Now I'm ready for summer!!!

BACKYARD BARBECUES

After WWII, many returning GI's married and settled in the suburbs. A house with a back yard was one of the symbols of American status. How best to show off one's back yard? Barbecue! It's no coincidence men proudly did the grilling. What was served? Women did the planning and prep-work based on suggestions offered by contemporary magazines and cookbooks.

Lamb Barbecue:

Lamb Roast, Indienne, with Savory-mint Barbecue Sauce Fruited Pilaf, Whole Tomatoes Quick Vegetable Salad with Parsley Dressing Buttered Crusty Bread Slices Fruit Basket, Coffee."

"Come Over for Steak"

Grilled steak, Butter-toasted Corn, Garlic French-bread Slices, Mixed Green Salad, Roquefort Dressing, Honeydew Melon with Lime Slice, Coffee."---Family Circle, August 1957 (p. 51)

"Backyard Barbecue"

Charcoal-broiled Steak or Hamburger ,Cheese and Caraway French Bread,Peach and Apple Pie,Coffee, Milk."---Woman's Day, June 1959

The Good Housekeeping Cook Book [1955] offers a chapter titled "The Bountiful Barbecue" (p. 593-600). It offers tips for planning a barbecue, including equipment checklist (asbestos gloves, Monosodium glutamate!), practical notes (choose a menu to fit the grill's space, double-wrap foods in heavy-duty aluminum foil) and safety notes (never heat canned foods in the unopened can). Recommended meats include: big steaks, little steaks, king steak, salt-grilled sirloin steak, barbecued spareribs, heavenly hamburgers, hot franks, grilled ham, barbecued bologna roll, amb and beef alfresco, kabobs, charcoal-grilled chicken, charcoal-grilled duckling, fish fries and barbecues, and shellfish alfresco. Fresh grilled vegetable recipes feature corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and mushrooms. Special instructions are provided for grilling canned and frozen veggies. Grilled breads were also popular. Good Housekeeping recommended grilled French & Italian breads , grill-baked breads, rolls and muffins, garlic-buttered slices and a variety of hot grilled sandwiches. Dessert could also be prepared on the grill. Popular items included caramel roast apples, walnut roast, fried marshmallows, baked bananas, and "Marshmallow Treats," (aka S'Mores).

House and Garden's Cook Book [1958] contains instructions for grilling the following items (p. 195-208): Churrasco (South American beef steak), Beefsteak Jerome LePlat (Italian recipe with Hollandaise sauce), Beefsteak Pizzaioula, Sliced Larded Filet on French Bread, Chateaubriand Marchand de Vin, Sate with Steak, Kebabs, Roast Leg of Lamb, Shoulder of Lamb, Lamb Steaks, Oriental Lamb Steaks (soy sauce & ginger), Ham Steak, Plain Hamburgers, Savory Hamburgers (w/chopped onions, olives & mushroom powder), Frankfurters, Grilled Italaian Sausages, Spitted Roast Chicken, Chicken Tarragon, Garlicked Chicken, Ginger Chicken, Baby Chickens on a Spit, Sate Ajam-Chicken on the Spit (Indonesia), Grilled Chicken Hearts, Epicurean Broiled Turkey, Broiled Turkey Flambe, Broiled Duckling, Broiled whole Fish, Fish Mixed Grill, Rotisserie Veal with Kidneys, Roast Leg of Lamb Hong Kong, Shish Kebab, Pork Loin with Sherry, Pork Shoulder Robert, Loin of Pork California Style, Port Tenderloin Orleans, Spareribs Island Style (w/pineapple), Spareribs German Style (w/sauerkraut), Suckling Pig on a Spit, Roast Chicken Pierre (w/sherry), Chicken Far East (w/cashews & peanut butter), Long Island Duckling Gourmet and Goose Montmartre