Category Archives: From the Vault!

The Woman's Exchange Cook Book

A New and Complete Culinary Encyclopedia containing Facts Worth Knowing, Health Suggestions, Care of the Sick, Table Etiquette, Dinner Giving, Menus, Household Toilet and Cooking Recipes by Minnie Palmer with the approval of Mrs. J. B. Lyon, President of the Woman’s Exchange, Chicago, Ill. (1901)

A wonderful cookbook, full of handy recipes for things not generally now eaten. I will probably have to post some tips on cooking songbirds next.

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The Catholic Food Manual: Menu Planning and Recipes for 6 to 600

by Brother Herman E Zaccarelli, C.S.C., 1960

Someday, perhaps, I will feature Brother Zaccarelli’s horrifyingly sexist advice on managing an (ideally!) all female (and so emotional!) cafeteria staff, but today, his recipe for Tuna Bunsteads! I made a (small) batch, and it’s good stuff.

Tuna Bunsteads

Ingredients                             100 portions     50 portions     12 portions
Cheese, American, cubed                 4 pounds        2 pounds         1/2 pound
Eggs, hard cooked,
chopped                                 48                    24                   6
Tuna, drained, flaked                   84 ounces        42 ounces        10.5 ounces
Peppers, green, chopped              2 cups             1 cup               1/4 cup
Onions, chopped                          2 cups             1 cup               1/4 cup
Olives, stuffed, chopped                2 cups             1 cup               1/4 cup
Pickles, sweet, chopped                 2 cups             1 cup               1/4 cup
Mayonnaise or salad
dressing                                   2 quarts           1 quart             1/2 pint
Buns, frankfurter, split                 100                  50                    12

Procedure: 1. Combine and blend thoroughly the first 8 ingredients.
2. Fill buns. Wrap in aluminum foil. Arrange on bakers sheet.
3. Bake in a very slow oven, 250 F., 30 minutes or until cheese is melted. Remove. Serve hot.

Cooking a la Ritz

by Louis Diat, Chef, Ritz-Carlton Hotel, New York, 1941

A 524 page long book of recipes from the famous restaurant, supposedly for the American housewife. I think most American housewives would look on this beast with horror in their eyes. It’s packed with horrifically complex sauces and dishes containing huge ingredients lists, each requiring extensive preparation. One of the basic sauces, called for in many of the subsequent sauce recipes? First ingredient is a lobster. It is the very definition of mid-century fancy food.

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Knudsen Recipes for Greater Food Value

Welcome to the first installment of From the Vault! The Forced Perspective Vault contains volume upon volume of cool old stuff, primarily stuff related to food. In this recurring (I hope) feature, we drag some gems out into the light of day.

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Knudsen Recipes for Greater Food Value

Knudsen Dairy Products, The Very Best
produced by Knudsen Creamery Co of California in 1957

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