Around 1957 or 1958 my mother and her sister from southern Illinois flew to California together. I remember riding to Chicago with Mom and her brother-in-law, where we went to my cousin's home. She is the daughter of Mom's sister, who met as there. Then Mom and her sister got on a plane at O'Hare airport, and went to visit their parents in San Mateo, CA. I remember we ate over the many-laned freeway! Yes, there was a restaurant built above the highway.
I don't remember details, but I think Grandma might have been in the nursing home, the same one as Grandpa was in, by that time. So Mom and her sister were going to see them both for the last time, as Grandma died in 1959 and Grandpa in 1961. When they were there, they must have gone to their house and went through things before selling it, because Mom brought home a braided rug that Grandma had made. And that is probably when she got some of the old pictures. But you know, at that time I was busy in high school, and boys, and concerned about my own life, that I did not pay much attention to what was happening with adults.
One thing I do remember is that Dad and I had to 'batch' it while she was gone. I had never really cooked a meal before. I loved to bake and that was the extent of my cooking at the time. And Dad didn't really know how to cook either. He tried making pancakes one day, and he called them blow out tire patches. They were a bit, well a lot, rubbery. :o) I tried frying bacon and eggs. The eggs were crisp and the bacon soggy. I don't remember what else we cooked or ate, but I am sure it was not so great.
And speaking of food, below is the breakfast menu on the flight that Mom and Aunt Clara took. I know this was the first airplane ride Mom had, and probably the only one. The general public, unless rich, did not fly as much back then as we think nothing of doing today. So it was a big deal. Planes were a lot different then, too.
Can you remember not too many years ago when you got some fairly good meals on flights that were included in the price of the ticket? Now you are lucky if you get a meal at all, or else if you want to eat, you had to pay for it on the plane and it isn't cheap!
Back in the 1950's it looks like meals were quite a deal, even with a menu!
Interesting menu? I had no idea what Scrambled Eggs Hampshire or Potatoes Colbert were, do you? So I did a google search and did not find very much, but this is what I did find --
Eggs Hampshire is found on the menu of Benedict's Restaurants in Greenwood Village, Colorado, for $9.50. It is described as scrambled farm fresh eggs, diced ham, cream cheese and chives.
Interesting. I have never used cream cheese and chives in scrambled eggs, but it does sound good.
I couldn't find a recipe or description for Potatoes Colbert, but did find a Colbert sauce. There is a recipe for Chateaubriand with clarified Colbert sauce. For that, small potatoes cut in olive shape are placed on each end of the meat. These potatoes are fried in butter. And then the Colbert sauce is poured over all.
The recipe for Colbert sauce is made with white wine, espagnole, lots of butter, and parsley and lemon juice. So what is espagnole, you ask? So did I! It seems to be one of the 5 important sauces used in French cooking. (la-de-dah). It is a brown sauce, and seems to be made similar to gravy using the pan drippings from browned meat. There are videos on how to make it, but they run well over 10 minutes and I am not going to take the time to wait for them to download and then sit and watch for another 10-15 minutes. I don't ever plan to make it so no reason to waste my time. But if that is something that interests you, please take a look.
I can't imagine anything so fancy being served on an airplane, can you? This was in the day before microwaves, so I can't imagine how well that sauce and the eggs stood up to time between cooking and being served on the plane, but they must have figured it out.
Times have sure changed, haven't they?
I do cream cheese and chives in scrambled eggs. I just add cubes of cream cheese to the uncooked eggs. It makes the eggs light and fluffy. I'd say about 1 ounce to an egg...
ReplyDeleteIt does sound really good, so I guess I will have to go to the store and get some cream cheese and chives! I do sometimes add milk to the eggs when I scramble them and know that it makes them lighter and fluffier than adding water. Using cream is even better but I never have that on hand, so cream cheese does make sense. Mom was a very good cook, but everything was just simple, everyday fare, and nothing gourmet.
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