Crispy Baked Eggs – The General Foods Kitchens Cookbook 1959

June 17, 2013 by Chef Louise Mellor | Leave a comment

 The General Foods Kitchens Cookbook  1959

The pages of the General Foods Kitchens Cookbook are filled with detailed “how-to’s,” “what if’s,” and numerous tips for “just in case.” Even better, the contents page is organized by situation. Brilliant!  Under the chapter entitled The Good Neighbor Policy, you will find suggested menus for when neighbors move in or out. Chapter 5, How to Rise to the Occasion, tells you want to make when your husband unexpectedly brings a hungry coworker home for dinner. The book overflows with lighthearted encouragement and kitchen camaraderie; it reads like a well thought out letter from your closest girlfriend, aunt, or grandmother. As I read through it, I got the distinct feeling that the women of the General Foods Kitchens had been there and done that. It led me to believe their advice can be trusted.

 

I chose to make a recipe that appears on page 78, nestled between Butterscotch Pecan Rolls and Tips for Special Occasions. Under a header that said, “When one of the children is sick,” I found this simple 3-ingredient recipe for Crispy Baked Eggs.

 

Click here for the recipe and to read more on Crispy Baked Eggs over on The History Kitchen.

 

Dessert with my friend Virginia – Dark chocolate coconut rum fondue

June 12, 2013 by Chef Louise Mellor | 3 Comments

It took everything in me not to pull over and stop. Instead …I kept driving, my eyes focused on the road … trying my best not to be distracted.  Sitting in the passenger seat, my daughter was telling me a story, but her sweet delicate voice was being muffled out by the persistent voices in my head and the persuasive shouting coming from the street corners.  One by one they tempted me with their bright colors and hand written cryptic notes.  They called out to me.  They begged me to turn.  The voices in my head took turns … one reminded me that if I stopped, this would be a sure sign I had a serious problem. Then the other voice whispered in a calm and gentle voice: “What’s the big deal, you aren’t hurting anybody, you never know what you might find.”   Continue reading »

Remembering my mother’s garden – Heirloom tomato salad

June 5, 2013 by Chef Louise Mellor | 6 Comments

 

I couldn’t have been more than five year’s old when I would venture out into my mother’s backyard garden to admire the plump bright red blushing tomatoes drooping on the vines. Heavy with their juice, the tomatoes seemed to cling tightly to the vine with their soft prickly stems while the tomato plants leaned, twisted, and curled up against the invisible chain link fence for support.  Their plight to stay upright created a bright green boundary line in the yard.   The corn stalks held their heads high above the the rest of the garden,  like soldiers keeping watch, swaying back and forth in the summer breeze.  One step through the swinging gate and I was in another world. Continue reading »

Behind the scenes, things are not as they seem. Roasted radishes with grey salt & honey

May 29, 2013 by Chef Louise Mellor | 1 Comment

As a food stylist I see and do a lot of wack-a-doodle tricks to the food to make it smile for the camera.   What you see in the end isn’t exactly real, sorry to let you down, but it’s the truth.  On set there are a lot of wack-a-doodle things that happen to the food that you might not ever expect.   I got to thinking that this isn’t that much different from real life.  Behind the scenes in real life,  things are not always as they seem.
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Let’s call it what it is… “cake”. A recipe for Espresso coffee cake “muffins”

May 22, 2013 by Chef Louise Mellor | 5 Comments

 

Let’s call it what it is.  We can call Spanx  a body shaper if that makes us feel better. We both know it’s a girdle.   A Swiffer is just a broom and a Wet Jet ?  Well… fancy mop.  We can call these espresso coffee cake muffins, but let’s be honest, these muffins are just a delicate buttermilk cake. They are dressed up with  a crumbly brown sugar & cinnamon frosting, and spiked with a little coffee to make us feel like it’s okay to eat cake for breakfast. Although, to be honest,  they tasted just as good for lunch and dinner.  A better name might be coffee cake anytime cupcakes. It would be  ”unladylike”  if we admitted we wear a girdle while we mop the floors after we ate cake for breakfast right?   So, espresso coffee cake muffins it is.
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