For Mom, the Old-Fashioned Way

Will you take Mom to brunch on Mother’s Day, or make her breakfast in bed? Maybe give her a box of chocolates or a triple-layer fudge cake?

If you do, you won’t be alone. But if you were living 80 years ago and offered these edible gifts, you might have gotten that funny look only moms can give.

In May 1914, when President Wilson signed a joint resolution of Congress proclaiming the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day, food was not considered part of the celebration.

Instead, people displayed the U.S. flag outside their homes and on government buildings. In churches, special services were held. The motherless wore white carnations, while those whose mothers were still alive wore red.

This last tradition stemmed from Anna M. Jarvis of West Virginia, considered the originator of Mother’s Day in this country. To honor her dead mother, Jarvis requested that a church service be held on May 10, 1908. She placed large jars of white carnations in the church because they were her mother’s favorite.

Soon after the national holiday was declared, giving Mom a bouquet of fresh flowers became a Mother’s Day custom, as did presenting her with a reproduction of the famous James Whistler portrait of his mother, “An Arrangement in Grey and Black.” Starting in the 1920s, Mother’s Day cards were exchanged, a “tradition” promoted by Hallmark.

There is, however, a connection between food and mothers that goes back to the Middle Ages. Children offered their mothers gifts of flowers or a cake--called a mothering cake--on Mothering Sunday, which fell once a year on the fourth Sunday in Lent. But it’s hard to find any association between food and the national holiday in magazines and newspapers during the years immediately following its proclamation by President Wilson. One source that did suggest this link was the May 1934 issue of “American Cookery,” the magazine of Fannie Farmer’s Boston Cooking School.

“Now that Mother’s Day is so generally observed in May, it makes an excellent opportunity for you to entertain mother--and the rest of the family--at Sunday dinner,” the magazine explained. “Of course, you want a dinner that is spring-like and just a little different, but one that is not too difficult to prepare.”

A four-course menu followed, including jellied consomme, crown roast of lamb with brown currant sauce, potatoes (or “brownies in jackets”), melon balls on lettuce with California French dressing and amber ice cream.

A handy tip at the bottom of the page suggested that “a yellow color scheme may be carried out which may be intensified by using yellow flowers for the table.”

By 1935, the women’s pages of the Los Angeles Times continued to link flowers--but not food--to Mom’s special day. In fact, in one Sunday magazine story (“Blossoms for Mother,” May 12), the female protagonist “affected a scornful attitude about Mother’s Day. It was a silly sentimental institution, purely a business measure introduced by the florists.”

So how did food become a part of Mother’s Day? Barbara Haber, curator and food historian at Radcliffe College’s Schlesinger Library, has a theory of commercial influence.

“I think it was kind of a conspiracy by restaurants,” she said. “My gut reaction is that it was one of those invented rituals: ‘Let’s take Mom to brunch.’ ”

It may be that the idea of giving Mom the day off from kitchen duty didn’t come up until the 1930s because middle-class women in the earliest part of the 20th century were being told (by domestic scientists, by the food industry, by housekeeping magazines) that housework was a professional skill, not drudgery. (Upper-class women didn’t need a day off from the kitchen because they had cooks to make dinner every night.) Indeed, the term “home economics” didn’t come into wide use until 1899.

“As home economists,” writes Laura Shapiro in her book on women and cooking at the turn of the century, “Perfection Salad,” “they felt better equipped to tackle a world that still thought of them as a lot of housekeepers with wild ideas.”

To want a day of rest from household duties might imply that housework wasn’t as drudgery-free as the domestic scientists said. By the ‘30s, apparently, reality had sunk in and women all over the country were delighted to have their children present them with a meal.

Menu

Jellied Consomme in Cubes With Crisp Crackers

Crown Roast of Lamb With Brown Currant Sauce

Brownies in Jackets

Melon Balls on Lettuce With California French Dressing

Amber Ice Cream

JELLIED CONSOMME IN CUBES WITH CRISP CRACKERS

3 (1/4-ounce) packages gelatin

4 cups homemade or canned consomme or beef broth

Crackers

Soften gelatin in 1/2 cup broth in small bowl. Bring remaining 3 1/2 cups broth to simmer in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add softened gelatin and stir to dissolve.

Pour into 9x9-inch pan and chill at least 2 hours. When jelled, cut into cubes and divide among 4 cups or bowls. Serve with crisp crackers.

4 servings. Each serving without crackers:

53 calories; 1,643 mg sodium; 10 mg cholesterol; 0 fat; 5 grams carbohydrates; 8 grams protein; 0 fiber.

CROWN ROAST OF LAMB WITH BROWN CURRANT SAUCE

In the early 1900s, most cooks would have had homemade lamb or beef stock on hand to make a brown sauce. The Test Kitchen cooks tried using canned beef broth but were not satisfied with the results. Veal demi-glace, which we call for as a substitute for homemade stock, is available at most upscale markets.

SAUCE

2 cups veal demi-glace

1 teaspoon minced onion

1/2 cup currant jelly

LAMB

1 (3-pound) crown roast of lamb

3 ounces salt pork, cut into thin strips

Salt, pepper

SAUCE

Combine veal demi-glace, onion and jelly in saucepan over medium-low heat and stir until warm and jelly is dissolved, 5 to 10 minutes.

LAMB

Wrap end of each bone with thin strip salt pork to keep bones from charring. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Roast uncovered at 325 degrees to internal temperature of 135 degrees on meat thermometer, about 12 to 14 minutes per pound, for medium rare.

Remove salt pork from bones. Fill center of roast with steamed vegetables, such as baby carrots, peas and asparagus tips. Serve with Sauce.

4 servings. Each serving with 2 tablespoons sauce:

786 calories; 946 mg sodium; 142 mg cholesterol; 65 grams fat; 14 grams carbohydrates; 30 grams protein; 0.20 gram fiber.

BROWNIES IN JACKETS

12 small red or white boiling potatoes

Boil unpeeled potatoes in water to cover 15 minutes. Drain.

Place in roasting pan around lamb. Roast, turning 2 to 3 times, until well browned and tender, 35 to 40 minutes.

4 servings. Each serving without pan juices:

90 calories; 7 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 0 fat; 20 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams protein; 0.48 gram fiber.

MELON BALLS ON LETTUCE WITH CALIFORNIA FRENCH DRESSING

In the ‘30s, French dressing was not the pale orange mayonnaise-y mixture we know today, but a simple vinaigrette. Make the vinaigrette with grapefruit juice and, voila, you have California French. Fusion cuisine of the ‘30s!

1/2 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup grapefruit juice

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1 (5-ounce) package spring greens

2 cups assorted melon balls, such as cantaloupe, honeydew and watermelon

Whisk together olive oil, salt, pepper, grapefruit juice and sugar. Divide greens among 4 plates. Place melon balls on greens on each plate. Drizzle with dressing.

4 servings. Each serving:

280 calories; 495 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 27 grams fat; 10 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram protein; 0.54 gram fiber.

AMBER ICE CREAM

1 pint vanilla ice cream

1/4 cup orange marmalade

Place 1/2 cup ice cream in 4 dessert bowls. Top each with 1 tablespoon orange marmalade.

4 servings. Each serving:

240 calories; 58 mg sodium; 36 mg cholesterol; 7 grams fat; 43 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams protein; 0 fiber.