Quickie Quiz: How Do You Rate as a Guest

Yesterday I saw on Twitter that being helpful is the "new" selling. (I've placed new in quotation marks because it's more a return to selling from days gone by.)

I love old magazines; they give a glimpse into what people from a given decade might have been thinking about and experiencing. The tweet reminded me of advertisements I'd seen in my American Girl issues from the early 1960s. As Sprite's Birthday Party is nearing, a Heinz Soup advertisement caught my eye. (To see more pages from this issue, visit Flickr.)

Heinz Soup Advertisement, March 1963, American Girl Magazine

Heinz offers these tips for a smooth weekend visit:

1. If you're under 18 and invited on a weekend, have both your parents and the parents of your host approve of the visit.
2. Arrive with everything you need, for example, toothpaste, perfume.
3. Make a real attempt to be helpful.

How Do You Rate as a Guest?

Bon Apetit!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for Recipes for the Good Life.

Bedside Reading: Inspiration for SpriteKat's Party

I discovered where SpriteKat got the idea that cheese equals mice. She's an avid reader and directed me to a children's tale about food, The King, The Mice, and The Cheese. It was written and illustrated in 1965 by Nancy and Eric Gurney.

Basically the story goes like this. The King's cheesemakers produce the most amazing cheese. A mouse smells this cheese. He tells his friends and they come to the kingdom.

The King then entertains the mice nightly at elegant dinner parties and they all live happily ever after.

Ok, there's a little more to the story than that. The king and the mice didn't exactly get along from the start, but you'll have to the read (or listen to) the story. Let just say sharing and manners save the day (and the kingdom from ruin by stampeding elephants).

This book and its illustrations are inspiring my invitations for SpriteKat's party. Where do you draw inspiration from?

Bon Apetit!

Eden

 

Credits: All images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for Recipes for the Good Life.

Retro Kitchen: All things Cooky/Cookie

Three of our friends are moving. When I lived in Texas moving into a new place meant a pie plate stacked high full of fresh homemade cookies. One of our friends, Mooflyfoof, is moving into a flat with a late 1940s oven, which of course has me thinking of Donna Reed and June Cleaver.

The Finds: Betty Crocker's Cooky Carnival, General Mills, c.1957, $4.99, Junk Savant; Betty Crocker's Cooky Book, General Mills, c.1963, First Edition, $9.99; JS's Junk.

She already has a Betty Crocker Cooky Book and she loves gadgets (she's got a Breville Pie Maker); so, maybe some cookies and a cookie press for a housewarming gift?

The Finds: Deluxe Cookie King Crank Type Cookie Press Spritz Gun, $22, Atty's Vintage; Cookie Press, $10, Smoky Mountain Kitchen; Cookie Press, Mirro, $8.99, Girl Makes Goods; Cookie Gun and Pastry Decorator, Wear Ever, $22, Vintage Goodies.

Don't worry I won't leave you thinking of cookies and without a recipe to try. Check back this afternoon for an old time favorite that my gram used make.

Credits: Product images taken by their respective Etsy sellers: Junk Savant; JS's Junk; Atty's Vintage; Smoky Mountain Kitchen; Girl Makes Goods; Vintage Goodies. 

Let's Have a Drink

While it's tax day, it's also Friday. That means, it's time for the weekend! We've got lots going on, including a road trip to celebrate a friend's 30 birthday. 

Many of our friends have retro bars, whether an actual bar or a Trav-L bar matters not. We're pretty much guaranteed our parties will have yesteryear flair. To match the look, here are over a dozen drink recipes from the 1950s and 1960s, courtesy of the bar accessories I featured Tuesday. 

I'm thinking of trying a Side Car or a White Lady the next time I'm all dolled up. What's your poison?

Alexander

• 1/3 Dry Gin
• 1/3 Creme de Cacao
• 1/3 Sweet Cream
• Shake well with ice, strain, and serve.

Bacardi

• 1 Dash Grenadine
• 1/4 Lemon Juice
• 1/4 Gin
• 1/2 Bacardi Rum

Bronx - Version 1

• 1/3 Gin
• 1/3 Italian Vermouth
• 1/3 Orange Juice

Bronx - Version 2

• 1/2 Dry Gin
• 1/6 French Vermouth
• 1/6 Italian Vermouth
• 1/6 Orange Juice
• Shake with ice, strain, and serve.

Champagne Cocktail

• Ice cube soaked with Angostura bitters
• Squeeze two lemon peels
• Iced champagne

Clover Club

• 1/2 Gin
• 1/4 French Vermouth
• 3 Dashes of Grenadine
• 1/6 Lemon Juice
• 1 white of an Egg

Daiquri

• 1 1/2 jager Rum
• Juice of 1 Lime
• 1/2 teaspoon Powdered Sugar
• Shake well with ice, strain, and serve.

Dubonnet

• 1 Dry Gin
• 1 Dubonnet
• 1 Orange Juice
• Shake with cracked ice, strain, and serve.

Eye Opener

• Yolk of an Egg
• 1 teaspoon Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Anisette
• 1 part Rum
• Large Glass

Gin and It

• 1/3 Italian Vermouth
• 2/3 Dry Gin

Manhattan

• 2/3 Canadian Club Whisky
• 1/3 Italian Vermouth
• 1 Dash Angostura Bitters
• Stir with Cracked Ice, strain, and serve with a Cherry.

Old Fashioned - Version 1

• 1 teaspoon Sugar
• 4 Dashes Angostura Bitters
• Rye Whisky
• Ice & Fresh Water
• Serve with an orange slice and a cherry.

Old Fashioned - Version 2

• 1 jager Liquor
• 2-3 Dashes Angostura Bitters
• Sugar & a little soda
• Stir well, and serve with an orange slice and a cherry.

Dry Martini - Version 1

• 1/3 French Vermouth
• 2/3 Gordon Gin

Dry Martini - Version 2

• 2/3 Dry Gin
• 1/3 French Vermouth
• Dash Orange Bitters
• Stir with cracked ice; serve with olive.

Side Car

• 1/3 Lemon Juice
• 1/3 Cognac Brandy
• 1/3 Cointreau
• Shake well with ice, strain, and serve.

Tom Collins

• 1 Part Lemon Juice
• 2 teaspoons Sugar
• 1 Part Gin
• Fill with Soda and Ice

Tomato Cocktail

• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
• Tomato Juice

Whiskey Sour

• 2 oz Whiskey
• 1 teaspoon powdered sugar
• Juice 1/2 lemon and 1/2 lime, shake with cracked ice, strain, and serve.

White Lady

• 1/3 Lemon Juice
• 1/3 Cointreau
• 1/3 Gin