Celery and Good Housekeeping in 1898

Celery vases in silver and glass, or just glass, were popular for only about 20 years, from the 1860’s to 1880’s, then they vanished from most tables, only to be replaced by cut glass, low dishes. By 1892, they were no longer considered special enough to have their own special presentation receptacles. By 1898, celery was suggested for a myriad of alternate foods uses in the kitchen, and weren’t simply a “finger food.”

Not many people know that a bunch of celery in the hands of a good housekeeper is one of the few things about which there is absolutely no waste. From an ordinary bunch of celery of five stalks pick off the large leaves, wash them, and place in a quart of water, letting the quantity boil down to about half a pint; when cold, bottle this liquid and keep in a cool place, to be used for flavoring gravies and soups. 

Next, the five roots; wash and boil the same as potatoes, trying them with a fork to tell when done. Cut them into thin slices, add a finely cut onion, and make into a salad the same as the ordinary potato salad. The large and coarser stalks of celery cut into inch lengths, boil, cover with a cream sauce and serve as a vegetable. 

The delicate stalks use as ordinarily for a relish, and the young yellow leaves will be found to make a pretty trimming for the meat dish. This uses every scrap of the celery itself, but the careful housekeeper will not even discard the string which ties the stalks together, but, if it is long enough, will roll it up for future use.– Pacific Rural Press, 1898

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