Banana Mayonnaise

At a recent dinner party, before we started eating, the usually decorous hostess had the kind of glint in her eye which brings fear to the staid palate. After half-heartedly offering to help in the kitchen, I wandered off to chat to the other guests and drink, only to later hear the words ‘Good Housekeeping’ ‘fifties’ and ‘mayonnaise’.

My salad choices for the blog have mostly been quite conservative, so I was grateful for the opportunity to try a combination of foods which have thus far only gladdened my heart separately.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

A recipe I decided to try while working at home on Friday and thus without access to the tin of ginger nuts and digestives which lurks in the office kitchen. (From  ‘Cookies and Biscuits’ in  the Good Housekeeping Institute’s Cookery Compendium, Waverly 1955)

Cream Crackers

When Alix informed me that she would be making Liptauer cheese for our Eurovision party, I decided to make some Norwegian lefse crackers to go with it. Unfortunately I realised late on Friday night that I should have made the dough earlier that evening so the it could rest for the required 10 hours before baking. Thus it was that I decided to make an truly English contribution  – cream crackers. To achieve this, I turned to The Good Housekeeping Cookery Compendium, part 3, Cake Making (The Waverley Book Company, 1956).

Jam Puffs

Here’s another from Good Housekeeping’s Cookery Book from 1955. These are also for Pie Month – though less obviously a pie, they do fit the basic criteria for pie, or pieteria as I like to call it (oh dear God, sorry), i.e. something encased in something else. I can’t find anything on Freaky Trigger that properly sums up the Great Pie Debate but those familiar will know that, in a sense, there is nothing that is not a pie. And, yes, that includes submarines.

Shepherd’s Pie

So, to kick off my contributions to Pie Month here’s a classic. The recipe is from Good Housekeeping’s Cookery Book (1955):

Gingerbread loaves

I have almost nothing to say about why or how I choose this recipe other than it looked like it would be flavoursome and that the cakes would not go stale  quickly. This recipe is from the Good Housekeeping Cookery Compendium (1956 edition), section 3: Picture Cake Making, Children’s Cakes. A tempting illustration is provided by the book:

Coffee Cake with Strudel (Streusel) Topping

There is something interesting going on linguistically with this cake, and by interesting, I mean wrong. The topping is called ‘strudel’, but is in fact ‘streusel’. Strudel is German for ‘whirlpool’ and refers to a layered pastry, whereas ‘streusel’ is German for ‘sprinkle’ and refers to a sugar-crumb-spice mixture which is used as topping. Take that, Good Housekeeping  Cookery Compendium (volume 3: Picture Cake Making, chapter 11 ‘Large Cakes and Gateaux’, Waverley, 1956)! Your reputation is no match for my pedantry and German A-Level!

Victoria Sponge Cake and Spiced Victoria Sponge Cake

No birthday party is complete without a cake. I gamely volunteered to make one and by volunteered, I mean insisted. It seemed only right and proper that I should choose one from the Sandwich Cakes chapter of Good Housekeeping’s Picture Cake Making (Waverley, 1955) but as I realised I hadn’t baked a sponge cake for atleast a year, something simple would be advisable.

As we had a range of guests attending. I decided to make a two sorts of cake based around the same recipe – a classic Victoria sponge and a spiced Victoria sponge.

Potato and Cheese Soup

Is it cold outside? Are you feeling cross from the cumulative effect of at least seven small things and it’s making your brain itch? Do you have a few edible bits in your kitchen but are too hungry to bake them all for an hour and a half as per most winter comfort dishes? Your problems are my problems, friend.

This recipe is from the Good Housekeeping Cookery Compendium, volume 1 (Waverly, 1955). I felt I should attempt a savoury dish from this book as so far I have only used it to make biscuits.

Peanut butter and apple sandwich

Third and final vintage sandwich. Yes, more grated apple (I like apples!). I used an own brand of pb which I shall avoid in future as it was insufficiently crunchy.

Sweet Fillings
Peanut butter mixed with an equal amount of jam, honey, syrup or grated apple.