Life this Week: February 14, 1938

Today, I'm exploring the February 14, 1938, issue of Life magazine, which is available on Google Books. Here's a little of what interested me:


"Occasion: a meeting of 1,000 small businessmen...invited to come to Washington and tell [the president] what to do about the Recession."  This could have happened February 2nd of this year.  Ironic that "the bulk of the conferees turned out to be angrily critical of the New Deal" yet asked for government loans to "buy and build."

Lord Tweedsmuir Opens Canada's 1938 Parliament- Lord Tweedsmuir was the novelist John Buchan, who wrote The Thirty-Nine Steps.  He was appointed Governor General of Canada in 1935 by George V.

Fair-use image from Wikipedia

Movie of the Week: A Yank at Oxford
Robert Taylor plays a braggart American jock who, somehow, manages to get into Oxford on a scholarship.  Lionel Barrymore, Maureen O'Sullivan and Vivien Leigh co-star.  You might also recognize Robert Coote, who plays Wavertree.  He played Bob Trubshawe in A Matter of Life and Death.  Overall, the movie is silly and predictable but good fun.  Oxford looks great and Vivien Leigh is amusing as the man-crazy wife of a local bookseller.  A Yank at Oxford isn't available on DVD, but TCM airs it.

Georgia O'Keeffe article: "best-known woman painter in America today"; the article has two full-color pages of her work and photographs of her New York apartment and New Mexico ranch

Remember: men won't like you if your hand lotion smells like kitchen soap.  Also, if you were thinking of inventing Donkey Basketball, you're too late.

Is it me, or does Abraham Lincoln's stepmother look like Sydney Greenstreet?

Appropriately enough, considering current world events, The Camera Overseas has a feature entitled King of Egypt Marries His Prettiest Subject.  Evidently the king paid his future father-in-law $1.50 for her.

*****

Unfortunately, there weren't any recipes in this issue, so I'll have to provide a menu from my copy of Modern Meal Maker (1935).  

Veal Chops

Browned Potatoes

Creamed Cabbage

Stewed Tomatoes

The creamed cabbage is the same recipe as the creamed cabbage in this menu.  I just cooked it longer since the oven was at 325 for the veal instead of at 350.  Evidently creamed vegetables were very popular in the 20s and 30s.  We'll probably eat our weight in Béchamel sauce this year!

Veal Chops with Browned Potatoes

2-3 small potatoes, peeled and diced
2 (4 oz.) boneless veal chops
2 teaspoons butter
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon minced scallions
1⁄4 cup dry vermouth or other dry white wine
1 teaspoon dried thyme

Preheat oven to 325º Fahrenheit. Meanwhile, place the potatoes in a baking dish and put them in the oven (it doesn’t matter if the oven is up to temperature yet). Start the potatoes cooking now so they’ll be cooked through when the veal chops are ready. Dry off each chop with a paper towel and season to taste with salt and pepper.

In a large oven-safe skillet, heat the butter and oil over medium-high heat until the foam from the butter has almost subsided. Add the chops and brown 4 minutes, then turn them over and brown for another 4 minutes. Place the chops on a plate.

Add the scallions to the pan and cook for about a minute. Pour the wine over and scrape to deglaze the pan. Add the thyme, stir and return the chops to the pan. Remove the potatoes from the oven and place them in the skillet with the chops. Cover the skillet and cook in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the juices from the veal are no longer pink. Midway through cooking, turn the veal chops over and stir the potatoes.

Serves 2

Stewed Tomatoes

28-oz. can whole tomatoes
½ onion, peeled and grated
2 tablespoons sugar
salt and pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Simmer while the veal chops are in the oven (about 20 minutes). The liquid from the tomatoes should be thickened.