VIntage Entertaining: OSCAR VIEWING PARTY
Recently, we had the honor of interviewing Michelle Ferrand from Cup of Zest for our podcast. She is a food stylist that has extensive knowledge of vintage recipes and historical/revival cooking. It was an informative discussion and Ella and I could talk about food all day and night. We brainstormed ideas for Oscar party items to serve from the different decades represented by this year's Best Picture Nominees. Before Michelle arrived, we made a Grasshopper Pie from my Great Aunt Elyse's beloved recipe file. We also prepared some cookies from the 1942 edition of The New American Cook Book to nosh on as we had tea and shared our ideas.
Scroll down for Michelle's ideas on Oscar Entertaining. Along the way, you will see the recipes of the things we made for her.
My Great Aunt Elyse's beloved recipe card file. Most of these recipes were clipped from magazines or handwritten onto cards.
If my house were ever to catch on fire, I would grab our family's photo albums and my Aunt Elyse's recipe card files. They have great meaning because my Great Aunt loved to cook and entertain and it is a treasured reminder of family nostalgia. We wanted to welcome Michelle to our home with a couple of treats to share with tea. And since she is into vintage cooking, we thought it would be fun to make some recipes from a bygone era. I chose to make a Grasshopper Pie that my Aunt Elyse had written onto a card and selected a simple cookie recipe called Coconut Orange Jumbles from one of my favorite vintage cookbooks: The New American Cook Book (1942 edition).
The Grasshopper Pie was easy to prepare but we did have a couple of challenges. Some of the ingredients were challenging to find. For instance, I went to three stores looking for Green Creme de Menthe. Hot tip: BevMo had it! The other thing that was hard to obtain were the chocolate wafer cookies that were needed for the crust. Our Ralph's does not carry them but thankfully, Gelson's does. (I grabbed an extra box to make an icebox cake in the near future). The recipe needed some adjusting, as some steps were not mentioned. Thankfully, I have made this sort of pie before so I made my own changes. The end result was delicious.
A slice of pie. Not beautiful, but delicious!
The big changes I made involved the crust. The recipe, as read, needed WAY more crushed cookies. The amount of butter was too much for only 18 wafers. We ended up crushing the entire box of cookies and mixing it into the half cup of butter. We baked the crust for 5 minutes at 350 degrees and then cooled it in the fridge, The quick cook is essential for binding the crust together. We ended up using 2 full cups of mini marshmallows, rather than taking the time to cut up 20 large marshmallows.
These are what the wafers look like if you want to make this recipe.
Cookies from 1942!
The Coconut Orange Jumbles were okay. If I were to make them again, I would use butter over shortening. I would also add a teaspoon of vanilla or even better, vanilla beans. They didn't look all that great so I didn't even bother taking a picture of them.
If you are interested in the cookbook that they came from, here is what the cover looks like...
I purchased this from a local used book store.
Thankfully, we have gotten more ambitious over the years.
We have also figured out better ways to plate food, as well.
One would need Elderberry Wine in order to consume any of the other recipes on this page. People used to do weird stuff with their food!
MICHELLE'S RECIPE SUGGESTIONS FOR VINTAGE OSCAR ENTERTAINING
1940's: Dunkirk/ Darkest Hour... Chicken Blintz's, Champagne, Cheese Platter, Consume'
1950's: The Phantom Thread... Welsh Rarebit or Toast Triangles with Creamy Cheese Sauce and Port, or an American-inspired casserole
1960's: The Shape of Water... French Onion Soup Dip with Lay's Potato Chips, Sweet & Savory Meatballs
1970's: The Post... Ham and Cheese Pinwheels, Quiche, Fondue
1980's: Call Me By Your Name... Sushi or Pesto, Sun dried Tomato & Goat Cheese Flatbreads
2000's: Ladybird, Get Out... Miniature Cupcakes, Watermelon & Feta Salad, Tea
If you end up incorporating some of these ideas into your Oscar Viewing Party, please give us a shout out with pictures on Instagram. We would LOVE to see what inspired you!
Thanks again to Michelle for hanging with us. We really enjoyed our time together!