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Vintage Mac 'n Cheese
Apr. 30th, 2022 12:44 pmToday's vintage cookbook is Betty Crocker's Good and Easy Cook Book (sixth edition,) 1954.
Image: 1954 edition of Betty's GOOD and EASY.
There were a lot of fascinating lunch choices in this particular volume, including a "quick potato soup" recipe that called for 1/2 cup packaged instant mashed potatoes and no other potatoes. Like, I could understand the instant mashed potatoes as thickener, but apparently that's all the potato you get in this soup. I may have to try it sometime, just for the WTF lolz. We actually have instant potato flakes around because we mistakenly thought we might need them for something other than lefse during the pandemic.
Likewise, there was an interesting opening to the lunch section in which the terms "lunch," "dinner," and "supper" were discussed.
Image: opening discussion about what the hell the midday meal is called.
This fascinated me because in my family, specifically whenever I ate my noontime meal at my Grandma Morehouse's house, it was often referred to as dinner. I have strong memories of a fairly big meal and that sometimes, if he could, my grandpa would walk home from his job at Trane Company and the whole family (such as it was, with a grand daughter instead of the now-grown-up kids) would eat while listening to Paul Harvey on the radio. But, most people called that meal lunch and then ate dinner at night. I was always confused about why some people said it "Breakfast, dinner, supper," or "Breakfast, lunch, and dinner."
The internet is uncertain if this is a regional divide or if it was a thing said on farms versus cities or if it's a relic of the 1800s, early 1900s. I don't care quite enough to dig deeper into this matter, but I'd love to know what was/is said around your house.
At any rate, Shawn and I decided to try Betty's Mac 'n Cheese because it was deeply innocuous. Plus, it is yet-another rainy day here in St. Paul, and so a baked noodle thing sounded pretty darned delicious.
The recipe, as written, goes like this:
OLD-FASHIONED MACARONI AND CHEESE
4 cups cooked macaroni
2 tablespoons of butter, cut in pieces
1 1/4 cups, cubed sharp cheese
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of pepper
2 eggs, beaten
3 cups of milk
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine macaroni, butter, cheese, and seasonings. Place in greased 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Combine eggs and milk; pour over macaroni. Sprinkle with paprika or buttered crumbs. Bake 40 to 50 minutes. Six servings.
Obviously, Shawn and I weren't going to need this much for just the two of us, so I cut everything in half. Otherwise, I decided to follow the recipe without embellishment.
Image: macaroni and cheese, which is clearly just a cheese soufflé with noodles...
Once again, this was not actually very spicy, but it was, in point of fact, oddly comforting on a gray, rainy day.
Image: 1954 edition of Betty's GOOD and EASY.
There were a lot of fascinating lunch choices in this particular volume, including a "quick potato soup" recipe that called for 1/2 cup packaged instant mashed potatoes and no other potatoes. Like, I could understand the instant mashed potatoes as thickener, but apparently that's all the potato you get in this soup. I may have to try it sometime, just for the WTF lolz. We actually have instant potato flakes around because we mistakenly thought we might need them for something other than lefse during the pandemic.
Likewise, there was an interesting opening to the lunch section in which the terms "lunch," "dinner," and "supper" were discussed.
Image: opening discussion about what the hell the midday meal is called.
This fascinated me because in my family, specifically whenever I ate my noontime meal at my Grandma Morehouse's house, it was often referred to as dinner. I have strong memories of a fairly big meal and that sometimes, if he could, my grandpa would walk home from his job at Trane Company and the whole family (such as it was, with a grand daughter instead of the now-grown-up kids) would eat while listening to Paul Harvey on the radio. But, most people called that meal lunch and then ate dinner at night. I was always confused about why some people said it "Breakfast, dinner, supper," or "Breakfast, lunch, and dinner."
The internet is uncertain if this is a regional divide or if it was a thing said on farms versus cities or if it's a relic of the 1800s, early 1900s. I don't care quite enough to dig deeper into this matter, but I'd love to know what was/is said around your house.
At any rate, Shawn and I decided to try Betty's Mac 'n Cheese because it was deeply innocuous. Plus, it is yet-another rainy day here in St. Paul, and so a baked noodle thing sounded pretty darned delicious.
The recipe, as written, goes like this:
OLD-FASHIONED MACARONI AND CHEESE
4 cups cooked macaroni
2 tablespoons of butter, cut in pieces
1 1/4 cups, cubed sharp cheese
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of pepper
2 eggs, beaten
3 cups of milk
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine macaroni, butter, cheese, and seasonings. Place in greased 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Combine eggs and milk; pour over macaroni. Sprinkle with paprika or buttered crumbs. Bake 40 to 50 minutes. Six servings.
Obviously, Shawn and I weren't going to need this much for just the two of us, so I cut everything in half. Otherwise, I decided to follow the recipe without embellishment.
Image: macaroni and cheese, which is clearly just a cheese soufflé with noodles...
Once again, this was not actually very spicy, but it was, in point of fact, oddly comforting on a gray, rainy day.
