Happy August! To distract us from being baked alive, let's check out what the fancy people in 1970s Cincinnati were doing during the summer. That's right: it's time for another installment 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).
I decided to pick the Summer Opera Encore menu because it sounded like it should be fancy. Plus, who the hell has summer opera parties? I wanted to see what that was all about. Then I decided to see if August was the right month for this party, but Cincinnati's summer opera series actually ends in July, so this menu is a little late. Oh, well! I don't think any readers are seriously planning to have a summer opera encore party based on an ancient Cincinnati menu anyway, so it's here for August.
I guess since this party is so fancy, the invitations should be more restrained than the handcrafted extravaganzas we're accustomed to seeing from the Junior League. This time there are two options, and the first doesn't even require crafting!
Just write the invitation right on the opera program! (Of course, I'm wondering how the Junior Leaguers are getting programs before the opera. I thought programs were given out at the event. Maybe the Junior Leaguers had special sources? Maybe the summer opera just had one program for the entire series that got handed out at every show? Maybe this was just a way to use old programs from earlier shows?)
The other option is still relatively restrained, as the construction paper opera glasses don't even require a special envelope or hand-cancellation at the post office.
The relatively easy invitations mean the preparations for the party have to be a pain in the ass. Each guest has to get a handmade paper maché tray.
And of course, that paper maché needs to be painted and sealed with enamel because we all know that single-use trays need to be sturdy (and take up a lot of time and resources).
The party will also need an inexplicable popcorn topiary centerpiece laden with lemons and ribbons.
I had no idea "lemons and ribbons" could even be a theme, but I guess it is!
For an after-opera party, you might expect some extra-fancy foods, like blini with caviar, but this menu starts out with a Jell-O salad!
The Molded Asparagus Salad doesn't even try to get too fancy, starting with a package of lime gelatin instead of the unflavored variety. Mmm! Sugary lime with asparagus, mayo, green pepper, celery, and green onions!
That's followed with Layered Eggs. What are the eggs layered with?
Creamed chipped beef. That's right! Follow up a night at the opera with shit on a shingle casserole. (Okay, there are no shingles, and I guess the bacon and canned mushrooms are supposed to fancy it up a bit, but this is still not what I expected.)
The English muffins and strawberry tarts are supposed to come from a bakery, I think, as the book offers no recipes, but the Wine Sorbet is supposed to be homemade, and it finally gives us something that seems after-opera fancy.
If you can afford to use champagne in a recipe AND serve it to guests on its own, then maybe guests will kindly look past the asparagus Jell-O and the massive pan of shit-covered scrambled eggs. Or maybe they'll just spread rumors about your déclassé cooking and somebody else will be hosting the after-opera party next summer.
Just because foods match in color does NOT mean that they should be mixed together. Something tells me that Junior League parties existed so people could see what bonkers ideas their leaders could come up with. Of course these days the topiary would be done with rice krispie treats and fondant to be fully edible. For some reason I'm starting to feel better about my lower class life.
ReplyDeleteThat's part of the reason I picked that book for the year. It illustrates how much easier it is to just be lower class and accept it than to be busy all the time trying to impress other people.
DeleteYeah, we'll be nice and call it creativity (though Thorstein Veblen, my favorite sociological theorist when I was getting my minor in sociology, would have called it conspicuous consumption).
ReplyDelete