"A box of chestnuts"

uh, ok, if you like chestnuts I guess.

"Oyster loaf"

uh, again, not my thing, but sure

"German Way of Cooking Chickens": "cover and bake about 1? hours"

I guess lunch was more of an affair in 1902 than now where it's "jam sandwich in mouth forcefully"

"English Monkey"

uh, can I just have the leftover oyster loaf instead?

"Fried Whitebait"

Pretty sure everything fried is white bait. oh snap.

"Clam Pie, No. 2"

I'm seeing a disproportionate amount of shellfish on this list.

Rice Balls.

Like, some days you're suggesting an entire roasted animal and then some days you get next to nothing.

"Angels on Horseback"

Is this a tie-in for The Shack?

"Tongue Toast"
"Mock Crabs"

Is that in the imperative?

"23.¡ªWigs."

what?

"Sally Lunn."

wait where is this list going?
posted by GuyZero at 12:08 PM on March 16, 2017 [19 favorites]

Sally Lunn is delicious. We still make it in my family.
posted by crush-onastick at 12:15 PM on March 16, 2017 [4 favorites]

"German Way of Cooking Chickens": "cover and bake about 1? hours"

I guess lunch was more of an affair in 1902 than now where it's "jam sandwich in mouth forcefully"

Except another lunch is "Orange Salad," which is just peeled oranges with olive oil, lemon juice and salt served on lettuce leaves.

And as for Sally Lunn, I got as far as Heat 1 pt. of milk blood warm and then I had to turn away.
posted by layceepee at 12:32 PM on March 16, 2017 [2 favorites]

I see the approach to celery that's had the bejesus cooked out of it shifts slightly with the seasons:

From January:

22.¡ªBaked Celery.

Parboil a bunch of celery, using only the stalks; cut into two inch lengths, put them into a baking dish. Rub smooth 2 tablespoonfuls of butter and 2 of flour, then beat in the yolks of 3 eggs; stir this into 1 qt. of veal stock and pour it over the celery, cover with grated bread crumbs and dust the top with grated cheese.

From October:

20.¡ªStewed Celery in Brown Sauce.

Cut the celery in six inch lengths, boil in salt and water, strain. Put ? a pint of soup stock or gravy on the fire and cook the celery in it; add pepper and salt, a little nutmeg, 4 tablespoonfuls of cream, a little thickening of butter and flour. Simmer only a few minutes.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 12:32 PM on March 16, 2017 [3 favorites]

Some of these are hard to follow. Some of the measurements are weird - a pint of chopped meat? A gill of rice?? Ingredients I don't think I'd ever be able to find - kornlet (apparently some kind of green corn pulp); canned, shell-on shrimp; whole mace.

I read a good number of them wondering why they all call for cold meat until I realized that these recipes are all meant to use last night's leftovers. So now I guess I know what to do with the ends of the next roast beef I cook.
posted by backseatpilot at 12:33 PM on March 16, 2017

I like that it doesn't talk down to its audience and presumes a certain skill set, such as the process by which one creams one's oysters, or that one would have some creamed oysters just lying around because what chef worth their salt wouldn't?

1.¡ªOyster Loaf.

Take a loaf of bread, cut off the crusts, dig out the centre, making a box of it, brush it all over with melted butter and put into the oven to brown. Fill with creamed oysters, cover the top with fried bread crumbs, put into the oven for a minute and serve. Garnish with parsley.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 12:38 PM on March 16, 2017 [2 favorites]

10.¡ªCocoanut Ice Cream.

Now we're cooking.
posted by Splunge at 12:39 PM on March 16, 2017

Oh just open up metafilter, most days, you're almost certain to find something that really creams your oysters.
posted by Wolfdog at 12:47 PM on March 16, 2017 [5 favorites]

Q. Is the steak un?ati?factory?
A. Sizzle the meat. It mu?t sizzle.
posted by Mayor West at 12:52 PM on March 16, 2017 [6 favorites]

I'm intrigued by the coffee fritters with coffee sauce.
posted by betweenthebars at 12:53 PM on March 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

I like how this runs the gamut from "dump out a can of salmon onto a lettuce leaf" to "boil a sheep's head for two hours"
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:54 PM on March 16, 2017 [9 favorites]

15.¡ªCrescent Croquettes.

Roll some light pie crust very thin and cut in half moons. Chop beef or mutton very fine, add a little summer savory, parsley, salt and pepper. Lay some of this between two layers of paste. Egg and bread crumb them and fry in boiling fat for ten minutes.

I am having trouble following this. I think what it's saying is to make the pie crusts and then lay some of the meat mixture on top of a piece of crust (the "paste"[ry?]) and then seal it with another piece to basically make a hand pie. And then butter and bread crumb it, and then deep fry?!

I don't think I would ever bread a pastry for deep frying, but maybe I'm missing out.
posted by backseatpilot at 12:56 PM on March 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

Have we finally found the final solution to Flavortown? Is this the antidote? Quick, someone twitter this at Guy Fieri and see if he dissolves into bran!
posted by loquacious at 12:57 PM on March 16, 2017 [2 favorites]

21.¡ªCollared Head.

Boil ? a pig's head until the meat comes from the bone, chop it fine and add salt and pepper and a slice of onion minced very fine. Stir all well together and turn into a mould. Serve cold.

We would call this head cheese nowadays and from experience I will say that it's a bit more work than those two sentences let on.
posted by backseatpilot at 12:58 PM on March 16, 2017 [4 favorites]

Along the same lines, A breakfast calendar of three hundred and sixty-six suggestions for dishes suitable at breakfast (Adelaide, Australia, 1918).
posted by brushtailedphascogale at 1:01 PM on March 16, 2017 [2 favorites]

English Monkey.

Soak 1 cup of stale bread crumbs in 1 cup of milk for 15 minutes. Into a saucepan put 1 teaspoonful of butter and ? cup cream cheese, melt and add the crumbs, also a well-beaten egg, ? teaspoonful salt and a pinch of cayenne. Cook for 3 minutes and pour it on toasted crackers.

I don't want to say I told you so, but...
posted by Naberius at 1:01 PM on March 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

April 11. Spider Cake

...Mix, and heat thoroughly, and then pour it into the spider; pour ov-

what
posted by drunkonthemoon at 1:02 PM on March 16, 2017 [6 favorites]

Wiki is telling me that a "spider" in this case is simply a frying pan with legs on it. Which brings up another interesting bit of confusion with a lot of these recipes - nomenclature has changed since this book was written. A spider in today's kitchen is a strainer.

I'm seeing recipes that call for boiling 8 potatoes in a "saucepan" and either their saucepans were much larger or their potatoes were much smaller because there is no way I can fit 8 Yukon Golds in my saucepan.
posted by backseatpilot at 1:08 PM on March 16, 2017

I see the approach to celery that's had the bejesus cooked out of it shifts slightly with the seasons

"It is imperative that one cook ALL vegetables at sufficient length and temperature so as to remove ANY traces of color and/or texture from the foodstuff; This is CRUCIAL to healthy consumption, as otherwise the vibrant hues might dazzle and blind the eye, and the wicked fibrousness do irreparable harm to the teeth and bowels."
posted by Atom Eyes at 1:21 PM on March 16, 2017 [4 favorites]

2.--Chicken Creams.

Chop and pound 1/2 a lb. of chicken and 3 ozs. of ham; pass this through
a sieve,

Nope, I'm out... I'm done...
posted by sixohsix at 1:21 PM on March 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

I laughed at the Box of Chestnuts, until I got to how to make the box:

¡°To make the box, take a loaf of bread, cut off the crust and leave the sides as smooth as possible. Cut out the centre, leaving a box shaped piece. Fry this in deep fat.¡±

...and now I'm pretty much speechless.
posted by Mchelly at 1:26 PM on March 16, 2017 [4 favorites]

I'm seeing recipes that call for boiling 8 potatoes in a "saucepan" and either their saucepans were much larger or their potatoes were much smaller because there is no way I can fit 8 Yukon Golds in my saucepan.

I suspect this is regional. Presumably "saucepan" has a more specific meaning to you? than it does to me, or the compiler? of this book. I used the word to mean any deep stove top pan, primarily used for boiling. Accordingly I have saucepans that are capable of boiling considerably more than 8 potatoes.
posted by howfar at 1:33 PM on March 16, 2017 [2 favorites]

there is no way I can fit 8 Yukon Golds in my saucepan.

The potatoes referred to would be more along the lines of New Potatoes. I don't know what size your saucepans are but mine hold 4 litres of water, so this seems very reasonable to me.
posted by DarlingBri at 1:34 PM on March 16, 2017 [2 favorites]

We would call this head cheese nowadays and from experience I will say that it's a bit more work than those two sentences let on.

I do enjoy headcheese, but I'm very DADT about how it's prepared.

That said, I imagine it involves a lot of...skimming of hot, gelatinous thingies.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 1:41 PM on March 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

People sure had a lot of spare veal lying around back in the day. Though I'm genuinely intrigued by the bread omelette.
posted by terretu at 1:45 PM on March 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

A... savory tapioca soup?
posted by snorkmaiden at 1:53 PM on March 16, 2017

"Angels on Horseback"

Is this a tie-in for The Shack?

Dude - you've not heard of this? Angels on Horseback is shucked oysters, wrapped in bacon, and then broiled in the oven.

Second only to Devils on Horseback, where you fry the oysters first.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:54 PM on March 16, 2017

Like I know that clams and oysters exist but having grown up on the great lakes it's all pretty theoretical to me. I get that someone out there eats those things but my personal cookbook doesn't have them for lunch several times per month.
posted by GuyZero at 1:57 PM on March 16, 2017

I get that someone out there eats those things but my personal cookbook doesn't have them for lunch several times per month.

Now this is (at least in part) a historical change. Oysters in particular were massively more common before large scale commercial dredging depleted the supply.
posted by howfar at 1:59 PM on March 16, 2017 [9 favorites]

That and it's from the Boston Cooking School where, yeah, there's a lot of seafood. I feel like it was a lot of shellfish and even some roe but not a lot of regular fish, but maybe I skimmed it too fast.
posted by GuyZero at 2:12 PM on March 16, 2017

The baked pumpkin recipe is the least inspired thing I have read in a very lomg time.

Though the savory citrus salads sound interesting.
posted by steady-state strawberry at 2:13 PM on March 16, 2017

Quick, find your birthday!

Mine is: 30.¡ªGerman Prune Cake.

For this use a recipe for short cake adding more milk to make it into a thick batter. Turn into a shallow, oblong pan and over the top press lightly into the mixture a close layer of partly cooked prunes. Sprinkle thickly with granulated sugar and bake in a quick oven. Serve hot.¡ªFrom "Table Talk," Phila.

Not bad! If you read old cookbooks there are a lot of prune recipes-- more than you'd think, considering that I have literally never eaten anything with prunes in it that wasn't just a dried or stewed prune. It's because they're good keepers, I think, and not subject to seasonality, and much cheaper than raisins (raisins come from grapes, which are harder to grow than plums.) Sort of like how Funeral Pie is chiefly made of raisins (since they're good keepers and you never know when you'll need a Funeral Pie.)

A lot of these have to do with the peculiar ideas about daintiness, and the role of a cooked luncheon eaten at home as a class signifier at the time. It's a moment that is just at the beginning of convenience foods, directly in the middle of the weird food/moral purity crazes that gave us such products as Grape Nuts and corn flakes.
posted by blnkfrnk at 2:16 PM on March 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

Chop and pound 1/2 a lb. of chicken and 3 ozs. of ham; pass this through
a sieve,

Nope, I'm out... I'm done...

You've not seen how tortured the food can be at a lot of hoity-toity restaurants, have you? Passing meat through a sieve would constitute "barely touched."
posted by Thorzdad at 2:18 PM on March 16, 2017

The chicken cutlets were particularly impressive: Take chicken cutlets, grind them up and mix the meat with herbs and onion juice (?)(!) , cook in milk and butter... beat in some eggs and chill... then shape into "the shape of cutlets," bread, and fry. So many extra steps for a chicken mc-cutlet.
posted by Mchelly at 2:23 PM on March 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

Quick, find your birthday!

19.¡ªA Spanish Fish Dish.

Bone some nice pieces of cold fish. Warm it in a cupful of olive oil, 1 clove of garlic, some Spanish red pepper and a wine-glass of tarragon vinegar. Lay tomatoes, cooked down to a thick pur¨¦e, in a dish; lay the fish upon it, pour the sauce over and serve.

Other then the vagueness of the measurements and lack of timings, this sounds reasonable. Although that sounds like a lot of vinegar? But their "wine-glasses" were probably smaller!
posted by dnash at 2:25 PM on March 16, 2017

Wiggs. Wigs. Wigs? Wigs?! Wigs! Wigs.
posted by blnkfrnk at 2:25 PM on March 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

Yes, the middle class Yankee palate was bland, bland and unadventurous. But food also used to have more flavor. Meat had more fat, more "dark meat" (in poultry) and came from smaller, older animals. ("Standard" cookbooks re-test their meat recipes every 10 years as breeds change so much.) Fruits and vegetables had not yet been bred for "keeping properties", large sizes, and consistency (flavor has not been a Thing in modern plant development). The idea that you "cooked good plain food" and didn't "cover it in fancy sauces" made a bit more sense then.

(Until the 1920s when you covered EVERYTHING in a blanket of mayonnaise or whipped cream or meringue or whatnot.)
posted by Hypatia at 2:38 PM on March 16, 2017 [5 favorites]

Second only to Devils on Horseback, where you fry the oysters first.

NO! Devils on Horseback are PRUNES wrapped in bacon and they are glorious enough that i keep trying to make them with vegetarian bacon to varying degrees of success.
posted by AFII at 2:58 PM on March 16, 2017 [2 favorites]

Oysters in particular were massively more common before large scale commercial dredging depleted the supply.

Not only that, but the novelty of refrigerated rail cars and the resulting ability to send coastal foods inland created a shellfish craze in the late-19th and early-20th century.

The history of oysters in the US is really interesting!
posted by mudpuppie at 3:02 PM on March 16, 2017 [3 favorites]

Quick, find your birthday!

14.¡ªFig Sandwiches.

Cook twelve figs in as little water as possible. When tender drain dry. Chop the figs fine, spread on slices of buttered bread. Put two together. Press them and trim.

Well THAT was boring.
posted by thecjm at 3:29 PM on March 16, 2017

October 3

3.¡ªCod Cutlets.

Make the following sauce and simmer the fish cutlets in it. One cupful of stock, pepper, salt, parsley, onion, a little lemon juice and a glass of sherry. Thicken with browned flour. Heat the cutlets slowly, do not let them boil.[Pg 111]

Pretty much the whole first week of October is solid, minus the celery sandwiches.
posted by curious nu at 3:30 PM on March 16, 2017

Sally Lunn's bakery is still open in Bath.
posted by brujita at 3:31 PM on March 16, 2017 [2 favorites]

Christmas Day is baked turnips. I guess they've all been naughty.
posted by Mogur at 3:41 PM on March 16, 2017 [4 favorites]

February 9

9.¡ªScrambled Eggs with Shad Roes.

When you have shad for dinner scald the roes ten minutes in boiling water (salted), drain, throw into cold water, leave them there three minutes, wipe dry, and set in a cold place until you wish to use them. Cut them across into pieces an inch or more wide, roll them in flour, and fry to a fine brown. Scramble a dish of eggs, pile the roes in the centre of a heated platter, and dispose the eggs in a sort of hedge all around them.¡ªFrom "The National Cook Book," by Marion Harland and Christine Terhune Herrick.

I... I would actually eat that.
posted by hanov3r at 4:08 PM on March 16, 2017

Christmas Day is baked turnips.

¡®God bless us every one!¡¯ said no one.
posted by mr. digits at 4:09 PM on March 16, 2017 [2 favorites]

Hmm, what's lunch on my birthday...

MAY.

1.¡ªKedgeree (Fish).

Take equal parts of cold fish (free from skin and bone) boiled rice and some hard boiled eggs. Chop the fish and eggs; mix with the rice, add bits of butter, about a tablespoonful in all, season with salt and pepper, and a sprinkle of curry powder. Warm in a saucepan and serve as hot as possible.

I won't, and you can't make me.
posted by notquitemaryann at 4:14 PM on March 16, 2017

Well, fuck.

Feb 23.¡ªBologna Sandwich.

Take off the skin from a bologna sausage. Rub to a paste. Spread slices of rye bread with butter and if liked, a little French mustard, then a layer of the bologna. Put two slices together.
posted by ftm at 4:17 PM on March 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

I'm surprised how short all of these recipes are. Was it because the average person's (woman's) cooking knowledge/ability was that much higher than it is today so they don't need to necessarily give exact quantities or elaborate on cooking techniques?

Also,

9.¡ªMaple Sugar Sandwiches.

Cut and butter slices of white bread, scrape maple sugar and spread thickly on the bread. Cut with a maple leaf cutter and serve with hot coffee.

This sounds freaking amazing but I can't imagine that a maple leaf cutter was exactly a standard piece of kitchen equipment in 1902?
posted by eeek at 4:28 PM on March 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

I got seven days in and was nauseous. My birthday: Eels with Tartare Sauce. The bottom line is: If I get my Time Machine primed for 1902, I'm heading for France.
posted by acrasis at 4:53 PM on March 16, 2017 [3 favorites]

There was, up until at least the past ten years, a restaurant in Boston's Quincy Market where you could get all of this kind of thing -- the Yankee food, such as the eponymous baked beans and brown bread, that actual Bostonians have not eaten since pasta became respectable sometime in the 1960s. The menu had other options; the only truly old-fashioned thing I ate was the coffee-flavored gelatin. (And how do you suppose it was?)

Sweet sandwiches were apparently popular about a hundred years ago. At the time, the abundance of caloric energy in sugar and fat led some authorities to believe the more of it, the better. Sweet food was also more ladylike and therefore high-class. There's vestigial evidence of this belief in the marshmallows and raisins that appear on top of sweet potatoes around the holidays. Oh, and in the terrifying "salads" of the Midwest and South, although those are passing away with the grandmothers who make them.
posted by Countess Elena at 5:09 PM on March 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

Oh, and in the terrifying "salads" of the Midwest and South, although those are passing away with the grandmothers who make them.

Let us all bow our heads and observe a moment of silence for that collapsed molded foodstuff, aspic.
posted by DarlingBri at 5:12 PM on March 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

Boil ? a pig's head until the meat comes from the bone, chop it fine and add salt and pepper and a slice of onion minced very fine. Stir all well together and turn into a mould. Serve cold.

That makes sense; I was wondering what to do with the other half of that pig's head I ate for breakfast.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 5:14 PM on March 16, 2017 [8 favorites]

they don't need to necessarily give exact quantities or elaborate on cooking techniques?

I don't cook three meals a day from scratch, as a 1902 cook probably would, and I find these recipes do-able, they sound like how I trade recipes with relatives in email. Also, many of them are aimed at using up scraps, it would be counterproductive to get precise with quantities.

How can I sell aspic to bone broth enthusiasts as the Newest Thing?
posted by clew at 5:30 PM on March 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

I'm making head cheese next week, and it will be fun!
posted by mumimor at 5:39 PM on March 16, 2017

a maple leaf cutter

Unless I'm wrong I think it is just a maple leaf cookie cutter. I think most Canadians who've baked a couple times in their cooking life must have at least one in a junk drawer. My great grandmother had an old tin one she used for sugar cookies. And I can attest that eating maple sugar / maple butter on some bread with a nice cup of tea is awesome. Maybe not the healthiest lunch but you could do worse.
posted by Ashwagandha at 5:51 PM on March 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

The Foreign Dishes seem to have dated better than the Luncheon Dishes - there's less deep-fat frying of bread cases. Haven't come across haggis served with apple sauce before though. Also, I now need Greek Stuffed Egg-Plant.
posted by paduasoy at 6:47 PM on March 16, 2017

mudpuppie: "Oysters in particular were massively more common before large scale commercial dredging depleted the supply.

Not only that, but the novelty of refrigerated rail cars and the resulting ability to send coastal foods inland created a shellfish craze in the late-19th and early-20th century.

The history of oysters in the US is really interesting!"

The oldest still operating restaurant in Pittsburgh is The Oyster House which has been around since 1870. And you know, we're 350 miles from the nearest ocean. They hauled those babies up over the Alleghenies every day for the hungry folk out here.
posted by octothorpe at 7:09 PM on March 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

There was, up until at least the past ten years, a restaurant in Boston's Quincy Market where you could get all of this kind of thing -- the Yankee food, such as the eponymous baked beans and brown bread, that actual Bostonians have not eaten since pasta became respectable sometime in the 1960s. The menu had other options; the only truly old-fashioned thing I ate was the coffee-flavored gelatin. (And how do you suppose it was?)

That actually sounds fascinating.

I think of myself as adventurous, but sometimes that leads to massive blind spots in what I eat. I'd never had German food until recently, for example. It was (like the polka music the place was playing) too strange to be normal, but too passe to be worth checking out.

It was actually pretty good.
posted by steady-state strawberry at 7:16 PM on March 16, 2017

....the one for my birthday actually sounds pretty good:

25.¡ªPotato Stew.

Peel and slice 8 large potatoes. Into a deep saucepan put 3 slices of salt pork cut into small pieces, fry them, and then add the potatoes with salt, pepper, and 1 large peeled tomato, sliced, cover with water and let cook until the potatoes are done.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:20 PM on March 16, 2017

maple butter

I--

wh--

*googles*

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE
posted by curious nu at 7:22 PM on March 16, 2017

Maple butter is beloved and ubiquitous in the households of maple loving French Canadians, however, it can be expensive so there exists a fake but equally beloved maple butter called Map-O-Spread (which can no longer be called maple spread, as it contains no maple, but is now called a condensed sugar spread).
posted by Ashwagandha at 7:32 PM on March 16, 2017

yeah maple butter is basically edible crack except it's slightly more expensive.
posted by GuyZero at 8:01 PM on March 16, 2017 [3 favorites]

I rarely cook these days, but I used to be kind of obsessed, and yeah - these recipes make perfect sense for someone who knows their way around common techniques. If you understand what the various techniques are for - that is, what effects they have on the finished dish, and what kinds of ingredients they're appropriate for - that can fill in a lot of the blanks.

These general guides are pretty much how I conceptualize recipes, at least once I've sussed out the spirit of the thing. Many varieties of soup, for example, are basically the same recipe, with slightly different ingredients: saute aromatics in oil or fat; add liquids; then add solid ingredients, putting the heartier, longer-cooking stuff in first (beans, root vegetables, meats) and the more delicate things in later (herbs, greens, mushrooms).

As for measurements, most things don't need to be super precise. And old-timey home cooks likely understood that you need to use your tongue / nose / instincts / personal preferences to adjust on the fly (especially when you consider that ingredients were a lot less uniform back then, so exact measurements would have been of limited value anyway).

If it says "mix two cup milk and two cups flour to make a thick batter", the measurements aren't the point. The runny batter is the point. The measurements just give an approximate place to start. If you end up with too sturdy a batter, add more milk. If it's too watery, add more flour.

"But what's a runny batter? That's subjective!" Again, you need to understand the instructions in context, not as a set of discrete steps to be peformed robotically. Visualize the finished dish,, and draw on your past experience with similar ingredients and procedures to judge how runny the batter needs to be to produce that result. You know when you have too little (or too much) butter in the pan for grilling a sandwich, even without measuring, right? Same thing. Making simple pastry doughs, meat minces, etc. would have been routine for home cooks back then.

And if it doesn't turn out right the first time, an experienced cook will likely be able to figure out why.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 8:17 PM on March 16, 2017 [4 favorites]

Countess Elena, this is
Durgin-Park

It was one of the 1st of the James Beard America''s classics.
posted by brujita at 8:41 PM on March 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

June 2.¡ªMutton Stew with Canned Peas.

Cut a breast of mutton into small pieces; dredge with flour and saut¨¦ to a golden brown in drippings or the fat of salt pork; cover with boiling water and let simmer until tender, seasoning with salt and pepper during the latter part of the cooking. Take out the meat, skim off the fat and add one can of peas drained, reheated in boiling water, and drained again; add more seasoning, if needed, and pour over the mutton on the serving-dish.

That sounds like my life, sure.
posted by h00py at 2:51 AM on March 17, 2017 [1 favorite]

you need to understand the instructions in context, not as a set of discrete steps to be peformed robotically.
On which point, 'blood heat', mentioned above, is simply the easiest way to assess the warmth of something being cooked, as it means 'just a bit warm when you stick your finger in it' ie the blood used to calibrate is your own.*

I thought the poster above seemed squicked out so I'm assuming they weren't familiar with the usage.

* Obviously you wouldn't stick your finger in oil for frying, for example. The method is for stuff that needs to be warm, not hot.
posted by glasseyes at 4:54 AM on March 17, 2017 [1 favorite]

the only truly old-fashioned thing I ate was the coffee-flavored gelatin. (And how do you suppose it was?)
I actually make coffee jelly all the time! Super easy (especially if you cheat like I do and use the Starbucks via packets), make coffee add a packet of gelatin, sweetener if you like. Then I set in the fridge and eat it with whipped cream. Delicious!
posted by peacheater at 6:23 AM on March 17, 2017 [2 favorites]

Tongue Squares: Fry squares of bread, sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese on them, season highly with pepper and salt. Pile grated tongue in a pyramid on each square. Serve either hot or cold.

not so much a cookbook as a recipe for summoning the elder gods
posted by Emily's Fist at 6:48 AM on March 17, 2017 [3 favorites]

June 10: Newport Tea Cakes.

Sift together 3 cups of sifted flour and a teaspoonful of salt. Beat the yolks of three eggs until very light, add 1 pt. of milk and stir into the dry ingredients. Then beat the whites of three eggs, beaten dry. Bake in small buttered tins in a very hot oven.¡ªJanet M. Hill, in "Boston Cooking School Magazine."

Ah, and google books has the Boston Cooking School magazine archived, here (I think this link will work).

I love this!
posted by PussKillian at 6:49 AM on March 17, 2017

My birthday lunch:

12.¡ªFried Lobster.

Take the meat out of a boiled lobster in large pieces. Dip each piece in egg, then in bread-crumbs. Fry in deep, hot fat. Serve with tartar sauce.

Yes. Please.
posted by sandraregina at 10:52 AM on March 17, 2017

A lot of these recipes make more sense if a kitchen just always had a literal frying-pan holding whatever fat you had rendered from other cooking. Good way to make odd ends tasty, and you don't waste the energy in the fat. Perpetual broth on the other back hob and you're halfway to a hot meal.

Behold, a review of frozen baked fries casually mentions the universal and dangerous chip pan -- but, wait, in *this* century. Wow, pictures of big fires. I don't think the US manages those except with our turkey deep-fryers.
posted by clew at 11:59 AM on March 17, 2017 [1 favorite]

There's also 366 Vegetarian Menus and Cook's Guide by Mrs. C. Leigh Hunt Wallace, 1885. The menus in it are appropriately seasonal for the Northern Hemisphere, but the suggested beverages are odd in places - they sometimes seem like the author pulled slips listing foodstuffs out of a hat - however, I bet you could make a lot of them into trendy juices now. (I paid a pretty penny to get a copy of the book a few years ago, before it had been digitized.)
posted by jocelmeow at 1:10 PM on March 17, 2017 [6 favorites]

When my dad worked shift work, this was in the mid to late 70's, a favorite book of my mother's was 365 Ways to Cook Hamburger. So many weird meatloafs... Thankfully my mother was a good cook and she made us eat our vegetables.
posted by Ashwagandha at 5:18 PM on March 17, 2017

I guess lunch was more of an affair in 1902 than now where it's "jam sandwich in mouth forcefully"

Well, sure, there's nothing wrong with a jam sandwich for lunch, but you really ought to have something savoury first...
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 5:39 AM on March 18, 2017

A friend made me aware of another antique cookbook set up for the days of the year: The Franco-American Cookbook from 1884, noting that it was written by his great-great grandfather, Felix J. D¨¦li¨¦e. This one is for those of you always wondering what to do with all that sauce espagnole you have sitting in the fridge.
posted by jocelmeow at 5:44 PM on March 18, 2017 [3 favorites]