The Saturday Sip: March 11, 2023
Your etiquette tip, quote and an Emily Post Cookbook recipe to start your weekend off right!
The Tip
To hold a chair for someone, start by asking “May I hold your chair?” If the person says, “yes,” then stand to the left of their chair or behind it, and pull the chair back from the table about a foot (or more, if needed) allowing the person to get in front of their chair. As they sit, gently push the chair in behind them. Pay attention to your push. Too fast and you could bump their knees, too slow and you risk them missing the chair! It sounds fraught, but it’s easy if you pay attention to the person while you’re holding the chair. If the person says, “No, thank you.” know you did the considerate thing simply by asking first and respecting their preference.
The Recipes
Lizzie will be celebrating her niece Delphine’s third birthday this Saturday so we chose a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting from Emily’s cookbook to honor the birthday girl. Please note, this recipe recommends using waxed paper to line the baking pans with and everything we have read tells us to NOT do this. So we suggest to use parchment paper instead.
Emily Post’s Cookbook, 1951, pg. 336
Chocolate Cake
This cake will remain fresh for a week if not eaten up long before that!
Time: N/A
Serves: N/A
Ingredients
1/4 lb. chocolate
1 cup hot water
1/4 lb. butter
1 lb. brown sugar
2 cups cake flour (measure after sifting three times)
1/2 cup buttermilk (or sour milk)
1 1/2 tsp. [baking] soda
vinegar
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
Directions
Melt chocolate and butter in the cup of water in a double boiler; mix till blended and hot.
Add melted ingredients to sugar and flour and mix well.
Dissolve [baking] soda in a little vinegar and add to milk. Then add this and the eggs and vanilla to the other ingredients and mix in. Put in 2 9- or 10-inch greased tins lined with waxed [parchment] paper and bake 40 minutes at 325°F. The secret of this cake is in its slow baking at exactly the right temperature.
Emily Post’s Cookbook, 1951, pg. 336
Chocolate Frosting II
Time: N/A
Serves: N/A
Ingredients
1 1/2 squares chocolate
1 1/4 tbs. butter
confectioner’s sugar
1 cup milk
1/4 tsp. vanilla
Directions
Melt together [the 1 1/2 squares chocolate and 1 1/4 tbs. butter] in top of double boiler over simmering water. Remove from fire.
Add [confectioner’s sugar] and stir in just enough to stiffen.
Add [1 cup milk and 1/4 tsp. vanilla] to above, and spread smoothly over [completely cooled] cake.
The Quote
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SIGNED COPIES AVAILABLE
If you’d like a signed copy of our latest edition, Emily Post’s Etiquette - The Centennial Edition, now’s the time! You can order your copy(s) through our favorite independent Vermont bookstore, Bridgeside Books, by clicking the button.
That’s it for the Saturday Sip, thank you for spending a little bit of your day with us! We hope you are feeling inspired about etiquette - or maybe that chocolate cake recipe. Let us know if you try it, and keep an eye out for Monday’s podcast episode where we’ll be airing the 2nd half of Lizzie’s interview with Emily LaDau, author of Demystifying Disability.
Until then!
Lizzie and Dan
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Happy Saturday! I love the Saturday Sip!