50's cocktail party

[zoe b]

definitely rumaki

I did a 50s cocktail party a few years ago and served rumaki, cocktail dogs cooked over sterno--something we adored as kids and thought was the heighth of sophistication-- vichysoisse and caesar salad--lots of fun.

had martinis, manhattans, whisky sours, (I had to disguise my wine in a highball glass as i am not a cocktail drinker.

and I collect vintage party aprons, so had aprons for everybody to wear.

[KatieLoeb]

bacon-wrapped water chestnuts

Wasn't that chicken liver and bacon wrapped water chestnuts, aka Rumaki?

Pretty good recipe to be found HERE.

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Not if you hate, hate, hate chicken liver (or any other type of liver for that matter).

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Rumaki can be made with scallops in place of the liver if you please.

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Going to do bacon wrapped scallops since I am not even a teeny tiny fan of chicken liver.

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You still need the water chestnut in the center for textural contrast. It doesn't taste like much but it's crunchy!

Halve the scallop, place a water chestnut in the middle, wrap with bacon and skewer with a toothpick. Marinate in the soy and brown sugar mixture from the recipe and broil. Delicious and perfectly 50's retro.

[marlena spieler]

a chunk of ham, cheese, and pineapple on toothpicks.

a la cher in the movie mermaid, or am i hallucinating myself into her movie? i LIKE chunks of ham, cheese and pineapple together. in fact, i have a similar mixture in my grilled cheese book (the recipe is the austin powers shag a delic in case anyone is asking): basically ham, cheese and pineapple held together with mayo and a touch of pickle relish. to do a cheesey melt with it, keep the cheese out of the mixture and use it as a topping, then under the heat and melt. whoosh. yum.

[Taboni]

bacon-wrapped water chestnuts

Wasn't that chicken liver and bacon wrapped water chestnuts, aka Rumaki?

Pretty good recipe to be found HERE.

←

Not if you hate, hate, hate chicken liver (or any other type of liver for that matter).

←

Rumaki can be made with scallops in place of the liver if you please.

←

Going to do bacon wrapped scallops since I am not even a teeny tiny fan of chicken liver.

←

You still need the water chestnut in the center for textural contrast. It doesn't taste like much but it's crunchy!

Halve the scallop, place a water chestnut in the middle, wrap with bacon and skewer with a toothpick. Marinate in the soy and brown sugar mixture from the recipe and broil. Delicious and perfectly 50's retro.

←

Thanks Katie. I was wondering how to get the water chestnut in there..doh!

[fatmat]

I have a phenomenal guide to entertaining in the 50's - Esquire's Handbook for Hosts. It is an American book, but my version was published under licence in London in 1955. It comes with recipes, cocktails, party games, tricke, ettiquette etc...

Here's a link to a few on sale on Abebooks. There are some there for only a few dollars - worth it for the curiosity value alone. Just make sure that you don't select a modern reprint, as there a few of those mixed in on the same page.

I'm in the UK, so I can't quite let you have a flick through mine, but if I can be any use, please let me know

Mat

[howard88]

I clearly remember bowls of mixed salty nuts at

these gatherings!