So did your mother wear a cute little apron?” Robert Hirn asks the hostess, his longtime friend Jan Kostner. He has dressed for her dinner party in the proper retro spirit of the evening by wearing a 40-year-old shirt of his father’s and a tie he says he thinks is “authentic looking.”
Another guest has brought a vintage copy of “Hints from Heloise” in case anybody’s martini glass leaves a telltale ring on the coffee table.
At the moment, Kostner is more concerned with souffles than aprons. She is in the tiny kitchen of her apartment on the 34th floor of a downtown high-rise, and the carrot souffle she has just removed from the oven is not as towering as she had hoped.
“It might be more like polenta,” says Anne-Marie St. Germaine, another guest, who is wearing a silky Chinese cheongsam tunic and taking a break from mixing martinis and cranberry-pink cosmopolitans for the crowd.
“Maybe the dish was too big,” another guest volunteers. “Anyway, who says your mother’s souffle was any higher?”
“Really!” Kostner says, laughing. “For all we know, hers was just like this.” Unruffled, she puts a serving spoon into the dish and carries it out to the tulip-bedecked buffet in the living room.
Who gives candle-lit dinner parties for 12 anymore? Many otherwise brave adults have thrown in the towel on this. Modern city dwellers tend to head for restaurants on special occasions, limiting at-home entertainment to simple dishes with a couple of close friends.
The serious, Saturday-night dinner party, where people dress up and don’t walk in carrying casseroles, is a lost art in most social circles. It may be worth reviving, judging from the party thrown by Kostner.
This was no ordinary get-together, but dinner party as homage. Kostner hit on the idea when she and her two sisters were going through pictures and memorabilia that had belonged to their mother, Freddie (Frederica), who died in 1997. They came across a yellowed clipping of a Tribune story from Jan. 26, 1958, describing a party their mother, who freelanced for the paper’s society pages, had thrown for 12 people about $20. The story compared that use of $20 with what the same amount bought at the Pump Room in a lavish dinner for one.
One photo with the story shows Jan’s father and host Joseph Kostner getting bottles of wine out of the ice-filled bathtub; another shows Freddie and her friends sitting in the living room, plates balanced on their laps. Though some guests are sitting on the floor, all are wearing what these days we would expect to see at a wedding: The men are in suits and ties; the ladies wear dresses, stockings and pumps.
The menu was pure 1958: martinis, chicken tetrazzini, carrot souffle, avocado and lettuce salad, and pecan rolls, followed by cookies, coffee and brandy. Total cost: $14.44, which included a split (half bottle) of white wine for each guest. The balance of the $20 was the cost of ingredients already on hand, including brandy and gin.
Jan Kostner thought it would be fun to re-create her mother’s meal and invite 11 people over to enjoy it. She found a recipe for chicken tetrazzini in “The Joy of Cooking”; a friend e-mailed her a recipe for carrot souffle out of “The Settlement Cookbook.” She bought 12 splits of wine, an extravagant way to do it, but she wanted to be as faithful as possible to the original plan, for purposes of comparison. Her total costs came to $171.28, which did not include brandy, gin, coffee and a few other items.
Observing the effects of inflation, though, was only a small part of the evening. More interesting to Kostner and her friends was the difference between the 1958 version of American party food and today’s. In the 1950s, only Italian families and a few sophisticated others called their spaghetti “pasta” and served it al dente. The rest of us happily overcooked it and sometimes, as for tetrazzini, overcooked it twice-boiled, then baked.
Vegetables clearly have risen in prestige in the last 40 years. These days it is rare that one is served a heavy entree without a big, colorful salad standing by. And we would not be surprised to see other fresh vegetables at the same meal–asparagus, perhaps, with tetrazzini, or crudites as an appetizer. In the 1958 meal, twice-cooked carrots hit the table in a souffle made with cream and butter.
The world of bread also has changed enormously. Freddie’s sweet pecan rolls would not have raised an eyebrow in 1958. Now focaccia and crusty, artisanal loaves are the order of the day.
Drinking habits also have evolved. In the ’50s, while liquor flowed before, during and after meals, wine was not the common accompaniment to dinner it is today. For Freddie Kostner’s guests, white wine splits may have been an elegant novelty. Today, wine and sparkling water are ubiquitous and hard liquor is the rarer choice.
Kiki Shea, one of Jan’s sisters, relaxed on the couch after eating and talked about her mother. “She was incredibly social and gracious,” she said. “She could mix people from different backgrounds and they’d enjoy each other. She would have been very happy with this party, impressed with Jan for carrying on the family tradition.”
Kostner has equally happy memories of her mother’s social impulses. “She enjoyed entertaining,” she said. “I remember parties in our apartment, growing up, with everybody having a good time and laughing. My mother had some classic dishes that she made–especially a great eggs Benedict.”
Kostner, the senior vice president of Jasculca/Terman, a River North public relations firm, admitted that getting the party together wasn’t exactly a snap. “It was a lot of work,” she said. “In 1958, a typical housewife wouldn’t have been working outside the home. She would have had more time to plan something like this.”
All the guests, many of whom were born after 1958, seemed happy to be there, even if the food was unfamiliar.
“How did you like the tetrazzini?” one guest asked Nichola Goss, a dancer with a ponytail and sparkly jewelry.
“Which one is the tetrazzini?” Goss responded. “The carrot?”
“The pasta,” her companion said.
“Oh!” said Goss. “It’s good!”
Past and present: Tallying the bill
Here are the major ingredients that Jan Kostner’s mother purchased for her 1958 party. These, plus the items she had on hand, added up to $20. In 2001, the items added up to $171.28. Jan also added a few items for her party, such as nuts, bread sticks, cranberry juice and olives stuffed with blue cheese.
1958 shopping list:
12 splits white wine $4.68
Three 2-pound stewing chickens $2.34
1 quart pale dry sherry $1.98
2 boxes spaghetti .46
1 pint light cream .33
Box fresh mushrooms .29
3 bunches carrots .57
Bag of almonds .45
3 avocados .57
2 heads lettuce .38
Italian dressing .29
Cookies from bakery $1.59
2001 shopping list:
12 splits white wine $119.98
5 pounds boneless chicken breasts $21.35
(She used wine instead of sherry.)
2 pound box of spaghetti $1.99
1 quart light cream $2.09
Box fresh mushrooms $3.29
3 bunches carrots $4.47
Bag of almonds $2.49
3 avocados $2.94
2 heads lettuce $2.09
Italian dressing $1.59
Cookies from bakery $9.00
Retro
The following recipes can be doubled if you are planning a big party.
If you do so, you’ll need two pans each for the tetrazzini and souffle.
Carrot souffle
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour
Yield: 6 servings
Check for doneness by using a thin skewer inserted into the side of the souffle. If skewer has some moist bits clinging to it, it will be creamy inside. If you like souffles drier inside, cook it about 5 more minutes. Adapted from “The Settlement Cookbook.”
6 tablespoons butter plus more for greasing dish
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese or dry bread crumbs
4 carrots, grated, about 2 cups
2 tablespoons minced onion
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups hot milk or cream
1/2 teaspoon each: Worcestershire sauce, salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon each: ground white pepper, paprika
6 eggs, separated
Pinch cream of tartar or salt
1. Butter a 2-quart souffle dish. Dust bottom and sides of dish with Parmesan. Cut piece of parchment or foil long enough to wrap around dish with a 2-inch overlap; fold piece in thirds lengthwise to form about a 5-inch band. Grease band; set aside.
2. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in medium skillet. Stir in carrots and onion; cook, covered, over medium-low heat, until tender, about 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
3. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Melt remaining 4 tablespoons of the butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add flour; cook, stirring, over medium-low heat, about 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in milk. Heat to boil, whisking continuously, over medium heat. Cook until thick, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper and paprika. Whisk in egg yolks. Mix in carrots and onion; set aside.
4. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff peaks form. Fold in 1 /4 of the whites into carrot mixture. Fold in remaining whites. Turn batter into prepared dish; smooth top. Wrap parchment band, buttered side in, about 3 inches above dish to form a tight collar. Fasten overlap with tape or straight pins. (Can leave at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes.)
5. Bake until souffle has puffed and top is lightly browned and slightly firm to touch, about 45 minutes. Unwrap collar; serve.
Nutrition information per serving:
275 calories, 67% calories from fat, 20 g fat, 11 g saturated fat, 255 mg cholesterol, 515 mg sodium, 12 g carbohydrate, 1 g protein, 1.4 g fiber
Iceberg and avocado salad with vinaigrette
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Yield: 10 servings
Although Jan Kostner used a bottled Italian vinaigrette in her salad, the test kitchen came up with a homemade mustard vinaigrette as another option.
1/4 cup cider or red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons minced parsley
2 heads iceberg lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
3 avocados, diced
1. Whisk together vinegar, salt, garlic, mustard and pepper to taste in large serving bowl. Slowly whisk in oil. Whisk in parsley. Add iceberg lettuce to bowl. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
2. Toss lettuce with dressing from bottom of bowl. To serve, sprinkle avocado on top.
Nutrition information per serving:
210 calories, 83% calories from fat, 20 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 140 mg sodium, 7 g carbohydrate, 2.3 g protein, 4.6 g fiber
Chicken tetrazzini
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Yield: 8 servings
Adapted from “The Joy of Cooking.”
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup flour
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) chicken broth
1 1/2 cups whole milk or half-and-half
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cooked, shredded into pieces
3 tablespoons white wine, optional
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Salt, freshly ground pepper
8 ounces spaghetti, cooked according to package directions
1/2 cup blanched, slivered almonds, toasted, see note
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium-high heat in medium skillet. Add mushrooms; cook, stirring until tender, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
2. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter over medium-low heat in large saucepan. Whisk in flour. Cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute. Whisk in chicken broth. Whisk in milk. Heat mixture to simmer, whisking constantly, until thick and smooth. Cook 1 minute. Stir in chicken and wine. Cook 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in mushrooms and spaghetti.
3. Pour mixture into greased 13-by-9-inch baking pan. Sprinkle top with almonds and Parmesan. Bake until sauce is bubbly and cheese is golden brown, about 30 minutes.
Note: To toast almonds, place on baking sheet in 400-degree oven until lightly browned, about 7 minutes.
Nutrition information per serving: 460 calories, 37% calories from fat, 19 g fat, 8 g saturated fat, 105 mg cholesterol, 370 mg sodium, 33 g carbohydrate, 38 g protein, 2.3 g fiber
