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Thursday, December 8, 2016

DECEMBER 9TH: A GLADYS TABER CHRISTMAS

Julia of Hooked on Houses wrote this wonderful post about Gladys Taber being the inspiration for Barbara Stanwyck's  character, Elizabeth Lane, in Christmas in Connecticut.
I thought that since many of you are Gladys Taber fans, as I am, you might enjoy seeing these clippings I saved from  from the one of the  women's  magazines circa 1940s  or 50s.   Here's a picture of Gladys with her family on Christmas Eve:
Gladys is the one standing on the right.

And here is her menu for a Christmas Eve Supper:

Seafood Stillmeadow
Curry Rice
Lime Cottage -Cheese Ring
Baking-Powder Biscuits
Currant Jelly
Fruit Compote
Sugar Cookies ~ Lebkuchen
Coffee
 
Here's the text that went with the article:

Your friend and mine, Gladys Taber, is about as good and example of the woman who writes herself into her work as any woman I know.  Her integrity is intact, her product is uncracked and unchipped.  And she proves it by every word she writes, simple, direct, a word you wouldn't change, for no better word exists. She's as modern as yesterday's new moon.  If it is new, Gladys has one modern streak that stands out like a sore thumb. She has such delicacies for Christmas Eve as seafood.  And she named her dish after her home - "Sea Food Stillmeadow"

She goes in for cottage-cheese ring, I'm glad.  I love cottage cheese. Fancy fruit compote and cookies, the old-time Lebkuchen, (What can you do with a girl like that?) Well, it's supper, not dinner. That's the modernity, I spoke of.  If there's a turkey around, it's being saved for Christmas dinner.  But I've picked out a receipt or two for you from Gladys' menu for Christmas supper. (Planned for  6-8.) My blessings be upon you.

Sea Food Stillmeadow

Remove any pieces of bone from 6 1/2-ounce can crab meat. Take 2 cans of shrimp, drained or 1 1/2  pounds, shelled, cooked and cleaned fresh shrimp. Pour 2 cans mushroom soup into a saucepan, add the crab meat, the shrimp, one 10 1/2-ounce minced clams and one 4-ounce can mushrooms.  Add 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce.  The liquid in the mushrooms and the clams will dilute the soup, but if it is still too thick, add a little cream.  Have it a little thicker - only a little - than heavy cream.  The kind we used to skim off the old tin milk pans.  Do you remember such? Season with salt,  pepper and paprika.  Simmer until well heated and smooth. Serve hot on curry rice.

Curry Rice
Have ready a big bowl of rice with a drift of curry and chunks of butter on top.

Lime Cottage-Cheese Ring

Dissolve 2 packages lime-flavored gelatin in 3 3/4 cups boiling water.  Add 1/4 cup lemon juice or vinegar as soon as gelatin dissolves.  Cool to syrupy consistency.   Add 2 cups cottage cheese and 1/2 cup silvered blanched almonds.  Pour into a ring mold.  Chill until set.  This fills a 1 1/2 quart ring mold.  When turned out, arrange a lettuce cup in the center and fill with mayonnaise. Cut slices of pimento into petal shape.  Make a poinsettia on top of mayonnaise with pimento.

Fruit Compote

Provide your handsomest glass bowl (china one would do). The one Great-aunt Mehitabel gave you, with sighs of regret, the time you took off and got married.  Remember?  Arrange a variety of fruits to fill the bowl - say, 2 grapefruit, peeled and sectioned; 2 pears, peeled, cored and sliced; 3 oranges, peeled and sectioned; a package of frozen pineapple chunks and a can of apricot halves, juice and all; and 1/2 pound of red grapes, seeded. Let the fruits marinate in the fruit sirups [sic]  several hours in the refrigerator.  Serve with Christmas cookies.

I hope you enjoyed this blast from the past.  Isn't it amusing how things, such as  lime cottage-cheese rings, were considered modern?  And how daring it was not to serve turkey for Christmas eve?  I adore Gladys, but personally I think I would have been a little queasy after her Christmas Eve supper.  But if you would like to serve this for your Christmas Eve supper, Bon Appetit!


20 comments:

  1. My grandmother used to make that cottage cheese and lime jello salad. :) Thank you for sharing this...it brought back happy memories for me. :)

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    1. Glad you enjoyed it, Debbie! I used to make a lime jello mold in individual molds for Easter, so I guess I must be getting old. They seem like such a grandma thing to do! (I don't recommend the Sea Food Stillmeadow, though).

      Hugs
      Jane

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  2. I could go for the rice and I actually like the lime-cottage cheese mold! My Mother makes it!

    Stay warm..

    as ever.. m

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    1. Does she add the mayo in the middle and make a poinsettia out of pimentos, Matty? I'd stick to the compote. Don't you just love the way they wrote back then?

      Hugs
      Jane

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  3. Lime jello with cottage cheese and a big ol' lettuce cup full of mayo! That's some good eatin'!

    And I have to giggle when I see 2 cans of mushroom soup plus about 2 lbs of canned seafood "seasoned" by a whole 1/4 teaspoon of Worcestershire. Hold on there, Myrtle--that's rather a heavy hand with the sauce, don't you think? ;^)

    And yet, there must have been SOMETHING to this way of cooking and eating. Because obesity rates were nothing like they are today. I know portion sizes were so much smaller. A bottle of Coke was 6.5 oz! Just a half-ounce more than those adorable little juice glasses your grandma once served breakfast juice in!

    Back to Christmas Eve supper: Cooking for a crowd has gotten to be too much for my mother, so the meal consists of potluck soups; each sibling's family brings a large pot of their family's favorite. Italian Wedding Soup, African Peanut Soup, Chili soup (not to be confused with chili!) always seem to make an appearance. Rolls, crackers, relish trays, and cookies are the only extras needed, and everything is plastic/paper so there aren't too many dishes to deal with afterwards. Good food without a lot of fuss and everyone pitches in!

    I'm hungry just thinking about it! -- Sue

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    1. Ha! Love it, Sue! Maybe obesity rates were lower because the food was unappetizing? I guess everything really did come out of a can, back then. You could add some more milk to that Sea Food Stillmeadow and call it a chowder for soup potluck. (but I'm not recommending it!)

      Hugs
      Jane

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  4. I loved seeing this and the pictures...the menu! Hugs, Andrea

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    1. I wouldn't want to eat that meal and have to drive home, Andrea. I have a tendency toward carsickness and I'm sure this would drive me over the edge!

      Hugs
      Jane

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  5. So...were you supposed to slice some of the lime cottage cheese (I am assuming this was the constancy of jello) and slather mayo on top? This one is really taking up the head space this morning. For once I feel out of the loop, but I am certainly going to read up on this Mrs. Taber this weekend.
    Thank you for getting these tired eyes wide open today.
    Hugs, Jen

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    1. I'm not sure what you are supposed to do with the mayo, Jen. Maybe it was just there to set off the pimento poinsettia? Gladys Taber was a wonderful writer. She had a way of using words that was perfection. Her books are very relaxing.

      Hugs
      Jane

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    2. I have to confess when I read "lime cottage cheese mold" I shuddered. I won't be thinking any more about it. :)
      Dana

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    3. It does conjure up a certain picture doesn't it? I guess lime and cottage cheese should never be in a sentence with mold. Imagine expecting a Christmas feast and finding this at the table.

      Hugs
      Jane

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  6. Oh, dear, that wasn't easy to read first thing in the morning but I did find it amusing. I don't think I'd make it through that meal unscathed.
    Mimi

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    1. Oh, sorry about that Mimi! I guess this is what passed for haute cuisine in the late 40s. I wonder how many men wanted to re-enlist in the army after sitting through a few of these meals?

      Hugs
      Jane

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  7. Another great seasonal post, Jane. Look at that table loaded with beautiful dishes and Gladys-style holiday food! Love it. The photo looks like it could have easily come from my favorite cookbook, Better Homes and Gardens from the 70s. And now, after reading this post, I'm thinking we need a wonderful fruit salad to get us through the holidays.
    Thank you for sharing!

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    1. I here that milkglass is making a comeback, Toni. It is sweet and nostalgic isn't it? I use to make a warm Winter fruit compote for Christmas brunch, but haven't made it in years. Maybe I should look it up. I remember it was very good.

      Hugs
      Jane

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  8. Interesting meal... I remember my Mom making jello molds, but I don't remember the cottage cheese addition with mayo and pimento.
    Have you seen pictures from the gallery of regrettable foods? Hilarious and nauseating...aspic seemed the worst. :D

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    1. I think the plop of mayo put it over the top, Kathy. Remember Perfection Salad with lime jello and shredded cabbage? Sometimes you have to wonder what people were thinking.

      Aspic seemed to be quite trendy at one time. I have a lot of 40s women's magazine and there was at least one recipe for it in each issue. Tomato sounds horrendous, but the worst I ever saw was a fish one with an entire fish, complete with it's head encased in aspic. Bet that one didn't go over to well with the kiddos!
      Hugs
      Jane

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  9. LOL I think I agree with DJL I know those yucky molds were very popular in the late 1950's and 1960's
    My Mom was always making one of some kind

    Merry Christmas

    Janice

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    1. There must have been something to them to be popular for so long! Merry Christmas to you, Janice!

      Hugs
      Jane

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