Historical Food Fortnightly: Challenge #7 -- The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread -- Raspberry Jell from 1945.

Calves' feet boiling for jelly.  Photo: Elizabeth Urbach. 

Having tried (and failed) to make jelly the old-fashioned way from calves' feet, it was a very quick and easy job to make jelly with packaged gelatine.  The calves' feet need to be cleaned, covered in water and boiled gently for 4 hours, until the meat and cartilage fall off the bones and are dissolved into the broth.  Then the bones and meat chunks and any undissolved cartilage need to be picked out of the broth and the broth needs to cool and settle overnight.  Then the fat that rises to the top of the broth needs to be cleaned off the top, and the sediment that sinks to the bottom needs to be scraped off as well.  The resulting jelly is a transluscent, meaty brown color that needs to be melted again and strained through a jelly bag or a few layers of cheesecloth or wet muslin to remove more sediment.  Then the jelly needs to cool and settle again, and if it's not yet clear and flavor-less, it needs to be melted and run through a jelly bag again.  Once it's clear, only then can you add the flavorings and pour it into a mold and let it set into its finished shape!  That takes at least a day, just to prepare the unflavored gelatine! 

_Wartime Farm_, the book!

_Wartime Farm_ by Peter Ginn, Ruth Goodman,
and Alex Langlands.  Photo: Elizabeth Urbach.

I may have mentioned my interest in the "Farm" history documentary series on the BBC, including "Tales from the Green Valley", "Victorian Farm," "Edwardian Farm" and "Wartime Farm" on this blog before ... my admiration of the featured historians and presenters knows no bounds!  I wish they would do a documentary here in the U.S. so I could work with them ... Anyway, there are companion books to each "Farm" series, and I recently won an autographed copy of the "Wartime Farm" book!

It's full, not only of an historical overview of what was going on in Britain between 1939 and 1950, but there are short chapters on many aspects of Home Front life in the country, with instructions for making and doing many of the things featured in the text and on camera in the documentary itself.

Displaying my grandma's wedding dress.

The dress on display at History Park. 
Photo: Elizabeth Urbach.

I was allowed to put my grandma's wedding dress on display this weekend for a special event at the museum where I work.  In preparation for the event, I had to design the exhibit, arrange for items like a dress form and other display props,  and do my own set up and take down.  I also discovered that the gown and veil needed some TLC. before it would survive the display!  Even though they were only made in 1945 (and there are many things from the '40s that are in such good condition they can still be used), the gown and veil were literally falling apart in places.  I researched what it would take to restore them and found that I had neither the tools nor the money to do so properly ($80 per yard museum-quality silk crepeline for a support lining, anyone?).  The rayon satin of the gown, and the nylon (or rayon?) net of the veil were badly ripped in places, and the gown fabric was literally breaking off into bits at the edges of the torn areas.  The best I could do was to baste strips of well-washed cotton muslin from seam to seam across the torn areas, to take pressure off of the fabric, and then baste the edges of the tears to the muslin.

Ca. 1945 wedding cake topper made of icing sugar.
Photo: Elizabeth Urbach.

Planning a Royal Wedding tea party!

Rosolia Caccomo LoBue's wedding dress ca. 1945.

England’s Prince William of Wales will marry Kate Middleton on April 29, 2011.  What better way to watch the festivities than with a party, more specifically a tea party?  Since the wedding will occur in the wee hours of the morning (Pacific time), you may want to have a high tea the evening before while watching some of the pre-wedding TV specials, and then watch the wedding replay in the morning, or record it live, and play it for the guests in the afternoon.  Everyone can get dressed up in their nicest garden party dress (suits with morning coats for the men) and hats, and enjoy an English-style tea in front of the television.

Fun things to do in San Jose.

Elizabeth Urbach. Tatting shuttles and lace on display at History Park.












1. Go to a World War 2-era living history event!

Third Annual Day of Remembrance: Saturday, August 8, 2009. Noon to 5 p.m. History Park, 1650 Senter Rd., San Jose, CA 95112. Free admission. “Keep the Spirit of '45 Alive! Where were YOU when World War II ended? Join us for an exciting fun-filled afternoon as we honor the legacy of America’s “greatest generation” by commemorating the end of World War II in August 1945. * Parade at 1 pm * Special guest, Edith Shain, the nurse from the famous "VJ Day at Times Square" photograph * Visit the Home Front exhibit in the Pacific Hotel Gallery * Share where YOU were when the War ended * Dance to music of The Swing Solution * Visit World War II Living Historians * Singing Blue Stars of the USS Hornet. Bring the whole family and help make history! For more information call 408.918.1042.”

2. See a great exhibit of local 19th century textiles before it closes!

She Made It!: The Tradition of Women’s Arts and Crafts in Santa Clara Valley – exhibit extended through August 16, 2009. Leonard & David McKay Gallery at the Pasetta House, History Park, 1650 Senter Rd., San Jose. Friday through Sunday, 12 noon - 5 pm. “‘She Made It! The Tradition of Women’s Arts and Crafts in Santa Clara Valley’ is an exhibition of over 35 handmade items that explores the transition of women’s craftmaking from that of utilitarian production or social development tool to a form of art and individual expression. Mostly selected from History San Jose’s collection, the exhibit includes quilts and samplers, clothing and accessories, baskets and hair work, many of which are on display for the first time. Three generations of hand-made wedding dresses provide visual cues of how times have changed from 1895 to 1982. ... The San Jose State Textile Program was once a component of the Home Economics department. Students were instructed in clothing and fabric design, and produced many of the artifacts that will be on display. Although this department dissolved in 1987, instruction in weaving and textile arts can still be found on campus through the School of Art & Design.”