Michael Celata

On a Shingle Michael Celata

Children of the 60s often ate school lunches that were born in U. S. Army mess halls of World War II. They were easy to make for large groups, nutritious by the standards of the day and universally mocked by the students who consumed them.

On a Shingle is an anthology of 62 recipes from a 1962 "Lunch Lady" handbook, scaled down to family size and analyzed for their nutritional content. Each recipe also has a "workspace" where cooks may add their own versions of the recipes, or recount their childhood experiences with the meal, to create an interesting, and often revealing, heirloom for future generations of their families.

Working with the ingredients of the old recipes, and experiencing the aromas and flavors of childhood in the 60s can be an adventure for young diners and a stroll down "Rememory Lane" for those who, once upon a time, secretly enjoyed the meals during their own youth.

On a Shingle was formatted as a work book, not a coffee table display. Text is biased toward the outer edges to allow real life use where cooks break the book's spine or lay something on the inner spine to hold the correct page within view.

The 50s and 60s were a time of nutritional evolution, going from seven to four food groups, recommended for their roles in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. During "The Cold War", children were considered a military asset, so school meals had many features of a training table for a sport's team.

Food groups were considered more important than portion sizes, so many of the recipes in On a Shingle will seem unbalanced by contemporary cooks. Often, fat was a primary ingredient for flavor and added salt was almost a requirement for practically everything.

Using government surplus whenever it was possible, school lunches relied on ingredients like powdered eggs and fat back that are rarely used in contemporary recipes. On a Shingle provides the substitutes for uncommon ingredients, without seriously damaging the original recipe's flavor.

On a Shingle recreates what children of the 60s experienced on top of the tables that were, at other times, their shelter during that era's "duck and cover" nuclear attack drills.