Throw-Back Thursday (TBT): pear salad

My friend gave me a very old cookbook because she knew how much I'd enjoy reading it (she's right, I absolutely love it!) and as I was looking thru it and seeing so many recipes that I've never even heard of (and some are super weird!) I thought that it would be fun to give them a try, and that led to my latest category of blog posts that I'm naming 'Throw-Back Thursday" (TBT for short). Hope you enjoy! 

 Along with good tips and information, the first few chapters are a hoot to read - everything from black and white photos with captions like "strike up a warm acquaintance with your oven and its special temperament" and "time and your oven await the occasion and the man", to tidbits like "women and little children will eat about 2 average potatoes and 1/4 pound other vegetables daily. Adolescents and men at hard work can eat two to three times that amount". I'm getting such a kick out of reading how to buy food, setting the table, table etiquette, etc. I won't bore you with lots of this stuff but I will share the bits I think are funny, useful, or just strange to us now!

The other different thing about this old cookbook is that many of the recipes don't have exact amounts - and because I don't know what these dishes are I don't know what I'm aiming for! Texture, seasoning, appearance - it's mostly unknown. So I'm going to do my best to follow the recipe as written, even using the techniques outlined in the book instead of using what are now standard common appliances that they obviously didn't have back then, or current methods of cooking and baking. I do wing-it a lot when I cook, but usually I have some idea of what the end result is supposed to be! We'll see what happens, fingers crossed.

First thing I made, because I thought it was funny and also I had the ingredients on hand, is this pear salad. There isn't an actual recipe, only a black and white photo with the caption "not plucked from an Italian vineyard but fashioned with pear, frosted with cream cheese and studded with half grapes for individual salads at formal occasions". I do think it's cute, and it tastes really good - but LOL formal occasions? Can you imagine serving this at a formal dinner?


1.9.19: tuna noodle casserole  (I need to see if that's in the old cookbook!)
1.9.18: how to make a wedge-shaped paper box
1.9.17: I organized my garage craft room
1.9.16: bloody mary (and a 2019 update)