Recipes, history and other things
Here’s the fourth and final installment about fancy dress (catch up with Part III here) - in this one we’ll be focussing on the way in which fancy dress was used to subvert the societal norms of the early twentieth century. During the 1920s and 1930s fancy dress became associated with some pretty raucous parties... Continue Reading →
We finished the last episode of the history of fancy dress with prudish-nineteenth century morality putting an end to the rather debauched pleasure gardens. Then, of course, came The Victorians and boy, did they like dressing up, just in a rather more sanitised way. In accord with the new mood of decorum, fancy balls became... Continue Reading →
This week in fancy dress with Kate we’re going to talk about pleasure gardens, which is nearly as sordid as it sounds, but first the original burning man (or in this instance, men). So. Where did we leave off? That’s right, the Venetian Carnival (you can read about it in Part I, if you haven’t... Continue Reading →
Source: The Constance Spry Cookery Book, Constance Spry and Rosemary Hume (1956) My mother and I had a massive argument about what macaroons were – I said they were coconut pyramids with a glace cherry on top and she said they were almond based chewy biscuits which you baked on rice paper – not unlike... Continue Reading →
I know this is a bit of a departure from my usual style, but let’s talk about fancy dress. This is mostly because it interests me as a topic and no one has written a great deal about it. So here is the first part in a (three? four? - we'll see how strong I... Continue Reading →
Source: The Art of Home Cooking, Stork Margarine Cookery Service (1954) I found this gem on my parents’ cookbook shelf – it’s so gloriously 1950s, from the cartoon illustrations to the over-tinted photographs. It also has a number of recipes that contain gelatine. Obviously I decided to try one. But before we get on to that, what... Continue Reading →
Source: Good Eating: A Second Book of War-time Recipes, Compiled by the Daily Telegraph Home Cook (1944) This is a new addition to my collection so I imagine there will be more recipes of this nature to follow. The collection comes from the end of the Second World War when rationing was at its most stringent... Continue Reading →
Source: The Compleat Housewife, or, Accomplish'd Gentlewoman's Companion by Eliza Smith (1736) A much older recipe this time – right back to the eighteenth century. Eliza Smith was a cook and a housekeeper in a number of wealthy households and this book, first published in 1727, met a growing need for a guide to assist women... Continue Reading →
Source: Saucepans & the Single Girl; Bachelor-bait Recipes and Dazzling Ideas for Entertaining by Jinx Morgan and Judy Perry (1965) This book was a Christmas present and it’s very American and very 1965 in tone. First up it can’t decide between female liberation and traditional gender roles (not that you can’t have both, but that’s... Continue Reading →
Source: Chinese Cookery; A Hundred Practical Recipes by M.P. Lee (first published 1943, this edition 1947) This is a very strange little tome that I found in a charity shop in London last year – it’s a bizarre combination of Chinese cookery that’s been adapted for the British market and Chinese cookery that’s been adapted... Continue Reading →
Cabbages and Kings. And Kate 