Vintage Menu: Christmas Tea
December 8, 2007 by Marye Audet
Filed under Recipes, Tea, memories
“It’s in vain, Trot, to recall the past, unless it works some influence upon the present.”
Charles Dickens, David Copperfield
I have about a million vintage cookbooks. I love them and I pick them up whenever I get the chance. It is fun to see how people’s ideas of food, health, and sophistication have changed over the years.
I thought that I would like to start doing vintage menus once a week or so…to reintroduce some of the past to the present. This week’s vintage menu is from Better homes and Gardens, 1959.
The tea suggestions are mine, as the book states only broad categories of tea. I have chosen only one or two things from each list in the book for the sake of space. Put on your Donna Reed apron, and your high heels and pearls, and enjoy this little meander through time.
Teas:
Adagio Christmas Tea- orange, spice with deep notes of clove
Numi- Black Vanilla, black tea with intense Tahitian vanilla taste
Stash-Holiday Chai, rum and ginger chai
“Go glamorous and skip the forks. Offer dainty cookies, canapes, and hors d’oeuvres, each no bigger than two – or three- bite size.”
Shrimp Crescents- combine cream cheese with chopped chives; spread on buttered bread crescents and top with a whole shrimp.
Stuffed Olive Canape- Spread mayonnaise on bread rounds. sprinkle with chopped, stuffed olives. Stack hard cooked egg slice, mayonnaise and slice of stuffed olive on top.
Walnut Sandwiches- Put walnut halves together with creamed bleu cheese
Ham Roll-ups- Marinate cooked asparagus tips in French dressing; roll them in ham slices narrower than asparagus; toothpick.
Pastry Star tarts- Roll out plain pastry. Cut 1 dozen 2 3/4 inch rounds. Pinch sides together to form 5 pointed stars.
Bake on cookie sheets in very hot oven (450) 10-15 minutes. Cool. Fill with jam, jelly, or sharp cheese spread
I would add to this some mints, some thin slices of orange and lemon, and some red and green grapes, some frosted and some not, draped here and there for garnish. I f y ou want to carry out the retro theme then have your guests come as characters from the family t.v. shows; Mrs. Cleaver, Donna Reed, The mom on Father Knows Best…etc. If you want to give door prizes make them also retro themed. You might grab some vintage women’s magazines from the local used book store, or a cd of Christmas music with 50s era singers. You might get a dvd of the original Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer, or a dvd of one of the sit-coms. If you are really lucky you could turn up a vintage tea set in the thrift shop…
Anyway..hope you enjoyed this little blast from the past for this week. Next week I am planning on sharing a Victorian Coffee from the Christmas 1910 issue of Ladies World. Yeah, I have that. It goes with my decor! LOL!
