipped Strawberries, which I will arrange on a platter later today once the chocolate is set.

I hope that between these two things and the other contributions that people are bringing, we will have enough food. I made sure that we have cake, though, so that no one feels as stupid as George's parents (as dinner guests) sitting at the table after dinner drinking coffee with no cake.

You Can't Get What You Want: Another Progress Report

After several weeks of trying to extricate the squeak from her toy, McKenna still has not succeeded. She has tried several tactics, which have resulted in a few small holes on the edge of the ring, but she isn't close to tearing this thing apart and getting to the squeak. She is quite frustrated.

Never fear, gentle readers. She will find a way to destroy this toy. It's just taking a while...