Luncheon on an Alaskan cruise, 1930.

It is time I took you out to virtual luncheon again. Today we are aboard the Alaska Steamship Company’s S.S. Northwestern and it is Saturday, October 4, 1930.

LUNCHEON

Indian Relish                        Pickled Onions

Dill Pickles                                             Sweet Mixed Pickles

SOUP

Vermicelli                                              Beef Bouillon

FISH

Broiled Alaska Chicken Halibut with Shrimp Sauce

HOT DISHES

Grilled Pork Chops with Saratoga Chips

Boiled Short Ribs of Beef Spanish Sauce

Ragout of Veal with Brown Potatoes

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Boiled Carolina Rice

Baked Alaska Potatoes      Stewed Lima Beans Lyonnaise

COLD MEATS

Roast Sirloin of Beef                          Roast Mutton

Corned Beef                                         Blood Sausage

SALAD

Old Fashioned Potato en Mayonnaise

DESSERTS

Grape Nut Custard Pudding with Jelly

Peach Pie                                               Green Apple Pie

Lemon Jell-O

Fresh Apple Sauce               Lunch Cake          Stewed Prunes

American Cheese                                Old English Cheese

Coffee   Black or Green Tea                             Chocolate

What are you going to choose for lunch? The Chicken Halibut had me intrigued for a few moments, but it turns out that it is simply young halibut, which certainly sounds better than old halibut, but is still not sufficiently tempting today. Sometimes it is easier to decide what NOT to have, isn’t it? The Lemon Jell-O does not do it for me, and although anything labeled ‘custard’ normally gets me in, there is something not-tempting about one made with Grape-Nuts.

A dessert made from a commercial breakfast cereal seemed to me to be a strange dessert option aboard a cruise ship, but Grape-Nuts Custard Pudding had its time in the limelight in the ‘30’s and 40’s, even finding its way onto the menus of some quite acceptable hotels. Some of you may remember it with fondness. Here is a recipe for it from The Washington Observer of 13 July, 1963.

Grape-Nuts Custard Pudding.

3 tablespoons melted margarine or butter

¾ cup Grape-Nuts

3 large eggs, beaten

½ cup granulated sugar

2 cups milk

Dash salt

Dash ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla

¼ cup seedless raisins.

A perfect warm dessert that enables you to add Grape-Nuts to your diet, even if on a bland set-up. Melt margarine or butter and mix into the Grape-Nuts; seet aside. Beat eggs; stir in sugar, milk, salt, nutmeg, vanilla, and raisins. Add the grape-nuts mixture. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Turn into a 1 ½ quart casserole or baking dish. Place dish into a pan of hot water one-inch up on dish in depth. Bake in pre-heated oven 375 degrees, until brown and puffy, about 55 minutes or until knife inserted half way to center of pudding comes out clear; stir pudding every 10 minutes(3 times) during first half-hour of baking. Remove from oven when done: cool 45-60 minutes and spoon into pretty dessert dishes while slightly warm. Makes 5 to 6 servings.