Woman’s Home Companion Cook Book – Part 5
I absolutely love snacky food so I was looking forward to the chapter on Appetizers. It has 24 pages of lovely definitions and loads of recipes for canapés, hors d’oeuvres, dunking trays which accompany hors d’oeuvres, plus recipes for cocktails juices and ways of garnishing fruit cups.
The Chapter starts:
“Though Socrates argued that hunger was the best appetizer, the ancient Greeks and their Roman conquerors munched celery, chicory and endive before meals, and the custom of eating to encourage eating has continued. To crisp salad greens, Europe added more elaborate introductions – Russian caviar, Italian antipasto, French pâté de foie gras, cheese or or smoked sausages, and Scandinavian pickled or smoked fish or smögåsbord. America adopts them all and adds Yankee inventions involving shellfish, or California premières of fruit.
Hors d’oeuvres, cocktails and light canapés, clear soups and introductory salads serve as teasers, their purpose to excite rather than satisfy hunger. They are, in a sense, advertisements of the dinner to follow; hence they should be carefully prepared and attractive to look at. Don’t begrudge the tie it takes to make them subtle harmonies of colour and flavor; first impressions are important. On the other hand, don’t forget that some guests will prefer the simple potato chip or unadorned olive to the most elaborate achievements in canapé design.
Canapés and hors d’oeuvres made to eat with fingers instead of forks are the thing to serve with cocktails before dinner. Sea-food cockctails, fruit cups, first-course salads and appetizer soups are served at the table.
Parties, whether afternoon or evening, also call for canapés and hors d’oeuvres; and the heartier sort of appetizer may do duty as the main dish of the buffet supper.”
There are some recipes that are new to me in this chapter so I am looking forward to trying them out.
I have a book that deals only with appetisers, it contains 400 recipes :O
Hungry now *goes to stick fingers into the fridge*
400 appetiser recipes – sounds like my kind of book. 😀
Cindy gave me the most beautiful gift that would be perfect for pre dinner drinks, so I am looking forward to your recipes 🙂
Here’s hoping and crossing fingers that I get to making some of them before we move. 🙂
I love snack food, too 🙂 Appetizer is my favourite part of the meal 🙂
I could appetisers for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 🙂
I guess a step up from these in our entertaining era would be serving appetizers in glasses canapès etc. on spoons! Love this type of entertaining and of course a cocktail or two to start off the evening!
Yes, you quite right Yvette, we have modernised appetisers. 😉
Aah – the joy of living in Spain is that a meal can be made up entirely from Tapas. Appetizer heaven!
Yes, how wonderful! I could live with that. 🙂
I can’t wait to read the recipes you are going to try!
I am hoping to try them really soon. 🙂
I love old cookbooks. Even when the recipes are outdated, not referring to these, they’re just so fun to look through. Great post!
Thanks Rufus. I also love old cookbooks, especially this one as it has been in the family for such a long time. 🙂
How delightful!! A little Socrates to go with your champagne perhaps?!
Ever to posh. 😉
Wow interesting! I’m looking forward to your recipes from the old cookbook!
Thanks Nami. I am looking forward to trying some of the recipes I have not made before. 🙂
Will look forward to seeing your appetizers daintily laid out 🙂
I’ll do cocktails!
Deal. Would be fun if we could really do it. 🙂
We should hold an online cocktail party shouldn’t we, what fun we’d all have. Adore this old cookbook Mandy, so many golden recipes in them huh
Brilliant idea Anna – would be loads of fun! 🙂 Not sure I will get to any of the recipes before we move back home though. Will get cracking with some of them as soon as we are settled again. 🙂