Happy May! With the new month, we also have a new menu from Cincinnati Celebrates: Cooking and Entertaining for All Seasons (Junior League of Cincinnati, first printing August, 1974, though mine is from the 1980 fifth printing). The spring section has plenty of menus for the Junior Leaguers to cosplay being poor, just as winter did, but this time I think I'm going to focus on a menu that straight-up admits the cooks are well-off.
The spring gathering this time is the Tennis Classic, which the writer recommends should feature a round robin tournament for guests at the tennis club. And of course, the decorations involve gluing shit to tennis racquets since everyone has extra racquets lying around just waiting to be turned into craft projects.
Ah, yes, the good old tennis rackets with "blue cornflower eyes, red felt lips, and daisy hair-dos." Plus, the host should have leisure time to handcraft the tennis-themed keychains to give out as party favors.
The menu is mostly appetizer-type foods, presumably to be nibbled between rounds. I wasn't really sure what made this recipe Heckscher Curry Dip (as opposed to any other curry dip).
I'm assuming it's the name of the person who shared the recipe, as Googling "Hecksher Curry Dip" turns up nothing. FWIW, the regular curry dip recipe on the same page has tarragon vinegar and horseradish instead of mustard and Tabasco.
I was hoping the Scrumptious Shrimp Mold featured Jell-O, but I guess the Junior Leaguers were a little too fancy for that.
This is basically a lump of butter and cream cheese thinned with a bit of mayo and packed full of shrimp and celery.
The book doesn't tell how to make Stuffed Mushrooms or Barbecued Baby Chicken Legs and Wings. (Maybe they were reluctant to admit to stuffing the mushrooms with edible gold? Maybe there was such a brouhaha over which barbecue style went with baby chicks that the writers didn't want to weigh in?) We do have the Alsatian Onion Tart recipe, though.
It's not too far off from a Quiche Lorraine-- just missing the cheese (I guess because the shrimp mold in addition to the cream this recipe features filled the Junior Leaguers' butterfat needs for the day?).
And then, because it isn't a good gathering without some wine, close things out with Mrs. B's Wine Bars.
The wine will cook off, so I imagine there's some additional alcohol to round out this afternoon gathering (and make all that tennis just a little more challenging, especially for Mitzi because everybody's sick of her winning every year)!
Now that I see the riches consider an afternoon of fun to consist of playing a sport while munching on onion-y food and cookies with raisins, I'm thankful to be one of the poors. (Well, I'd probably be down for complaining about Mitzi, but who isn't?)
Kids dip their cookies in milk, adults dip their wine bars in wine?
ReplyDeleteThe keychains sound like something that the poors would make (probably out of cardboard). I doubt that they would get used either way since rich people can probably afford multiple keychains.
I think the crafts are primarily meant to show off that they have free time.
DeleteWhen I see tennis dresses, I just think of my poor Barbie who wanted to be a veterinarian and had to wear a tennis dress because that was the most appropriate outfit I had for her.
ReplyDeleteI read wine bars and for some reason thought they'd be boozy popsicles. I'm disappointed.
ReplyDeleteAlcohol inhibits freezing, so that might be kind of a difficult one. Maybe wine slushies?
DeleteI think there should be more wine in the wine bars. Just my humble opinion. I love the title of this post. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! I usually try to go for a pun of some sort for the ones with months in the title, but sometimes it's better to try something else.
DeleteLate to the game, but ten thumbs up for that!
ReplyDelete