Vintage Receipts

After looking through numerous books of these old receipts, those that seem “doable” are mostly desserts. I’ve been searching for something a little healthier in ways of an entrée, so haven’t made anything new recently. 

In addition to this, during the next three weeks after my last post, my apartment complex was plagued with ants, which postponed any “extreme” cooking. After this delay, now I’m thinking of only trying a vintage receipt once every couple of weeks, instead of every week, using my alternate week to learn a new international recipe.

One of my favorite meals to make are stir-fries. While looking through the offerings in these vintage cookbooks, I noticed the term “stir-fry” was never mentioned. Not even in the 1913 Chinese and English Cookbook, which is mostly American dishes in the Chinese and English languages. So, I began wondering when “stir-fry” first came to the American tables. I found the answer at Wikipedia, which stated the term was first used in a 1945 cookbook How to Cook and Eat in Chinese, by Buwei Yang Chao (1889-1981). Interestingly enough, I’d already heard of the author’s husband, Yuen Ren Chao, a linguist, mentioned in my university Linguistics major classes.

Unfortunately, it may be some time before this title appears in public domain. It has been reprinted various times over the years, with newer editions. 

In the meantime, I’ll be trying to locate healthier receipts for the next vintage receipt “experiment.”