Saturday, June 16, 2018

Summer offerings for the upcoming solstice

It's a weekend in mid-June! It doesn't get much better than this.... (Well, honestly, I might prefer a cool and spooky late October weekend if it didn't mean spending every single waking moment grading papers and planning classes because fall is the only time I can reliably get a lot of work, but I digress.)

Ahem. In any case, let's celebrate early summer with some traditional trappings: hot dogs and root beer floats! Our hot dogs come courtesy of Ruth Berolzheimer's 500 Tasty Snacks (1950).


Bonus if you're feeling too hot: these franks are cold. Plus, they look like they're part of a sea creature with a series of interior-facing eyes and endless rows of flippers.

Don't risk charred edges or grease flare-ups roasting frankfurters in a camp fire! Keep them nice and chill in some bouillon-flavored gelatin with hard-cooked eggs and celery. I'm sure the kids will be thrilled.

I know I suggested a root beer float for dessert, but Berolzheimer's 300 Ways to Serve Eggs (also 1950) offers something even better!


How about a Root Beer Egg Shake? No actual root beer (or ice cream), just root beer extract, raw egg, milk, and orange juice! Okay, it sounds more like an instant breakfast gone horribly awry than a dessert.

Why are you looking at me that way? Did I not deliver on the hot dogs and root beer?

Those recipes don't really count, huh? Fine. Here's something (also from the egg book) that should make you happy.


Why would I think a pretty standard zabaglione recipe would make you happy? Well, it's guaranteed to give you a "happy ending"...

...from someone who was clearly naive to the implications of "happy ending," especially when it's in quotation marks.

I'm just not sure how zabaglione would manage to pull that off....

7 comments:

  1. This reminds me of going to cookouts as a kid. Eat a piece of cheese on a bun, potato chips, cookies, and a piece of watermelon. Then tell the adults that you are full because you don't want to eat a cremated piece of meat, or a "salad" generously smeared with condiments. I never understood why people liked cookouts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know. And all the "You don't know what you're missing" drove me crazy.

      Delete
    2. The reality was that we DID know what we were missing. When I was a kid, I fantasized about being an adult and having people listen to me and respect what I said. Talk about being let down...

      Delete
    3. Nobody cares what you think unless you're rich.

      Delete
  2. Ew, root beer extract! Plus the rest of the ingredients sound like a creamsicle. Harrumph!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wasn't even aware root beer extract was a thing until I saw this. I'm not sure how they can get away with calling it root beer if it's clearly more like a creamsicle.

      Delete
    2. Around here, there is a company called X-tra touch that sells all sorts of weird extract flavors. I know I've seen root beer, and chocolate. I tried their mint extract once to make something mint chocolate flavor. The "extract" had no flavor, so I'm not sure how much root beer flavor you would really get.

      Delete