My mother was a good cook, but not much of a food stylist. It did not suit her pragmatic nature, besides she was cooking every day for a large family. We were usually 6-7 and often more, depending on whether there were guests. It is sometimes hard to remember that the early 1950s were not that distant from the rationing of the wartime 40s and the stark days of the Great Depression. There were more housewives who did not work outside the home so convenience foods or grab-and-go foods were not very prevalent. American tastes have matured and changed.
There was always ample food on our table, but it was somewhat predictable -- not quite as predictable as some homes where you knew what day of the week it was by the menu. In our home there was always three categories of food on the daily table -- 1. a protein, usually meat, 2. a starch, rice or potatoes (on Sundays it was always pasta, but that is another story), 3. a vegetable. Dessert was not always predictable, but it was most often fruit. Mother canned peaches so they were often included. Baked goods were reserved for festive occasions. Unlike many homes in the 1950s, my mother did not make many casseroles, except for "good earth" which was usually a Saturday luncheon meal -- more on that at another time. It deserves its own treatment. Another missing item from our table was gelatin salads and desserts. There was never a canned pear embedded in lime jello on a tiny bit of iceberg lettuce passed off as salad. This was not my mother's style. She cooked real food.
Like most cooks of her day, my mother did not rely on an array of cookbooks for recipes. She had a trusty Fannie Farmer, Boston Cooking School Cookbook. It was so worn that it almost opened on its own accord to her favorite recipes. If you shook it, I am sure a nice dusting of flour would have rained down. She also had a Joy of Cooking, but she hardly ever even opened it. She did not have either the familiar red plaid, Betty Crocker Cookbook, or Good Housekeeping Cookbook. She did not need them. I only remember two specialty cookbooks in her collection: one for Chinese food and another, a gift, on Italiian regional cooking. It was more pictures than recipes. I did not follow her lead. I have about 60 cookbooks and use them regularly. I also rely on numerous Internet cooking sites.
This post is a prelude to more on dining in my home during the 1950s. It provides context.
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