Ideas for Old Florida Menu?

[spotlightmama]

I'm hosting a baby shower for my brother and sister-in-law, both of whom cook at high-end restaurants. The shower will be from 11AM-1PM and the theme is Old Florida (Florida in the 30s - 50s).

Any ideas for a menu? Good food is a huge part of their lives and I'd like to give them a party that they'll enjoy!

Thanks in advance!

[steakman55]

For dessert: guava shells and cream cheese, served with saltines

[c oliver]

Just a practical note. This is only a two hour party and I'm going to assume that gifts will be opened. (PLEASE no games!) Whatever you wind up with will need to be all done ahead of time so will probably need to be room temp and chilled items.

[janniecooks]

Following up on my previous post suggesting Cross Creek Cookery, some more information might be helpful. The book was first published in 1942, so it fits perfectly in your desired era.

Here some links to Cross Creek Cookery. The first one is a direct link to the complete book on google books; Rawlings' provides Cross Creek menus starting on page xv, and recipes starting on page 7:

http://books.google.com/books?id=6RNvD5pvnvgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Cross+Creek+Cookery&source=bl&ots=Shf_uH7_UK&sig=gOlUtoB5NCvWW6rmzTD9_x_0UwI&hl=e

And here is a link to a blog with information about the book and the author, lots of good perspective and research, and a delightful read:

http://monthsofediblecelebrations.blo...

[GraydonCarter]

This luncheon menu would qualify as uniquely old Florida:

Greek Gulf of Mexico Soup (Athen's King Soup) (page 9)
Beet and Cabbage Salad, Boiled Dressing (page 146)
Orange Lake Frog-Legs, Fried in Dora's Butter (page 99)
Spring Onions
Tangerine Sherbert (page 206)

[janniecooks]

sounds lovely!

[decolady]

I have that cookbook. It's one I picked up at a yard sale years ago. Need to go dig it out and peruse it again. Thanks for the link to the blog.

[Will Owen]

My copy (also yard sale - $4!) is a first edition. The seller knocked a dollar off the price because "It doesn't have its dust jacket." Of course it didn't - we were saving paper during WW2, and so book publishers were just using buckram for the covers and printing jacket art directly onto the fabric. But I didn't want to show off, so I didn't tell her that...

[pikiliz]

this one is an old Florida keys recipe grits and grunt, old but really good
http://grillinggourmet.com/culinarygu...

[janniecooks]

You might want to check out Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings's "Cross Creek Cookery" for some ideas.

[hazelhurst]

That is exactly what I was thinking--ya beat me to it

[GraydonCarter]

Ah, she wrote The Yearling, about a young boy living in the Florida backwoods. Excellent suggestion.

[masha]

Same thought. She includes the recipe for fish chowder in her book Cross Creek, if you cannot find the cookbook.

[beachmouse]

Fresh squeezed orange or grapefruit juice has to get worked in there somehow.

[Phurstluv]

Oh yes, like in the cocktails, or a nice sorbet. When are you having this affair??

I just did a cocktail party for 20 in central Florida earlier this month. Although we didn't have a "timeline " as our theme, I did try to make foods that would hold up in the humidity and heat.

You MUST take advantage of the wonderful fish & seafood they have there. Research what was popular in the time you are thinking of, then re-work it for your time & place.

Tried a take on shrimp cocktail - serve it sauteed (I did) from Giada's newest cookbook.
Stone crab claws in a cocktail or martini glass with cocktail sauce & avocado?
A cold soup shooter is nice - I did cucumber-avocado w/Thai flavors - huge hit!
Crab salad in cucumber cups
Black bean & tropical fruit salsa with chips

I have recipes for the above if you would like them. Also, make a signature cocktail for the event - we had Limoncello-Blueberry coolers (I had an older crowd) but mojitos or martinis may suit your crowd better. And you can use up some of those oranges and grapefruits.

[smartie]

how old Florida is Key Lime Pie?

There is always Deli - Wolfie's opened in 1946 in Miami - corned beef on rye, pastrami, tongue, latkes (potato pancakes) chicken soup and chopped liver!

[GraydonCarter]

Not sure how important it is for your theme to conform to historical accuracy, but here are a couple of thoughts. First, because the revolution occured in 1959, you probably wouldn't have felt a strong cuban presence in South Florida before the mid-50's when so many escaped for refuge in Miami. In terms of the theme, I'm thinking back to Hemingway who lived in Key West from 1931 to 1939. He hung out at Sloppy Joe's (so named because the melting ice made a mess of the place) and the sandwich invented there is the ground beef in a sweet rich tomato sauce - sloppy joe (not the cole-slaw imbued deli sandwich of the same name).

With the exception of the Japanese pineapple farmers, Old Florida's main immigrants were migrant workers from Georgia and Alabama, so Southern cuisine (smoked bacon and sweet potatoes) would be as likely as anything you could find. I like the idea of florida caviar, green boiled peanuts, juju fish spread, and pimento cheese spread.

I wonder what James Deering would have served at his Villa Viscaya estate, or Citizen Kane at Xanadu.

[scubadoo97]

How bout some fried grouper or snapper and smoked mullet with a skillet of corn bread. Common "cracker food"

[mamachef]

Conch fritters with homemade aioli to dip, or a conch salad made with hearts of palm, grapefruit, avocado etc., then bbq'd swordfish with a yellow squash casserole, asparagus. and a rice salad with a citrus vinaigrette. Coconut layer cake to finish. Not fancy, but they get/cook that all the time, right? this is a casual, do-able party menu that will let you relax and enjoy too.

[Phurstluv]

Oh man, do I LOVE conch fritters. So good.

Nice menu, mamachef!

[mamachef]

I could eat them every.single.day. Tx on the menu; I love food pairings and menu planning. It's mah thaaaaaaang.

[Veggo]

The conch for an "Old Florida" menu will have to come from Turks & Caicos, but that is not cheating too much. Stone crab is out of season until Oct. 15, and the moratorium on commercial grouper fishing is an obstacle but it can be sourced. Mangrove snapper and yellowfin tuna are around, and pompano is certainly an Old Florida dish.
An Osceola turkey would be quite a centerpiece.