Every year at the beginning of September, the Art Deco Society of California hosts the Gatsby Summer Afternoon, a 1920s and 1930s themed garden party and picnic. I went for the first time last year and of course made a whole picnic spread of recipes from 1920s and 1930s cookbooks. I had a blast, but was very tired afterwards and completely forgot to finish writing my post about it…until I started preparing for the picnic this year. So here it is, nearly a year late, but just in time if you happen to be planning your own picnic.

Salad from Mary Elizabeth’s Cook Book, 1922

Fruit Melange:

• half of a small cantaloupe, peeled
• 2 peaches, peeled
• 2 pears
• 24 seedless grapes (the recipe says to peel them, but I did not)
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 4 tbsp orange juice

1. Combine the water, sugar, lemon juice, and orange juice in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil until the liquid has reduced by about half. Take off the heat and let cool.
2. Cut the cantaloupe, peaches, pears, and grapes in small slices. Pour the cooled syrup over them and mix. Keep in the refrigerator for at least an hour to chill before serving.

Sandwiches from Ida Bailey Allen’s Modern Cook Book, 1924:

Apple and Roquefort Sandwiches

• 1/2 cup crumbled Roquefort cheese
• 2 tbsp butter, softened
• 1 tart apple, peeled and grated
• wheat or rye bread

1. Cream the cheese and butter together in a bowl, then mix in the grated apple. Spread mixture between two slices of wheat or rye bread. Trim off the crusts and cut into finger sandwiches.

Radish Sandwiches

• radishes
• butter, softened
• wheat or white bread (I did not measure any quantities for this)

1. Spread two slices of wheat or white bread with butter. Fill with very thin slices of radish and press together. Trim off the crusts and cut into finger sandwiches.

Punch from The Monticello Cookbook, 1931:

Mock Champagne Punch

• 6 lemons
• 1 pound sugar
• 1 quart water
• 2 bottles ginger ale

1. Grate the rinds of all 6 lemons.
2. Put the lemon rind, sugar, and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then continue boiling for five minutes.
3. Strain the mixture and let cool, then add the juice of the six lemons.
4. Pour into ice cube trays or into a pitcher or punch bowl and freeze.
5. When ready to serve, add the ginger ale to the frozen mixture. For our picnic, I removed the ice cubes from the freezer right before we left and put them in a pitcher for transport. I poured in the ginger ale once we arrived at the picnic site. The punch stayed cold for several hours.

Cookies from Good Housekeeping Cook Book, 1933:

Pinwheel Cookies

• 2 cups sifted cake flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg yolk, beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp milk
• 1 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, melted
• sugar for topping

1. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together.
2. Cream the shortening, then add the sugar and cream together.
3. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and beat until smooth.
4. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk and beat just until combined.
5. Remove half the dough to another bowl. Add the melted chocolate to the dough in the mixer bowl and beat until well mixed.
6. Roll each batch of dough into a rectangle about 1/8th of an inch thick, trying to make both rectangles about the same size.
7. Put the chocolate rectangle on top of the plain rectangle and roll them up together. Wrap the roll in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
8. The next day, cut the roll in thin crosswise slices. Put on a lined baking sheet and sprinkle the tops of the cookies with sugar. Bake at 425 degrees for about 10 to 12 minutes.

Tasting notes:

My favorite recipes from this picnic were the Pinwheel Cookies and the Mock Champagne Punch. The cookies turned out very pretty and tasted like sugar cookies with a hint of chocolate. The punch didn’t taste like champagne, but more like a ginger lemonade, which I actually prefer.

The Fruit Melange Salad was ok, but I thought the dressing made it much too sweet. I think serving just the fresh fruit without the dressing would’ve been perfect.

I liked the flavors for both sandwich fillings, but the bread I chose was much too soft so the texture was a little too squishy for me. Next time I would use stale bread, or toast it very lightly first. Also, I made far too much for a picnic of just two people! For next year’s picnic I will try to curb my impulses to make enough food for a crowd.

References:

Allen, I.B. (1924). Ida Bailey Allen’s modern cook book. Garden City, New York: Garden City Publishing Company, Inc. https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/10217

Good Housekeeping Institute. (1933). Good Housekeeping cook book. New York: Good Housekeeping.

Grossman, M.E. (1922). Mary Elizabeth’s cook book. Columbus, Ohio: The Stoneman Press. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Mary_Elizabeth_s_Cook_Book/mNwqAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1

The University of Virginia Hospital League. (1931). The Monticello cook book. Charlottesville, VA: The Michie Company. University of Michigan Janice Bluestein Longone Culinary Archive. https://whatamericaate.org/full.record.php?kid=164-590-11&page=5