Eggs, April 1953
And Eggs, April 2023. Plus: A Book Update
These are some very fancy eggs.
This 1953 cover of Gourmet, illustrated by Henry J. Stahlhut, shows off the simplicity of poached eggs that are then jellied and all-dressed-up with some luxurious ingredients (black truffles) as part of an Easter celebration table.
This description of the cover art from Gourmet:
Aspic and gelatin-based dishes were all the rage in the 1950’s. Gourmet was right there with recipes to help the home cook dazzle dinner guests.
And since the publication tagline was “The Magazine of Good Living” there was plenty in its pages about travel and wine and cocktails and all the best restaurants to dine out at if cooking was not your interest. Plus, the writing and illustrations were beautiful.
The cover illustrations, and in later years, the stunning photographs by Rómulo Yanes, are little pieces of art. What I love about them is that there is never any additional text on the covers, the image tells you everything you need to know about what the tone of that issue will be.
Looking at this particular cover yesterday set off a craving for a much less difficult to make egg dish— one of my ‘cutting board lunches’ as I’ve come to call them.
I made an egg salad with arugula on toast and olives and pickles and cherry tomatoes on the side, and ate it standing right at the counter. This isn’t really a ‘recipe’ — I make egg salad the way my Mother did. Hard boil some eggs and when they are peeled and chopped just add some Hellman’s mayonnaise, chopped celery and onion, a little mustard and salt and pepper till it tastes the way you want it to.
Another person who often eats right at her counter while working is Joy Wilson aka Joy the Baker.
She’s made these perfect Muffuletta Deviled Eggs that I’ve linked to here, great for this holiday weekend.
And writer Genevieve Jenner made these beauties the other day with paprika and nora pepper with a side of chestnut mushrooms and sautéed green beans.
Let me know if you make any of these dishes with hard boiled eggs left over from this most egg-centric upcoming weekend.
Bertha Palmer Book Research Update
I’m always stealing the line from Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited about wanting to find “that low door in the wall” that opens to someplace wonderful.
Well, I found one last week. In this case, I found two doors with portal windows (how on the nose is that) and on the other side of them The Ryerson Art Library and the Burnham Library of Architecture at The Art Institute of Chicago. It felt like finding a secret garden of books, paintings, design, architecture, photographs, correspondence and history.
I was downright giddy by the time I left after finding so much new information about Bertha Palmer, the 1893 World’s Fair and the rebuilding of Chicago after the Great Fire of 1871.
Later this month I’ll do a review of all of the places I’ve been visiting (including a tour of The Palmer House last Saturday, that was a WOW) and tell you more about where the book research is leading me.
Next week I’m really looking forward to visiting The Chicago History Museum’s Research Library. I’ll also be able to view the dioramas that have been there since the 1930’s that tell the story of the history of Chicago. I can’t wait for that.
Thanks for being here, have a great week and I hope all who celebrate have a wonderful Passover and Easter.
Till soon!
Jolene
Why am I always drooling over the deviled eggs in your newsletter and never MAKING them for myself to enjoy?
Love cold deviled eggs in the fridge! Especially with cold fried chicken! Happy Easter Jolene, and happy you have this book to research. So fun!