Feasts and Festivals: St. Andrew's Day

St. Andrew's Day is celebrated in Scotland as that country's National Day (the same idea as Bastille Day or Independence Day, but much more low-key), since St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland. According to legend, a supernatural force brought his relics from Constantinople to Scotland, specifically to the town that is now St Andrews. Don't ask me how they are supposed to have arrived. Teleportation, maybe. It's also commonly believed that the relics were probably brought to Fife by a monk who then built a church at the behest of an angel. I still like my teleportation theory. According to legend, St. Andrew helped  a ninth century Pictish king in battle and was thus especially venerated by the Picts. St. Andrew's saltire eventually became the flag of Scotland. St. Andrew is also the patron saint of several other countries, as well as the patron saint of fishermen...and golfers.*

December Movies and Visions of Sugarplums Event

December 2011 Film Recommendations

From My Collection: Haddon Hall Gingerbread

I'm amassing quite the collection of vintage magazines and cookbooks! The November 1933 issue of Better Homes and Gardens has an ad on the back page for Gold Medal Flour that features Haddon Hall Gingerbread (see illustration below). Unfortunately, there was no recipe provided because housewives were supposed to send off for the recipe booklet! Too bad I'm only seventy-eight years too late...

So, I cobbled together my own version from recipes in All About Home Baking and the Joy of Cooking. If I say so myself, it was very tasty (I think the lemon sauce was my favorite part.) If you double the gingerbread and the frosting recipes, you can have a filled and iced cake like in the original illustration.

Life This Week: November 14, 1938

You can read more about cover girl Brenda Frazier and the rest of New York's 1938 debutantes in the article "The Debutante: as Seen at New York's Velvet Ball".

This week's Movie of the Week is The Young in Heart, a sweet all-star comedy in which a family of society con artists comes to love their proposed next victim, a wealthy old lady with no family of her own who takes them in after a train wreck. If you're starting to think about movies to watch with your family over the holidays, give this one a try. The Young in Heart is available on DVD.

Images from Doctor Macro

Life This Week: November 7, 1938

Sources, clockwise from top left: Robert Donat, still from The Citadel, Rosalind Russell, still from The Citadel

This week's "Movie of the Week" is The Citadel, starring Robert Donat as a young doctor who must decide what's important in life. Not to be all preachy or political, but this film outlines a few reasons why universal healthcare just might be a good idea. Keep an eye out for a young Rex Harrison.

Week-in-review, Autumn Photography and Earthquakes

This week on The Past on a Plate:



In other news, it's finally looking like autumn around here! Yippee!