what I made this week: 4/26-5/1
Illustration-wise, I did some vegetable studies.
I haven’t been able to paint for a month, not since I got covid, so it’s nice to get back in the swing of things. I tried a new technique where I did some of the underpainting with a light grey marker, and I don’t know if I’ll keep it. Might work better with a warmer or lighter toned marker.
Food-wise, I’ve had more energy and plenty of time, so I’ve learned to do a few dishes that I had trouble cooking before + also (drumroll please)…
… salad dressing from 1914.
Yes, really! It was surprisingly spicy, which isn’t what you think of when you think of American food from the 1910s.
“Highly Seasoned Pink Salad Dressing”
from Salads, Dressings, and Chafing-Dish Dainties, 1914
Mix ten drops of tabasco sauce, one-fourth a teaspoonful each of salt, mustard and paprica, two tablespoonfuls of chili sauce, two tablespoonfuls of fine-chopped pimentos, ten drops of onion juice and half a tablespoonful of cider vinegar; when evenly blended, add a generous tablespoonful of mayonnaise dressing and beat all together smoothly.As you can see, mine didn’t turn out even a little bit pink. Kind of disappointing, and I’m not sure why. I’m pretty sure that the paprika and mustard powder are what really turned mine orange, but there was so much pimento in there that I thought it would skew it back towards pink.. I have a sneaking suspicion that 1914 pimento might have had a little bit of cochineal as a coloring agent, given that food adulteration was kind of a hot button issue around this time. Mine were Target brand, and the ingredients are literally “pimentos, water, and salt.” Somehow, judging by the canned vegetables section of the 1914 health report stipulating that canned vegetables now have to mention when they have color added, that doesn't seem like as much of a given.
But that’s just a theory. Also, I’m not going to spend 3 hours researching pimento coloring and food laws. (I think.) I may try it again with a different chili sauce and see if that makes a difference.
