In honor of reaching 13,000 Facebook followers (yay!) and 1,000 followers on the Mid-Century Menu Facebook Group (also yay!) I wanted to do something fun and different this week. So, I decided to quiz all of you to see how closely you have been paying attention to my periodic rants and weird recipes.
Behold! The thirteen-question Mid-Century Cooking Quiz! Feel free to write your answers in the comments below. I will post all the answers on the blog on Friday.
Ok, ready? Go!
Mid-Century Cooking Quiz
1. What is an alligator pear?
2. Name one flavor of Jell-O’s short-lived savory gelatin line.
3. How do you get onion juice?
4. How hot is the “moderate” oven setting?
5. What are acceptable mid-century food garnishes?
6. What do you add to prepackaged gelatin dessert to make it into a savory salad?
7. What is in Under The Sea Salad?
8. What is in California Dip?
9. What is Spry?
10. What does the word “salad” mean?
11. How long should seafood be cooked?
12. How do you make basic white sauce?
13. What is PET milk?
Have fun!
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1. Avocado
2. Celery
3. From a small, onion-shaped bottle
4. 350F
5. Radish roses, carrot curls, celery frills…
6. Mayonnaise
7. Pears, cream cheese, Jell-O
8. Sour cream and Lipton Onion Soup Mix
9. Shortening, competitor to Crisco
10. Random ingredients served in a bowl or encased in gelatin 🙂
11. Until it flakes easily
12. Butter/flour to make a roux, then add milk or even better, evaporated milk
13 Evaporated milk. The Poor Man’s Carnation 🙂
1. What is an alligator pear?
An alligator pear is an avocado.
2. Name one flavor of Jell-O’s short-lived savory gelatin line.
One flavor in Jell-O’s short lived savory line was tomato.
3. How do you get onion juice?
Onion juice comes with canned onions. It probably comes in other forms, but I admit I’m not certain.
4. How hot is the “moderate” oven setting?
A moderate oven is, I believe, 350 degrees?
5. What are acceptable mid-century food garnishes?
Parsley. Always parsley. (Okay, I can’t keep up this middle-school answering-in-complete-sentences schtick.)
6. What do you add to prepackaged gelatin dessert to make it into a savory salad?
Celery. Or black olives. Either works. For a given value of “works.”
7. What is in Under The Sea Salad?
This one, I admit I can’t remember!
8. What is in California Dip?
Nor this. Dang.
9. What is Spry?
Spry is/was a solid shortening brand! Do they still make it? Maybe!
10. What does the word “salad” mean?
If you want to get technical, I think it means “salted…” But in Mid-Centurese, it generally means any chilled savory course.
11. How long should seafood be cooked?
The rule I learned was 10 minutes per inch of thickness. I can’t remember the Mid-Century version.
12. How do you make basic white sauce?
Fry flour in an equal amount of butter. Use between 1-3 tablespoons of each, depending on the sauce thickness you want. Add 1 cup milk gradually, whisking to get out the lumps. Add salt and pepper, and whatever seasonings your recipe demands. I prefer demanding sharp cheddar cheese and a touch of Worcestershire and cayenne…
13. What is PET milk?
It’s evaporated milk! I KNOW they still make this, as I’ve seen it for sale north of my border! (My border being the Arizona-Utah border.)
Thank you for your answer to #12! My sister inherited the ‘gravy gene’, not me 🙁 But my favorite childhood recipe (hello 60s) was Cream, Peas & Tuna Fish, on mashed potatoes, & I can’t make it! Thanks to your clear instructions, I’m going to give it another try!
Aww, thanks! Ruth did an even nicer writeup with pictures somewhere in the archives. 🙂 1 tablespoon of butter/flour will give you a really thin white sauce, while 3 each will give you something really thick–binding, even, the kind that could hold a casserole together. For my personal favorite use, mac ‘n’ cheese, 2 is pretty good!
A medium white sauce is a ratio of 1 to 1. One tablespoon butter, one tablespoon of flour and one cup of milk. Add more flour to make a thicker sauce. From my 1967 Home Ec class.
I cried laughing with these questions.
My answer to #11 was “WAY TOO LONG, like until it is super dry and inedible”.
I thought #6 was “a canned meat”.
What a fun, fun post.