Feasts and Festivals: Carnival

In case you didn't know, Shrove Tuesday is next week (the 12th), so Carnival is drawing to a close. Carnival is a series of festivities preceding Lent and usually happens in predominantly-Catholic areas, such as Argentina, where the film Gilda (1946) takes place. Here are Glenn Ford and Rita Hayworth dressed up for the Carnaval de Buenos Aires...

 ...and the two of them in a publicity still (featuring the black dress that's practically as famous as the movie).

These three recipes are from the same year as Gilda--they're adapted from my 1946 edition of The Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book. We had the crab cocktail as an appetizer and then had a steak, baked potato, green salad and buttermilk biscuits.

Crab Cocktail

4 ounces canned crab meat (get the good stuff)
1 celery rib, finely chopped
2 lettuce leaves
1/4 cup cocktail sauce (se recipe below)

Combine the crab meat, the celery and the cocktail sauce. Chill and serve in cocktail glasses lined with lettuce.

Serves 2

Cocktail Sauce

6 tablespoons chili sauce*
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons grated horseradish root
1/4 teaspoon grated onion
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
salt

Combine all ingredients and chill.

Makes 1/2 cup

*The chili sauce in this recipe should be similar to Heinz chili sauce. This isn't the same thing as sriracha--that would make the cocktail sauce really hot!The sauce I used was Grama's Sweet Chili Sauce.

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Buttermilk Biscuits

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
5 tablespoons softened butter
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

Sift flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda into a large mixing bowl. Cut in the butter with a fork until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add buttermilk and stir with fork until dough follows fork around bowl. Knead for about 30 seconds and then roll out on a lightly floured board to 3/8" thickness. Brush with melted butter, fold dough in half and cut out biscuits. If you use a 2 3/8" cutter, you should get about a dozen biscuits.

Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 15 minutes or until golden. Serve warm.

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More of Ms. Hayworth's awesome costumes

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