Great Grandmother's Kitchen

I stumbled on this one in a local thrift shop in Idaho, bearing the stamp of the "Cuyahoga County Public Library", and the copyright date 1958.

Apparently, it was a common practice in the first half of the 20th Century to write cookbooks geared specifically towards new brides. Because of this, the book contains basic, useful advice about making good use of the freezer, cooking with cheaper cuts of meat, budgeting and finance advice, and menu planning. Much of this would still be useful today, and I found the freezer section helpful in my ongoing efforts to reduce plastic in my kitchen.

It turns out that Myra Waldo, the author, was well-known at the time for her international cookbooks(even ones on South American and African cuisine), in addition to a successful career as the food consultant for Pan American Airlines.  While I can't find a birth-date for her, the date on the cookbook means that she was definitely at the height of her career, explaining the mix of recipes ranging from new and upcoming(fondue) to classic French, to Victorian foods beginning to disappear(potted meat), in addition to expected 50's fare of biscuit crusts, canned soup casseroles, and various meat-based loaves. All-in-all still healthier then the food served in many modern American homes.

What is even more interesting to me, though, is what her commentary tells the reader about 50's perceptions of a good housewife.  Little fictional diary entries through the book tell the story of the first year of marriage for Peter and Jane, and follow Jane's first efforts at such challenges as cooking on a particularly tight budget and acting as a hostess for girl's luncheons, cocktail parties, and dinners.

This is easily the most fascinating aspect of the book to me. Jane is shallow And officious, convinced of her own irrationality. She gloats when her husband is inept in the kitchen, and seems determined to prove herself better at homemaking then her friends, even occasionally at their expense. Particularly cringe-inducing is her insistence on feeding "exotic" friends dishes from their native lands, as a vehicle to introduce such exotic ideas as pizza and fillet of sole, bonne femme. Thus, the introduction to a Sukiyaki recipe is all about Peach Blossom, the Japanese War Bride who (gasp) speaks perfect English and rushes to obey her spouse's every whim.

A moment of culture shock, indeed. It's easy to forget just how much more acceptance there is now in terms of different ethnicities, interracial marriage, and even something as basic to the "plot" as a woman's ability to run her own life. An excellent reminder that, while the past is fun, I'm fairly sure I wouldn't want to live there...especially when there is still so much room for racism in modern American culture.

Jane, commenting on the meal "her Japanese War Bride" helps prepare;

It was simply delicious, and I don't know where I ever got the idea that Japanese people eat nothing but seaweed soup and raw fish...I had made a chocolate roll for dessert, not knowing whether or not anyone would be able to eat the sukiyaki. But they ate the sukiyaki down to the last spoonful and then proceeded to devour the chocolate roll. P.B. thought the chocolate roll was terrific, and asked me for the recipe. The United Nations? I suppose P.B. and I did our little bit to further international relations in our own quiet way.

A simple but international menu:
Sukiyaki
Beer
Chocolate Roll

My Japanese War Bride Sukiyaki from 1001 Ways to Please a Husband by Myra Waldo, 1958
(for six to eight)

3 onions
1 cup celery
1 cup canned bamboo shoots
1/2 pound mushrooms, or 2 cans, sliced
4 scallions (green onions)
2 pounds sirloin steak
4 tablespoons salad oil
1/2 cup stock or 1/2 boullion cube dissolved in 1/2 cup boiling water
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon sherry
1 pound vermicelli or thin noodles, boiled and drained

Sukiyaki is fun to prepare--you can cook it almost as the Japanese do-- at the table in a chafing dish or electric skillet, or on the range in a skillet. Prepare the vegetables early in the day or whenever you have time and wrap them individually in aluminum foil, waxed paper, or Saran wrap. When you're ready to cook it, the entire operation will just take a few minutes.

Slice the onions very thin. Cut the celery in 1-inch lengths. Slice the bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and scallions.

Cut the steak into strips 2 inches long by 1/2 inch wide. Mix the stock, soy sauce, sugar, and sherry in a bowl.

Don't begin to cook the dish more then 15 minutes before you are ready to serve it.

Heat the oil in the utensil of your choice. Place the steak in it, and brown on all sides. Push the meat to one side of the pan and pour half the soy sauce mixture over it. Place the onions and celery in the pan and cook over medium heat for three minutes. Push to one side. Add the bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and remaining soy sauce mixture to the pan and cook 3 minutes, add the scallions and cook 1 minute.

Serve directly from the skillet, or heap the vermicelli on one side of a heated platter, and arrange the sukiyaki in the other.

Chocolate Roll

2 squares(ounces) unsweetened chocolate
2 tablespoons brewed coffee
4 egg yolks
3/4 cups sugar
6 tablespoons sifted cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 egg whites
Cocoa

Turn on the oven and set at 400 (hot).

Grease a jelly-roll pan (11 x 16 inches) and line with waxed paper. (GGK note: it would be much wiser to do this with parchment paper, as waxed paper is not designed to get hot.)

Combine chocolate and coffee in a cup; place over hot water and let melt.

Beat the egg yolks until light; add the sugar to the yolks, beating well. Sift the combined flour, baking powder, and salt over it, mixing until blended. Stir in the vanilla and chocolate.

Beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold into the previous mixture thoroughly. Spread evenly in the pan.

Bake 13 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Loosen the bottom by running a spatula under the cake.

Sprinkle a towel with cocoa and turn the cake out onto it. Carefully peel the paper from the cake. Roll up gently in the towel and let cool for one hour. Don't worry if the cake cracks. Unroll and fill with whipped cream, ice cream, or soft custard. Re-roll and serve.

From the Hair Archives

Normally, I stay roughly on Kitchen topics at GGK, however, my friend Thalassa over at Musings of a Kitchen Witch has been talking lately about other ways then shampoo to keep hair clean(you can find her posts here and here).  Since I no longer use traditional shampoo either, she asked me to talk about what I do as well.

Now, shampoo as we know it, didn't exist until the 30's.  While some shampoos began to hit the market in the early 1900's, they caused alkaline reactions, leaving a gray film on hair.  Dr. John Breck invented the first PH-balanced shampoo, and the companies ad campaign, featuring Breck Girls, lasted well  into the late 70's. 

Olga Armstrong, the first Breck Girl

This led to a cultural expectation of frequent hair washing., and the idea (at least in America), that oil in hair means that it's dirty.  I grew up in a family in which everyone washed their hair every morning, and my grandmother told horror stories about her years as a school teacher, and trying to get shampoo for one of her students who was teased for her stringy hair, only to have the child's mother say it "looked too fly-away" and put grease on it!  Even so, my grandmother would get her hair done at the hairdressers once a week, and usually only washed it mid-way if she had to, as it spoiled her look.

Cleo De Merode

So what did our ancestors do before the shampoo revolution?  According to this Victorian care guide, the solution was similar to many today who find that, unless their hair gets some foreign dirt in it, it needs no soap at all.  The guide stresses the importance of using a boar's bristle brush, and keeping it immaculately clean (even going so far as to suggest cleaning it with a diluted ammonia solution periodically).  It also suggests using a Castile soap (which has olive oil as a base, rather then the very harsh lye soaps which were the period alternative--no wonder people didn't use them on their heads!). The basic outline of their routine is to wash hair once per week.  Use Castile soap if one's hair is oily, but if it's dry, an egg yolk is a good alternative. and is a common cleaner for modern no-shampoo folks.  Hair was supposed to be brushed every night, the old "100 strokes" idea, which with a boar's brush and gently done, pulls oil down the length of the hair, keeping it from getting oily up at the roots, and drying at the base.  It's worth noticing, too, that it's suggested to rub the hair with flannel after, I'm assuming to soak up any additional oil the hair doesn't need.

If you want a great example of someone trying this method out, The Gibson Girl's Guide to Glamor has a very interesting post on the matter. 

So what do I do?  As an adult, I found that my hair did much better only being washed every second or third day (often depending on factors like how dry the weather is, where I am in my muenstral cycle, and stress).  While hair experts often disagree about how often is too often, many say that we wash our hair too often now, stripping it of it's natural oils at a rate that encourages the body to overproduce oil to catch up.

Via. Rapunzel's Delight

A few years ago, I tried using no shampoo at all, and found it doesn't work well for me, personally.  My hair is baby fine, thin, and prone to being oily(especially at that time of month), and so all it did was slick to my head.  Someone with dry hair would have completely different results, though, and my friends who have tried this sort of experiment with "frizzy" hair find they often suddenly have curls.


More recently, I became interested in Castile soap and switched to Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap, available at health food stores, and now at Target.  The label is truly amusing...it contains everything from recipe ideas to scripture references, and reads like a 19th Century cure-all peddler's schtick.  However, I have to say, the stuff works.  I have switched to diluted forms of it for hand soap and cleaning, too.  Direct from the bottle it is very strong, and will leave your hair stripped and tangled...I strongly discourage using it that way!

My Shampoo Recipe

3T-4T Dr. Bronner's Soap (whatever scent you prefer...eucalyptus can help with dandruff, though)
A few drops of Essential Oils
1T Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Add to bottom of a large empty shampoo bottle.  Fill almost to top with filtered water.  Shake every time before use...this will leave a lot of foam on top that will make it easy to lather.

I use a rinse after that is Rosemary tea, and about a quarter cup of apple cider vinegar. Since the Castile soap is gentle, but not PH balanced, it makes up for that.  The Rosemary is because I have dark hair, and am prone to a bit of an itchy scalp in winter.  For other suggestions, go to my second link from Musings of a Kitchen Witch above.

Even though my hair is currently very short, I also brush it regularly.  I find that it's more important to stimulate my scalp then anything else...and my hair is much healthier with more body.  Like the Victorians, get a good brush and clean it often!  Also, if you try this, expect to need less product...a lot of our modern hair products are designed to make up for removing our body's natural oils.

The Amazing Seven Sutherland Sisters!

Did you notice how much olive oil I put in?  That has reduced how oily my hair is, ironically enough...it also helps to calm my scalp down with dry winter weather.  My husband's hair is not as oily as mine, though, and responds better with just a few drops of olive oil (his hair has become much more manageable, as well).  Another interesting side effect is that I no longer have little eczema patches on my back and arms, something I've battled for years!

What about those days when I don't have time to wash, or I'm almost to a shampoo and my hair is looking nasty?

Corn Starch Dry Shampoo

1 cup Corn Starch
Essential oils to scent the hair, or dry herbs (will scent it much more slowly...I like mint)


Mix together and store in a small container in the bathroom.  To use, take about a tablespoon of the cornstarch, and rub it all over your scalp.  Don't worry about ends so much...just where it looks greasy.  Then brush, brush, brush.  It takes about 5 min to not look like a ghost.  You will be surprised at how full your hair feels (this is also a great thing to do before trying some of those old hairstyles).

So there you go!  This is what works for me, personally.  If you have something you do and love, please share it in the comments!

Etsy seller 1313MockingbirdLane

Death, The Sandman by Neil Gaiman

One would expect that, as big as I am on Victorian things normally, that I'd be really big on Valentine's Day, right?

Um...no.  Not so much.  It's ok, in it's way, but it often ends up being a bit over the top for me, personally.  There is so much about modern Valentine's practices that make it feel like obligation to me; my spouse still loves me whether he purchases me overpriced roses and chocolates on a certain day or not (and gets even more points when he does something unexpected, or buys me a potted herb or fern).  So this month, I bring you the anti-valentine tea menu...hopefully an antidote to your otherwise saccharine month. 

Art by Jaicca on DeviantArt.  Go here to see her breathtaking gallery.

From Fancyflours

Welcome to 2012! I'm going to be trying some new things for the new year, including an idea I've been bouncing around for a while: teatime posts. Once a month or so, I'm going to put up menu ideas, as well as pictures and links for a themed tea. If you use them, all that I ask is that you post and tell us how it went, mmmk?

This month,of course, is the peak of winter in all it's frosty glory. This brings some interesting challenges, as many of the tea party staples(cucumber sandwiches) are spring/early summer foods. Sure, you can go to the store and buy them out of season these days, but chances are they won't taste very good.

Book page snowflake garland from the blog Hipster's Tea Party

Suggested Menu

Savories:

Ham and Jarlsburg on rosemary parmesan bread.

Sharp cheddar and chutney.

Cheese fondue, or a warm soup. Either of these are best for a small party. While a creamy soup might be by nice, the curried carrot soup below is a bit lighter(and tastes very good with small cheddar and chutney sandwiches).

For great fondue how-to, go here, or here

Sweets:

Home-made lemon or orange curd(like I made last winter), or homemade marmalade. Curds are great spread on bread, with cake, or as a tart.

Individually sized versions of this Bananas Foster bread pudding, perhaps with a rum custard sauce.

Cupcakes or cookies!


To drink:
Earl Gray, possibly a specifically winter blend like one of these here.
Hot spiced cider or cocoa. My Mother in Law likes to rub the rim of the cocoa cups in crushed peppermints and add a candy cane straw to the cocoa!

Cookies at What's Cooking America

GGKitchen Curried Carrot Soup

4 large carrots
2 T olive oil
Salt and white pepper

1/4 cup flour
3-4 cups good stock
1 T finely grated ginger
2-3 t curry powder, such as Madras (the distinctive metal tin)

1 cup heavy cream
Pinch sugar
Pinch salt
1/2 cup yellow raisins

Heat oven to 400F. Roughly chop carrots and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast on a cookie sheet for 20-30 minutes, or until nicely caramelized. Stir at least twice.

More cookies from the blog KUIDAORE

Scrape contents of Cookie sheet into medium saucepan. Heat to med-high, adding spices. Slowly add flour, mixing carefully, and cooking for a few minutes. Add stock, a little at a time, stirring after each introduction.

Let simmer for 15 minutes, or until carrots are soft all the way through. Let cool slightly, then blend (carefully!).

Return to saucepan, and keep warm. Taste and adjust season if needed.

In a small mixing bowl, whip cream, with pinch of salt and sugar, to soft peaks. Store in fridge if not ready to serve yet.

When ready, pour soup into small bowls, and add small spoonful of cream, sprinkle with raisins. Very good with salty, cheesy sandwiches like those above.

By Wilton

 

Such a bustle ensued that you might have thought a goose the rarest of all birds; a feathered phenomenon, to which a black swan was a matter of course -- and in truth it was something very like it in that house. Mrs Cratchit made the gravy (ready beforehand in a little saucepan) hissing hot; Master Peter mashed the potatoes with incredible vigour; Miss Belinda sweetened up the apple-sauce; Martha dusted the hot plates; Bob took Tiny Tim beside him in a tiny corner at the table; the two young Cratchits set chairs for everybody, not forgetting themselves, and mounting guard upon their posts, crammed spoons into their mouths, lest they should shriek for goose before their turn came to be helped. At last the dishes were set on, and grace was said. It was succeeded by a breathless pause, as Mrs Cratchit, looking slowly all along the carving-knife, prepared to plunge it in the breast; but when she did, and when the long expected gush of stuffing issued forth, one murmur of delight arose all round the board, and even Tiny Tim, excited by the two young Cratchits, beat on the table with the handle of his knife, and feebly cried Hurrah.

 In the past few days, I've learned a thing or two about goose.  In Victorian England, thousands of geese were marched from the countryside into the big cities in the month before Christmas.  They would be fattened one final time, then hung fresh in the butcher's windows just in time for the holidays.  Turkey, our modern favorite, on the other hand, was something of a delicacy.  Turkeys did not adjust well to the Old World, and were finicky, prone to illness.  Their feet were more delicate as well, and they were often fitted with special shoes to try and make the march into cities.  This means that the Cratchit's goose was most likely a very poor little creature, bought cheaply from a farmer and then fattened in their yard on what little they could spare, while the prize turkey Scrooge purchases for them was a massive feast, something only affordable by the elite and trend-conscious.  A princely gift for the family of his previously disregarded clerk. 


Now-days, though, the situation has reversed, and a buyer needs to be mentally prepared to spend more money for a 10 pound goose then you would a big turkey.  It's worth it.  Not only that, it's rich enough that everyone ends up having less.  Still, as frugal as I am, that was my biggest moment of self-doubt in our Yule experiment--will it all be worth it when we're scrimping to have this as our Yule feast? It was, in spades. Part of that cost is because geese DO NOT survive being factory farmed the way turkeys do.  They require much more care, and good conditions, so that means that higher cost means that you are 1) supporting a small farmer somewhere, and 2) buying a far more ethically-raised creature. 

Apologies for the poor quality of my phone.

The goose.  Proof I need a better roasting pan... Let it defrost in your fridge (will take 3-4 days), but bring to room temperature the day you're going to cook it.  Drain any liquid, and dry off the bird very well.

The first step I took was to pierce the skin all over.  I used a very sharp knife, but something like a shishkabob  might work really well too; the goal is control, getting through the skin, but not cutting into the flesh underneath.  Like a tattoo artist, it's a painstaking process, but after the first 5 minutes or so, you start to get a feel for where has deep fat (like trying to poke a marshmallow), and where you're directly over the flesh or bone.  Don't forget to lift the wings!  Those are long wings, with a big fat deposit hanging out underneath--I can see forgetting down there leading to a huge chunk of very greasy meat.

Next, I used a dry rub.  I looked at over a dozen sites trying to decide whether to brine or not(as I do with my yearly turkey), and the picture I started to see was that while you *could* brine, it made the goose much more greasy, and no crisp skin.  On the other hand, if you were using a wild goose, brining seems imperative, as the meat is much drier and darker(also making the cooking time significantly shorter). There will be some weeping you need to dry off before you put on a rub.

I used the spices I would have used in a brine in my dry rub:


Goose Rub:

1/2 cup Kosher salt
1T cinnamon
2 t. clove
2 t. cardamom
2 t. white pepper
1 t. fresh ground black pepper
1/4 home-made candied orange peel (the dry kind I made last January, not the sticky kind), chopped fine or run through a food processor.  Try to scoop up some of the citrus-flavored sugar that ends up in the bottom of your container.


Rub the bird, inside and out.  You might want to wear a glove for that, because even though a goose is smaller then a turkey, it's long.  Very long.  By the time I got my handful of rub all the way up to the neck I wasn't sure whether I felt more like I was aiding a delivery or looking for Narnia.

Holy neck, Batman!

Roast at 350 F for 2-3 hours.  This is key, and I'm very glad I did it:  Start the bird breast side up,  after the first 45 minutes, drain out the grease and flip it back side-up.  Another 45 minutes, do it again, so that it's breast-up, and put foil over the breast meat.  That first draining I poured out so much goose grease I had to stop and get another pie pan!  This will mean crisp skin all over, and no super-greasy meat, essentially a substitute for a spit back in the old days.  Watch closely after that second turning...let your eyes and nose tell you when it's done, and check by cutting down into the point where the leg meets the body--no pink in the juices, at all, and it should be fairly easy to tweak the knife and disjoint the leg. 

Don't throw that grease away, either!!!  That is schmaltz!  I wouldn't go so far as to serve it on bread the way some Ashkenazi Jewish families do, but it is wonderfully flavorful. Let it cool, strain it, then refrigerate or freeze it (I poured it into a large mason jar).  Use a little bit to fry up potatoes, or saute veggies...there's a ton of flavor, so you don't need much at all. 

There is a trick to carving goose,  you can find here.


Other recipes of the night:

Wild Rice Dressing

Note:  I put prunes in this, and didn't like them at all.  They made the rice very sticky and gummy....too rich. Everything else about it was good, but I omitted the prunes.


1 T. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 apple, peeled and chopped
Splash dry white wine or Fre
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 cups wild rice blend
2 t. salt
fresh ground pepper
2 t. summer savory
2 t dried parsley
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
3 1/2 cups good chicken stock (preferably home made)
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans (optional)


Cook apple and onion in olive oil over medium-low heat until caramelized.  Deglaze pan with white wine, add celery, stir and cook for a couple of minutes while wine soaks into the fruit and vegetables.  Add rice and seasonings, and raise temperature, stirring well.  When you start to smell a slight toasty smell from the rice, add vinegar and stock.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, simmering gently for about 1 hour, then resting for 10-15 minutes.  Keeps warm well moved to a casserole dish in the microwave.  Toss toasted nuts in before serving.  If used as stuffing, rather then just on the side, wait until the last half hour of cooking.

I also made Lussekatter, Sweet and Sour Saurkraut, Brussels sprouts (since my kids don't like saurkraut), and roasted carrots and turnips in the hot roasting pan while the goose was resting.  A common recommendation to go with goose is a dry white wine, like Riesling, if you are so inclined(although Brussels sprouts seem to be notorious for not pairing with anything, so I'd avoid those).  

Had home-made fruitcake for dessert.

`A Merry Christmas to us all, my dears. God bless us.'
Which all the family re-echoed.
`God bless us every one.' said Tiny Tim, the last of all.

 Additional links:
Gordon Ramsey's take
A traditional Swedish Martinmas goose (PDF)

I tried my hand at ketchup making for the first time this past week and the results were interesting.  Two recipes:  The first was one of the first recorded recipes for tomato catsup (yes, there are other kinds...more on that in a moment) from Mrs. Mary Randolf's The Virginia Housewife: Or, Methodical Cook.

Three months ago, I decided it was time to try a new sort of personal challenge.  Like I mentioned back in May, I think one of the problems with a lot of "back to nature" diets that include meat is the insistence on just eating the prime cuts of animal muscle that are popular in the regular American diet.  What about everything else that we don't normally eat?  All the "gross" bits that most Americans have never eaten in their lives (so how do they know it's disgusting)?  This is where varied nutrition lies, not in steaks and pork chops.   I'm not exactly prepared to go Andrew Zimmerman and start eating everything from blood to bugs, although who says I couldn't in the future?  Insects, just like any farm animal, can be kept in conditions that are either clean or dirty, but unlike large mammals, they can easily be raised in a small home(meaning you are taking charge of your protein source, even if you lack space), and are packed with nutrition--the only caveat being our cultural "cooties" about munching on grasshoppers or mealworms.  

First, though, I needed to start simple.  That meant the organs that are readily available in my local grocery store: liver, kidneys, heart, tripe, tongue.

It's always fascinating to see how the Industrial Revolution changed even the most basic aspects of our modern life.  Before, I've mentioned the affect it had on when we had our meals...leading to the creation of teatime, to fill the gap that was created.  Today, though, I'd like to discuss how it has affected what we eat for a given meal, specifically breakfast.  Because until 200 years ago, there really was no such thing as breakfast cereal.

Two Chicken Week Part 1 here. 

 As long as there have been ovens, somebody, somewhere, has tried to invent something that would let them A) reuse leftovers that their family didn't want to eat, and B) make the evening meal and then walk away.  Meat pies and casseroles fit the bill.

Victorian Christmas Pie from the excellent Historicfood.com

Need a go-to menu for a week when money's tight?


Back in the day, before modern food preservation, you didn't really have recipes that called for, say, 5 chicken breasts.  What would happen is that you'd roast an entire chicken or cut of meat (or make it into a dish).  If there were leftovers, they'd get made into a pie, what was left after that became soup or stock.  Whole poultry or cut used, start to finish, in 4 days, tops.  In the spirit of that tactic, I bring you my use-everything tactic, for those tight budget weeks.

First of all, check out The Old Foodie--here is a great post on Soulmass Bread today.

From the Cornell Library

It probably comes as no surprise that I have at least one Medieval cookbook.  Pleyn Delit is a personal favorite, particularly since it includes a reprinting of the original recipe, not just their version.
For a cookbook from an era before standard measurements is no small thing, since it allows the cook to interpret the recipe based on their own intuition. 

Most Medieval Cookbooks, though, Pleyn Delit included, have a tendency to focus on Norman influences, and with good reason.  The Normans had a much more diverse court, with trendy food, using lots of different sauces, and even showcasing recipes from the Moors in Spain.  There is also a greater emphasis on spices and presentation, with "subtleties", foods that were meant to look like something else, being a big-ticket item.

A King with his witan (council).

We can spend more time on those another time....If it's not as exciting, why do I have a soft spot for Anglo-Saxon food?



1) It's simplicity makes it easy for the lone cook to re-create. Even with modern technology, a late Medieval feast requires months of planning and a committed team to pull off.  I did my first Norman dinner at the age of 14, and for a family of five, it took three weeks prep, and two solid days of cooking.  Most Anglo Saxon food is so simple that with a little searching for items that aren't a regular part of the modern palate(but still sold at the average super-market), you could prepare it for a family dinner at home.

From Saebert's Folc, and Essex reenactment group.  More great pictures at their site.

2) Anglo-Saxon food is healthy.  The British Museum Cookbook (a treasure that I regret that I do not own) paints a very clear picture of a diet rich in whole grains, vegetables, and fish.  Honey is the primary sweetener.  While Germanic and Viking groups raise images of feasting on wild boar, drinking copious amounts of mead and ale, such behavior was a special event(not to mention wild boar being debatably healthier having lived on a foraging diet, then our modern, hay and grain fed cattle). There was also a more diverse use of grains like spelt wheat, barley and rye...all of which are easier on the digestive system for the average person of Northern European descent. 

3) Including more diversity in your life.  The average person has a set group of foods they buy in the store, that they rarely diverge from (think about what you buy in a month).  Many foods that were common to our ancestors have fallen out of favor, and often have never even been tasted by modern generations!  When was the last time you had nettles, or turnips, or rabbit?  How do you know you don't like them unless you try?

Here's a simple, tasty start, from the above British Museum Cookbook:

Griddled Trout With Herbs
Serves 6

The herbs below are what might have been used in Anglo-Saxon East
Anglia, but use whatever you might fancy. Try to use fresh, although
dried is acceptable.

6 fresh cleaned trout
6 sprigs fresh rosemary, or 1-2 tablespoons dried
75g (3 oz) soft butter
18 fresh mint leaves or 2 teaspoons dried
leaves from 6 sprigs fresh thyme or 2 teaspoons dried
6 fresh sage leaves or 1 scant teaspoon dried
1-2 teaspoons coarse sea salt
6-9 grinds black pepper

Put one sprig or generous shake of rosemary down the middle of each
fish. Chop all the other herbs and seasonings and mash them into the
soft butter. Use this to coat the fish generously on each side. Griddle,
barbeque or grill it for 4-5 minutes on each side or till the skin is
well browned and the flesh flaking off the bone. Baste now and then with
the butter which runs off. Serve at once with lot of fresh bread and a
salad or a simple green vegetable.

More basic information.
More Saxon and Viking recipes.