As the days whisper by in a cold, gray veil and the nights get holy-hell-it's-always-dark, it's time to say goodbye to Rawleigh's Good Health Guide Almanac Cook Book. What did our favorite MLM scheme recommend cooking up for the last month of 1953?
Apparently, Rawleigh thought the family would miss Thanksgiving as soon as it was over, as the week kicks off with roast turkey, fluffy potatoes, and a pumpkin chiffon pie. (Lest you assume that this was meant to be Christmas dinner, the holiday was on a Friday in 1953.) The pork chops with celery stuffing also have a Thanksgiving-esque feel, as the stuffing is similar to what would be used in a turkey, and the accompanying sweet potatoes reinforce the theme.
I'm more interested in the "Scrapple Up-to-Date." I'm not sure what makes it up-to-date except maybe that it uses pork shoulder instead of the usual offal? It looks like the recipe might substitute an egg for the buckwheat flour as a binding agent, too, though I'd be happy for anyone to correct my limited understanding on this one!
Most amusing is the recipe for Mexican Veal Chops. What makes veal chops, rice, onion, and tomato "Mexican"? Maybe it's the lavish seasoning of [reviewing the recipe to make sure I didn't miss anything] salt and pepper? Serving it with green Lima beans (instead of, oh, say refried beans) doesn't really help...
Now, let's see what Rawleigh's mystic has to say about Sagittarians. They are "not the romantic type" and "Personal freedom is [their] dominant passion," so I assume the 1950s Sagittarians started the pseudolaw movement that eventually morphed into sovereign citizens. In other words, they're the people the rest of the family felt obligated to invite to Christmas dinner, and everybody regretted inviting when the meal inevitably erupted into an argument.
Since December is the month of gift-giving, it should be no surprise that Rawleigh's product of the month is perfume.
This is probably my favorite picture from the booklet. Mixing the cartoony flowers with a real woman whose teeth-gritted smile and intense stare at someone just out of readers' view gives me the impression that our model has been kidnapped by an artist who is slowly transforming her into an imaginary meadow, and her existence in the real world will be completely erased if she doesn't play along. I hope she throws the perfume bottle at him and gets away!
We'll never know whether perfume lady makes it out alive, but I can definitively say this is goodbye to the 1953 Rawleigh Good Health Guide Almanac Cook Book. Thanks, Rawleigh, for reminding us that life is full of backaches, upset stomachs, and bad odors to cover up, but we can always make things better with a little white sauce and a lot of Rawleigh.
The turkey dinner may be a way of economizing. When I went to the grocery store yesterday frozen turkey was down to 99¢ a pound. If you really want to economize, celebrate all holidays a week late so you can pick up the usual items associated with that holiday on clearance.
ReplyDeleteThe headline of this post also made me wonder how low class that perfume must smell. What does perfume add to your life? Asthma attacks, people smell you before they see you, and if you use enough they won't get anywhere near you. Perfume is why I avoid the grocery store on Sunday after church lets out.
Ha! I love that last line.
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