Recipe for a MadMen Viewing Party, Courtesy of Emily Post
In season three of Mad Men, Joan Holloway references Emily Post while setting the table for a dinner party for her husband’s co-workers. And what could be better than hosting a Joan-worthy viewing party to celebrate the premier of season four of Mad Men this Sunday, July 25th at 10 pm Eastern? To that end, The Emily Post Institute thought it appropriate to lend all of you Bettys, Joans, Peggys Dons, Rogers and Petes a helping hand.
Anna and Lizzie Post help you throw a similarly fabulous dinner party in their book, Great Get-Togethers!
Following is a game plan for a 60s style soiree that both Joan and Emily Post would approve of. First, get oriented with a little advice from Emily herself on hosting. Then browse our recipes for drinks and hors d’eouvres taken from the 1951 edition of The Emily Post Cookbook by Emily Post and the recently released Great Get-Togethers, by sisters and Mad Men fanatics Anna Post and Lizzie Post. Looking to make it a sit down affair? Read below for the courses Emily recommended serving at a “Friendly Dinner Party”.
To look the part, ladies and gentlemen alike can stop at Banana Republic for a wardrobe “update” à la Mad Men, and even submit photos of your new outfits in the hopes of winning a spot as a walk-on extra on the show. Review Natasha Vargas-Cooper’s blog Mad Men Unbuttoned or pick up a copy of her new book of the same name to be up on Mad Men era small talk. Best of all, tune in to Pandora’s Mad Men radio station to set the mood. Then smile like Trudy, pour drinks like little Sally, and keep the lawn mower locked up!
Looking for more entertaining or etiquette tips? Search the Etipedia, The Emily Post Institute’s online etiquette encyclopedia.
Emily Post on The Manners of a Hostess, from Etiquette:
First of all, a hostess must show each of her guests equal and impartial attention. Engrossed in the person she is talking to, she must be able to notice anything amiss that may occur. No matter what goes wrong she must cover it as best as she may, and at the same time cover the fact that she is covering it. To give hectic directions merely accentuates the awkwardness.
Both the host and hostess must keep the conversation going, especially at an informal dinner. It is at the small dinner that the skilful hostess has need of what Thackeray calls the “showman” quality. She brings each guest forward in turn to the center of the stage.
Recipes:
Drinks:
Martini
3 ounces dry gin (classic) or top-quality vodka
1 teaspoon dry vermouth
Ice, for shaking
Lemon twist or olive, for garnish
Pour the gin or vodka and vermouth into a shaker. Add ice and shake. Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish.
From Great Get-Togethers
Old Fashioned
2 ounces of Bourbon or rye whiskey
½ lump of sugar
2 shakes of Angostura bitters
½ tablespoon of water
Slice of orange (a slice of lemon may be added to the orange, as may a maraschino cherry, which should be impaled on a toothpick if it has no stem)
Crush sugar in the water and bitters in the bottom of an old fashioned glass with a muddler. Add 2 ounce jigger of Bourbon whiskey, a slice of orange, a thin slice of lemon peel, 1 large or 2 small pieces of ice, and a teaspoon or other instrument for stirring the drink.
From The Emily Post Cookbook
Manhattan
1 cocktail glassful of Cuban or Puerto Rican white rum
1/3 cocktail glassful lime juice
1 teaspoon sugar
Shake well with cracked ice and serve with a cherry in each glass. Makes two cocktails.
From The Emily Post Cookbook
Uncle Mac’s Cosmo
Lime wedge
2 ounces Ketel One Citron Vodka
1 ounce triple sec
1 ounce Rose’s lime juice
1½ ounces cranberry juice
Ice, for shaking
Squeeze the lime into a martini glass and leave the squeezed lime in the glass. Pour the vodka, triple sec, lime juice, and cranberry juice into a shaker. Add the ice and shake. Strain and pout into the glass over the lime.
From Great Get-Togethers
Hors d’ouvres:
Pâté of Chicken Livers
Boil 2 dozen well-washed chicken livers in salted water for 5 or 6 minutes. Drain off all the liquid, and set livers aside to cool. When cold, mash through a sieve. Put 2 tablespoons butter into a frying pan. Add 2 teaspoons chopped onion, and fry to a light brown. Remove from the fire, and add 1 truffle, chopped fine, and the chicken livers and 1 chopped hard-boiled egg. Add salt and pepper and stir into a smooth paste. Put into a glass dish, and set in the icebox until cold. Serve with toast and butter.
From The Emily Post Cookbook
Melon and Ham [read: Prosciutto]
Cut cantaloupes or other melons into sixths and remove the rind and any of the melon too hard to eat. Serve with Italian-type ham sliced very thin.
From The Emily Post Cookbook
“Crunch Sirs”
This is the delicious titbit [sic] known in Europe as a Croque Monsieur.
Cut the crust from four slices of white bread and brown one side of each in 4 tablespoons of butter. Place a thin slice of Swiss cheese the size of the toast on the browned surface of each of the four pieces of toast. Then put a slice of boiled ham on two of them and cover by turning the other two upside-down, making two sandwiches. Now brown the outside surfaces of the sandwiches, heating the ham and partly melting the cheese. Serves two.
From The Emily Post Cookbook
Easy to prepare, no recipe needed hors d’eouvres ideas:
Top crostinis with:
Goat cheese and olive tapenade
Cream cheese and chutney
Blue cheese and toasted walnuts
Prosciutto and fresh figs
Butter, radishes, and sea salt [we recommend Maldon]
Avocado and cilantro with lime
Ham and honey mustard butter
From Great Get-Togethers
Friendly Dinner Party:
Should you wish to make a more formal affair of your viewing party, take some notes from Emily on the recipe for a Friendly Dinner Party:
(1) Any soup your kitchen can best provide
(2) Any dish of fish or meat that you think good
(3) Any meat except corned beef and cabbage, or pork chops, or
hamburgers
(4) Any salad
(5) Any dessert
